Life is peachy for Young, but he's not ready to pick official visits yet
Life is peachy right now for 2017 five-star guard Trae Young.
Recently, the product of North High School in Norman, Oklahoma stood on the court after winning the prestigious Peach Jam as a member of MoKan Elite, and savored the taste of victory, in the form of a peach.
“Best peaches I’ve ever tasted in my life. I’ve had one or two, but I don’t know what they did with the flavor but those were the best ones,” said Young with a big grin.
Winning the Nike EYBL Tournament is the one thing that’s stood out the most during Young’s grassroots days thus far.
“Winning Peach Jam. That’s the best feeling I’ve had,” he said. “I’ve never seen a crowd come out to a high school AAU game like that. It’s the craziest thing. You get the chills.”
What Young has done is inject his own flavor into grassroots hoops, and college coaches and fans can’t get enough of the 6-1 guard that is basically a threat to pull up once he crosses half-court. At the Peach Jam, he averaged 27.0 points on a ridiculous 55.5 percent from the floor (47.0 percent from three-point range) with 7.3 assists and 3.1 steals. The nation’s No. 14 overall prospect followed that up by making the USA 18u Team that’s now in Chile preparing for the start of the FIBA Americas Championship on Tuesday.
But eventually, and maybe soon late this fall, Young will have to decide where he’ll play basketball at the next level. He has no shortage of options.
“Notre Dame has called. Georgetown has called. I’ve been talking to them a little bit,” responded Young about new schools that have reached out before listing the usual suspects that are hard in pursuit. “The same schools that are recruiting me then are still heavily on me now. Kentucky, Oklahoma, Washington, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech is even in there.”
Last Wednesday evening when coaches could be on the road watching prospects in person, head coaches from big-time programs and assistants filled the Strake Jesuit Gym. At this point, Young is used to that.
“All of them,” responded Young when asked which coaches from the schools recruiting him watched him at the Peach Jam. “Coach Cal (John Calipari), they went three deep a few games. Coach (Lon) Kruger and the whole staff was there a few games, most of the time they were three deep. Washington was there two, three deep. There were a bunch of coaches out there two, three-deep.”
For a prospect like Young that shares a home city with one of the state’s biggest colleges and its most well-known athletics program, there can be pressure from fans to stay home. He’s heard that chatter, especially after Oklahoma’s run to the Final Four this past season. But it hasn’t been overwhelming or negative.
“It’s crazy because some fans they’re like that sometimes because they’re so in love with their school and want me to stay home,” responded Young about hearing from local fans to stay in state and go to OU. “I definitely get that sometimes growing up in Norman, especially with Buddy Hield blowing up. That comes around sometimes. But it hasn’t been bad.”
Along with fellow 2017 five-star Michael Porter Jr., Young formed arguably the best grassroots hoops duo in the country. Could that duo play together in college?
Recently, and after this interview, Porter Jr. announced his commitment to Washington, as expected, where his father is now an assistant coach. Washington is recruiting Young.
“It's definitely a possibility, but at the same time we’re going to support each other and do what’s best for each other,” he said about playing with his AAU teammate in college. “We’re going to do the best to make it happen, but also do the best for us at the same time.”
Maybe the most peculiar thing about Young is that he was born in Lubbock, Texas, lives in Norman, Oklahoma, but grew up a huge fan of the Texas Longhorns.
“I grew up the biggest Texas fan in the world. I was born Texas so whenever you’re born in Texas, the only thing you want to do is go to the biggest school in Texas,” he said.
Recently in early June, the five-star prospect made a trip to Texas for an unofficial visit.
“It was great. Had a great time. Got to tour the whole campus. Got to see it all and spent a lot of time with coach Smart and the staff and with Jarrett Allen and Andrew Jones,” stated Young about the day in Austin on the UT campus. “It was nice. Loved the campus.”
Despite all the attention and all the offers and some visits already taken, Young isn’t ready to narrow his list or lock in official visits yet. Most believe Kentucky and Oklahoma are ahead of the pack and that Kansas strongly in the mix as well with others like Texas lurking. However, Young hasn't revealed anything publicly or released a new list.
“No, not yet,” replied Young about narrowing a list and scheduling official visits before adding that he’ll “more than likely” take all five official visits during the fall.
He’ll probably enjoy the phone calls dying down and the recruiting attention being dialed down a little, but Young realizes he’s doing something that not many people ever get to do.
“Yeah, it can be tough sometimes with all the late phone calls and stuff, but when you really look at it not a lot of people do what you do. I definitely value the opportunity I have,” he said.