Despite Ivy League grades; SEC remained in J'Adore Young's heart

For J'Adore Young, the numbers all were in one place. Her heart, however, was somewhere else.

With a 4.94 grade-point average, a 6-foot-4 frame, and the No. 55 ranking national ranking by HoopseenW/All Star Girls Report, the senior post player from Greenville (SC) Senior High School was drawing attention from the Ivy League schools. No knock on the Ivy League, Young said, but it wasn't what she had in mind.

"I always said I wanted to play in the SEC,'' Young said.

That's understandable for a girl from South Carolina and she will get the chance to play in the SEC after recently making a commitment to Ole Miss.

It wasn't like the SEC was beating down Young's door. In fact, Ole Miss was the only SEC school, as well as the only Power Five school, to step up and make an offer to Young.

"When I visited, I knew right away that was the place I wanted to go,'' Young said. "I just felt like there was a natural, and very strong, bond with the coaching staff and the players.''

Young was careful in formulating the words on what she wants to accomplish over the next four years of her life. It would have been easy and logical for her to use the word "revenge'' when talking about what she hopes to show the rest of the SEC. Instead, she chose to use a more polite word.

"I think I would call it something more like motivation,'' Young said.

"J'Adore is a very good athlete whose post fundamentals were developed by (trainer) Jerome Dickerson. That's a great combination for success. I predict that Young will be a three-year starter at Ole Miss.'' according to Nate Altenhofen, National Director of Scouting for HoopseenW.

That's a healthy approach because Young's high school coach, Anthony Gowens, said Young always has flourished when she's motivated.

"I have no doubt she can play in the SEC,'' Gowens said.. "She came in here and stood up to every challenge that was thrown at her the last three years and I'm more than sure she has one more great year in her here before she heads off to college. We want to send her out with a bang. We want to send her out with a state title.''

Young isn't the type to lie, so she's not going to tell you she has some personal goals in mind before finishing high school. She is on the verge of becoming the first player in school history to score 1,000 points, collect 1,000 rebounds and block 500 shots. An injury is about the only thing that can prevent her from reaching that goal.

Last year, Young led the Red Raiders in points (18.5 per game), rebounds (13.9) and blocks (6.7). You also can throw in the fact that she averaged 1.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

But it's not just about statistics for Young.

In a playoff loss to Pickens last season, Young scored 21 points, grabbed 21 rebounds and blocked 11 shots. Greenville Senior has all but two players back from last season. Pickens also will have most of its players back. It's the same story for Pickens. So, it's already clear that the Red Raiders will have to get past Pickens to emerge from Region 2-AAAA to have a shot at a state title.

Although it certainly is possible that Greenville Senior could once again lose to Pickens in the state playoffs, the Red Raiders will be led by a girl who already has shown consistent determination on her way to defying the odds.

"I guess the best way to summarize it with J'Adore is that she handles her business on and off the court,'' Gowens said.