Notre Dame Guard Jackie Young Declares For WNBA Draft
Notre Dame and Muffet McGraw took a second punch to the gut as junior guard Jackie Young has declared for the 2019 WNBA Draft less than 24 hours after falling 82-81 in the National Title game on Sunday evening.
“I would like to thank the University of Notre Dame for providing me with three years of the very best experiences, opportunities and people of a lifetime
To Coach McGraw and the coaching staff, thank you for believing in me, pushing me and shaping me into the person and player I’ve become.
After much consideration, I wold like to announce that I will be following my heart and living out my childhood dream of playing in the WNBA. I have waited for this day all of my life and I can’t wait to continue this journey.”
Young averaged 14.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.2 assist this season, including scoring 25 points and pulling down 10 boards against Stanford to advance to the Final Four.
McGraw made a final pitch publicly to ESPN as she felt Young had more to prove as a senior with the departure of key pieces to the team.
“I think she would have the opportunity to be the go-to person on the team [next season],” McGraw stated. “Have an opportunity to be a vocal leader and just continue to improve your game against the best defender. Because now that Arike [Ogunbowale] is gone, she'll see the best defender.”
Young is projected to go as high as the No. 2 pick in the WNBA Draft on April 10th at Nike New York Headquarters.