Aces All-Star named 2022 WNBA’s Most Improved Player

Another day, another award for the Aces.

Fourth-year wing Jackie Young was named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player on Monday. She is the first player in Aces franchise history to win the award.

Young, the 2019 No. 1 overall pick, received 32 of the 56 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu finished second with 10 votes. Phoenix Mercury wing Sophie Cunningham was third with seven votes.

Aces guard Kelsey Plum was the only other player outside the top three to earn more than one vote. She received four.

A former Notre Dame star and 2018 NCAA champion, Young is the second member of the organization to win a major award this season. Coach Becky Hammon was selected as Coach of the Year on Friday.

Young earned her first All-Star selection this year, starting for Team Breanna Stewart and participating in the WNBA Skills Challenge as well. She averaged 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, all career highs. Her 3-point efficiency also improved from 25 percent in 2021 to 43.1 percent in 2022, third-highest in the league.

“We made a few changes to my shot,” she said. “I think the biggest thing is getting it up and keeping it on the right side of my body.

“But I think a lot of it is just a confidence thing, just coming in with a positive mindset, being confident to knock down the shots.”

The Princeton, Indiana, native also earned a WNBA Player of the Week award for the first time in her career in mid-May and signed a two-year extension that will keep her with the Aces until at least 2024.

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.