NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament; Racer Young now keeps company with legends

MURRAY If any card-carrying member of the fanbase known as Racer Nation wants to have his mind completely blown these days, all that needs to happen is a visit to a college basketball website called sports-reference.com .

It is there that the all-time career scoring leaders of the college game are listed.

It also does not take long to understand why a Murray State fan would get excited, for at No.

14, with 3,023 points, is a very familiar name ...

future Murray State Hall of Fame forward Katelyn Young.

That is enough to put a big smile on ones face.

However, a closer look shows why this is a huge deal, because immediately below and above Young at No.

15 and 13, respectively are two names that should get your attention.

Fifteen is Southern California legend and Olympic gold medalist and two-time national champion Cheryl Miller (with 3,018).

Thirteen, only two points ahead of Young, is one of, if not the, best players coaching legend Pat Summitt had the pleasure of leading at Tennessee Chamique Holdsclaw (3,025).

Monday, Young admitted that she is not very familiar with either player and their exploits, meaning she was a bit taken aback Sunday when multiple members of the media were asking about her name being listed with those players.

This came in the minutes after Young had scored 34 points to defeat longtime Murray State tormentor Belmont, 83-62, to win the Racers first-ever Credit Union 1 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

No, I really dont do that, Young said of how she does not go seeking the record books to see where her name appears.

But yeah, my coaches were all talking about it (particularly Head Coach Rechelle Turner, who has called the late Summit a coaching hero and used to closely watch Lady Vols games, particularly the 1990s Tennessee teams that won three straight NCAA titles, all with Holdsclaw).

And in the media interviews I did after the game, (reporters) were mentioning something about it, but, no, it really hasnt hit me and I dont think it will hit me until after the season ...

or even until a couple of years from now when I actually do take a look and Im like, Wow! I am among these people.

Young became only the 17th player in NCAA womens basketball to reach 3,000 career points on Sunday.

Perhaps even more amazing, though, is what she has accomplished in one of the toughest leagues in America The Valley where she has now crossed the 2,000-point mark in only three years of Murray State being part of the league.

Turner, who was able to bring Young to Murray from Oakwood, Illinois (much closer to Valley members Illinois State and Bradley, as well as Big Ten stalwart Illinois than to Murray) said she believes there will come a time her star will be particularly awestruck when she realizes exactly who Miller and Holdsclaw were to the womens game.

Right now, she said this is part of a generation gap.

These kids dont know who these people are, Turner said, recalling how she did not prompt much of a reaction from her players when she referenced the Walt Disney classic film The Nutty Professor Monday night during a team activity.

I make comments on stuff like this all of the time and they just look at me like Ive got horns coming out of the top of my head.

Im older than a lot of their parents ...

sometimes, (the coaching staff) needs to understand the context of what were saying to these kids.

(Young) didnt know who Cheryl Miller was.

I said, Well have to talk.

I also told her, Just go Google it and watch five minutes (of Miller and Holdsclaw from their playing days.I told her, You will realize why theyre a big deal.

As for Young being listed among these giants of the womens game, Turner said this goes along the long-held coaching line of team-over-player.

Yes, Youngs name is listed ...

but so too is Murray State.

Oh its unbelievable, Turner said of what this means for the Racer program, in general.

I mean, she obviously will have left her mark as one of the greatest players to ever play at Murray State ...and Im not even going to say female player ...

just one of the greatest players to ever wear a Murray State uniform.

Shes going to put up numbers that will be unmatched (having already become the only Racer to have her jersey number 31 retired before her playing days had ended).

But the one thing that I havent said that I want to is ...

Katelyn is the perfect example, especially in these times of money and social media and all of the things that this world has created ...

Katelyn is the perfect example of if you choose the right level and if you choose the right fit, greatness can happen.

When the kid is that talented and that great of a human being and makes the right choice in the right situation, amazing things can happen and thats one thing I hope other people will learn from her.

Go be great where you are! Make your own name for yourself and go be the reason, go be the building block, for why the program is doing what its doing now! Young is also 13 points away from catching Connecticut legend and current WNBA star Maya Moore, who is 12th on the list.

Along with her 34 points against Belmont, Young also scored 30 on two-time defending Valley tourney champion Drake on Saturday.

Young is averaging 22.2 ppg, having already scored 711 points this season.

The Racers face Big Ten power and 2023-24 national runner-up Iowa in the first round of the NCAAs Saturday morning in Norman, Oklahoma..

This article has been shared from the original article on murrayledger, here is the link to the original article.