Jacquelyn Young (born September 16, 1997) is an American professionalbasketball player for theLas Vegas Aces of theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for theLaces ofUnrivaled. She is the daughter of Linda Young and David Wayne Edwards Sr. She was drafted first overall by theLas Vegas Aces in the2019 WNBA draft. A graduate ofPrinceton Community High School, she playedcollege basketball for theNotre Dame Fighting Irish, reaching twoNCAA finals and winning one in2018. She won a gold medal inWomen's 3x3 basketball at the2020 Summer Olympics and a nationalWNBA championship in 2022.[1] In 2024, she won the gold medal in5x5 basketball at the2024 Summer Olympics.
In Young's high school career, the PCHS Tigers posted a 97-9 (.915) record. She finished as the leading scorer (girls' or boys' basketball) in Indiana high school history with 3,268 points, eclipsing the 26-year-old record set byDamon Bailey. Overall, Young averaged 30.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game, while shooting .583 from the field, .382 from beyond the arc and .858 from the free-throw line. She led Princeton to 53 consecutive wins and the 2015 Indiana Class 3A state championship. She scored 36 points in the state title game, setting the record for most points in a Class 3A final, as well as the most points by one player in any Indiana girls' basketball state title game since 1980. It is said that Young gets most of her athletic genes from her father who was a star high school basketball player as well as track athlete. Young also has a brother, David Wayne Edwards Jr., who was a defensive back for the national championship team of the University of Nebraska in 1997.
Young led her team to a 27–1 record in her senior season, ranking third in the state and ninth in the nation in scoring with 34.9 PPG. She also achieved 9.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.8 steals. She shot .605 as a senior with a .429 mark from three-point range and an .861 free-throw percentage. All told, she compiled 20 30-point games, 10 40-point games and a season high 53 points on Nov 20 vs. county rivalGibson Southern. She was the recipient of the 2016Indiana Miss Basketball award.
Young set the Indiana high school girls' basketball single season scoring record as a junior, recording 1,003 points. She was the fifth player of either sex in state history to score 1,000 points in a season. She was ranked in the top-10 by nearly all major national recruiting services, including a No. 5 rank by Prospects Nation.
Young played three seasons ofcollege basketball for theNotre Dame Fighting Irish between 2016 and 2019, where she won anNCAA championship as a sophomore in 2018.[2][3] She earnedACC All-Freshman Team in 2017 and second-team All-ACC in 2019. She also earnedACC tournament MVP in2019.[4]
Young had the option to remain at Notre Dame for the 2019–20 college season, but opted to enter the2019 WNBA draft where she was selected with the first overall pick by theLas Vegas Aces, coached byBill Laimbeer.[5] She later signed a multi-year deal withPuma.[6] She played the2019 WNBA season as apoint guard for the first time, having played as ashooting guard in college.[7] Young finished eighth in the WNBA with 153 total assists, and her 2.89 assist/turnover ranked sixth overall. She averaged 6.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game[7] and was subsequently named to theWNBA All-Rookie Team.[8]
In the2020 WNBA season, Young averaged 10.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assist in 40 games with the Aces.[4]
In the2021 WNBA season, Young emerged as an early candidate forMost Improved Player after being shifted to that of a play finisher rather than a playmaker but eventually lost out toBrionna Jones as Dallas went out at the semi-final stage of the2021 WNBA Playoffs.[9][10][11] Following her further improvements during the 2022 season, she was selected as most improved player throughout the WNBA in 2022.[12] She was also announced to her firstWNBA All-Star team as a starter in July.[13] She was also a part of the championship winningLas Vegas Aces.[1]
In February 2020, Young joined Turkish sideElazığ,[14] but her time there lasted only two games due to thecoronavirus-induced cancellation of the league.[15]In the 2020–21 season, Young played inIsrael for A.S. Ramat Hasharon fromIsraeli League.[4]
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On August 3, 2021, Young signed with thePerth Lynx in Australia for the2021–22 WNBL season.[16] Her performances grew steadily and in particular her scoring improved from an average of 10 points per game in the first ten games to average over twenty five in her subsequent six games including 30, 36 and 26 points in consecutive matches to help Lynx finish the regular season second in the WNBL.[17][18][19] Jackie contributed 21, 12 and 18 respectively in the three-match final series whichMelbourne Boomers won by two matches to one.[20][21][22][23] Young was made 2021–22 season MVP for Perth Lynx[24] and was runner-up overall league MVP.[25][26]
On July 18, 2024, it was announced that Young would appear and play in the inaugural season ofUnrivaled, a new women's 3-on-3 basketball league founded byNapheesa Collier andBreanna Stewart.[27] She plays for theLaces.
