Young could extend OU’s draft streak
Trae Young was just 4 years old when LeBron James was taken first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft.
But still, Young remembers watching James walk across the stage in an all-white suit to meet then-NBA commissioner David Stern.
“The suits are what stand out to me —what they wear,” Young said Wednesday in Brooklyn, a day before he gets his turn to walk across that stage. “Everybody has a different background and different story on how they got there. But what they’re wearing is what sticks out to me right now.”
Young said he has something special planned, though declined to provide a preview.
“It’s going to be something fine,” Young said. “It’s going to be something crazy.”
Young has a chance to cap off a feat that figures to outlast whatever outlandish fashion statement he might make, though.
The former Norman North and Oklahoma star point guard is projected by most to be a top-10 pick in the draft, which starts at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Barclays Center.
Should Young be picked in the first 10 picks, Oklahoma would have an unusual accomplishment.
Since the NFL’s merger with
the AFL in 1967 created a unified major professional football draft, only four programs have had top 10 picks in each of the three major drafts — NFL, Major League Baseball and NBA — in one year.
The Sooners had quarterback Baker Mayfield selected No. 1 overall in the spring’s NFL Draft and outfielder Kyler Murray went No. 9 to the Oakland A’s in the MLB Draft earlier this month.
“I represent Oklahoma, the state of Oklahoma, the city of Norman and the university with a lot of pride,” Young said.
“With all that great talent we have on that campus, it just shows why people want to go to the University of Oklahoma, not just in basketball but football, gymnastics, softball, we have everything. I think it shows a great amount of talent that comes through Oklahoma with all the guys being picked this year high and all that.”
Young also made sure to bring up softball, where a pair of Sooners were taken in the first six picks, including pitcher Paige Lowary with the top overall selection.
Of six major mock drafts, Young is projected to go in the top 10 in all but one — ESPN. com’s latest mock draft posted Tuesday night had Young going to the Los
Angeles Clippers with the No. 12 pick.
Mock drafts by CBSSports.com and NBADraft. net have Young going to the Orlando Magic with the No. 6 pick with USA Today, Sports Illustrated and Sporting News predicting Young to the Cleveland Cavaliers at No. 8.
If he gets picked in the
top 10, the Sooners would join 2006 Texas, 1992 Stanford, 1988 Auburn and 1982 Texas in accomplishing the trifecta.
Like Mayfield and Murray, there are questions about Young’s game. But also like those two, there is a load of upside to the player who took college basketball by storm for much of last season before cooling off near the end as opponents changed their defensive approach to the then-freshman, often throwing multiple defenders his way.
Still, he became the first player since assists were officially tracked nearly 40 years ago to lead the nation in both scoring and assists in the same season.
“He is really special on the offensive end, because he’s got logo range as a shooter,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said. “When he takes good shots, he’s very efficient. I think he felt like he had to take some bad ones, some challenged ones and some unusually deep ones last year. … But he’s special out of pick-androlls. He’s an excellent passer. He’s got terrific vision.”