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Trae Young: Five reasons the ex-Sooner superstar will make it in NBA

By Chip Rouse

CHICAGO, IL - MAY 18: Trae Young speaks with reporters during Day Two of the NBA Draft Combine at Quest MultiSport Complex on May 18, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - MAY 18: Trae Young speaks with reporters during Day Two of the NBA Draft Combine at Quest MultiSport Complex on May 18, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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He talks big and backs up what he says with his performance

Coming out of high school. Trae Young was rated a five-star prospect. Several recruiting services had him as one of the best point guards in the country and in the top-20 players available overall.

With his superb skills and notoriety, Young could easily have gone anywhere in the country, but he chose to stay home and play at Oklahoma and help make the Sooners better and improve their success on the basketball court. He did exactly that. As high as the expectations were for Young coming to Oklahoma, it’s safe to say that he exceeded the already high expectations everyone had for him.

First-year players just don’t come into NCAA Division I programs and blow the top off the way Young did through the first half of the 2017-18 college basketball season.

We may have been pleasantly surprised at how quickly and for how long into the season Young was able to sustain a high level of performance. But Young may not have been that surprised. He knows what he is capable of and, importantly, he has the confidence to step up and deliver when his hard work and preparation meets the right opportunity.

Young arrived at Oklahoma with the mind set that he didn’t want to be the just the best freshman player in the country; he wanted to be the best college player in the country. He fell a bit short of that mark, but he came pretty doggone close, folks (i.e., consensus First-Team All-American).

So when Trae Young says he wants to be more than one of the best players, if not the best player, in the NBA Draft, we should be careful not to sell the former OU superstar short.

Need I remind you of a two-time NBA champion and two-time league MVP to whom many have compared Young’s skills and style of play: Stephen Curry?

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