Oklahoma's Trae Young, The Superstar Nobody Saw Coming By Marc Tracy

In “Oklahoma’s Trae Young, the Superstar Nobody Saw Coming” by Marc Tracy, the author discusses the sudden, unexpected rise of Trae Young, the University of Oklahoma’s starting point guard. The 6’2 guard from Norman North Highschool has put up spectacular numbers thus far into the college season. The author completely illustrates Young’s success by explaining his motivation, his opportunity, and most importantly, his results. Trae Young’s skill has been known ever since his early high school days. Young was ranked 23rd in the class of 2017. He received a surplus amount of D-1 basketball offers, even from prestigious basketball schools such as Duke, Kentucky, and Kansas. However, none of this affected Young’s work ethic. Instead, Young continued his hunger for success. Trae Young’s name was left off many preseason award predictions, or lists of athletes who may win certain awards. Young was not mentioned on the All-American predictions, the Naismith Award predictions, or the Oscar Robertson Trophy predictions. The author proclaims that this lack of acknowledgement motivated Young to work even harder and to have an incredible season.

Young averages 34 minutes of in-game playing time per game. This average is greater than that of the average Kentucky, Duke, or Kansas player. The author states that Young wisely chose Oklahoma understanding that he would be able to play long minutes and play through his mistakes. Although he has collected approximately one hundred turnovers this season, Coach Lon Kruger continues to trust Trae and his skill. Additionally, Young fits very well in the Oklahoma basketball scoring scheme, as he is very versatile with his shot and his dribble penetration. The author believes that Young may not have experienced this amount of success had he decided to not go to