Trae Young drops 47, talks recruitment
Trae Young is not only good at basketball; he’s good for basketball.
Watching Young is a reminder of the beauty of sports, because attending one of his basketball games is witnessing someone exceptional at their craft. The audience is mesmerized at an event in a way that's not dissimilar from seeing a professional ballet or theater production.
The Norman North five-star point guard is an artist in his craft.
And while you will be dazzled, you will also be entertained. Young, despite his low-key demeanor, understands the showmanship aspect of his gift. People are there not only to see him make shots, they’re there to see him make spectacular shots. Chants of “overrated” from opposing student sections only encourages Young to test more limits and even engage the crowd by blowing a kiss.
In the Timberwolves 83-74 road win over Southmoore on Tuesday, Young poured in 47 points in a game where he outscored the Sabercats team alone, 26 to 25, in the first half.
The top scorer in the state was fully on Southmoore’s radar from the tip. Young was face-guarded for four quarters the instant he crossed half-court and was double-teamed any time the ball was in his hands.
And none of it seemed to matter.
The five-star appeared to shoot a better percentage from 40-feet than most do from four feet.
Any time the defense forced the issue on Young, he was capable of splitting defenders with fancy ball-handling skills...
...or by simply finding the open man for one of his 11 assists.
No matter what fan affiliation, the common thread for those that have seen Young play is the excitement to continue watching the fun - no matter where he plays college basketball. Those on hand to see Young on Tuesday included Oklahoma assistant coach Chris Crutchfield, Jamuni McNeace, Matthew Freeman, and head football coach Bob Stoops.
2017’s No. 14 overall player’s time on the hardwood in Oklahoma high school basketball is coming to a close and it appears his recruitment saga may be ending with it. Recently on Twitter, Young announced that he would be setting an announcement date sometime this week and that timeline is something he spoke with SoonerScoop about after the game.
“It will be in February, middle of February, I’ll announce the date for the media and everybody to know later.”
There’s been plenty of speculation on just who the final teams will be for Young, who took official visits to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kentucky, and his father’s alma mater Texas Tech.
According to Young, he and his family have been able to eliminate two schools from that group, but he’s not tipping his hand to which.
“In our household we have narrowed it down to three schools, I’m not going to name which three, but those schools know that.”