Jackie Young (basketball)

In Young's high school career, the PCHS Tigers posted a 97-9 (.915) record. She finished as the leading scorer (girls' or boys' basketball) in Indiana high school history with 3,268 points, eclipsing the 26-year-old record set by Damon Bailey. Overall, Young averaged 30.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game, while shooting .583 from the field, .382 from beyond the arc and .858 from the free-throw line. She led Princeton to 53 consecutive wins and the 2015 Indiana Class 3A state championship. She Scored 36 points in state title game, setting the record for most points in a Class 3A final, as well as the most points by one player in any Indiana girls' basketball state title game since 1980.

Young led her team to a 27–1 record in her senior season, ranking third in the state and ninth in the nation in scoring with 34.9 PPG. She also achieved 9.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.8 steals. She shot .605 as a senior with a .429 mark from three-point range and an .861 free-throw percentage. All told, she compiled 20 30-point games, 10 40-point games and a season high 53 points on Nov. 20 vs. county rival Gibson Southern.

Young set the Indiana high school girls' basketball single season scoring record as a junior, recording 1,003 points. She was the fifth player of either gender in state history to score 1,000 points in a season. She was ranked in the top-10 by nearly all major national recruiting services, including a No. 5 rank by Prospects Nation.

Young had the option to remain at Notre Dame for the 2019-20 college season, but opted to join the WNBA draft. She was rewarded with being the first draft pick, and joined the Las Vegas Aces, coached by Bill Laimbeer. Weeks after the announcement she was signed to a multi-year deal with Puma as it expanded its support for women's basketball.[4]

Her first season was one of adjustment and reliance on one of her strengths in the college seasons in being able to protect and distribute the ball. A change in role and need to move from an established team unit to a new environment meant a need to develop her game. She commented later, "I wasn’t the point guard in college, at certain times I would play point. So coming to the league and playing strictly the 1 was definitely different for me, definitely an adjustment".[5]

Despite these challenges, her contribution to the team reaching the WNBA semi-finals, and her finishing eighth in the WNBA with 153 total assists and a sixth ranking 2.89 assist/turnover ratio, were recognized by her making the annual all-star rookie team.

As the season came to end she joined Turkish side Elazığ, but her time there lasted only two games due to the coronavirus-induced cancellation of the league.[6]

As her second pro season started, coach Bill Laimbeer explained that he saw that season as a potential "break-out" season. This had been expected as "some (rookies) will come in like Sue Bird and others will take a little time to develop. We realized that Jackie would take time to develop. I think Jackie is a very level person and she realizes that after the first year that she figured out what she has to do body-wise and how to play the game. I think this year you're going to see a dramatic shift on the basketball court more so than she had last year."[5]

• Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio
• Jackie Young on Twitter
• Jackie Young on Instagram