Bird calls
Trae Young’s fear of birds might be exaggerated, but it’s real. He’ll surely get the same treatment Saturday at Iowa State.
AMES, IOWA — Alabama’s Coleman Coliseum was mostly quiet late last month when Trae Young stepped to the free-throw line in the opening minute of the second half.
Then, a lone voice rang out, not with any words or booing, but with a distinct bird call.
This is the Oklahoma star’s life now.
Hand-in-hand with being a star is fans on the road finding every little opening to try to get in your head.
Young will almost certainly see and hear avian taunts Saturday when the No. 17 Sooners travel to Hilton Coliseum to face Iowa State (1 p.m., ESPN).
Young has ornithophobia — an abnormal or irrational a fear of birds.
“The man can do everything but be face-to-face with a bird,” teammate Rashard Odomes said.
Young has had the condition for awhile, even being scared as a child of animated birds.
“I just think it was movies when I was a kid,” Young said. “I never really liked animated movies where the bird would be the scary thing. I would never like that.”
Then about two years ago at Norman North, Young was walking near a fellow student just outside the school as he was heading to lunch.
“She scared a bird and the bird just flew at her and like attacked her,” Young said.
The friend was scraped up, suffering no major injuries. But Young’s fear intensified.
“That was the end of me for birds,” Young said.
Young was still getting to know his new teammates this summer when the team headed to Australia and New Zealand for a four-game trip that also included plenty of time for sightseeing. The team was walking along Sydney Harbor, near Sydney Opera House, to head to a tour.
A pigeon, emboldened by the thousands of tourists that flock to the iconic area, approached Young. He ran away from it, finding refuge behind hulking freshman Hannes Polla.
“I thought he was joking at first,” freshman Brady Manek said. “I guess he’s really not. Everybody’s got their fears. His just happens to be birds.”
Young might be afraid of birds, but he has thrived against teams with avian mascots this season. He had 22 points and 13 assists against the Ball State Cardinals, 43 points against the Oregon Ducks, 28 and eight to beat the UT San Antonio Roadrunners and 26 and nine to help knock off the Kansas Jayhawks at Lloyd Noble Center in late January.
Young’s fear was highlighted in a CBS Sports story in early December and has been talked about during game broadcasts, giving fuel to student sections across the Big 12.
At Oklahoma State, the student newspaper ran a two-page spread of a pigeon, wings spread and claws out, the day of the Bedlam game Jan. 20. Cowboys fans in the student section held up the pages throughout the game, which OSU won in overtime, though Young scored 48 points.
“People think it affects me and scares me, but I see birds all the time,” Young said.
“I just don’t like when a bird is walking up on me.”
The bird calls, such as the one at Alabama, have become a regular occurrence. A few fans in opposing gyms have even dressed up as birds to try to throw Young off his game.
“I think that’s just wasting their time,” Young said. “It’s not affecting me. But I think it’s funny. I think that’s what you want college basketball to be like. You want it to be fun like that. You want people to be talking about stuff like that and for it to be fun, so I love it.”