The senior guard has had nights where he struggles shooting the ball. There have been other times—like November 23 at UMass Lowell, January 10 against Siena and last Saturday against Niagara—where he’s relegated to the bench for the entirety of the game.
But in Friday’s nationally-televised, come-from-behind 99-90 win over Sacred Heart, Young played the best he’s played all year, and it’s a personal testament to the work he’s put in behind the scenes.
“Just playing hard, staying ready, just being the vet that I am, you gotta stay ready, and that’s what I did today,” Young said postgame, describing his work ethic. “I work really hard. I don’t get down on my stuff. I know I don’t play a lot, but I mean, I'm not trying to be an energy sucker. I want to be somebody the younger guys can look up to when they're not doing well.”
He scored a season-best 18 points, drilled a pair of massive threes to swing the momentum right back in Quinnipiac’s direction, and used his perimeter defense to stifle a number of chances the Pioneers had in building their lead.
“I’m on Doug's tail, man, like he hasn’t played in a lot of games,” head coach Tom Pecora said. “I love him. I want him to be great here, and I want him to be even better when he leaves here. And you know, sometimes, as a coach, you gotta discipline guys and you gotta let guys know what life’s all about if you want them to reap their potential.”
So what did Young do in the recent weeks to earn his coach’s trust?
“Doug was worthy of getting in the game tonight because he’s been handling his business,” Pecora said. “He’s been practicing hard and doing all the things we need him to do to win games.”
“He had a great week of practice and it showed,” junior forward Amarri Monroe added. “You know we can depend on Doug. He doesn’t play one night, that won’t affect him. He’s ready to go whenever his name is called.”
Monroe himself had a career night, as did what seemed like most of the Bobcats’ roster. Monroe grabbed a career-best 19 rebounds to go with his 29 points. Freshman guard Jaden Zimmerman—who came off the bench and played most of the second half—tied Monroe with 29 points, which set his career high. And graduate forward Paul Otieno recorded yet another double-double (20 points, 16 rebounds) to outman Sacred Heart’s interior defense.
“I’m just so happy for them, all of the guys, they needed this win,” Pecora said. “I’m tough on them when we lose. Potential is a scary word, but we’ve seen how good we can be in various halves of games. We’ve never really seen how good we can be for 40 minutes, so I’m hoping that we hit our stride mid-month and we carry it through mid-March.”
Halfway through the second half, Young began to replace sophomore Khaden Bennett as the Bobcats’ traditional shooting guard. Bennett had struggled Friday, missing all three shots that he took and had a season-high four turnovers, the third time he’s done that. When Young took his place, the offense—and by and large, the defense—picked up the pace. The tempo started to speed up and Young, who went 6-for-9 shooting from the field, was a key cog in that machine.
“I take a lot of pride in my defense because that’s gonna get me on the court,” Young said.
The rest of the Quinnipiac roster sensed his effort, and the pride that Young has in his defense, his teammates have in him.
“He gets in there, he works,” Monroe said. “It showed on the national stage today, and I’m just super happy for him.”
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