Ari Rosenfeld:
Future150 Regional Analyst. Covering high school basketball in the Mid-Atlantic.
North Augusta, SC (Future150) -- Trae Young has spent the better part of the last two AAU seasons making the Nike EYBL circuit his own personal playground. So it was only fitting that the MoKan Elite star capped off his illustrious EYBL career in the best way possible: by winning a Peach Jam championship.
The 6-foot-2 floor general played possibly the best ball of his young career in North Augusta, averaging 27 points and 7.25 assists while shooting a blistering 55 percent from the field and 47 percent from three-point range.
The championship game against New York’s PSA Cardinals pitted Young against Quade Green in a matchup of the circuit’s two best floor generals, and Young responded by scoring 28 points and dropping 11 dimes en route to a 93-65 victory in a game that was all but over by halftime.
“That was the mindset coming in from the beginning, day one, was just to win Peach Jam,” Young said after being named Peach Jam Co-MVP. “Peach Jam is, I feel like, the greatest tournament to ever win in high school basketball, so for us to do it in this fashion also, it’s great for me and my teammates.” said Young.
Capturing the Peach Jam title was the culmination of Young’s explosion onto the national radar since he took home MVP honors as an unheralded Oklahoman at Future150’s Elite 24 camp in 2013.
Since then, Young has picked up offers from nearly all of the nation’s top programs and is unanimously considered one of the top 2-3 point guards in the 2017 class. Always a lights-out shooter and crafty finisher in the lane, he’s made great strides in his ability to facilitate and run a team from the point guard position, leading to his #9 position in our most recent 2017 rankings.
“I’ve always been a natural scorer, so being able to find my teammates with the really great team we had this year, it’s been a key focus for me,” he said. “Just being a true floor general, being able to score when I need to or when the team needs it and being able to get everybody involved.” he said.
A killer on the court but one of the nicest young men you’ll ever meet off of it, Young takes great pride in representing for his family and his entire hometown of Norman, Oklahoma.
With rumors swirling that he would spend his final season of high school at one of the nation’s elite prep basketball powers, Young put this hometown pride on display by announcing last month that he’d be staying at Norman North HS and finishing his career exactly where it began.
“Just family and wanting to win a state championship for my school,” he said when asked about his decision. “It’s never happened at my school before, being in the highest class it’s very tough, very difficult, and I felt I could bring that first state championship to my school this year.” Young said.
This could play a factor in Young’s recruitment, as it looks like four schools are beginning to separate themselves from the pack: Kentucky, Washington, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
While Kentucky and Kansas are nationally recognized powerhouses with their names inscribed all over the annals of college basketball history, staying home and playing for the Sooners could end up being too appealing an option to turn down.
“I see both ways. I see going to a blue blood where you’re on that stage and you’re coming behind a bunch of greats at your position,” he said. “But I can also see myself staying home and representing the 405 and where I grew up… going to a school where I have the chance to make a name for my team and my school and be a legend there.”
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