Carolyn Peck had a couch in her office when she was an assistant coach on the Purdue women's basketball staff. That's where she often would find Tiffany Young, a promising young guard with a 100-watt personality who had passion for life.

"She liked to hang out," Peck says. "She came in one day and says, 'I know why you don't have any kids. It's because we are your kids. God brought you here to take care of all of us.'

"You never forget that."

Twenty years later, Young still is on the mind of Peck and the women who played with her during Purdue's run to the 1999 national championship. Just months after the Boilermakers cut down the nets after a 62-45 victory over Duke in San Jose, California, Young was a passenger in a car with her boyfriend and another person that was struck by a drunk driver in Gary, Indiana, on July 31, 1999. Everyone survived ... except Young. She perished. She was just 21 years old.

"I still can't believe it," Peck says.

As Purdue celebrates the 20th season since its magical run to the summit of women's college basketball, Young, a 5-foot-11 junior on that iconic team, remains close to the hearts all of those who wore old gold and black during that 34-1 season.

"As a young adult, you don't think bad things can happen to you, that you won't be effected," says Kelly Komara, a freshman guard on the championship team. "And then, a few weeks after winning the title, your teammate gets killed by a drunk driver.

"It didn't take away or diminish being a champion; it just made you prioritize what was important. Those were some tough months, but it was a way to connect not just as players or a team or a university, but you connected as human beings and people.

"Those connections remain deep to this day among players from that squad. Players like Komara, Stephanie White, Ukari Figgs, Katie Douglas, Camille Cooper, Michelle Duhart and others. It was a special team that has a special place in Purdue Athletics lore. They won the school's first national title of any kind since men's golf in 1961. That team was special, that team never will be forgotten, that team has a bond like few others because of a player who teammates liked to call "Tiff.

""I remember driving to Decatur, Alabama, for the funeral from Charlotte, where I was playing in the WNBA," White says. "That night, we talked about memories, shared Tiff stories we had. It taught us that the journey is more important than the end game.

"I felt in awe of Tiff's family at the funeral. We were there to support them, and they consoled us in reality. They celebrated when we were mourning. It taught me a valuable lesson to appreciate time you have with people, celebrating joys and life. We are here for a purpose. When we are finished with that purpose, God brings us home. That is not a message I had gotten until that point. I was thankful for that. Not a day goes by we don't think about her.

"Twenty years seems like a long time ago ... but it seems just like yesterday often times, too. Back then, White was the unabashed star of the team, everyone's All-American who paced the squad in scoring (20.6), rebounding (6.1) and assists (4.8). The season before as a junior, White and Purdue had lost in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight to Louisiana Tech. The Boilermakers felt like they let a great opportunity for a championship get away. They were hungry.

"We were up at halftime against Tech, and they took it from us," says Peck, who was in her first year as head coach in 1997-98. "I don't take losing very well. I didn't leave the house for three days. You wake up and can't believe it happened. I wanted those kids to experience a Final Four.

"It looked like Peck wouldn't be back to make another run at a title. In April of 1998, she was offered the job to be head coach and general manager of a new WNBA franchise in Orlando, Florida. Should she stay or go? If Peck left, it would mean Purdue would be on its fourth head coach in five years after the program saw Lin Dunn and Nell Fortner leave after the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons, respectively. But Peck worked out a deal to return to Purdue for one final season. It turned out to be a great decision. The WNBA could wait. Peck and Purdue had a national title to win.

"I talked to Ukari and Steph, who believed we had everything to win a national title," Peck says. "'We want you' they told me. So I decided to come back and then go to Orlando. The team regrouped and came together on an overseas tour before the season where we bonded.

"Always looking to motivate and foster chemistry, Peck went to work on more team building. She got on her computer and designed a picture that said, "Reserved for Purdue Women's Basketball First National Championship.

""I printed it out and put it in frames and gave it to everyone who touched our program," says Peck, now a basketball analyst for ESPN. "Pat (Summitt, for whom Peck served as an assistant at Tennessee) always said if you are going be a national championship team, you have to act like one.

"I also got a picture of a national championship ring and we put it in a prominent spot in our team notebook, so our players could see it every day.

"Peck and Purdue would get an up-close look at what excellence looked like in the opener against none other than Summitt and the mighty Tennessee Lady Vols, the three-time defending national champions and ranked No. 1. It would be a perfect litmus test for Purdue. Whatcha got, Boilermakers? Turned out, a lot, as Purdue took a 78-68 win that blew the roof off Mackey Arena and caused a court rush.

"We wanted to use the Tennessee game as measuring stick," says White, who is in her third season as head coach at Vanderbilt. "That made us realize we could play with the best. We were very businesslike.

"Purdue also was good. Very good. But the Boilermakers soon hit a bump, losing at Stanford by one point in the third game of the season.

"The loss at Stanford was a big one," says Komara, an assistant to White at Vanderbilt. "When you lose a close game like that, it humbles you and puts you back in your place.

"Purdue wouldn't lose again. But it wasn't finished learning lessons. In fact, Peck delivered a meaningful one a month into the season.

"There was a vending machine outside of our locker room," Peck says. "I saw a brownie in there and had an idea. It just came to me. I bought it, took it back to the locker room, called the team together and said: 'To make this brownie taste good, all these ingredients need to go together. You need flour, coco, sugar.' I opened up the package and crumbled the brownie and said, 'When all of those ingredients don't come together, you have nothing.

'"The crumbs of the brownie fell to the floor. Point made. Peck was good at X's and O's, but her ability to relate and get players to buy in made her extra special

. "Carolyn is a great motivator who gets you to believe in yourself to run through a wall," says White, a team co-captain. "She is a larger than life personality.

"Peck kept motivating throughout the season. The team watched "Remember the Titans" together. Another time on a road trip, she had the players all get in their pajamas and come to her room, where Peck read "The Little Engine That Could.

""Simple silly stuff," Peck says.

That simple silly stuff worked to galvanize a talented team. And if there was a defining moment on the court that spurred the squad, it happened in February at No. 15 Penn State.

A few days before the trip, one of Figgs' grandmothers died. Peck didn't think she would have her star point guard and co-captain for this key game.

"Kari called me after we landed in State College," Peck says. "She says her granny would want me to be there. I said, 'Let's figure it out.' She got as far as Pittsburgh. From there, she took a cab to State College. She got there, went to her room and fell asleep.

"Kari was in tears before the game. We get the tip and she has the ball, takes one or two dribbles, takes a shot and hits nothing but net. I thought, 'Granny is with us tonight.

'"Purdue won 76-74 in overtime. The Boilermakers streamed on, all the way to the national title. Purdue couldn't have done it without White, Figgs, Douglas, Cooper, Duhart ... or a selfless reserve guard from Alabama.

"I recall her dad performed the funeral," Peck says. "He said at the end, 'You Purdue Boilers got yourself the ring, but Tiffany has gone ahead and got herself a crown.' Sad but beautiful.

"In the title game, Steph turned an ankle and had to leave the game. The next day, the newspaper had a photo of Tiff holding Steph's hand on the bench. Both were crying. Tiff was such a carrying person.

"Young never will be forgotten, just like the spectacular 1999 national championship team. Both are part of Purdue legend forever.

"Tiffany was a shining star," Peck says. "She put a smile on your face walking in the room."