Naismith Winner Jackie Young Talks About Notre Dame

Naismith player of the year, Jackie Young opens up about her decision to attend Notre Dame.

“It didn’t take long for me to know that’s where I wanted to go.”

Notre Dame Women’s basketball is no stranger to talent, so Jackie Young should feel right at home. The incoming freshman has been the talk around not only the state of Indiana but around the country, with honors like Indiana Miss Basketball, McDonald’s All-American Team member, Naismith national Player-of-the-Year, and more. Verbally committing in 2014 and signing her letter of intent last November, Muffet McGraw has known what her incoming class would look like for a while.

"“I just loved the campus, once I got there it was a beautiful campus and then the coaches, they have a great coaching staff.”"

Young and Erin Boley both signed their letters of intent back in November, which is a huge reason of why the Irish were ranked number one in the ESPN way-too-early preseason top 25 rankings.

Right after Notre Dame had an early exit in the tournament losing in the Sweet Sixteen, Young and Boley, two top-15 players in their class could be the way the Irish get over the hump of a National Championship since 2001. Some thing that even hometown hero Skylar Diggins couldn’t do. The South Bend legend and current guard for the Dallas Wings even had a hand in recruiting Young.

"“My first visit there, that’s when she was there…so we’ve gotten to know each other over the past few years. My first time playing pick up with them I was on her team and she was there just pushing me and just being a leader out on the floor.”"

Young was an early commit and signee for the Irish, but that’s not to say there wasn’t other competition. Connecticut, Tennessee, UCLA, Butler, Indiana, and Purdue all took their chances with the 6-foot guard with Purdue giving her an offer as early as in the eight grade.