Jada Young has been a consistent piece of the Long County Lady Blue Tide basketball team over the last four years. Her performance on the court has ended with a scholarship as she signed to continue her career with the University of South Carolina- Beaufort.
Young was joined by coaches, teammates, friends and family on Wednesday, May 10 to see her sign to play with the Sand Sharks. Several people came up to speak, including Liberty County and AAU teammate Destiny Grider, Lady Tide head coach Dwayne Reviere, and even Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman, who coached Young in AAU and whose daughter Taniyah will be her teammate in college.
Blue Tide athletic director Reggie Wilkes said Young dealt with many trials and tribulations throughout high school, including three head coaching changes.
“Jada was one of the first people I met when I moved to Long County,” Wilkes said. “It has been a change for her and she’s adapted to that well.”
Reviere said he felt like a different person from his first season coaching her to his last.
“One thing I can say about Jada is that first year was tough. It was the COVID year and I was just starting out as head coach,” he said. “I didn’t get to see them much during the summer…We didn’t win as many games I thought we should have and I would get down on myself, but Jada was always there to pat me on the back and say ‘Come on, coach. We gonna get ‘em next time.’” Young said the Sand Sharks were the perfect fit for her.
“As soon as I walked on campus, it felt like me, it felt like home,” Young said. “I had a good bit of decisions that I could have made, but USCB just really caught my eye, they were focused and on board with not just my athletics, but my career after athletics.”
Another contributing factor to Young’s decision to sign with the Sand Sharks was its proximity to home being just across the Savannah River.
“It was close enough to be close enough to my family, but far away enough to do my own thing,” Young said. “I really do believe that my community played a big part and I do still want to be here and push my ex-teammates to continue to be great.”
Throughout her career, Young recorded over 1,000 rebounds and nearly 900 points. She is just the second Lady Tide player with over 1,000 rebounds, joining current assistant coach Lex Wrighton, who accomplished the feat in 2016.
University of South Carolina-Beaufort is entering its second provisional year as they transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II and the Peach Belt Conference. The team will be led by Purdue legend Sharon Versyp, who won four Big Ten championships with the Boilermakers and had two Elite Eight appearances.