In late March 2020, theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government postponed the2020 Summer Olympics until the summer of 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[28] In July 2021, Young won a gold medal inWomen's 3x3 basketball at the2020 Summer Olympics.[29][30]
In June 2024, Young named to theUS women's Olympic team to compete at the2024 Summer Olympics inFrance alongside fellow Aces teammates,Chelsea Gray,Kelsey Plum, andA'ja Wilson.[31] Young and the United States defeatedFrance 67–66 in thefinal, earning Young her first 5x5 gold medal and the United States’ eighth consecutive gold medal.[32]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
| † | Denotes seasons in which Young won aWNBA championship |
| * | Denotes season(s) in which Young won anNCAA Championship |
Stats current through end of 2024 season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Las Vegas | 34 | 34 | 22.6 | .322 | .318 | .808 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 6.6 |
| 2020 | Las Vegas | 22 | 0 | 25.8 | .492 | .231 | .852 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 11.0 |
| 2021 | Las Vegas | 32 | 32 | 31.8 | .507 | .250 | .833 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 12.2 |
| 2022† | Las Vegas | 34 | 34 | 33.2 | .476 | .431 | .859 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 15.9 |
| 2023† | Las Vegas | 40 | 40 | 31.5 | .523 | .449 | .867 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 17.6 |
| 2024 | Las Vegas | 37 | 37 | 32.6 | .430 | .337 | .867 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 15.8 |
| 2025 | Las Vegas | ||||||||||||
| Career | 7 years, 1 team | 199 | 177 | 29.9 | .465 | .386 | .852 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 13.5 |
| All-Star | 4 | 3 | 12.6 | .190 | .167 | — | 1.3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
Stats current through end of 2024 playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Las Vegas | 5 | 5 | 12.4 | .409 | .800 | .875 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 5.8 |
| 2020 | Las Vegas | 8 | 0 | 20.4 | .309 | .167 | .905 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.4 | 7.8 |
| 2021 | Las Vegas | 5 | 5 | 26.0 | .333 | .000 | 1.000 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 5.6 |
| 2022† | Las Vegas | 10 | 10 | 34.5 | .432 | .474 | .926 | 4.1 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 12.5 |
| 2023† | Las Vegas | 9 | 9 | 34.8 | .421 | .415 | .914 | 5.6 | 5.0 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 16.7 |
| 2024 | Las Vegas | 6 | 6 | 30.5 | .375 | .359 | .818 | 5.8 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 13.8 |
| Career | 6 years, 1 team | 43 | 35 | 27.8 | .388 | .415 | .907 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 11.1 |
| Year/League | Team | GP | MPG | PPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RO | RD | RT | APG | PF | BPG | SPG | TO | RNK |
| Turkish League 2020 | Elazig | 2 | 20.5 | 4.5 | 28.6% | 0.0% | 50.0% | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Year[35] | Team | G | PTS | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3PA | 3PM | 3P% | FTA | FTM | FT& | DEF | OFF | REB | AST | BLK | STL | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Perth Lynx | 20 | 356 | 293 | 140 | 47.8 | 15 | 3 | 20 | 87 | 73 | 83.9 | 61 | 20 | 81 | 66 | 4 | 30 | 32 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | Notre Dame | 33 | 0 | 21.4 | .463 | .379 | .803 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 7.3 |
| 2017–18* | Notre Dame | 38 | 38 | 34.4 | .520 | .282 | .789 | 6.6 | 3.7 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 14.5 |
| 2018–19 | Notre Dame | 38 | 37 | 32.2 | .528 | .452 | .785 | 7.4 | 5.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 14.7 |
| Career | 109 | 75 | 29.7 | .512 | .364 | .790 | 6.3 | 3.5 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 12.4 | |
