Trae Young

Rayford Trae Young (born September 19, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. In 2017, he tied the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 single-game assists record with 22.[lower-alpha 1] Young became the only player to ever lead the NCAA in both points and assists in a single season. He was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA draft with the fifth pick, but was later traded to the Atlanta Hawks, along with a future first-round pick, for the draft rights to Luka Dončić. He would join Dončić in a unanimous selection to the 2019 NBA All-Rookie First Team.[2]

Trae Young
Young with the Atlanta Hawks in 2020
No. 11 – Atlanta Hawks
PositionPoint guard
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1998-09-19) September 19, 1998
Lubbock, Texas
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High schoolNorman North (Norman, Oklahoma)
CollegeOklahoma (2017–2018)
NBA draft2018 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Dallas Mavericks
Playing career2018–present
Career history
2018–presentAtlanta Hawks
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing the  United States
FIBA Americas U18 Championship
2016 Chile National team

Early life

Born in Lubbock, Texas, Trae is the son of Candice and Rayford Young, who played basketball at Texas Tech and professionally in Europe.[3][4] He has a younger brother, Tim, and two younger sisters, Caitlyn and Camryn. Young also has an uncle that previously played college basketball under the NAIA.[5]

High school career
Young at the 2017 McDonald's All-American Boys Game

Young attended Norman North High School in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma. While he did not play basketball in his freshman year at Norman North, he ended up playing for the team in his sophomore year. That year, he averaged 25 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds per game as he helped Norman North win the 2015 area championship and was named Oklahoma's Sophomore of the Year. During his junior year of high school, he significantly improved his game, averaging 34.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists as he led the team to a 28–4 record that year, winning the regional title and placing runner up in the 2016 Oklahoma Class 6A championship game. He was also named Oklahoma's Player of the Year by multiple sources. In his senior season, he averaged 42.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while also shooting at a 48.9% rate.

Recruiting

Young was considered one of the best players in the 2017 recruiting class by Scout.com, Rivals.com and ESPN.[6][7] ESPN considered him the second-best point guard prospect that year, while the other websites considered him the third-best point guard of the recruiting class that year. On February 16, 2017, Young committed to the Oklahoma Sooners, having him stay in his home state for his college career. He was the University of Oklahoma's first five-star recruit since Tiny Gallon in 2010.[8]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Trae Young
PG		 Norman, OK Norman North High School (OK) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 182 lb (83 kg) Feb 16, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 94
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 21   Rivals: 14  247Sports: 18  ESPN: 15
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Oklahoma 2017 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  • "2017 Oklahoma Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  • "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 6, 2016.

College career

On February 16, 2017, Trae Young committed to the Oklahoma Sooners. At the start of the season, on November 12, Young recorded 15 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds in a win over the Omaha Mavericks. Three days after his college debut, Young recorded 22 points and a then season-high 13 assists in a win over the Ball State Cardinals. On November 26, Young recorded a season-high 43 points and seven assists in a 90–80 win over the Oregon Ducks. That game had his name draw multiple comparisons to Stephen Curry in terms of his playing style.[9][10] On December 19, Young tied (with three others) the then-NCAA single-game assists record with 22, while also recording 26 points in a 105–68 win against the Northwestern State Demons.[11] Throughout the season, Young rose from being a late first-round or a second-round pick to being a potential top-three pick for the 2018 NBA draft.[12][13][14] He also garnered praise from both LeBron James and Stephen Curry for his season with Oklahoma.[15] Young, however, ran into a rough patch when the West Virginia Mountaineers' Press Virginia defense forced him into eight turnovers on January 5, 2018. Furthermore, his individual defense has been rated as "poor".[16] However, Young would recover with a season-high 43 points and 11 rebounds with seven assists in a 102–97 overtime win over the TCU Horned Frogs a week later on January 13. Three days later, Young would wind up with a season-high 12 turnovers in a loss to the Kansas State Wildcats, which surpassed his previous season-high a few weeks ago. On January 20, Young recorded a new career-high 48 points (albeit on 14-on-39 overall shooting) in a close 83–81 overtime loss to the rival Oklahoma State Cowboys. He recovered from that with a 26-point (on 7-on-9 shooting) and nine-assist effort in an 85–80 win over the fifth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks on January 23.

