New York State of Mind
March 25, 2007 06:59 PM | General
March 25, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It was an opportunity by chance if ever there was one. Flash back to the 2005 Big East tournament. West Virginia, having just dispatched Providence 82-59 in the first round, was set to battle No. 7-rated and No. 1-seeded Boston College in the quarterfinal round on Thursday afternoon.
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| Frank Young returns to the city where it all started for him two years ago when he filled in for Tyrone Sally at the 2005 Big East championships.
All-Pro Photography Dale Sparks |
The Mountaineers would have the Madison Square Garden stage to prove to the nation that they were a program on the rise. There was just one problem: late on Wednesday evening, senior leader Tyrone Sally came down with the flu.
Enter Frank Young.
After riding the pine for the better part of two seasons, the Tallahassee, Fla., native -- then a sophomore -- scored what was then a career-high 14 points: 13 of them in the first half including two long distance 3s just ahead of the halftime buzzer to give the Mountaineers a 44-22 lead. Young stepped up, introducing himself to Mountaineer fans everywhere on basketball’s grandest stage.
The rest, as they say, is history. Few could have predicted on that day that Young’s shot of energy in the first half would become a catalyst for a Big East tournament championship appearance as well as a magical run to the Elite Eight.
Even fewer could have imagined Young surpassing the likes of Chris Leonard and Kevin Pittsnogle to become West Virginia’s most prolific 3-point shooter in one season (107 and counting). No one could have believed that as a senior Young would lift a young team on his shoulders and carry them through another scintillating postseason run.
On Tuesday night when West Virginia battles fellow No. 1 seed Mississippi State in the NIT semifinals, Young’s journey will come full circle -- from the coming out party at MSG to farewell tour in just over two years.
“It is going to be a great feeling to play in the Garden again,” Young said. “The Garden is the second gym that I would want to finish my career in if I can’t finish it at home. There is a lot of tradition there and I have had some good moments there.”
Young gave himself and his team the opportunity to get back to the Garden by taking over in the second half against both UMass and N.C. State. Coming off a career-high 31 points in a second-round victory over the Minutemen, Young scored 25 points including two critical 3s in the second half to give WVU a 71-66 victory over the Wolfpack last Thursday night.
Young has played the best basketball of his career during this NIT run. In three games so far the senior forward has made 26 of 38 field goal attempts for 68.4 percent. The 6-5 forward is 14 of 20 from 3-point distance for 70 percent and is averaging 24.3 points per game. He has hit 12 of his last 17 3-point attempts.
Young considers it a privilege to be the go-to guy for his team.
“This whole season I have been putting this team on my shoulders because I am the senior and I am the leader,” Young said. “It has been great for me to be able to step up in these situations late in the year when my team has needed me to knock down those shots the most.”
Young admits that early in his career he became frustrated with a lack of playing time. It was also difficult for him to watch all three freshmen he entered school with leave to pursue other opportunities. Through the good times and bad, Young believes the success he has been a part of over the last four years, and the leadership he has been able to impart to this year’s team, has been well worth any struggles he may have endured early in his career.
“To have the success we are having right now in a year when nobody expected much from us is a great thing,” Young said. “It is a dream of any player I think to be able to put the team on your shoulders and be a leader and a go-to guy on the team. It is worth waiting four years for.”
As his career winds down, Young believes an NIT championship would be a valuable piece to his Mountaineer legacy, and also lay a rock-solid foundation for next year’s team.
“It would be a great feeling, especially for a team that is supposed to be rebuilding this year,” Young said. “It would be a great way to finish this season and it would definitely be some positive momentum for the young players that will be returning next year to have that confidence going into next season.”
Win or lose in New York, Frank Young’s career has come full circle. From fresh face to fierce leader, Young will experience a final curtain call at Madison Square Garden, back where it all began.
