After another big season, Young isn't satisfied
After another big season, Young isn't satisfied
WBB: Young is looking to earn all-conference honors for the fourth-straight year
When Murray State Women’s Basketball Coach Rechelle Turner describes Katelyn Young, Turner can drive her point home in a few simple words.
“She’s just special,” Turner said. “She truly is.”
After a junior season where she earned All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team honors, Young found herself in a pretty exclusive club. Along with Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, DePaul’s Aneesah Morrow, LSU’s Angel Reese, Idaho’s Beyonce Bea, and Iowa State’s Ashley Joens, Young and that quintet were the only players in the country last season to average at least 21.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Young also became the first player in program history to be named to the Associated Press All-American team. After a third-straight all-conference season, Young isn’t satisfied with the status quo and knows she can get better.
“I think it’s just improving any way I can,” Young said. “Even if that’s just little tweaks, like adding a post move or something like that. Definitely getting a little more comfortable at the three-point, but maybe even adding a pull-up into that now.”
Despite being the team’s best interior scorer, Young has shown the ability to knock down the outside shot. After taking 66 three-pointers in her first two seasons with the Racers, Young attempted 106 last year, making 35.8%, just a tick below her career average of 36.0%. Young’s production on the floor isn’t anything Rechelle Turner is concerned about. With the graduation of longtime program fixtures Macey Turley and Alexis Burpo, there is now a leadership void Turner hopes is very temporary.
“I think the next thing for her, and she and I have talked about it, is she’s got to be able to help us win at a high-level,” Turner said. “Do I think she would have gotten (Missouri Valley Conference) Player of the Year this year if we had won more games? I think she would have had a heck of a chance more than she did because we didn’t finish as high. What I mean by that is she’s got to pull the others along with her. I always say you kind of need a Batman and a Robin and then you need some other players around them. I think we’re going to have that. I think that that’s coming. My challenge to her is we’ve got to pull them with you. Obviously her individual goal will be to be Player of the Year. She also has to understand the team has to do well for that to happen.”
Leaders usually come in one of two shapes: Those who lead with their voice and those who lead with their actions. Young is a self-described “example leader”, but Turner believes Young’s leadership style can broaden.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations and I think that she understands she’s going to have to change her personality a little bit and be a little bit more demanding going forward,” Turner said. “She’s capable. They’re all capable of doing anything if they determine that’s what’s best and they’re willing to do it.”
“Over the years since I’ve been here, I’ve kind of helped individually, not basically the whole team,” Young added. “From giving people tips to improve on their game to focusing more on the team and just getting the team together, that’s kind of what I have to focus on. It’s definitely going to take some work, kind of learning as I go.”
The funny thing about leadership is it is oftentimes an organic quality. It’s not something you can necessarily force because, especially if it’s vocal leadership, it can come off as inauthentic to your teammates. After arguably being the team’s best player since she walked onto campus three years ago, Young isn’t concerned about having to win over any of her fellow Racers.
“I definitely think they’ll hook on to me,” Young said. “It really starts with the relationships, making sure everyone knows that you’re not just saying it. Whenever you point someone out, it’s not personal, you’re just trying to make the team better and them better. I really think that’s just down to the relationship, just knowing that I have your back and I just want to make you better.”