Trae Young

Rayford Trae Young (born September 19, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners.

He became the second freshman to record similar numbers of points in an NCAA Tournament game, with Chris Paul being the first player back in 2004.

He was the University of Oklahoma's first five-star recruit since Tiny Gallon in 2010.

In his sophomore year, he averaged 25 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds per game as he helped Norman North win the 2015 area championship and was named Oklahoma's Sophomore of the Year.

During his junior year, he significantly improved his game, averaging 34.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists as he led the team to a 28–4 record, winning the regional title and placing second in the 2016 Oklahoma Class 6A championship game.

In his senior year, he averaged 42.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while shooting at a 48.9% rate.

In 2017, he tied the then-record in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I single-game assists with 22.

Young became the only player to ever lead the NCAA in both points and assists in a single season.

Young was considered one of the best players in the 2017 recruiting class by Scout.com, Rivals.com and ESPN.

ESPN considered him the second-best point guard prospect that year, while the other websites considered him the third-best.

On February 16, 2017, Young committed to the Oklahoma Sooners.

At the start of the 2017 season, on November 12, Young recorded 15 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds in a win over the Omaha Mavericks.

Three days after his college debut, he recorded 22 points and a then season-high 13 assists in a win over the Ball State Cardinals.

On November 26, Young recorded a season-high 43 points and seven assists in a 90–80 win over the Oregon Ducks.

That game had his name draw multiple comparisons to Stephen Curry in terms of his playing style.

On December 19, Young tied (with three others) the then-NCAA single-game assists record with 22, while also recording 26 points in a 105–68 win against the Northwestern State Demons.

Nicknamed "Ice Trae", he was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA draft with the fifth pick, and later traded to the Atlanta Hawks, along with a future first-round pick, for the draft rights to Luka Dončić.

Throughout the season, Young rose from being a late first-round or a second-round pick to being a potential top-three pick for the 2018 NBA draft.

He also garnered praise from both LeBron James and Stephen Curry for his season with Oklahoma.

Young, however, ran into a rough patch when the West Virginia Mountaineers' Press Virginia defense forced him into eight turnovers on January 5, 2018.

Furthermore, his individual defense has been rated as "poor".

However, Young would recover with a season-high 43 points and 11 rebounds with seven assists in a 102–97 overtime win over the TCU Horned Frogs a week later on January 13.

Three days later, Young would wind up with a season-high 12 turnovers in a loss to the Kansas State Wildcats, which surpassed his previous season-high a few weeks ago.

On January 20, Young recorded a new career-high 48 points (albeit on 14-on-39 overall shooting) in a close 83–81 overtime loss to the rival Oklahoma State Cowboys.

He recovered from that with a 26-point (on 7-on-9 shooting) and nine-assist effort in an 85–80 win over the fifth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks on January 23.

Young finished his freshman regular season leading the country in many statistics: assists (271), points (848), points per game (27.4), assists per game (8.7), and assist percentage (48.6%).

The 848 points scored in the Big 12 would break the conference's record for most points scored by a freshman player, which was previously held by Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley.

On March 7, 2018, Young was announced as the winner of the Wayman Tisdale Award for National Freshman of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).

At the end of the regular season for Oklahoma, Young was also named Big 12's Freshman of the Year and was a member of the All-Big 12's First Team.

In addition, he was also brought up as a consensus member of the All-American First Team, which was named throughout multiple organizations.

Young also joined 2018's top two selections Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley III as the first consensus All-American First-Team to have three freshman players be named there.

On March 15, Young recorded 28 points, seven assists, and five rebounds in an 83–78 overtime loss to the seventh-seeded Rhode Island Rams.

He joined Dončić in a unanimous selection to the 2019 NBA All-Rookie First Team.

He is a three-time NBA All-Star.

Born in Lubbock, Texas, Trae is the son of Candice and Rayford Young, who played basketball at Texas Tech and professionally in Europe.

He has a younger brother and two younger sisters.

Young also has an uncle who played college basketball in the NAIA.

Trae was raised in Pampa, Texas, by his mother and paternal grandparents, as his father played basketball overseas.

Young attended Norman North High School in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma.