I'll admit I've missed a lot of games this week because of me taking naps almost everyday after school. I didn't see Florida fall apart and lose to Loyola-Chicago. I didn't see Kansas lose at the Phog to Washington. And I didn't report on any games from an absolutely loaded Tuesday night. (In less than 50 words: Villanova is an actual title threat this year, and Mikal Bridges is a lottery pick. I'm mad that Virginia lost to West Virginia. Notre Dame is on the decline. Minnesota sucks. Arizona is #back, but Texas A&M is still good too. HA! 41 words.) My point is that I've been a lazy bum this past week, but you know what? I draw the line at Trae Young.
Oklahoma's incredible All-American freshman point guard has been college basketball's greatest spectacle. (It was Florida, but then they got Rambled.) Young was averaging 28.7 PPG and 8.7 APG before tonight's marquee matchup with USC. Well, he definitely cemented those numbers as he had 29 and 9 in a 2-point win in Los Angeles. He also had a 43-point against Oregon in the PK80 back in November.
Young has the scoring ability of Steph Curry and the passing ability of Chris Paul. I'm not even exaggerating here. He literally pulls up from 3 feet behind the NBA 3PT line and drains it half the time. He's shooting 46% from the floor, which is really impressive for a undersized freshman guard. Nearly all of his assists are from full court or cross court (sometimes both) passes that don't even look human. Honestly guys, if you haven't seen him yet, you really should.
He has also resurrected an Oklahoma program that went a depressing 11-20 last year after losing Buddy Hield, Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler from their 2016 Final Four squad. He's basically what Lonzo Ball was to UCLA last year: an exciting lead guard with tremendous passing and scoring ability. The only difference is that Trae Young was pretty under-hyped considering he played in the McDonald's game. Part of that was because of his perceived lack of NBA potential and some because he went to Oklahoma.
Regardless of his lack of preseason attention, Young has shown his true skill and potential to lead Oklahoma basketball back to the promised land. Imagine if he stays more than one year in Norman...he's already THIS good as a freshman. He'd be on pace to win back to back NPOYs in 2020 and 2021. In the meantime he'd be leading Oklahoma to its third Final Four in 5 years.
Are these expectations lofty? Yes, but not as much as you think.
I honestly do think Trae Young will be a special player that changes the entire country's perception of Oklahoma basketball and even college basketball in general. If he stays all four years or even three, he can become the generational college star we've all been waiting for. The JJ Redick, the Jimmer Fredette, the Tyler Hansbrough. He's that good. Let's just hope the NBA doesn't realize that for the time being.
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