There's a good story behind Taylor Frederick accepting a scholarship offer at South Dakota from Amy Williams and then playing every minute of her college career for Dawn Plitzuweit.
 
It goes like this:
 
At the beginning, Frederick was understandably rattled that the coach who won her over wasn't going to be her coach at all.
 
Then Plitzuweit, the new coach, called and said nothing had changed. They were looking forward to bringing the Harlan, Iowa, star into the program.
 
To prove that, the new coach wanted to drive to Iowa and talk with Frederick and her parents.
 
During the visit, Frederick's mother mentioned a letter her daughter got, the first recruiting letter she ever received, that came from the University of Michigan several years earlier. 
 
Plitzuweit was an assistant for the Wolverines at that time and asked Frederick's mother if the family kept the letter.
 
It turns out they did. 
 
It was a hand-written note signed by Dawn Plitzuweit an assistant coach at Michigan.
 
Seriously? 
 
"I looked at Taylor and I said 'I think that's a good sign,'" Plitzuweit said. "It's been an incredible situation from our perspective ever since."
 

It's incredible because Frederick is a 6-1 senior coming off the bench for the top-25 South Dakota women's basketball team.
 
Everybody involved is happy about it. Most of all that would apply to Frederick herself. She has seen her points-per-game average (9.2), her rebounds (4.2) and shooting percentage (.551) all improve during a season that has been strong on challenges so far, but very light on failure.
 
"This has been a very special year," she said. "Just being able to play with this team and win some big games at a lot of different places has been awesome. We've definitely been able to make a lot of memories. It's been so much fun so far."
 

The math education major would like to student-teach next year in the area. It is far from a coincidence that after this season is complete she's still looking forward to being around Vermillion next year.
 
"I knew through the recruiting process that I wanted to come to a place that had a 'homey' feeling," Frederick said. "I didn't want to go off to a big city. As soon as I stepped on campus, this place felt like home. You walk through Walmart and people are saying hi to you left and right. Everyone has your back in this town. I'm so thankful for it."
 
It's not a huge departure in this instance from growing up on a farm near Harlan. 
 
She was introduced to basketball via "Biddy Ball", an activity that involves children grades K-2 and gives them their first taste of the sport.
 
"It's for kids to run up and down the court," Frederick explained, "Without anyone really knowing what is going on."
 
She graduated to games of P-I-G with her father and her brothers and just kept playing. Though she wouldn't have been aware of it during her Biddy Ball days, she eventually discovered she was surrounded by a terrific group of athletes. Harlan won consecutive Class 4A state basketball titles, going 26-0 both seasons during Frederick's high school career. They also took back-to-back state volleyball titles.
 
"I was fortunate enough to be on some teams with some very talented girls," she said. "They made it really fun to go out there and compete. Winning just came along with that."
 
Harlan, which has sent several athletes to USD over the years, has a great tradition of high school sports. Obviously, Frederick fit right in.
 
"It's a town with a lot of people who play multiple sports," she said. "Everyone gets so close there – your teams are made of up of the same people regardless of the sport. There are some great connections in that way and great coaches."
 
Frederick has earned a reputation over her time at USD for not taking herself too seriously. This has manifested itself in many ways, most notably on road trips. Radio play-by-play man John Thayer is a popular victim, though not the only one.
 
It started at a Texas Roadhouse, a popular restaurant chain in the Midwest that gives those celebrating birthdays the chance to sit in a saddle in front of everyone, listen to the staff throw out a few "Yeehaws" and enjoy a free dessert. 
 
It's a pretty simple routine but never fails to entertain the team when Frederick tells a server they have an ol' cowpoke in their midst with a birthday.
 
"We were sitting there at the Texas Roadhouse at Iowa State and we were thinking about who we should get up on the saddle," Frederick said. "We ended up picking John. Ever since then, we tell them it's his birthday at every restaurant we go to. He'd usually end up giving me the dessert so it works out in both of our favors."
 
It's not clear how this works out in Thayer's favor if he doesn't get the dessert but nevermind about that. The point is, Frederick likes to have fun and most of the time, her teammates do too. 
 
"She has a very fun-loving personality, very charismatic," Plitzuweit said. "She uses that voice on our team to encourage her teammates when she's on the court."
 
It's a good combination when a valuable player is also a valuable personality. 
 
"There are some times when I can be a little too much for people," Frederick admitted, though she was laughing when she said it. "We have a lot of really competitive people on the team. Maybe somebody is not playing real well and I'll go over there and joke or try to get them to smile. And sometimes they'll get a little mad at me."
 
Having her heart in the right place is no doubt an asset in those situations. It's similar to Frederick herself. She's in the right place.
 
"Everything has worked out great," she said. "I wouldn't have wanted anything different. The coaches, my teammates and the school — it's been awesome."