This has been a week of addition and subtraction for men’s Oklahoma basketball.
On Wednesday, head coach Lon Kruger received the signed commitment letter from five-star prospect Trae Young and two other members of the 2017 recruiting class to play their college basketball at Oklahoma
For Young, who lives in Norman and attends Norman North High School, he won’t have to go far for his college experience. The Sooners also received signed letters of intent from 6-foot, 7-inch four-star forward Brady Manek and 6-foot, 11-inch center Hannes Polla from Finland.
Young, who averaged 43 points, six rebounds and four assists a game as a high school senior and was named a McDonald’s All-American, is expected to handle the point guard duties next season for the Sooners. He should have an immediate impact on a team that went 11-20 last season, the first time in program history that Oklahoma posted a 20-loss season.
Young will join a starting lineup that includes sophomores Kameron McGusty and Krisitian Doolittle, junior Rashard Odomes and senior power forward Khadeem Lattin.
“He can obviously score a lot of points, but more importantly, he is all about winning and making his teammates better.” –OU head coach Lon Kruger on five-star recruit Trae Young
Considered the No. 2 point guard in the 2017 national recruiting class, Young chose Oklahoma over such blue blood programs as Kansas, Kentucky and Duke. He was also offered a scholarship by in-state rival Oklahoma State.
“Trae is a terrific all-around player and will be a great addition to our program,” Kruger told Oklahoma City Oklahoman staff writer Ryan Aber. He can obviously score a lot of points, but more importantly, he is all about winning and making teammates better.”
While the Sooners were announcing the signing of their three newcomers for next season, Kruger also announced that guard Darrion Strong-Moore and swingman Dante Buford are transferring out of the program.
Strong-Moore played in 29 games for OU last season and averaged 3.8 points and 38.5-percent shooting in 15 minutes per game.
Buford, who would have been a junior, played in 26 games, averaging 3.8 points in 11 minutes of action.
It is not known where Strong-Moore or Buford might be headed.