The Knight to Cats Blog

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Jitim Young

This site isn't all about bad news.  As much fun as we have in our player profiles, we would also like to take the time to praise those who actually put together great careers at NU.  So, the first entry in our Northwestern Legends section, Jitim Young.

Before Jitim even came to Northwestern he was already a local hero.  He starred at Gordon Tech in Chicago where he arveraged 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. 

Arriving at NU in 2000, Jitim became the best player on the team almost right away. He was the only freshman in the Big Ten to be a starter that season.  As a junior and senior he led the team in every statistical category, quite a feat for a guy who was short even for a guard.  Young was so good as a senior that he was named First Team All Big Ten.  

While the numbers are impressive (sixth on Northwestern's all-time scoring list with 1,521 points, all-time leader in games started (117), and ranks second in minutes played (3,849), second in steals (215), tied for second in games played (117), fifth in field goals made (548), sixth in three-point field goals made (108), and tenth in free throws made (317)) they are nothing compared to the level of energy and desire that Young played with. 

We will always recall our meetings with him fondly.  One on the court after his "shot heard round the world" against Penn State, and one at the homecoming football game a couple of years back.  Jitim was there hanging out with knighttocats.com favorite and NU graduate Mike Wilbon, and we were heard to proclaim "this is so exciting, our favorite two Northwestern alums in one place".