April 15, 2004

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Courtney Young, a guard/forward from Ventura, Calif., has signed a scholarship offer to study and play basketball at UC Santa Barbara, head coach Mark French announced Thursday.

The 5'11" Young joins the Gauchos after spending two seasons with the Ventura College women's basketball team, where she earned Western State Conference Player of the Year honors in both 2002-03 and 2003-04. After averaging 19.9 points, 4.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds as a sophomore while leading VC to a 27-4 overall record, she was named one of 10 Junior College All-Americans by the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association.

Young - who originally signed a National Letter of Intent at Tennessee prior to the 2001-02 season but never played for the Lady Vols - will have two years of eligibility remaining at UCSB beginning with the upcoming 2004-05 campaign.

"Courtney is an outstanding young woman, as well as one of the top junior college players in the country, and we are thrilled to welcome her to our Gaucho family," Santa Barbara head coach Mark French said. "I think her goal is simply to do whatever she can to help make our team better, and that's a very admirable quality considering all the accolades she has earned as a basketball player."

Young enjoyed a stellar prep career at Ventura's Buena High School, receiving All-America recognition from numerous publications including USA Today, Parade and Student Sports. In 2000-01 she joined current Gauchos Mia Fisher, Kristen Mann and Brandy Richardson among Blue Star Index's Top-100 high school seniors, checking in at No. 55 nationally. Young transferred to Buena from Crossroads High School in Los Angeles, where she earned the first of her four consecutive All-CIF awards. Additionally, she was invited to the United States Junior National Team Trials two times as a prepster.

"Courtney is very athletic and has a great mid-range game, but she's very versatile and can post up or shoot the three extremely well," French said. "She will primarily be a wing player in our system, and our motion offense seems to suit her game naturally. With Courtney, and our other talented players, we will be able to put certain lineups on the court that will be among the quickest in Gaucho history."

UCSB - which is coming off its first-ever NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and ninth consecutive Big West Conference regular season title - has one more scholarship it can potentially award during the 2004 Spring Late Signing Period.