Slap the Sign
Fansided

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Jackie Young Declares for WNBA Draft

By Jordan Small

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Jackie Young #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates her teams lead late in the game against the Connecticut Huskies during the second half in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Connecticut Huskies 91-89. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Jackie Young #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates her teams lead late in the game against the Connecticut Huskies during the second half in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Connecticut Huskies 91-89. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Notre Dame’s Jackie Young has elected to forgo her final year of eligibility. She will enter the WNBA Draft and be eligible on Wednesday.

Notre Dame junior guard Jackie Young is eligible to enter the WNBA draft this season due to her age. After the Irish lost in the national championship game, she had just 24 hours to decide whether to stay or go. Young has made the decision to not return to the Irish for her senior season and has instead elected to enter the WNBA draft.

In 2018-2019, Young started 36 of the 37 games she played in this season. She missed one game due to an ankle injury and did not start on senior day so that all five seniors could start. Young played the second most minutes on the team at 1186 for an average of 32.1 minutes per game. She also averaged 15.0 points per game on better than 53 percent shooting. What was most impressive was her 7.4 rebounds per game, best for third on the team and first among the guards. She also had 186 assists on the year, despite only playing roughly half the season at the point.

Young is currently projected as the number two draft pick according to ESPN.com. With Sabrina Ionescu returning to Oregon for her senior season, Young’s stock rose as the best junior to declare. What makes Young such an appealing draft choice is her ability to play both ends of the floor so effectively. She can also play pretty much any position from the one to the four and has the length to be effective at all spots.

This will really hurt the Irish as all five starters will now be gone to the league. Abby Prohaska and Mikayla Vaughn will now be forced to carry the load as the two more experienced players on the roster. The Irish will be a very young team with no seniors on scholarship and just two juniors.