With only a few days before the Tokyo Olympics officially begin, Notre Dame has some new blood for the U.S. Former Irish guard Jackie Young, a member of the 2018 national championship team, has been named a late addition to Team USA for the new 3-on-3 basketball event. She will take the place of Katie Lou Samuelson, who was forced to pull out after entering health and safety protocols. The other members of the team are Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray and Young’s Las Vegas Aces teammate Kelsey Plum.
Young, the top overall pick in the 2019 WNBA draft, is in her third season with the Aces, who are one game back of the Seattle Storm for first in the Western Conference. She has started all 21 games for the Aces while averaging 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals a game.
The preliminary round for the 3-on-3 competition will begin Saturday and run through July 27, which also is the day of the quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals will be played July 28. One person who will be watching is Irish coach Niele Ivey, who was associate head coach during Young’s time in South Bend:
🍀🍀🍀🍀 Good luck in Tokyo @JackieYoung3 https://t.co/1p1uw7K5Cq
— Niele Ivey (@IrishCoachIvey) July 19, 2021