Knights guard Young to transfer

UCF men’s basketball backup point guard Jayhlon Young is entering the NCAA transfer portal, he announced Sunday on social media.

Although he mostly came off the bench for the Knights in his one season, Young made 12 starts in 31 appearances in place of starter Darius Johnson, who dealt with lower-body injuries throughout the year.

“I want to start by thanking coach [Johnny] Dawkins for giving me the opportunity to play at the University of Central Florida,”

wrote Young, who began his college career at Baton Rouge CC. “I’d like to thank my teammates for the genuine friendships that we’ve created and the constant push that they’ve me to be better every day.

“With that being said, I will be entering the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining. My recruitment is now 100% open.”

Young, a redshirt sophomore, averaged 4.7 points, 2.1 assists and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 38% from the floor.

He becomes the first UCF player to announce his intentions to transfer since the Knights’ season ended Friday in a loss to Memphis in the AAC quarterfinals at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Last offseason, six Knights transferred out of the program. To rebuild his roster, Dawkins added six transfers, including Young, Brandon Suggs, Ithiel Horton, C.J. Kelly, Michael Durr and Lahat Thioune.

Young did just about everything for Baton Rouge CC in his second season there, averaging 15.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists. He shot 47% from the field as well.

Starting in 25 of 26 games in his final season there, Young played 34.8 minutes per contest — the 13th-highest average at the NJCAA level.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound guard started in all 16 games for the Bears during the 2020-21 season. That year he averaged 13.1 points to go with 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

A native of Dallas, Young played high school basketball at Garland, where he ended his high school career as a member of the program’s 2,000-point club.