Young finished his freshman regular season leading the country in many statistics: assists (271), points (848), points per game (27.4), assists per game (8.7), and assist percentage (48.6%). The 848 points scored in the Big 12 would break the conference's record for most points scored by a freshman player, which was previously held by Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley. On March 7, 2018, Young was announced as the winner of the Wayman Tisdale Award for National Freshman of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).[17] At the end of the regular season for Oklahoma, Young was also named the Big 12's Freshman of the Year and was a member of the All-Big 12's First Team.[18] In addition, he was also brought up as a consensus member of the All-American First Team, which was named throughout multiple organizations. Young also joined 2018's top two selections Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley III as the first consensus All-American First-Team to have three freshman players be named there. On March 15, Young recorded 28 points, seven assists, and five rebounds in an 83–78 overtime loss to the seventh-seeded Rhode Island Rams. He became the second freshman to record similar numbers of points in an NCAA Tournament game, with Chris Paul being the first player back in 2004.[19]

Following Oklahoma's loss in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, Young announced his intention to forgo his final three seasons of collegiate eligibility and declare for the 2018 NBA draft.[20]

Professional career

Atlanta Hawks (2018–present)

On June 21, 2018, Young was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA draft, but was traded to the Atlanta Hawks along with a protected future first round pick in exchange for the rights to the third overall pick Luka Dončić.[21] On July 1, 2018, Young officially signed with the Hawks.[22] On October 21, in the Hawks' third game of the season, Young finished with a season-high 35 points and 11 assists in a 133–111 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.[23] On November 19, Young finished with a then career-high 17 assists, 25 points and three rebounds in a 127–119 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.[24] On February 25, 2019, Young scored a then career-high 36 points and made career high eight 3-pointers in a 119–111 loss to the Houston Rockets.[25] On February 27, Young recorded 36 points and 10 assists in a 131–123 overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.[26] He then broke his season-high two days later on March 1, putting up a then career-high 49 points alongside 16 assists in a high-scoring 168–161 quadruple overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls.[27] On March 31, Young scored a game-winner and had 12 points and 16 assists against the first-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.[28]

On October 24, 2019, Young scored 38 points in a 117–110 season-opening win against the Detroit Pistons.[29] On November 29, Young scored 49 points, including 21 points in the fourth quarter, in a 105–104 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers.[30] On January 23, 2020, he was selected for the NBA All-Star selection as a backcourt starter.[31] On January 26, Young recorded 45 points and 14 assists in a 152–133 win against the Washington Wizards. Young wore No. 8 in the first 8 seconds of the game in memory of Kobe Bryant.[32] Four days later, he posted 39 points and a career-high 18 assists en route to a 127–117 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.[33] On February 9, Young registered 48 points and 13 assists in 47 minutes in a 140–135 double overtime win over the New York Knicks.[34] On February 20, Young scored a career-high 50 points in a 129–124 win against the Miami Heat, hitting 8-of-15 three pointers.[35]

On December 23, 2020 Young put up 37 points, seven assists, and six rebounds, in a 124–104 season-opening win over the Chicago Bulls.[36]

National team career

He was a member of the U.S. men's national U18 team that won a gold medal at the 2016 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship.

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
* Led NCAA Division I

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Atlanta 818130.9.418.324.8293.78.1.9.219.1
2019–20 Atlanta 606035.3.437.361.8604.39.31.1.129.6
Career 14114132.8.428.344.8473.98.61.0.223.6
All-Star 1115.8.400.333–3.010.0.0.010.0

College
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Oklahoma 323235.4.423.361.8613.98.7*1.7.327.4*

Personal life

Young has three siblings, Caitlyn, Camryn, and Timothy. His father, Rayford, played basketball for Texas Tech.[37] Young is a Christian.[38]

Young followed the footsteps of Donovan Mitchell by being featured in the second season of the Young Hollywood original docu-series "Rookie on the Rise". The series follows Young on his race for the Rookie Of The Year.[39]

See also

Notes
  1. 22 assists is a feat shared by Syracuse's Sherman Douglas (1989), Southern's Avery Johnson (1988) and Charleston Southern's Tony Fairley (1987).[1]

