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Young has battled back injuries to become a productive scorer and rebounder.
(John W. McDonough)
| Tim Young,
Stanford
Class: Junior
Position:
Center
Height: 7'1"
Weight: 245
DOB: Feb. 6,
1976
Hometown: Santa Cruz,
Calif.
High
School: Harbor
Vital Stats:
11.4 points per game, 8.2 rebounds
by David
Seigerman
Tim Young is the product of two vastly divergent worlds.
His mother prefers the seclusion of northern California's
Klamath Forest to the commotion of life in the Bay Area,
where Young is a highly recognizable athlete. His father
lives with a harder edge—a Harley-riding,
NRA-card-carrying basketball fanatic, who keeps regular
tabs on one of college basketball's best big
men.
"I think a lot of stuff is blown out of
proportion," says Young, who willingly addresses his
eclectic background but would prefer to discuss his
basketball. Yes, his mother lives in a house without
electricity, plumbing or a telephone, but wouldn't people
rather talk about Stanford's fourth straight trip to the
NCAA Tournament?
"He is not a kid who seeks the limelight," says
Cardinal coach Mike Montgomery. "He is a very nice,
polite kid who's pretty competitive. He doesn't care much
for attention; he just wants to play and be left
alone."
Young realizes his height and his personal story will never
afford him anonymity with fans or the media. He expects the
inquiries and has come to accept them more easily these
days—quite a change from his freshman year, when he nearly
hyperventilated during a live TV interview. When the
subject does turn to basketball, the questions sometimes
sting as much as the troublesome disk in his back that cost
him the entire 1995-96
season.
Critics wonder whether Young is a strong enough interior
presence for someone his size. He has been a productive
scorer, averaging in double figures every season, and has
been one of the Pac-10's top rebounders the last two years,
but he has yet to become a force. "If you're a 7-foot
kid and don't have 25 points and 15 rebounds every night,
people wonder what's wrong," says
Montgomery.
And when the attention gets too hairy, Young knows where he
can go to escape. It's tough for the spotlight to burn in a
place where there's no
electricity.
Other Spotlights
March 17: Sarunas
Jasikevicius, Maryland; Adia Barnes, Arizona
March 16: Mateen Cleaves, Michigan; Murriel Page, Florida
March 15: Jason Hart, Syracuse
March 14: Kris Johnson, UCLA
March 13: Lee Nailon, Texas Christian
March 12: Brian Earl, Princeton
March 11: Tyrone Weeks, Massachusetts
March 10: Brett Robisch, Oklahoma St.
March 9: Larry Hughes, Saint Louis
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