Aug. 14, 2009

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Soon to be sophomore Kevin Young has yet to have his feet touch the ground since he enrolled at LMU and joined the men's basketball team as a freshman in the fall of 2008. Over a year later, Young has crammed enough experience in 12 months that many college students cram into a career.

Just months after starting every game for the Lions as a true freshman, smashing every freshman rebounding record in the process and establishing himself as a potential star in the WCC, Young continued his whirlwind tour when he was selected to play for Puerto Rico (Kevin's mother is Puerto Rican, qualifying him to play for their national teams) at the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championships in New Zealand this past July.

Instead of us telling you of his experience this summer, we decided to ask him, and here is what Kevin Young had to say about playing in the U19 World Championships:

This summer I was given the opportunity to play for the 19 and under Puerto Rican National Team. The team placed fourth in the tournament of Americas, before I joined them, which gave them a spot in the world championship tournament hosted in New Zealand. Our team had a lot of good players that could score at will, which helped me improve different aspects of my game.

In some games I didn't score as much as usual, but I passed the ball a lot more, I took my time instead of shooting the first shot that opened up. The coaches stressed more ball movement and to shift the defense around, making it easier to score. I also tried to get better at setting screens, which not only got my teammates open but myself as well. Our plays consisted of several staggered screens and down screens for our shooters, which also helped me work on setting a strong and aggressive, but legal, screen.

The day after I landed in Puerto Rico, the team had its first official practice. The practice was very different from any practice I been to before. Players from all over Puerto Rico had come to play and each and everyone played with a passion that I hadn't seen before. They played 10 times harder than I expected. I knew that the players would play harder because our first couple of practices were more like try outs and some players would unfortunately have to be cut from the team, but even after those days the intensity didn't drop and players were still diving on the ball and sprinting on fast breaks. The practices were also very physical. There were times where players wanted to fight each other because elbows were thrown and fouls were committed. Our practices continued to be hard throughout the championship tournament. The practices alone have helped me become a much better player and I will bring the same intensity to all my practices starting with my next one.

My experience overall was fun and great. I enjoyed playing with all the players and against all the other teams. The courts and gyms were different in some arenas but I tried to not let it bother me that much, because both teams had to play on the same court. Most teams were a lot bigger than us, which worked for and against us in some games. In the Lithuania game the players were a lot bigger but didn't run the floor as much as we did which. It gave us an advantage in the long run during the two times we played them. The toughest team we played in New Zealand was the USA team because they had so many players that could do everything on the floor. They also played like a team throughout every game and didn't argue amongst each other.

One of the biggest things I've learned was that there are so many players all over the world that want to play in the NBA and make a living off this game. That alone motives me to become a better player because if I'm not working hard I know there is another player out there somewhere working hard.

Puerto Rico, who placed 16th with no wins two years ago at the U19 World Championships, had a huge turn around. Young helped the team place sixth overall and finish with a 5-4 overall record. Young averaged 7.7 points, five rebounds and 0.9 assists while shooting 56.6 percent from the field in nine games. He averaged 23 minutes per game with his best performance coming in an 80-73 win over Lithuania, scoring 18 points and 12 rebounds.

To see all of Young's stats, go to the FIBA World Championships website.