A Long Road to the NCAA Tournament for North Texas' Young

North Texas' basketball team had quite a long road back to the NCAA Tournament. Their Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship earned the Mean Green their first invitation to the dance since 1988.

That's nothing compared to how far senior forward Rich Young traveled to have an opportunity to play in the NCAA's. Young, who averages 5.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, spent four years in the Marines and saw the world. Specifically, he served in Kosova, Kenya, Djibouti, and Iraq.

I guess just the challenge was attractive to me," Young said. "I just wanted to do it because people said it was tough and probably the hardest branch to go to."

That combination of experience and attitude has made him him a respected leader on his team and a key part of this season's success.

Click here to read the AP story, "Former Marine's road to NCAA tournament went through Iraq."

Thanks to Josh at Double-A Zone for the tip. Throughout both the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments Josh will be featuring some of the wonderful human interest stories about the participants, and we'll cover some of the highlights.