Player Profile: Riley Young

By Hannah Pasquarella

Knightly News Reporter

hannah.pasquarella@mymail.centralpenn.edu

Riley Young, a junior business administration major, is a returning player to the Central Penn men’s basketball team. Young played basketball for his high school team at Line Mountain and grew up in Trevorton, Pennsylvania.

After starting his college career at Albright, Young came to Central Penn College at the beginning of last season. For the Knights, Young plays center and power forward and is deemed the team’s workhorse going into this season. At 6-foot-5, he is often among the tallest on the floor compared to his competition.

Coming from a sports family, both his parents played basketball and got him into the sport at just 4 years old. Young has had some fantastic achievements during his career, with the most memorable accomplishment joining the 1,000-point club during high school. He was also named the Pennsylvania Sports Writers’ Class 2A All-State Second Team for the 2021-22 season.

All these achievements in the books for Young also came with pain and some significant setbacks. Young endured three knee injuries, all impacting his meniscus and all resulting in surgery, but that never stopped him from continuing his basketball dreams.

“The lack of control that I had over my body and being clumsy were my biggest enemies since the beginning of my career,” Young said.

Michael Jordan has always been his biggest inspiration in the sports world because he is deemed one of the greatest players in professional basketball. While his various trainers throughout his career got him to where he needs to be today, Young says that his mother is his most prominent role model, giving him the “roots” of his basketball career.

When asked about his relationship with the coaches and the team, Young said, “I love my teammates, and the coaches are great people to be around. I think that this is the best team I have been on regarding the amount of competitiveness and bonding in my life.”

Young’s goal is to average 10 rebounds per game this season, improving from last season, when he averaged three rebounds. He also hopes to become 1st Team All-Conference, which comes from opposing coaches voting for the honors. Young also hopes to become an Academic All-American, which requires a 3.5 GPA and illustrates a positive student-athlete so that he can rightfully get his name on the wall in the Underground.