Sophia Young: From Grenadines to U.S. Olympic greatness?

Newly minted U.S. citizen Sophia Young starts for Team USA in its Fall 2011 European training tour. (Photo Courtesy USA Basketball.)

It took over five years for Sophia Young to realize her dream of U.S. citizenship.  Her journey into the lineup for USA Basketball's 2012 Women's Olympic team  took a giant step forward today, as Young was named as one of 21 finalists for the squad.

Young, currently a forward for the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars, was born in St. Vincent & the Grenadines, formerly known as the British West Indies. She first came to the U.S. at the age of 15 as a foreign exchange student at  Evangel Christian in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was there that Young first picked up the game of basketball, heading to the gym and shooting baskets to overcome bouts of homesickness.

Young stayed on in the United States after Evangel invited her to remain, on scholarship, through graduation. Even that decision came with a price, however. Louisiana High School Athletic Association rules did not allow foreign exchange students to compete for two years in a row, so Young, who had played for Evangel as a sophomore, spent her junior year on the bench, keeping stats for the team, while training on her own on the sidewalks and playgrounds of the neighborhood of the teacher who had taken her into her home.

Despite those obstacles, Young's game improved enough over her senior year, when she returned to organized play, that she earned a scholarship to Baylor, where she became the Big 12’s all-time leading scorer (2,460 points) and helped her team to the 2005 NCAA championship, where she was named Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four after scoring 26 points in the title game win over Michigan State. Young became just the fourth player in NCAA history to post career totals of 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 assists and 300 steals, and finished her collegiate career as an Associated Press, United States Basketball Writers Association of America and Kodak First Team All-American.

It was while at Baylor that Young first applied for permanent residence in the United States.

For most immigrants, the process of attaining citizenship is arduous.  For Young—even with her notoriety and support within the basketball community—the process took more than five years.  Young applied for permanent residence in college and then waited the full five years before taking the oath as a U.S. citizen.  Young was encouraged to apply for citizenship each year after gaining residence—which she did for five consecutive years--in case her application was expedited.  Her success at Baylor and later as a four-time All-Star in the WNBA made others believe she had already attained her goal.

“I had been here so long, people thought I was already an American,” Young said.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, members of Congress representing Texas and supporters within the WNBA Silver Stars organization—where Young has starred for six seasons—wrote letters aiding Young’s application.   Young believes their support was critical to her finally gaining her citizenship during the recently concluded WNBA season.

Young was finally sworn in as a U.S. sitizen on September 2, 2011.

“Those of us who are citizens can gain perspective by seeing someone go through the process,” Silver Stars Coach Dan Hughes said.  “You could see how happy she was to become a citizen of the U.S.”

Two weeks after taking her oath, Young received her invitation to join the U.S. Senior Women's National Team on a five-game European training tour, which began on Sept. 30, right after the Silver Stars were eliminated from the 2011 WNBA playoffs by eventual champion Minnesota in the Western Conference first round.<br>

After a distinguished collegiate career at Baylor, Sophia Young, a native of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, who was first introduced to basketball as a 15-year old foreign exchange student, was taken with the No. 4 overall pick in the first round of the 2006 WNBA Draft by the San Antonio Silver Stars, where she has spent all six years of her professional career, earning All Star honors times. (Photo by Lee Michaelson/FullCourt.com.)

Of course, Young was only able to take advantage of her international team invite because the Silver Stars went home early.   Had San Antonio gotten past eventual champion Minnesota in the Western Conference semis—and they almost did, dropping the decisive game, 66-65—Young might have lost a final opportunity for players to impress the U.S. coaching staff in advance of today's selection of finalists and next summer’s London Olympics.  

For Young and the Silver Stars, the season was, in equal parts, both successful and disappointing.  The team was significantly improved from 2010, as Hughes returned to the sidelines as head coach, and exciting rookies Danielle Adams and Robinson earned prominent roles.  But Becky Hammon’s nagging shoulder injury and Adams’s foot problems never allowed the team to compete at their best.  Brenda Van Lengen, who was a television analyst for many Silver Stars games, said the team’s season suffered most when Adams missed four weeks in July and August and the team struggled offensively.

“I was impressed how they had success early and came together so quickly,” Van Lengen said, adding that the future of the team--with Young and Adams as 1-2 scoring punch--is bright.

Young debuted admirably on the European tour, which began with a two-day tournament in Naples and continued on with stops in Valencia, Spain, Prague, Czech Republic, wrapping up on October 9 in Sopron, Hungary. Young started in all five games, giving an already deep and talented roster much needed scoring and, especially,  rebounding from her small forward spot.

