Football
Associated Press 17y

Young's journey takes him from Iraq to NCAA tourney

DENTON, Texas -- Rich Young's road to the NCAA Tournament
includes a firefight in Iraq and peacekeeping in Kosovo.

Now that the North Texas senior forward -- an ex-Marine and Iraq
War veteran -- is about to play in the postseason tournament, he can
hardly believe his good fortune.

"I always wanted to play in the NCAA Tournament, and I always
wanted to play college basketball in Division I," Young said
Monday. "And it's hard to believe I actually get that
opportunity."

Young, 26, fills up most every line of the stat sheet for the
Mean Green (23-10), who are making their second NCAA Tournament
appearance and first since 1988. North Texas, a 15 seed, is
scheduled to play second-seeded Memphis on Friday in New Orleans.

He admits he isn't much of a scorer, but he does everything
else. The sometimes starter averages about 5.9 points per game. He
is third on the team in rebounding with 4.5 boards per game and
second in assists, steals, and blocks. He's also a 77 percent
free-throw shooter, second-best among the regular Mean Green
players.

Young is the first player in school history to record at least
40 assists, 25 blocks and 25 steals in the same season.

"He does everything, all the small stuff," teammate Quincy
Williams said. "All the things we need to be a successful team. No
back-talk -- just a disciplined and solid guy."

North Texas coach Johnny Jones said he likes how Young has
brought a bit of the Marines to the Mean Green. He praised Young's
maturity, attitude and leadership -- traits the coach said he hopes
can rub off on the team's underclassmen, some of whom are eight
years younger.

"They have a good deal of respect for him because they know how
he is and what he is about," Jones said. "He's no nonsense. You
can see he has a great deal of discipline in his life."

For four years, from high school graduation in 1999 until his
discharge in 2003, Young lived an orderly world of salutes and
spit-shined shoes. He had some low Division I scholarship offers
coming out of Farrell (Pa.) High, but chose the Marines instead.

"I guess just the challenge was attractive to me," Young said.
"I just wanted to do it because people said it was tough and
probably the hardest branch to go to."

After boot camp, he spent most of his time at Camp Lejeune in
North Carolina. He was also deployed overseas for 10 months, with
stops in Kosovo, Kenya and Djibouti.

Sgt. Young spent about two months in Iraq in 2003, securing a
dangerous stretch of road known as "Ambush Alley" for the
frequent attacks on U.S. convoys speeding to Baghdad.

He never had to pull a trigger, but he and his patrol unit were
shot at in one incident that lasted a few seconds. Young said his
training kicked in immediately.

"When it finally did happen, it was, 'OK, here we go,'" he
said. "You don't spend too much time standing around looking.
That's what gets you in trouble."

Young's Marine commitment ended in the summer of 2003 and he
considered re-enlisting. But a cousin convinced him to join him on
a junior college basketball team, so Young headed out to Eastern
Oklahoma State.

Jones, who was recruiting another player, took a closer look at
Young at the urging of the coach there.

"The more we watched him, the more we really started liking
him," Jones said.

That fortunate encounter -- and the Mean Green's Sun Belt
Tournament championship -- helped Young achieve his goal of playing
in the NCAA Tournament.

The Marines helped him fulfill some other goals: seeing the
world and serving his country. The best part of wearing a uniform,
he said, "was the pride you feel in being a Marine."

Unsure when he will graduate, Young said he might eventually
rejoin the service.

"It was demanding physicallly and mentally but it was a good
experience for me," Young said. "It helped me mature, grow into a
man."

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