2/24/2021 basketball Edit

Senior Day Spotlight: Rutgers Basketball guard Jacob Young

Richie O'Leary • TheKnightReport

Publisher

With senior night for Rutgers Basketball set for this Wednesday night, TKR decided to a quick review of each the senior's career with the Scarlet Knights.

Next up in that series we take a look at senior guard Jacob Young and a look at his three year career on the banks.

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HIGH SCHOOL RECRUITMENT.....

-- Young originally signed with his home state school and joined the University of Texas as a member of the class of 2016 before transferring to Rutgers during the 2018 offseason.

-- Out of high school, Young was ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 106 overall player in the nation for his class. In the end, Young chose the Longhorns over offers from Baylor and Duquesne.

YOUNG ON HIS COMMITMENT TO RUTGERS: “I decided to transfer in order to further showcase my skills and play some more point guard. I was also looking for a place with a little more freedom and opportunity. I just really like the opportunity I have here. Coach Pikiell was telling me that he can show me the tricks of becoming a pro. He said he can develop me and everything he said sounds so real and I believe in him. I went on my visit to campus. When I was on my visit I just loved hanging out and talking with the coaching staff. I definitely talked to Coach Pikiell the most, he was just telling me that he thinks it is the right time for me. He also said that I can come in and help make a change to the program."

RIVALS NATIONAL ANALYST ON JACOB YOUNG OUT OF HS: " Like his older brother, Joseph Young, who is now in the NBA, Young never met a shot that he didn't like. He put up huge numbers regularly, but his somewhat wild style of play scared some teams and he jumped on a Texas offer. There's something to be said for bloodlines and the success of Young's older brother and father, Michael (who was a star at Houston and a first round NBA Draft pick), bodes well for the Texas freshman. The makeup of the Longhorns also benefits Young. Fellow freshman Andrew Jones and sophomore Snoop Roach are both drivers and he'll be a perfect guy to spread the floor. Also, his attitude that shot 21 will go in even if he's missed the previous 20 should serve him well."

ORANGEBLOODS.COM DUSTIN MCCOMAS ON YOUNG OUT OF HS: "A highly productive combo guard that can shoot it from anywhere, Young will bring a rare amount of confidence and shot-making ability to Texas. At the Adidas Summer Championships, he led the event in scoring at 29.6 points per game, which included a 44-point performance on just 21 shots (16-of-21 from the floor; 6-of-10 from three-point range; 6-of-8 from the free throw line). The lefty gets his shot off quickly, and isn't afraid to pull the trigger from anywhere. He was productive consistently throughout the Adidas circuit. While his range and scoring get the most attention, Young has an underrated feel for the game, and is a crafty finisher in or near the paint. As the main option (by far) on his AAU team (Howard Elite), the future Longhorns was often asked to put up a ton of shots. However, he's shown the ability to handle the ball, and create and distribute to teammates. Young is the younger brother of former Oregon star and now Indiana Pacers rookie Joseph Young, and is the son of Phi Slama Jama member Michael Young. The instincts are visible. Defensively, Young is active (finished fourth in steals per game at the Adidas Summer Championships), willing, and quick enough to stay with defenders. He also has a lot of experience in a pressing style, and anticipates passes well."

CAREER STATS AS A SCARLET KNIGHT.....

-- 558 points at Rutgers – 867 points in his career

-- 124 assists at Rutgers – 174 assists in his career

-- 67 steals at Rutgers – 95 steals in his career (leads B1G currently with 1.7spg)

-- 48 three-pointers at Rutgers -- 98 three pointers in his career

JACOB YOUNG ON HIS CAREER AT RUTGERS AND THE UPCOMING SENIOR NIGHT.....

“It’s been really good and exactly what I thought it was going to be. The accomplishment that I came here for was to make it to the NCAA Tournament last year, well we are still trying to do that this year. I just wanted to help raise the program and that’s a big reason why I came here, just to help make this program better. That was my main goal, just come in and help raise this program. When coach Pikiell first told me to come here, he said something about making it to the tournament and that was really our main goal. It was also the main reason I came here, we haven’t been here since 1991 and just thinking about being a part of that is what made me want to make this jump.”

“Really everyone just bought in this season and did what we needed them to do. We just all told each other that we were going to stay safe and stay out of harms way, we weren’t going to go out or do anything to risk COVID for anybody. We basically just hung out with each other all season and that’s how we managed COVID and stayed away from other people and talked about it everyday. We talked about it everyday, made sure guys wore their masks and doubled up on everything. I feel like we pushed each to do the right thing this year and that helped us maintaining not having any COVID stops.”

“It hasn’t been frustrating, it’s just what we have right now and it’s what we have to live with. We all wanted to play basketball this year and we had to take that sacrifice. No fans, my family not being able to come to games and you know it’s just a sacrifice and we all bought into it. It hasn’t really been a problem and I haven’t been too upset about it, but my parents come to my senior day tomorrow and that’s a blessing to just have them back around. I haven’t seen my parents around seven months, it’s been a while. Usually every year they come to every game man, that’s been a new challenge for me, but they get to come tomorrow and that’s what I’m excited about.”