How Would Trae Young Fit in at Oklahoma State?

2017 point guard recruit Trae Young narrowed his list of schools to six on Thursday, and Oklahoma State made the cut, along with Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Washington, Kansas, and Kentucky.

The five-star point guard is ranked by Rivals as the number 20 player overall in the 2017 class. Seen as an immediate game changer, Young possesses elite quickness and ball handling ability, and can get to the bucket as well as any point guard in next year’s class.

Combined with his quick trigger and range for days, and there’s no question why Young is so highly sought-after. Watch him obliterate his high school competition.

It’s generally regarded to be a three-team race for Young’s services, with the usual suspects Kansas and Kentucky in the lead, along with nearby Oklahoma. However, Brad Underwood and his staff have been hot in pursuit of Young and are in the race late in the game.

So how would Trae Young fit in with the Cowboys in 2017?

The short answer is he would join an already loaded backcourt and take it to the next level. Point Guard Jawun Evans is just a sophomore, and incoming freshmen Lindy Waters III, Brandon Averette, and Thomas Dziagwa all look very promising. Combined with Zack Dawson, the 4-star point guard from Miami, Florida that has already committed in the 2017 class, the Cowboys would have one of the deepest and most devastating backcourts not just in the Big 12 but in the country.

Assuming Evans returns for his junior campaign in 2017, Young would likely slot in alongside him in Brad Underwood’s spread motion offense. Having too many point guards is an excellent problem to have, and in this system of constant movement and dribble-drives, Young and Evans would combine to cause all kinds of issues for defenses. The Cowboys would boast two point guards who are nearly impossible to stay in front of, who can also pour it in from deep (Evans shot 47.5 percent from 3 as a freshman.)

Evans and Young would be dynamite on their own, but when you add Lindy Waters III’s size and impressive ability to get into the lane and also shoot at 6’6, Underwood would also have the ability to play Waters/Evans/Young at the same time and wreak havoc. Being able to bring Zack Dawson, Davon Dillard, Dziagwa, and Averette off the bench would also give the Cowboys an impressive second unit of guards. The roster could look something like this.

Starting Five

C Mitch Solomon
PF Cameron McGriff
SF Lindy Waters III/Davon Dillard/Jeffrey Carroll
SG Trae Young
PG Jawun Evans

Bench

G Zack Dawson
G Thomas Dziagwa
G Brandon Averette
G/F Tavarius Shine
C Nathan N’Guessan (pending eligibility clearance)

Oklahoma State is no doubt an underdog for Trae Young against KU, UK, OU, and even Washington (who just signed his close friend Michael Porter Jr.). However, if Underwood can sell Young on the future of Cowboy basketball and point to the success of Jawun Evans, he’s got a shot at impressing and landing the in-state stud for 2017.