Oklahoma Basketball Wins Battle for Top Recruit Trae Young

Christmas – and about every other cherished holiday on the calendar – came very early for Oklahoma basketball fans on Thursday. Trae Young, the local star rated as the No. 18 point guard in the 2017 national recruiting class chose Oklahoma over Kansas in the heated battle for his services.

This represents a huge recruiting victory for Lon Kruger and the Sooners, who are currently one of the youngest teams in the country, led by mostly freshmen and sophomores, and are suffering through a disappointing 9-16 season after reaching the Final Four less than 10 months ago.

Young’s commitment to become a Sooner in the fall of 2017 can be likened in magnitude to the recruiting decisions made in year’s past by a pair of other highly-touted prospects from the Sooner State: Blake Griffin, from Oklahoma City, and the late, great Wayman Tisdale, from Tulsa.

Both of those former OU players were major difference-makers in turning around the Sooner men’s basketball program, and Young, who has shown tremendous talent and leadership ability at the point-guard position, will have the same opportunity.

Young, a point guard for Norman North High School, has been a top national prospect for several years and had offers from such elite Division I programs as Kentucky, Duke and Kansas. Recently, the McDonald’s All-American narrowed his choices to three schools: Oklahoma, Kansas and Oklahoma State.

In making his announcement at Norman North at mid-day on Thursday, Young said it has been a very long process, but he came to peace with his decision several days ago.

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“This is home, and I know what I get here,” Young said in the press conference announcing his choice of Oklahoma.

“Even though this year’s team is struggling, I feel like I can help this young, talented team next year,” the young Norman North star said. “From day one, the ball will be in my hands, and I will have to lead this team.”

Young, a five-star prospect who averages over 40 points a game in his senior year at Norman North, is the 15th ranked overall recruit in the ESPN 100 and is rated the No. 2 point guard in the 2017 national recruiting class.

Young follows in the footsteps of his father, Rayford Young, who played college basketball at Texas Tech.

The Sooners bring back virtually their entire team from this season. Jordan Woodard, who tore his ACL in last Saturday’s game at Iowa State is the only senior in Oklahoma’s 10-or-11-man rotation.

Young will join two other 4-star prospects in OU’s 2017 class: Brady Manek, another native Oklahoman, from Harrah, and 6-foot, 11-inch Hannes Polla from Finland. Both are strong front-court players who will beef up the Sooners’ presence down low.