|
Freshman guard Trae Young will leave the University of Oklahoma and enter the NBA draft in June, he told ESPN on Tuesday. He later announced his intentions on Twitter. Young, 19, delivered a first-team All-America season for the Sooners, elevating himself into comparisons with a young Stephen Curry and projections to become an NBA lottery pick. ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony has Young rated as the No. 8 overall pick in ESPN's most recent mock draft. Young and his family, including his father, Ray, will soon start meeting with prospective agents for representation. Young is expected to start training for the pre-draft process with a trainer in California. Young had 28 points and eight assists in the Sooners' season-ending loss to Rhode Island in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday. For the season, Young led Division I players in scoring (27.4 points per game) and assists (8.7 per game). He was selected Big 12 freshman of the year and shattered the conference's freshman scoring record with 811 points, passing Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley. Young tied the NCAA single-game assist record with 22 against Northwestern State, sharing the mark with Sherman Douglas (1989), Avery Johnson (1988) and Tony Fairley (1987). Young catapulted the Sooners to a 14-2 start as Oklahoma was ranked as high as No. 4 in the national polls. As defenses started to overload coverages onto Young, his prolific scoring and playmaking leveled off, which led to a late-season swoon by the Sooners. Young was an All-American at nearby Norman North High School, where he averaged 42.6 points per game his senior season. He chose the Sooners over Kentucky.
|
