Freshmen Tandem Bolster Notre Dame's Case As Preseason No. 1
For the fourth straight year, two McDonald’s All-American freshmen are projected to make major impacts on Notre Dame’s aspiration to win a national title.
Forward Erin Boley and guard Jackie Young — named the Gatorade and Naismith National Player of the Year, respectively — continue a tradition that has put the Fighting Irish behind only Connecticut as the nation’s top women’s basketball program since 2010.
• In 2013‑14, point guard Lindsay Allen started all 36 games for the Final Four team, led the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio and was named a third-team freshman All-American, while forward Taya Reimer (now at Michigan State) was the top player off the bench.
• In 2014-15, post Brianna Turner was named national freshman of the year by at least one outlet, while forward Kathryn Westbeld’s 39 appearances as a rookie tied a school record.
• Last year as super subs off the bench, freshmen Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey averaged 11.4 and 10.7 points per game, respectively, while making the All-ACC Freshman Team.
It was the first time since the 1981‑82 season — the infancy stage of the Fighting Irish program — two freshmen at Notre Dame averaged double-digit scoring. Yet it wouldn’t be a surprise if it occurred with Boley and Young. With Mabrey and Ogunbowale now in the starting lineup, the new freshmen duo that combined for an otherworldly 6,593 career points in high school will take on the “instant offense” role.
Young’s 3,268 points were the most ever by any Indiana girls or boys player, and she averaged 34.9 points per game as a senior. Boley, meanwhile, tallied 3,325 career points while beginning her Kentucky high school playing career in the eighth grade.
Most encouraging to 30th-year Fighting Irish head coach Muffet McGraw is neither is measuring her value by scoring output.
“They really don’t care how many points they score,” she said. “I talked to both about their goals, and scoring wasn’t even mentioned. … The biggest challenge to me is who is that glue player going to be? Who is going to be out there that doesn’t need to score, but just wants to facilitate?
“There are a lot of scorers, but only one ball. Who will bring that ability to make the pass and the little plays? That’s something I’m actually a little worried about. … That’s going to be my challenge, to figure out who plays well together.”
How much the two rookies aid the defense and rebounding will better dictate their minutes, because McGraw said both already have the green light to shoot and score.
“That’s what they do best, and I want them to be comfortable doing it and try not to do anything to discourage their confidence,” McGraw said. “The defense, the rebounding, those kind of things get you on the floor a little quicker than offense, although both of them are so accomplished offensively. That’s the least of my worries. It’s, ‘Can you guard at the other end?’”
For the 6-0 Young, defense always has been a mandate, but her scoring prowess overshadowed it.
“I feel like some people think that because I was the all-time leading scorer, that’s all I did, and I didn’t have to play defense,” Young said. “But during AAU [summer basketball], I would want to take the best player on the other team and show people that I could guard. I think that will be my role here, too.”
For McGraw, Young’s pressure defense and rebounding has been a standout aspect in practices. Even in last spring’s McDonald’s All-America Game, Young corralled 10 rebounds to go with her 15 points and two steals in 28 minutes.
“Jackie’s made great strides,” McGraw said. “She’s athletic and really can guard on the perimeter, and we need that.”
Young credited Rachel Thompson, her coach from the third grade through high school, for instilling a defensive mentality.
“She would always preach that defense wins games, and we would work on defense,” Young said. “She nailed that into my head, so I always want to make sure I play good defense .
“I feel like on this team I have to play good defense and I have to get rebounds to be on the floor. I have to take pride in that and work hard every day in practice so that whenever I get into a game, it just becomes natural.”
At 6-2, Boley will have the role of a “stretch four,” a power forward with guard-like skills that can beat you off the dribble or drain the three-point shot, her forte.
“She’s the best on the team, no question about it,” McGraw said of Boley’s marksmanship beyond the arc. “We want her to be our leading three-point shooter."
Like Young, Boley does not want to be labeled as primarily a supreme scorer or one-dimensional player.
“I am a shooter, but there are a lot of other parts to my game as well,” Boley said. “I consider myself petty versatile. Talking to Coach, shooting the three is one role she wants me to fill, and so that is one thing I definitely will be doing for this team. I’m going to need to be able to play different spots. I need to be a stretch four and a big three, and be able to play on the wing. I need to be able to guard the post.”
Boley recorded a perfect 4.0 grade point average in high school, while Young also nearly did with a 3.87 GPA.
One way or the other, they always seem to make the grade.
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne's Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD,
@BGI_MattJones, @BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.
• Like us on Facebook