Signal Mountain volleyball Taelor Kellum, seated, signed scholarship papers to play collegiately at SEC powerhouse Florida, which is currently ranked No. 7 nationally. Her mother, Kim, is at right.
When Taelor Kellum was a 15-year-old sophomore, Butler University became the first college to seriously recruit the Signal Mountain volleyball sensation.
Between her sophomore and junior years, Florida’s Lady Gators jumped into the race to sign Kellum, a 6-foot-2-inch middle hitter.
Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida State and several other schools reached out to Kellum, but not as earnestly as the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Gators.
Florida really got Kellum’s attention for one key reason.
“I knew they were quite serious in recruiting me because they normally don’t visit schools that much,” Kellum said.
“The Florida coach (Mary Wise) actually came up to Signal Mountain to watch us play.
“I couldn’t talk to her at the match and she couldn’t call me after the match. I called her – she was staying at a hotel somewhere – and talked to her. She left the next day to do more recruiting.”
Wise’s visit impacted Kellum tremendously.
So much so that on Wednesday she officially signed a scholarship to play college volleyball at Florida, which goes into Wednesday’s Southeastern Conference match against Auburn – it will be televised on the SEC Network – riding a 14-match winning streak, longest since 2012.
Kellum made a verbal commitment to the Lady Gators months ago, has eagerly anticipated her signing day.
“The hard thing about making an early decision is the long wait to sign,” said Kellum, who had 802 kills, 124 blocks, 505 digs and 79 aces this season. “When signing day finally arrived I was more excited than ever. I was ready to sign and at the same time not ready because my high school career is over.”
Kellum will enroll at Florida on Jan. 4 to get a jump-start on her college career.
It’s a long way from when colleges first started showing interest in luring Kellum to their campus.
“I’m a very humble person,” she said. “It didn’t really register with me how big a deal it was to have schools recruiting me until people started giving me feedback. That’s when I realized this was something serious.”
Kellum is about to jump feet first into the big-time.
Wise is in her 24th year coaching the Lady Gators and has made 23 straight NCAA tournament appearances.
Florida (19-3, 13-0 SEC) is ranked seventh nationally and has won 21 straight sets, including six consecutive sweeps.
Wise has won 20 SEC titles, including 18 straight from 1991-2008. It’s the record for most consecutive conference titles by one program in the nation. She has guided the Lady Gators to seven Final Fours and has been honored with 13 SEC Coach of the Year awards and a trip to the national championship in 2003.
Wise has a .888 winning percentage and became the first coach to win 100 consecutive games, first to win 130 straight regular-season conference matches and the only coach to win 90 percent of her matches in the first 20 seasons at one school.
When Kellum committed to Florida, only one school kept recruiting her, that being Florida State.
“They really wanted me to come down for a visit,” she said, “but I never did. I didn’t want to because I had never met the coach in person. I didn’t like how Florida State approached me.”
That’s the type person Florida landed Wednesday.
“All of our girls looked up to Taelor,” Signal Mountain coach Jennifer Redman said. “They listened when she talked and respected her. That will be hugely missed on our team. She’s going to be hard to replace, if we can even do that.
“I’m very excited for what she can potentially do in college. Now that she’s going to be in the SEC I look forward to watching her play volleyball on television. I think she’ll do great things for Florida.”
Kellum was instrumental in Signal Mountain winning District 7-AA and Region 4-AA tournament championships. The Lady Eagles followed those strong showings up by sweeping Hixson in the sectional match.
The team’s postseason drive continued with a strong showing in the Class AA state tournament at Stewarts Creek High School in Smyrna, located just west of Murfreesboro.
The Lady Eagles opened the tournament with a 3-2 win over Page, but lost to eventual state champion Christian Academy of Knoxville, 3-2. Kellum-led Signal Mountain rebounded with successive wins over Harpeth (3-1), Dyersburg (3-1) and Knoxville Catholic (3-2) to play its way into the championship match.
But CAK again turned back the Lady Eagles, 3-1.
The runner-up finish bettered the Lady Eagles’ fourth-place showing the year before.
Now, Kellum turns her attention to Florida volleyball
Has what she accomplished at Signal Mountain prepared her to make that leap?
“Yes and no,” she said. “There are a lot of things I don’t know that Florida does. I’m planning on my ability and God to help me down there.”
E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryflemng44)