Bradford senior Katie Young joined some exclusive company Wednesday afternoon.

By signing a National Letter of Intent to play at Marquette University, Young became only the seventh female basketball player from Kenosha County in the last quarter-century to receive a four-year, full athletic scholarship from an NCAA Division I school.

And though Young said she’s excited for her upcoming final season with the Red Devils, she also admitted that she can’t wait to play for the Golden Eagles in the Big East Conference, where one of their rivals is six-time national champ Connecticut.

“Since I was younger, I always loved a challenge,” Young said in a phone interview Thursday night. “Playing against them has been a dream of mine. I want to play against the Tennessees and the big schools where it really, really counts.

“When you play against someone that’s not as good or as challenging, it’s not as fun. So playing against UConn ... that’ll be circled on my calendar before the season even starts. I’m really looking forward to that because that school’s going to show us where we’re at because they’re the best, so that’s where we’re trying to be.”

A breakout year

After an ankle injury limited her to eight games as a sophomore, Young enjoyed a breakout 2008-09 season in which she averaged 14.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.9 blocked shots, 1.6 steals and made 24 3-pointers. Her postseason accolades included being named first-team All-County, first-team All-Southeast Conference and honorable mention All-Area by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Bradford coach Jessica Stevens said the 5-foot-11 Young has improved “a ton” since last spring after playing AAU ball this summer.

“She’s got a very well-rounded game as well as her willingness to get her teammates involved is what really makes a difference on our team,” Stevens said.

Marquette coach Terri Mitchell, in a story posted on the school’s Web site, said, “Katie gives us lots of versatility. She adds to our size and strength on the perimeter. She can score outside and inside and has great explosiveness to the basket.

“She will also be able to rebound and defend bigger guards.”

Several factors

In addition to having the opportunity to play against elite competition, Young said Marquette’s proximity to Kenosha, the warm reception she received from the Golden Eagles coaching staff and players on an official visit and the school’s broadcast journalism program greatly contributed to her decision.

Plus, Young said she won’t have to sit out her freshman season.

“I’ll get to play right away when I go there,” Young said. “The redshirting thing was a concern of mine, and I felt like I could get in right away and help the team out.”

Young also received full athletic scholarship offers from Division I schools Wisconsin, Michigan State, Rutgers and Loyola (Chicago) — and a half-scholarship offer from Louisville, another Big East member.

She follows Bradford’s Jamie Gray (Evansville), Tremper’s Lindsey Sebetic (Loyola-Chicago) and Nichole Drummond (UW-Milwaukee), and St. Joseph’s Erin Higgins (Illinois-Chicago), Jenny Knight (Louisville) and Anna Knight (Wyoming) as Kenosha County’s recent women’s Division I basketball scholarship recipients.