Young was a high school star, McDonalds All-American, and the No. 23rd ranked player on the ESPN Top 100. Those kind of honors will make any fan of the Oklahoma Sooners eager to see where he’d be attending college the following year. With the chance to play for one of college basketballs elite powerhouses, and be coached by another Oklahoma legend and Hall of Fame coach Bill Self, Young still chose to stay home and represent his state in the crimson and cream. Sooner fans rejoiced.
Talent like Wayman Tisdale, Blake Griffin and Buddy Hield don’t come around Norman very often. OU is a football school, so when the Sooners land a top 10 basketball talent, it’s a big deal. Young is the biggest recruit in the Lon Kruger era. It’s only two games into the 17-18 season, but Young looks every bit the part as “the real deal”.
Young started off his Sooners career with a subpar shooting performance against Nebraska Omaha on Nov. 12. After going 4-13 from the field, Young still managed 15 points. He had no problems getting his teammates involved adding 10 assists. His play would earn him Big12 Player of the Week.
If fans have any worries about Young’s ability to shoot, you better stop while you’re ahead. The Sooners welcomed the Ball State Cardinals to Loyd Noble Wednesday night. The Sooners laid it on the Cardinals with their second 108 point performance of the season. Young led the way in Steph Curry fashion. He was hitting threes from NBA range and beyond. He drained 5 threes on 10 attempts. He ended up with 22 total points. If he wasn’t shooting the ball, he was dancing around defenders. If you think his shooting was impressive, his passing was even better, tying a freshman record with 13 assists. That’s two double-doubles in the first two games of the season.
Young wasn’t the only star of the night. Senior forward Khadeem Lattin would finish with a career high 20 points to go along with 8 boards. The Sooners defense looks like the woes from
Last season are behind them.. They held the Cardinals to 29.9 percent from the field. The Sooners look to be a team who’s going to be putting up a lot of points this season. It seems they could be a little too committed to the three ball, but the Sooners pace on offense should give the fans great confidence in what’s to come this season.
Kruger needs to get the most out of Young and this team while he can. It’s only been two games, but Young is looking like a no brainer one and done. It’s going to be a great season for Sooner basketball. Word to the wise: Don’t take this young man for granted.