Players of the Las Vegas Sun’s Super Seven girls preseason all-city basketball team, from left Aaliyah Gayles, Taylor Bigby, Jade Thomas, Eliyjah Pricebrooks, Aishah Brown, Daejah Phillips and Desi-Rae Young, take a portrait during the Las Vegas Sun’s High School Basketball Media Day at the Red Rock Resort and Casino, Oct. 28, 2019.
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019 | 2 a.m.
Desi-Rae Young has been out of the basketball game for a few minutes. Her Desert Oasis squad, one of the better teams in the state, is comfortably ahead for another victory.
But Young isn’t cooling down on the bench. Rather, she’s animated in cheering for teammates, jumping up and down to offer encouragement. This scene is played out many times each season.
“I do it because I know my team loves it,” Young said. “It pushes my team more.”
Young, a senior post player, is one of the Las Vegas area’s best players, headlining the Sun’s annual Super Seven preseason team. For Desert Oasis, the UNLV commit is more than a once-in-a-generation player. She is also a once-in-a-generation teammate.
“She probably has got more passion for the game than anyone else I have coached,” Desert Oasis coach Laurie Evans-Gygax said. “Every time she steps on floor she has a lot of energy, she has a lot of tenacity.”
The 6-foot-1 Young, who last season averaged 11.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, “is a competitor who has a nose for the ball,” UNLV coach Kathy Olivier said in a statement. “She is an explosive rebounder with a long wingspan.”
Desert Oasis was the Southwest League champion last season, besting the likes of Bishop Gorman and Spring Valley in the state’s most competitive league. In the state tournament, Desert Oasis jumped out to a 19-point advantage against reigning state champion Centennial, only to see the lead quickly evaporate against the national power Bulldogs.
Centennial has four players on the Super Seven, and a rematch with Desert Oasis late in the playoffs is likely.
“We were excited to know we were up there with them and can compete with them,” Young said. “Every time we come out, we need to play exactly the same. How we played in the first quarter (against Centennial) we needed to play the entire game.”’
And with Young leading the way, anything is possible.
“I have a feeling she will be one of the best Division I players to come out of Vegas,” Evans-Gygax said.
Here’s the rest of the team:
Taylor Bigby, Centennial
6-foot junior guard
Bigby, who is verbally committed to Oregon, averaged 12 points, four rebounds and nearly three steals per game last season to help Centennial win the state championship. She is ranked as the nation’s No. 23 overall recruit for 2021 by ESPN who labels her as “an athletic guard with superior size in the backcourt who creates and knocks down jumpers in the mid-range game.” It’s her second appearance on the Super 7. “I defend well and I rebound, and I try to make my teammates better,” she said.
Aishah Brown, Centennial
6-foot-1 senior forward
If Brown had her way, she’d get every rebound within her reach.
“I just try to go hard and always rebound for my team,” she said. “... I have always been in the paint. That is something I have always done.”
Brown, a three-star recruit by ESPN who signed to play in college at UC-San Diego, averaged eight points and six rebounds per game last season to help Centennial claim the state championship.
Aaliyah Gayles, Spring Valley
5-foot-8 sophomore guard
It’s rare for a sophomore to make the Super 7. Troy Brown Jr., now of the Washington Wizards, and Bigby are the most recent examples, meaning Gayles is joining some exclusive company. It’s well deserved. She ranks as the nation’s 10th overall recruit for the class of 2022 by ESPN, who calls her an “explosively athletic lead-guard with a scorer’s mentality in the backcourt; superb in the uptempo game.” Gayles played mostly with boys while growing up, saying it taught her how to play with physicality. “I am really athletic. I like to get to the basket,” said Gayles, who averaged eight points and four rebounds per game last season.
Daejah Phillips, Centennial
5-foot-9 senior wing
Phillips, who will play in college at Hawaii, averaged 10 points and nearly six rebounds per game last season for state champion Centennial. She says her defense and rebounding are improved from “going hard every day in practice with teammates.”
Eliyjah Pricebrooks, Desert Oasis
5-foot-5 senior guard
Pricebrooks, who will play in college at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, averaged 12.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season in helping the Diamondbacks reach the state semifinals. “I’m good at running the team, shooting and passing to my teammates,” she said. Pricebrooks went from a player who lacked confidence two years ago to one of the Las Vegas area’s best. “As the years went by I worked on my game and (the improvements) gave me confidence,” she said.
Jade Thomas, Centennial
5-foot-10 senior guard
Thomas, who will play in college at UNLV, is a two-time Super 7 selection. She’s also the third Thomas sister to be part of the annual preseason team. Bailey Thomas plays for UNLV; Sam Thomas for Arizona. “(Basketball) has always been in our family,” she said. “... All of us working together is pretty special.” There are similarities with how the Thomases play. “Jade is just like her sister Bailey,” UNLV’s Olivier said. “She’s extremely fit and will do anything to help her team win.” Jade Thomas averaged 7.5 points, 3.7 rebounds per game last season, and is working to “be more consistent with my shooting so I can be relied on to hit a shot.”
Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21
