One of the great names in the history of women’s basketball, Sophia Young, a native of the St. Vincent, The Grenadines, didn’t touch a basketball until jr high at the age of 15. After becoming an exchange student in Shreveport, Louisiana, Young only played basketball a year before falling in love with the sport and had the drive to want to be better. Coach Kim Mulkey took a chance on Young after seeing her eagerness to learn and ability to take direction.
After moving to Waco, Texas, Young started making her legacy with the Lady Bears in 2002. During her rookie season she averaged 14.2 points and 10 rebounds per game and had 28 double-figure scoring, 17 double-figure rebounding, and 17 double-double games. As a freshman she led the Big 12 in rebounding, ranked fourth in steals and made the All-Big 12 honorable mention selection. In the 2004-’05 season, Young averaged 23 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She helped lead the Lady Bears to the 2005 Big 12 Tournament title, earned Big 12 Tournament MVP, and led them to a NCAA Championship appearance. Young scored 26 points, nine rebounds, and four assists against Michigan State to help win Baylor’s first ever NCAA Championship title. She racked up accolades from Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, first-team All-America honors from both Kodak and U.S. Basketball Writers Association of America. In her final season for the Lady Bears in 2005-’06, she ranked second nationally in scoring average, second in the Big 12 in defensive rebounds per game and steals per game . She graduated as the Big 12’s all-time leader in points (2,480), rebounds (1,316) and double-doubles (61) and made 120 consecutive starts while playing in every game of her collegiate career (139). In her last season, she earned All-America honors from the Associated Press, United States Basketball Writers Association of America and Kodak, as well as Big 12 Player of the Year honors. She is one of seven to have reached 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career and became the fourth player in NCAA history to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 assists and 300 steals.
Her talent flowed into her professional career as she was Baylor’s highest-ever draft pick in the WNBA with a 4th overall selection to the San Antonio Silver Stars in 2006. In 2008, Young helped lead the Star their the Western Conference championship and advanced to their first WNBA Finals.Over her nine seasons with the Stars, she played 301 career games, scored 4,300 points and 1,807 rebounds in her career, and averaged 14.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.59 steals overall. Throughout her professional career she was a four-time All-WNBA ,two-time WNBA All-Defensive team, four-time WNBA All-Star , and was a part of the San Antonio Stars All-Decade Team in 2012. During the off-season she went abroad and helped lead Galatasaray in Turkey to the EuroCup title three times and the Turkish Cup title in 2009-’10. She also played for teams in Italy and China.
After her retirement in 2015, Young led an AAU basketball program called Sophia Young Elite where her program produced multiple Division 1 student-athletes. In addition, she also coached at a local Christian school in San Antonio collecting winning records in the 2018-’19 and 2019-’20 seasons. This year, Young is returning back to her alma mater to take on the role as Assistant AD for Player Development for the Lady Bears. She was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.
