» Former Yates star Jacob Young starting to prove his worth to UT.
Teammates aren’t surprised guard has made most of chance
AUSTIN — Jacob Young is relishing his told-you-so moment. But don’t conflate that with a typical quest for revenge against a faceless chorus of naysayers. The focus of this particular journey has been on opening eyes and gaining acceptance.
These first two seasons at Texas have been difficult on the sophomore guard.
Questions lingered over whether Young, once the state’s No. 9 player from Yates, was a Big 12 fit. He struggled mightily as a freshman, averaging 3.7 points while shooting 28 percent from the field and 23 percent from 3-point range.
Almost as bad was Young’s inability to channel his boundless energy into a positive. Coaches and teammates loved his spunk and come-at-me demeanor, but that impetuous nature often caused more harm than good. Shaka Smart and his staff kept searching for ways to channel those qualities into something greater.
Up until late last month, Young had done little to quell any chatter over his worthiness. Over UT’s first 24 games, he averaged 4.5 points on 38 percent shooting, culminating with a scoreless outing in a loss to Kansas State.
Then, documents emerged alleging junior guard Eric Davis received $1,500 from ASM Sports agency, an action prohibited by the NCAA. Erring on the side of caution, Davis has been withheld from UT’s last five games and will not return this season.
Next man up
Already without Andrew Jones (leukemia), and with freshman Jase Febres still struggling to adjust, Young was the proverbial next man up. He embraced the opportunity and shed some of his more toxic traits in order to augment what made him so dynamic in high school — making plays.
Over his last five games, Young has averaged 14.4 points on 50 percent shooting, 1.4 steals and 0.6 turnovers. He hit on 13 of 28 3-pointers (46.4 percent) during that span, including a career-best 6 of 7 display during a 29-point outing against the Red Raiders in the Big 12 tournament.
Though Texas lost, Young nearly willed them back. He scored 20 in the second half — including 12 straight — to put some fear into one of the nation’s elite defensive teams.
“It just feels so great,” Young said. “I can now do what people and fans thought I really couldn’t do. I’m just proving, showing that I can play at this level.”
Outsiders, even some insiders, were left with gaping jaws. Not his teammates.
“I wasn’t really too surprised seeing this,” Mo Bamba said Sunday. “He does it every day in practice; he was doing it earlier today in practice. With him, it’s just pace and finding open gaps and finding his teammates a little bit more. Jacob is such a threelevel scorer, it’s funny to see that no one really realizes it until he scores 30 points.”
Young is the very definition of an NCAA Tournament wild card. He could be the difference, one way or the other, Friday when 10th-seeded Texas meets seventh-seeded Nevada at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
‘Piece of work’
If Young can suppress his more reckless inclinations and emphasis what he does so well — spacing the floor, attacking in transition, slashing through open lanes — the Longhorns have a terrific chance of upsetting the two-time defending Mountain West champions.
“He’s a trip,” Smart said. “He’s a piece of work. But I love him because, No. 1, he’s got a great competitive spirit and I just feel like if you’ve got five guys on the court with that it gives you a much better chance.
“Now from there, you’ve got to have poise and you’ve got to be locked in on the plan. You can’t foul the 3-point shooter and all kinds of stuff that he’s got to keep getting better at. But he’s made strides. He’s not going to score 29 points every game, but if he can come in the game and give us a lift with his competitive spirit and his intensity, make a few shots, make the right play — which he’s done in several games this year as of late — then he really helps us.”