If not for a decision made by a 14-year-old a decade ago, Tamera Young and the Dream may have never met.

Young, Atlanta's unexpected first draft pick, has proved to be the franchise's hope for the future. She is having a breakout season, ranking among the top five rookies for both scoring and rebounding.

Allen Sullivan/AJC (ENLARGE)

Most observers were surprised when the Dream selected Tamera Young with the No. 8 pick of the WNBA draft.

She has her older sister, Nikiea, to thank for that.

Young moved to Wilmington, N.C., with her mother, brother and sister after her parents divorced when she was in the third grade.

As a human relations representative for New Hanover County, Lynda Nichols-Brown couldn't afford to pay for both of her daughters to continue competing in AAU basketball.

"I said somebody is going to have to give it up," Nichols-Brown said. "Nikiea said, 'I'll let Tamera play because Tamera has the love and urge for it.'"

Without AAU there would have been no substantial competition to help her develop as a player. No exposure for her game. A diminished shot at a big-time career.

It would have been unfathomable for Young, who dreamed of nothing but the WNBA.

"We would say, 'Well that's fine but what are you going to major in when you go to college?'" Nichols-Brown recalled. "And she would say basketball."

Luckily, Young never had to come up with a backup plan.

Years later, she ended up majoring in kinesiology at James Madison. She knew the moment she stepped on the campus that JMU was the place for her. They had courted her ever since her AAU days. She felt they were loyal and once she took her official visit, she fell in love with the school, the coaches and the team.

But Young, whose great-grandmother used to refuse to babysit because of her chatterbox great-granddaughter, had grown into a shy adult. She didn't want to just come out and say, "I commit."

Instead, Young thought she would surprise the coaches by writing the news on a board in the team's locker room. When she was about to leave, she fibbed to the assistant coach that she left her shoes behind.

"We went back in there and she was looking for my sneakers. She didn't realize that I wrote on the board," Young said. "So I had to point it out to her. And she just came out screaming."

For good reason. Young would go on to be one of the most successful and beloved players in the history of the program.

She finished out her senior season as the school's and the Colonial Athletic Association's all-time leading scorer (2,121) and guided her school to three consecutive postseason appearances, including the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

"Recruiting has gotten so much harder for my assistants," JMU coach Kenny Brooks said. "I say, 'Sign me another Tamera.' 'She's not Tamera.' 'She can't do what Tamera can do.' Tamera might be a once-in-a-lifetime kid."

Fans gravitated toward her stardom.

When she was in high school, Young idolized a player who sported pigtails, and Young decided that she would do the same when she went to college. Her pigtails started a phenomenon in Harrisonburg, Va., prompting her coach to label her fans the power piggies.

"Once she puts the pigtails in, it's like superman with his cape," Brooks said. "I coached AAU, and kids, when they put on a basketball uniform, they wanted to put on pigtails and a headband. That's just how she affected the community. My daughters, they still talk about her nonstop."

Young took a brief hiatus from the do when she was drafted, but midway through the season they made their way back on to the court.

"My team used to pick on me and say, when you go to the league, you cannot wear your pigtails. You are a grown woman," she said. "So I didn't wear them at the beginning, and then my coach was like, 'You better bring your pigtails back.' ... I brought them back, and I feel like I've been playing better."

When the Dream skipped over UGA's four-time All-SEC selection Tasha Humphrey to select Young with the No. 8 overall pick in the draft, a collective "Who?" seemed to echo in Atlanta. She was, after all, the first player from James Madison to ever go on to the WNBA.

"It's always about the big names and the big-name schools and I didn't go to a big-name school," Young said. "It goes to show that it's about your work ethic and what you do."

Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors couldn't agree more, and her sneaking suspicion in April that Young's potential would be a tremendous asset for the expansion Dream is proving true.

She ranks fifth among rookies for points/rebounds/assists average behind four women who all competed in the 2008 Final Four.

She has started in 14 of 20 games (she did not play in Atlanta's season opener) and now chips in off the bench with 8.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

But her individual feats didn't outweigh the Dream's league record 17-game losing streak. For that, she looked to her college coach for solace.

"She said she hated it. That she couldn't stand it," said Brooks, whom Young keeps in touch with daily. "I said don't you ever get that attitude that you get used to losing. When they won their first game, she called me I think before they even had their meeting. She was so excited."

Like most 21-year-olds, Young is trying to adjust to life away from home in a big city. Her Wii keeps her occupied on most days, but she is known to pop in a movie, too ("Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins" was her most recent selection).

Don't let her low-key lifestyle fool you, though.

"I see as star," Meadors said. "I see a star who's getting ready to be born."