BREAKING: Jackie Young entering WNBA Draft
A league source tells High Post Hoops that Jackie Young, Notre Dame junior, has entered the WNBA Draft.
Young had until later this evening to enter the draft, and had to renounce her final year of eligibility at Notre Dame to do so. Just before 5 PM, WNBA teams received official word that she had.
The decision shakes up the process for the league’s teams, especially in the top half of the first round.
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Young enters the draft in the same year that four of her teammates — Arike Ogunbowale, Jessica Shepard, Brianna Turner and Marina Mabrey — are all graduating, and each of the four is also projected by High Post Hoops to be drafted as well.
Young is a remarkably efficient shooter, north of 53 percent from two, 45 percent from three, and her athleticism at 6′ makes her an intriguing pick for anyone looking to add star power at the two, the three or even the one, given her 23.4 percent assist rate.
Young’s departure means Notre Dame will be reloading next season with a vastly younger team, after two consecutive seasons in the national title game, including a 2018 national championship.
Young will be appealing to everyone from New York, where she can play alongside Kia Nurse in the backcourt, to Chicago, where she offers an intriguing change of pace from Allie Quigley, or even a potential small forward next to either Gabby Williams or Diamond DeShields on the wing, not to mention Indiana, who will be without Victoria Vivians in 2019 due to injury.
The WNBA Draft will be held Wednesday night, April 10 in New York.
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