A natural shooter, Young became complete guard
Every now and then while watching tape of past games, Trae Young would see himself pull up for a 3-pointer, and on the inside, he’d feel a little sense of shock.
“Sometimes I don’t realize I’m that deep until I actually watch it, and I’m like, ‘Whoa, what am I doing?” Young said of the long 3-pointers that came to be one of the trademarks of his superb senior season at Norman North.
On occasion, he would shoot from just a few steps inside half court, or equally deep on the wing.
It was one part of his game many fans loved to watch, and others loved to criticize.
Considering that he made 220 3s in his final two years and shot just a shade under 40 percent from deep over his entire four-year career, the criticism never bothered Young.
“I’ve worked so hard on my game,” said Young,
The Oklahoman’s Super 5 Player of the Year. “I can make those shots.”
And with the doubleand triple-team defenses he faced most every game, sometimes those shots became a virtual necessity.
The truth is, shooting always came easy for Young. Growing up playing against kids a year or two older than him, he learned how to get open against bigger defenders and find his shot.
“If you ask the guys I played with when I was little, they’ll all tell you the same thing,” Young said. “All I did was catch and shoot. I didn’t do anything else.”
But there came a time around junior-high when Young had to make a decision. Keep playing the way he always had, and be a great shooting guard, or start adding some point guard skills.
Knowing he wasn’t likely to grow to 6-foot5, Young started working on his dribbling, his passing, his speed. If he wanted to play big-time college ball, or beyond, that was his ticket.
“I had to decide if I wanted to take it serious or not,” he said. “I had to learn how to be a true point guard, so I had to work on the other pieces of my game. That’s when everything started coming together.”
Young averaged 42.6 points per game this season. With an inexperienced roster around him, that’s what his team needed of him.
But it made some outsiders believe he was only a scorer at the point guard position, undervaluing his other skills, particularly his passing and court vision.
“Obviously he scored a lot of points during his high school career,” OU coach Lon Kruger said after signing the top-20 national recruit earlier this week. “But he’s about winning. He’s about making teammates better and putting them in position. He has a great feel for the game. He shoots it well, but has a great imagination as a passer . Very creative, and terrific skills with the ball.”
Young’s shooting ability, of course, won’t be ignored. Basketball has evolved into a shooter’s game over the last decade, giving even more value to Young’s most natural of abilities.
Kruger loves that part of Young’s game, but the Sooners will utilize the total package.
“Being able to space the floor and attack and distribute, and then shoot the 3 as well as he does, he’ll be a great addition,” Kruger said. “I think it says a lot about Trae and his family that they wanted to be here, they want to have an impact on their community, on the university, on the state of Oklahoma.
“He’s been around (the team) the last couple of years and wanted to join them in getting this program back where it belongs.”