References
  1. Goodman, Jeff (December 20, 2017). "Trae Young first in two decades to have 20-point, 20-assist game". ESPN.
  2. "Young, Doncic lead 2018-19 All-Rookie First Team". www.nba.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  3. "Trae Young Bio". OU Athletics.
  4. "Trae Young". Usab.com. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  5. Greene, Dan (February 7, 2018). "How Trae Young Is Transforming Oklahoma While Doing the Unprecedented". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  6. "Trae Young, Oklahoma Sooners, Point Guard". 247Sports. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  7. "Trae Young - Basketball Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  8. "Trae Young plays pivotal role for rebuilding Sooners". Si.com. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  9. "Oklahoma's Trae Young is becoming college basketball's next Stephen Curry". Sbnation.com. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  10. "NBA Draft Dispatch: Finding Trae Young's NBA comp". SI.com. December 18, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  11. "Oklahoma freshman phenom Trae Young ties NCAA record with 22 assists". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  12. "NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Will big men own the lottery?". SI.com. December 4, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  13. "NBA Mock Draft 2018: The Chicago Bulls And Everyone Else". Uproxx.com. October 17, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  14. "NBA Mock Draft 2018: Oklahoma's Trae Young flies into top five on latest board". SportingNews.com. January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  15. "The most entertaining NBA draft debate in years". SI.com. January 5, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  16. Uehara, Rafael (January 10, 2018). "Prospect Report: Trae Young Of Oklahoma". RealGM.com. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  17. "Oklahoma's Young wins Wayman Tisdale Award" (Press release). USBWA. March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  18. "Men's Basketball All-Big 12 Awards Announced". Big 12 Conference. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  19. Watson-Fisher, Jadyn (March 15, 2018). "Oklahoma basketball: Trae Young makes history as freshman in NCAA Tournament". OU Daily. Archived from the original on March 17, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  20. Aber, Ryan (March 20, 2018). "OU basketball: Trae Young following path for one-and-done point guards". The Oklahoman. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  21. "Hawks Acquire Trae Young, Select Kevin Huerter, Omari Spellman in 2018 NBA Draft". NBA.com. June 21, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  22. "Hawks Sign Kevin Huerter, Omari Spellman And Trae Young". NBA.com. July 1, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  23. "Trae Young has 35 points, 11 assists as Hawks rout host Cavs". ESPN.com. October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  24. "Harrell, Williams rally surging Clippers past Hawks 127-119". ESPN.com. November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  25. "Harden's 30-point streak ends as Rockets beat Hawks 119-111". ESPN.com. February 25, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  26. "Young, Collins power Hawks past Timberwolves, 131-123 in OT". ESPN.com. February 27, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  27. "Bulls fend off Trae Young's historic night in NBA's third-highest-scoring game". ESPN.com. March 1, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  28. "Hawks top Bucks in OT on Young buzzer-beater". ESPN.com. March 31, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  29. "Trae Young has 38 points, Hawks beat Pistons 117-110". ESPN.com. October 24, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  30. "Jeremy Lamb, T.J. Warren lead Pacers past Trae Young, Hawks in OT". ESPN.com. November 29, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  31. Smith, Sekou (January 23, 2020). "Captains LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo headline starters for NBA All-Star 2020". NBA.com.
  32. "Young scores 45 on emotional night, leads Hawks past Wizards". ESPN.com. January 26, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  33. Goldberg, Rob (January 31, 2020). "Trae Young Dominates with 39 and 18 to Lift Hawks Past Joel Embiid, 76ers". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  34. Ladner, Ben (February 10, 2020). "Hawks Edge Out Knicks in Double-Overtime Behind Young's 48". Maven. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  35. "Trae Young scores career-high 50, gets last laugh on Jimmy Butler". ESPN. February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  36. "Young scores 37 as Hawks pound Bulls 124-104 in opener". ESPN.com. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  37. "Trae Young". www.usab.com.
  38. Doering, Joshua. "Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young helps erase over $1 million of debt for families in need". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  39. Cash, Meredith (November 8, 2018). "Trae Young featured in second season of rookie on the rise". Business Insider. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
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