SHE IS A HALL OF FAMER
8/27/2021 5:58:00 PM | General, Women's Basketball
Young-Malcolm Will be Inducted into Texas Sports HOF on Saturday
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Having never really played the game of basketball until she moved from the West Indies to the United States when she was 15, Sophia Young-Malcolm barely gave a thought to even playing college basketball.
A two-time All-American at Baylor and three-time WNBA all-star with the San Antonio Silver Stars, Young-Malcolm certainly never had the Texas Sports Hall of Fame on her radar. Elected to the Baylor Hall of Fame five years ago, she will be inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Saturday's ceremony at the BASE at the Extraco Events Center.
"I'm so grateful and so humble that I was selected," said Young-Malcolm, who returned to Baylor in May on new women's basketball coach Nicki Collen's staff as Assistant AD for Player Development . "I never said, 'Wow, I want to be a Hall of Famer.' But now, I guess I will be."
Young-Malcolm is part of a 2021 induction class that includes former Dallas Cowboys DeMarcus Ware and Charlie Waters and track stars Leroy Burrell and Francie Larrieu-Smith. The 2020 class, which will also be honored, includes former NFL players Derrick Johnson and Shane Lechler, basketball legend Teresa Witherspoon and track's Michelle Carter.
"This feels like the best I can get," Young-Malcolm said. "There are so many athletes that come out of this state, to be selected as one of the top ones to be in the Hall of Fame, it's just humbling."
An unheralded recruit when she signed with Baylor out of Shreveport (La.) Evangel Academy, Young-Malcolm developed into one of the best players in college basketball. She became the fourth player in NCAA history to record career totals of 2,000 points (2,480), 1,000 rebounds (1,316), 300 assists (303) and 300 steals (315), an elite list that included USC's Cheryl Miller and Tennessee's duo of Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings
Named to the Big 12's 10th anniversary team as the only active player, Young-Malcolm led the Lady Bears to their first national championship in 2005, earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the Big 12 tournament, the Tempe Regional and the Final Four.
"I think what made my game work here at Baylor is I figured out early what my role was," she said. "I knew that I could run and jump, and I knew that I could not shoot 3-point shots, so I stayed away from that and finally mastered what I knew I could do well. That was running and rebounding and getting the putbacks."
Drafted by San Antonio with the fourth overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft, the 6-1 Young saw her game transition well at the pro level. She finished her nine-year career, all in San Antonio, with 4,300 points and 1,807 rebounds and led the Silver Stars to two Western Conference championships.
"I didn't all of a sudden say, 'Hey, I'm a 3-point shooter, let me stay out here,''' said Young, a power forward who oftentimes went against players three or more inches taller than her. "Get that mid-range shot down and have different options for post-up moves. I didn't stick with just one move. I knew I wasn't a good ball-handler, so I didn't try to bring the ball up the floor. I just stuck with what I knew I was comfortable with, and it worked out really well."
Sophia stayed around basketball after she retired in 2015, developing a basketball academy in San Antonio and also coaching at the high school level. But, she was out of the game and doing real estate on the side before joining Collen's staff at Baylor in May.
"Just being back here on campus has been so fantastic. I have heard so many 'Welcome home.' And I truly feel that way," she said. "To be able to come back and pour into the girls with the experiences that I've had, I hope they're able to listen to me and know that maybe I have something to say where I can help them in their walk and in their career and life.
"I don't do much on the court at all. I kind of prepare them for life after college, which is something that athletes don't think about until maybe their senior year when they're about to graduate. They look up and go, 'Oh . . . now what?' We want to make sure the current athletes don't repeat the type of cycle that a lot of former athletes have had."
Married in 2014, Sophia and her husband, Jermaine Malcolm, have two children, Skye and Sevyn.
Baylor Bear Insider
Having never really played the game of basketball until she moved from the West Indies to the United States when she was 15, Sophia Young-Malcolm barely gave a thought to even playing college basketball.
A two-time All-American at Baylor and three-time WNBA all-star with the San Antonio Silver Stars, Young-Malcolm certainly never had the Texas Sports Hall of Fame on her radar. Elected to the Baylor Hall of Fame five years ago, she will be inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Saturday's ceremony at the BASE at the Extraco Events Center.
"I'm so grateful and so humble that I was selected," said Young-Malcolm, who returned to Baylor in May on new women's basketball coach Nicki Collen's staff as Assistant AD for Player Development . "I never said, 'Wow, I want to be a Hall of Famer.' But now, I guess I will be."
Young-Malcolm is part of a 2021 induction class that includes former Dallas Cowboys DeMarcus Ware and Charlie Waters and track stars Leroy Burrell and Francie Larrieu-Smith. The 2020 class, which will also be honored, includes former NFL players Derrick Johnson and Shane Lechler, basketball legend Teresa Witherspoon and track's Michelle Carter.
"This feels like the best I can get," Young-Malcolm said. "There are so many athletes that come out of this state, to be selected as one of the top ones to be in the Hall of Fame, it's just humbling."
An unheralded recruit when she signed with Baylor out of Shreveport (La.) Evangel Academy, Young-Malcolm developed into one of the best players in college basketball. She became the fourth player in NCAA history to record career totals of 2,000 points (2,480), 1,000 rebounds (1,316), 300 assists (303) and 300 steals (315), an elite list that included USC's Cheryl Miller and Tennessee's duo of Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings
Named to the Big 12's 10th anniversary team as the only active player, Young-Malcolm led the Lady Bears to their first national championship in 2005, earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the Big 12 tournament, the Tempe Regional and the Final Four.
"I think what made my game work here at Baylor is I figured out early what my role was," she said. "I knew that I could run and jump, and I knew that I could not shoot 3-point shots, so I stayed away from that and finally mastered what I knew I could do well. That was running and rebounding and getting the putbacks."
Drafted by San Antonio with the fourth overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft, the 6-1 Young saw her game transition well at the pro level. She finished her nine-year career, all in San Antonio, with 4,300 points and 1,807 rebounds and led the Silver Stars to two Western Conference championships.
"I didn't all of a sudden say, 'Hey, I'm a 3-point shooter, let me stay out here,''' said Young, a power forward who oftentimes went against players three or more inches taller than her. "Get that mid-range shot down and have different options for post-up moves. I didn't stick with just one move. I knew I wasn't a good ball-handler, so I didn't try to bring the ball up the floor. I just stuck with what I knew I was comfortable with, and it worked out really well."
Sophia stayed around basketball after she retired in 2015, developing a basketball academy in San Antonio and also coaching at the high school level. But, she was out of the game and doing real estate on the side before joining Collen's staff at Baylor in May.
"Just being back here on campus has been so fantastic. I have heard so many 'Welcome home.' And I truly feel that way," she said. "To be able to come back and pour into the girls with the experiences that I've had, I hope they're able to listen to me and know that maybe I have something to say where I can help them in their walk and in their career and life.
"I don't do much on the court at all. I kind of prepare them for life after college, which is something that athletes don't think about until maybe their senior year when they're about to graduate. They look up and go, 'Oh . . . now what?' We want to make sure the current athletes don't repeat the type of cycle that a lot of former athletes have had."
Married in 2014, Sophia and her husband, Jermaine Malcolm, have two children, Skye and Sevyn.
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