Senior Spotlight: Taylor Haskins

by John Haynes, Athletics Communications Student Assistant

It was an ordinary day in the spring of 2015 in Lubbock, Texas, as Taylor Haskins, a then-senior volleyball student-athlete, reported to work in the athletics compliance department at Texas Tech University. She was done playing volleyball and focused on her future in hospital administration.

Suddenly, an NCAA rule came to her attention. If a student-athlete had redshirted (not stepped onto the court during the season), they could have another year of eligibility. Ironically, Haskins had redshirted her freshman year at Texas Tech, so her collegiate volleyball career was not over like she thought it was.

"There were two occasions that I thought I was done with [volleyball], and it crept back into my life somehow," Haskins said.

The Kennesaw, Georgia, native had earlier thought her chances of playing collegiate volleyball were shattered in 2015, when she was diagnosed with an atrial septal defect – a hole in her heart. Her doctor insisted on heart surgery, which Haskins resisted. She did not know how the procedure and the cardiac rehab would affect her and her athletic pursuits moving forward. However, the doctor insisted – she had to have the operation. Haskins underwent the procedure and suffered no ill effects.

Even after the successful surgery, Haskins decided she was done playing volleyball. Having enrolled as a regular student, she still found herself missing the sport but without an opportunity.

Some might call it a fortuitous coincidence that Texas Tech hired Tony Graystone as its new head coach in January 2016, but not Haskins.

"It's kind of crazy, but I'm a big believer in 'everything happens for a reason,'" Haskins said.

So, Haskins approached Graystone about the possibility of being involved in the program as a practice player or manager, and he suggested she simply walk back onto the team for her remaining seasons.

That was all the convincing Haskins needed. She spent the next two years competing in volleyball at Texas Tech, and she celebrated her senior night there on Nov. 17, 2017. Focused on her post-collegiate career, Haskins had no expectations of dressing out for a NCAA match ever again.

Yet somehow, volleyball crept back into her life once more.

Haskins's passion for the game had not abated, and she sought out programs willing to take a graduate transfer with minimal playing film. While other individuals might quickly have given up, Haskins - realizing the magnitude of the task at hand - had an indomitable spirit. In high school, she was repeatedly told by her peers that she would never be able to play volleyball at a Division I institution.

Haskins, though, does not like to be told what she cannot do.

"In thinking about college, I never pictured it without sports," Haskins said.

She proceeded to send out thousands of emails to volleyball programs across the NCAA. As a result of her perseverance, Haskins ended up with several offers from institutions coast-to-coast: she chose Texas Tech. Now, four years, two schools and one heart surgery later, Haskins applied herself to finding a new school to call home.

Mississippi State rose to the top of her list. It had a dynamic new head coach in Julie Darty, and the along with the assistants, Travers Green and Taylor Unroe, see that they really cared about their student-athletes as well. It did not hurt that MSU's Master of Business Administration (MBA) program more than exceeded her expectations, or that Starkville was closer to home than Lubbock, which was the icing on the cake.

"It was kind of perfect," Haskins said. "It had everything I wanted. So many little things had to fall into place in order for it to happen, and I was fortunate that they all ended up lining up."

Haskins took the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), graduated from Texas Tech and enrolled at Mississippi State. Even after all the proceedings were made official, she would wake up in the morning and wonder at it all. She had every intention of finding work in the Lone Star State in the spring, yet now she focuses continuously on honing her volleyball skills in the Magnolia State.

"I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity," Haskins said. "Julie, Taylor and Trav all took a big chance on me, because I didn't really have a lot of playing film. I just feel very fortunate to be here every single day."

Taylor Haskins celebrates her (second) senior day on Nov. 16, against Alabama in the Newell-Grissom Building.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Senior Spotlight: Taylor Haskins

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