W E E K E N D E D I T I O N | F E B R U A R Y 8 -11, 2 0 18 | T W I C E W E E K LY I N P R I N T | O U D A I LY. C O M
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Freshman guard Trae Young points upward after scoring during the game against Baylor Jan. 30. Young averages 30 points per game.
HOMETOWN HERO Freshman point guard Trae Young stays close to home, remains on track to become next great Sooner GEORGE STOIA • @GEORGESTOIA
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hen Trae Young steps onto the court at the Hilton Coliseum Saturday afternoon, all eyes will be on him — not only because of the player he’s become, but also because of the expectation that Young is arguably the only player in the country that can bring Oklahoma out of its recent slump. The Sooners have lost five of their last seven games, dropping from No. 4 to No. 17. They’ve lost the hype that surrounded them for the first few weeks of the season, and now, coming off a twogame losing streak, Young is their only hope to bounce back. Expectations of Young have b e en high since the day he chose Oklahoma. Fans proclaim the freshman as the next great Sooner, following in the footsteps of Wayman Tisdale, Blake Griffin and Buddy Hield. Young puts his team in a position to succeed night in and night out, becoming a magician on the court with a basketball as his wand and Sooner Nation as his audience. He could have chosen an easier path and attended a school that worships the month of March instead of a school known for Saturdays in the fall. He made a bittersweet choice, understanding that wins weren’t going to come easy but knowing he’d always be a hometown hero. You ng d e c i d e d to pu t h i s school, city and state on his back. “Just being able to not only represent Norman but the state of Oklahoma, it’s exciting,” said Young’s mom, Candice. “It’s fun for him. He takes it all in, and he wants to represent the city and state well.”
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Young sits in a Norman North High School auditorium, wearing
an all-black outfit with gold shoes on and a gold chain hanging out of his hoodie. He waits patiently for his turn to speak, listening as Norman North’s athletic director, Courtney Norton, and his high school coach, Bryan Merritt, both talk about the exceptional player and man Young has become. Finally, the mic is handed to Young, who’s prepared to announce the biggest decision of his life — where he is going to school. “This has been a long process for me, and a lot of ups and downs, but in the end, I came to a place of peace,” Young said that day. “That place of peace for me, in the fall of 2017, will be at the University of Oklahoma.” Days before announcing his c o m m i t m e nt t o O k l a h o ma, Young made a few phone calls to let coaches know of his decision. Each call grew in difficulty, as Young told coaches that had been recruiting him since middle school that he wouldn’t be playing for their schools. He worked his way down the list, eventually reaching the last coach, a coach that had almost as many conference titles as Young had years — Kansas’ Bill Self. “That was tough,” Young said. “That was the toughest phone call in my recruitment, telling him I was going somewhere else.” Self and coaches around the country knew the caliber of talent Young possessed. He could have gone anywhere — Duke, No r t h C a ro l i n a , Ke n t u c k y , Kansas, the list goes on and on. Self, John Calipari, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Sean Miller — they all wanted Young, telling him he could be the next John Wall or Mario Chalmers or Kyrie Irving. But, while being the next great
player at a historic program was appealing to Young, he decided to stay home and go 16 minutes down the road to the school he grew up loving. Some questioned him, and others praised him, but Young knew exactly what he was doing. Confident in the choice he made, he didn’t need anyone’s approval but his own. His decision came easy to him. “He was trying to figure what was going to be the best fit,” Candice Young said. “I know that he did exactly what he wanted.”
... Young ’s love of basketball b e ga n at 4 ye a r s o l d i n t h e Cleveland County Family YMCA in Norman. He dribbled around defenders as he dominated his 4- and 5-year-old counterparts. Young grew up in that YMCA g ym, from watching his father play in the weekend men’s league to working out there until his senior year of high school. His love of the game and the community was fostered there, setting him on the path to where he is today. He dominated his peers at a young age, having to play up in P.E. classes as he grew older. He started playing AAU ball in fifth grade, traveling every weekend to play in tournaments. When he reached high school, everyone at Norman North knew they were getting a special player. Young was a standout at the high school, and, while he still has a long career ahead of him, his name will always be remembered in its halls. “I think he left the legacy of the greatest Norman North player of all time,” Norman North assistant coach Jake Rudd said. Today, Young still visits his old high school. Both his sisters are following in his footsteps, and Young will be right there to
TRAE YOUNG SEASON AVERAGES: • Points: 29.9 • Assists: 9.3
• Rebounds: 4
TRAE YOUNG RECORDS: • Single-game assists (22) • Fastest Sooner to 500 points • Program record for consecutive 20-point games (18)
witness it as they begin to make their own names. “He’s a family person, so being around his sisters and little brother and his parents — I think that was a huge factor in his decision,” Rudd said. “It could be really easy for him to not come around and move on with his life, but he’s still around, and he’s still a part of the community and coming to watch his sisters at Norman North. It would be very easy for him to not do that, and he makes the time to do that.”
... Nine months and 4.9 miles down the road after announcing his commitment, Young steps onto the court in the Lloyd Noble Center for the first time in a Sooners’ uniform. The freshman phenomenon who decided to stay home was prepared to make his college debut. Young has become the face of college basketball since that season opener in November, putting together breathtaking performances every night. He’s broken a multitude of records, including becoming the fastest player in
Oklahoma history to reach 500 points and tying the single-game assist record with 22 against Northwestern State. He’s handled the pressure of being the face of college basketball, taking each interview in stride and sharing the spotlight with his teammates. Young has brought Oklahoma to one of the top rankings in the country and has become the front-runner for player of the year. He’s brought life back into the Lloyd Noble Center, helping turn a football school into a basketball school for a few brief months. And though Oklahoma has recently hit rock bottom this season, Young is the perfect person to pick the team up. He’s done more than anyone imagined he would in his freshman season at Oklahoma, becoming exactly what he set out to be — a hometown hero. “ T h e r e ’s a c o m f o r t f o r Trae at the Lloyd Noble Center,” Candice Young said. “It feels like home for him.” George Stoia
georgestoia@ou.edu