Not only is Trae Young an Oklahoma Sooners great, but he's also a legend from Norman.
ESPN College GameDay announced on Thursday that Young, a former Sooner and four-time NBA All-Star, will be the guest picker for when the show visits Norman this weekend before the No. 18 Sooners host No. 15 Michigan at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday on ABC. College GameDay starts at 9 a.m., and Young will appear just before the show concludes at 11 a.m.
Trae Young will appear on College GameDay ahead of Oklahoma vs. Michigan
"BOOMER F---ING SOONER‼️"
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 4, 2025
Can't wait to have Atlanta Hawks star and Oklahoma Sooners legend @TheTraeYoung as this week's guest picker in Norman 🙌 pic.twitter.com/f2MRwqdEYR
Young is the perfect representation for the role since both his campus and city are hosting College GameDay. Although originally from Texas, Young was a star at Norman North High School as a McDonald's All-American before getting to OU. He's still a frequent visitor to his hometown with a street and the Young Family Athletic Center named after him.
After high school, Young spent just one year at OU before heading to the NBA as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. During that season, Young was named the winner of the Wayman Tisdale Award for National Freshman of the Year, Big 12 Freshman of the Year and was a consensus First-Team All-American. He led the country in scoring and assists.
Young has just continued to dominate in the NBA as the Atlanta Hawks' franchise player after making his fourth NBA All-Star Game in 2025.
On top of being an NBA All-Star, in March, Young was named OU's assistant general manager while donating $1 million to the basketball program. Earlier that same month, he also donated enough money for 150 tickets for local kids to attend the OU women's basketball team's NCAA Tournament game in Norman.
As an incredible representation of OU and Norman, Young is a major step up after ESPN had country music artist Blake Shelton as the guest picker last year for its trip to Norman. Although from Oklahoma, Shelton has no public ties to the Sooners.
Young was also one of the options I listed when trying to predict who the guest picker could be.
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