Due to unforeseen attrition, Young found herself in the starting lineup and playing 25 minutes on the opening night of the tour, a 77-48 blowout of Famila Schio in Naples, Italy.   Young contributed eight points, seven rebounds and four assists as the U.S. team—with only seven players available—dominated the first and third quarters.

“I put on my jersey today for the first time right before the game and I was beyond words," said Young afterward. "I was speechless and I was like, ‘I pretty much can’t believe that I’m here.’  I just was thanking God for the opportunity, regardless of what comes out of it, the opportunity is amazing.  To be here representing the USA is an honor.”

According to U.S. Coach Geno Auriemma, Young’s nervousness was obvious.  But it didn’t last for Young or the team’s other first-timer, Brittney Griner, the only collegian named to today's list of finalists for the U.S. Olympic squad.   Soon after the 6-8 Griner entered as a reserve, Young was directing the college superstar, barking out instructions on defense and helping Griner find her spots in the offensive sets.

“I think that Brittney and Sophia Young, as their first time playing USA Basketball, were a little bit nervous going in, didn’t know what to expect,” Auriemma said.  “But, once you start playing, basketball is basketball and I think their instincts took over.”

There are those who have criticized American players -- the Silver Stars' Becky Hammon foremost among them -- for seeking citizenship elsewhere in order to fulfill their Olympic dreams on the national teams of other countries. In Young's case, however, Team USA is not exactly cherry-picking the cream of another nation's crop to play as a ringer.

St. Vincent & the Grenadines is no basketball powerhouse. Though nowadays, Young's country of birth at least fields a national team in women's basketball; the nation did not even qualify to participate in the 2011 FIBAS Americas Championship for Women, which served as the Olympic qualifying tournament for teams from the North and South American continent hoping to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.  The lack of any realistic opportunity for top female athletes from St. Vincent and the Grenadines to participate in international competition at an elite level led 6-4 forward/center and Atlanta Dream star Sancho Lyttle, who also hails from St. Vincent, to seek citizenship elsewhere. Lyttle is now a member of the Spanish national team, for whom she is eligible to compete in this summer's Olympics.

Netball, tennis, track and water sports all far outrank basketball in popularity among women in the tiny island nation.  Not only Young, but also her mother Annie Christopher and other family members, were avid players of netball, a sport somewhat similar to basketball that is played with seven players per team and in which the ball may only be passed, not dribbled. Young, who was also an outstanding volleyball player and track-and-field athlete, excelled at netball, becoming a member of St. Vincent & Grenadines' under-16 national netball team.

Now that Young has made her debut in the red, white, and blue and been named as a finalist for the U.S. women's Olympic basketball team, what are her chances of actually taking the court in London this summer?

It's hard to say. The decision will ultimately be made by the five-member USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee, comprised of WNBA representatives Reneé Brown, Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations; Dan Hughes, head coach/General Manager of the San Antonio Silver Stars; and Chief Operating Officer/General Manager of the Indiana Fever Kelly Krauskopf; athlete representative and five-time Olympian Teresa Edwards; and USA Basketball Women’s National Team Director Carol Callan.

Even if he doesn't participate directly in the Committee's vote on Young's candidacy, it certainly won't hurt to have Hughes, who obviously believes in Young's abilities, having used San Antonio's No. 4 pick to choose her for his team in the 2006 WNBA Draft.

Moreover, Hughes's confidence in Young is not a matter of "homerism"; her collegiate and professional credentials speak for themselves.

In her six-year WNBA career, Young has proved incredibly consistent, averaging between 15.5  points and between 6.2 rebounds per game each year -- averages from which she has deviated by no more than 3.5 points and and 1.5 rebounds per game over the course of any given season.  Her professional career hit new heights in 2008 when she was named to the All-WNBA first team as well as the All-Defensive first team while leading the Silver Stars to the WNBA Finals against the Detroit Shock.  As an undersized power forward or mobile small forward, Young has excelled with her ability to run the floor, score in the paint or step away and attack off the dribble. Her versatility sets her apart even within the pool of 26 players originally being considered for the Olympic roster.

“Sophia’s at a mature point in her career.  If you need her to distribute, she can do that.  If you need her to score, she can do that.  If you need her to rebound, she can do that too,” Hughes said.

However, that very maturity could be both a positive and a negative for Young's prospects of earning a spot on the final roster. No question, the five-member Selection Committee will value the leadership and sound judgment that Young brings to the table. At the same time, the pool of finalists is not short on veterans and leaders in the same age range as the 28-year old young -- among them Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tamika Catchings, Kara Lawson, Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi -- all of whom have one or more Olympic gold medals already to their credit.

