Young’s legacy at UCI impressive
Alex Young wears the wrong number.
The UC Irvine senior point guard, who owns the school’s career assists record, it turns out, could not be any less concerned about numero uno.
Even when discussing his propensity for generosity, the four-year starter distributes benevolence more easily than a two-hand chest pass.
“Now that it has happened, it’s something I accomplished and it’s something great,” Young said of the 551 assists he takes into Thursday’s 6 p.m. Big West Conference men’s basketball tournament quarterfinal against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at Honda Center. “But that being said, credit has to go to my teammates. I’ll take a little credit, but they are the ones who score and make my job easier. All I have to do is pass them the ball at the right time and in the right position. And then there are my coaches, who call the right plays and put me in positions to make plays.”
Young, who will make his 125th career start in his 139th game for the Anteaters (24-8) on Thursday, is a pivotal figure in four straight seasons with more than 20 wins, a first in program history. A three-year captain who averages 10 points and 4.4 assists per game, and who ranks No. 16 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.26), the 6-foot-2 standout has been part of 89 wins in his four seasons. The spoils have also included two Big West regular-season titles, including a co-championship this year, and the program’s only conference tournament crown, that created the ‘Eaters’ first NCAA Tournament appearance last season.
“To have won 20-plus games every season I’ve been here is a great accomplishment,” said Young, a second-team All-Big West honoree who with 32 more assists can tie former UNLV point guard Danny Tarkanian at No. 5 in Big West career annals. “It’s something that everyone is proud of, but [the most wins during any UCI player’s tenure] is nothing to be selfish about. Hopefully, a team in the near future could win 30 games in a season. Heck, it could be us this year. We still have a chance to do that. If we win three this week [in Anaheim] and we make a little run in the NCAA Tournament [to the Elite Eight], we could be at 30.”
Tossing lofty goals around like alley-oop passes is second-nature to Young, who hails from Phoenix, Ore., a town of fewer than 5,000 people that, Young said, has just one grocery store and one gas station.
It’s a place that is central to both his refreshing humility and his determination to defy those who said his small-town prowess would never translate into big-time acclaim.
“I’m proud of where I come from and being able to do the things I’ve done,” said Young, who has 10 games this season in which he has not committed a turnover. “Being able to prove people wrong who said I would never make it out of there and never play Division I basketball has made it that much sweeter. It has really motivated me to put Phoenix on the map and make a lot of people happy, which I think I’ve done.
“Not to brag or boast, but I’m probably one of the biggest things that’s happened to Phoenix [where his four-season varsity career saw him named all-conference four times, conference player of the year twice and conference defensive player of the year once]. We won a state championship my junior year, the first in the 60-year history of the school.”
Jani Hale, the principal at Phoenix High the past six years, said Young is nothing short of a hero on campus and around town.
“Alex has a zest for life that uplifted those around him, whether he was at a function, an assembly, or just walking down the hall,” Hale said. “I will be forgotten here, but Alex’s legacy lives on here as a testament to what can happen on a team when you have that kind of leadership.”
Asked if Young’s name might one day appear on a sign welcoming visitors to Phoenix, Hale enthusiastically embraced the notion.
“We will milk it for everything it’s worth,” Hale said. “And we’ll have to put a banner in our gym.”
Young said he was recruited by mid-major programs on the West Coast, but UCI was the only school from which he received a scholarship offer before he verbally committed as a high school junior.
UCI Coach Russell Turner, in his sixth season, said Young’s arrival was a catalyst to the program’s unprecedented run of Big West championships.
“There’s no question that [signing Young] was the first great break for us,” Turner said. “We had recruited some other really good players [such as 2015 graduate Will Davis], but for Alex to be able to come in as a freshman and be a difference-maker at that position, it changed what was possible for us.”
Turner said Young’s versatile skill set that includes scoring (1,246 career points), passing, defense (146 steals to rank No. 4 in school annals, 22 shy of taking the top spot), and intangibles such as leadership, have helped the Anteaters flourish since he arrived.
“It’s a great legacy he has,” Turner said. “He has to be considered the winningest player, No. 1, and obviously, he is the assist leader. Those two things combined really make him one of the best players in program history, which is what we thought he’d become when we realized how good he was as a freshman. He has been a vital leader; a three-year captain on championship teams. Not many guys can say that anywhere, much less a school like ours, so his performance has just been outstanding. I know how much I appreciate him and how much our staff and everyone else in our program appreciates what he has been for us.
“He has played his position with great authority in terms of being able to control the game, and he also has great character,” Turner said. “He has the qualities we wanted to build a program around. I have belief and trust in him as a player and as a guy, and when you have that in your point guard, that’s the best feeling to have as a coach.”
Young said he aspires to play professionally in Europe after earning his sociology degree in June. And, ultimately, he would like to coach college basketball.
Aiding the development of others in the game he loves would, one might say, perpetually add to that assist total.
