‘She has so many gifts’: Las Vegas native leads Lady Rebels to success

UNLV women’s basketball center Desi-Rae Young was — as her coach Lindy La Rocque put it — “unapologetically herself” in the wake of the Lady Rebels’ third straight Mountain West tournament title.

Young, after scoring a game-high 18 points in the championship game March 13, was asked what made this run different than the previous two. The senior didn’t hold back.

“It’s because we’re the best in the Mountain West,” Young said. “No one wants to compete with us. Every time somebody plays us, they give us their hardest game, but it’s not hard enough.”

Teammates Kiara Jackson and Alyssa Brown laughed as Young spoke her mind. La Rocque, once the players were dismissed, said with a grin: “Welcome to my world. You get that once a year. I get it every day.”

Young earned her bravado. The four-year starter has been a cornerstone of UNLV’s turnaround, which will continue when the No. 10-seeded Lady Rebels (30-2) begin their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance against No. 7 Creighton (25-5) at 4 p.m. Saturday at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

“Coaching Desi for four years has been a joy and she keeps me on my toes,” La Rocque said. “Her own improvement and just her commitment to continuing to expand her game, it’s been critical to our success.”

Young was the centerpiece of another successful season for UNLV.

She led the Lady Rebels in scoring with 17.9 points per game and was named the Mountain West player of the year for the second time.

The Desert Oasis graduate is second on UNLV’s all-time scoring list with 1,987 points, behind only Linda Frohlich (2,355). Young is the Lady Rebels’ all-time leader in double-doubles with 56.

It’s been an incredible career for a player that had only two Division I college offers in high school. Even Young said she couldn’t have imagined becoming one of the program’s all-time greats.

“I set goals for myself my freshman year and I told myself, I said, ‘Let’s make a change at UNLV,’ ” Young said. “I think I’ve done a really good job of that and also (of) challenging myself.”

Former Desert Oasis coach Laurie Evans said Young was “so raw” when she started playing high school basketball. But Young was super coachable.

“She was fun to be around and the loudest in all the right ways,” Evans said. “She worked hard. We knew she was going to be something.”

Young committed to UNLV her junior year at Desert Oasis. Young admitted she would foul out a lot and was a “hothead” at times. She said her commitment to the Lady Rebels was a turning point.

“I knew it was time for me to change my ways and grow up and understand that you are playing at the next level where everyone was the best in high school,” Young said. “I had to come out and prove to myself and my teammates and the coaches that I’m here to play, here to compete.”

La Rocque called Evans to ask about Young after being hired as UNLV’s coach in March 2020. Evans recalled saying she believed Young could become a great college player thanks to her work ethic and athletic ability.

“The fact that she was improving so fast in high school with limited resources, I knew if she could get the opportunity to go to a Division I school with all the resources and coaching I was really hopeful that she could excel,” said Evans, who now coaches at Mountainside High School in Oregon.

La Rocque was hired at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. She said once she and Young were able to get in the gym they got along right away.

“She has so many gifts,” La Rocque said. “I can’t teach the aggression or even some of her IQ. She had that already. We’ve worked a lot on all her surrounding skills and each year she’s gotten better and better.”

Young was named the Mountain West’s freshman of the year in 2021 and won her first conference player of the year award the following season. A win on Saturday would be UNLV’s first in the tournament since 1991, which Young said is her next goal.

“It’s just to get further in the tournament to get that experience,” Young said. “We need to go in there and play hard and play for each other and play for our city.”

Evans said Young is one of her favorite players she’s coached. That’s because of the passion Young still displays, whether on the court or at the microphone.

“I was hoping that this would happen with all the accolades,” Evans said. “I’m so glad that people around the league are seeing it and that she’s getting all this credit with the awards because she deserves it.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.