As Auriemma put it as today's list of finalists was announced: “Now that we’re down to 21 finalists, you look around and you see a group of players that have tremendous experience. (We have) players that have won (Olympic) gold medals, won World Championships, there are WNBA champions on the list, players that have won in Europe in international competition. You’ve got a group of players that have experienced everything there is to experience and as a coach, as someone who’s been around these players, I couldn’t be happier with this group. They represent the best of what the United States has to offer.”

Faced with the difficult job of cutting this highly qualified current field of 21 finalists to an ultimate roster of 12 for the Olympics, the Selection Committee might well decide to give the spot to a younger player ready to be groomed to fill those leadership roles in future years as the current leadership core of team gradually hang up their hightops.

Another challenge Young is likely to face as the Selection Committee sits down to make the tough decisions is that the U.S. squad's European tour in which Young participated was not the unqualified success to which USA Basketball has become accustomed.  The U.S. was without Diana Taurasi, Candace Parker, Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles due to injury, and also had to navigate the limited availability of Ashja Jones (knee injury) and Danielle Robinson, who participated in only the first three games, then departed to join her new European club.  Maya Moore, Angel McCoughtry and other participants in the WNBA Finals also weren’t available.  Their absence may have opened the door to Young's invitation to participate, but it also left Team USA vulnerable to what, since the team's famous 1996 tour, has become a rarity -- defeat.

With limited numbers and facing some of the best clubs on the European continent, the U.S. struggled on the tour, finishing 3-2.  In a pair of matchups with Ros Casares Valencia, the U.S. had particular trouble containing former WNBA player Ann Wauters, who contributed 26 points and 16 rebounds in the 78-68 U.S. win and then came back with 22 points and seven rebounds in the 80-76 Ros Casares Valencia upset of the Americans four nights later. 

Auriemma’s squad also fell to USK Prague, 83-77, as the women experienced some of the same challenges that the U.S. men have faced over the years in contending with the ability of experienced, cohesive international teams to form a consistent effort over 40 minutes, while the United States’ play drifts from spectacular to error-filled.  In the loss to USK Prague, Czech star Eva Viteckova dropped in 18 points while the U.S. also had to contend against one of their own as former U.S. Olympian DeLisha Milton-Jones, who spent the WNBA off-season playing for USK Prague, scored 11 points, doled out two assists and swiped two steals.

“Usually when the U.S. shows up in Europe, we’ve got all out guns blazing,” Auriemma said.  “We’re ready to go, and wow!  We’ve got the best team, we’ve got the best players and we’re deep, we’re talented.  In this particular trip, we had to struggle.  It was a big struggle.  We got to find out which players can function under that kind of adversity.”

How did Young fare in responding to that test?

The only statistical category in which Young led the pack was steals, with Young grabbing a team-high nine (1.8 per game) over the five-game span.

But in a front line with Tina Charles, Swin Cash, Griner and Jones, Young averaged just 8.6 points over the tour's five games -- behind every one other than the injury-hampered Jones and Robinson.  Young was efficient, however, shooting 53.3 percent from the field, the same field-goal percenage as Jones, both of whom were second only to Tina Charles's 58.3-percent field-goal shooting. Young also provided a valuable presence on the boards, pulling down 6.4 rebounds in 26.2 minutes per game.  Those numbers placed Young fourth -- behind Charles (7.8), Griner (7.0), and Cash (6.6) in rebounding. (One indication of just how tough the competition was: The 6-8 Griner--the only collegian on the European tour and on the list of finalists announced today, facing professionals and international competition for the first time—was well off her collegiate pace, posting up 12.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and a team-high 1.3 blocks per game, with the matchup against the 6-4 Belgian center Wauters particularly challenging for the young Baylor star.)

Bottom line: Young's performance was obviously strong enough to earn her an ongoing look as a finalist. Yet, as Auriemma, his coaching staff and the USA Basketball Selection Committee evaluate the revolving rosters that have represented the U.S. at various international competitions over the last two years, they might well conclude that Team USA needed even more from Young in the U.S. squad’s European tour.  At a minimum, Young will have her work cut out for her over the course of upcoming USA training camps and in this summer's WNBA season, to prove that she not only deserves a place on the U.S. team, but that she deserves it more than at least eight of the other talented finalists.

But Young brings one other asset to the table -- one that might very well tip the balance at the end of the day: Young is a humble and understated star, who can blend in well on virtually any team. In international competition on a team comprised of All Stars and go-to talents, that may be her biggest asset.  While the Taurasis, Poindexters and McCoughtrys fill up the stat sheet, Auriemma may count on Young to rebound, defend and distribute, things Young has proven time and again, that she can do as well or better than any of America's women ballers.