“I Was Nervous”: Leading the NCAA in Points and Assists, Trae Young Reflects on His Bumpy College Basketball Career

As quest for ultimate glory fueled up with March Madness, many NBA stars are taking trip down the memory lane. Among them is a baller whose iconic move stays as a cold court moment of contemporary basketball history. Yes, erstwhile Oklahoma Sooners guard Trae Young is getting candidly nostalgic about his bumpy ride college season.

Young was present at “From the Point” podcast where he talked about the game and its nuances. In the same breath and broadcast, he shed light on his campus time where going was getting tough for him.

What did Young say?

Ice Trae recollected how his college season came with its own unexpected twists and turns for the Sooners: “Well I didn’t know we were going to make it. I ain’t going to lie we… we had gone all the way upto the top five in the country, I think we were number three in the country at one point like midway through the season so I knew we felt good and good place.”

Young continued: “When the first Bracketology came out, we were like a top three seed and then second half of the bid 12 happened and we were like we had lost 7 of 9 or 6 of 9 or something like that and almost fell out of it and so like whenever they were going through the names like I was nervous like I wasn’t excited or nothing like I.. I was just anxious and ready for him to call her name so when they called her name on the screen it was like at our banquet.”

The Oklahoma Sooners had a pretty good start to the 2017-19 regular season when Young played for them. They had a brilliant 17-2 stat during the mid-half of the tourney riding on the exploits of Young. He finished that season as the first player to lead in points and assists during a single season when he smashed 876 points and complemented them with 279 assists. 

The Texas-born propelled the team to a good position from where the Sooners unfortunately started losing games. They had a 6-11 tally in the next 17 games and were also eliminated in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.

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They earned a bid to the NCAA tournament where they were crushed by Rhode Island in overtime by a 78-83 margin. Thus, what had started as a fine season for Sooners had ended on a sour note.

The Winning Recipe

Reflecting on his unsuccessful college season, Young also had recommendations to the current teams on how to maintain their winning spree. He opined that teams should look to keep the same routine throughout the tourney and practice. “I think the main thing that helps teams win and keeps them ready is just making sure they have the same routine. Don’t… don’t try to switch anything up or do anything different that you made the tournament like yeah try as much as you can keep the same routine,” Young enunciated.

Young’s interview would’ve definitely given a heads-up to the teams who are looking to dominate in the March Madness.

Read More: Despite Zach Edey’s Surge for Purdue, Can UConn Go for Back to Back NCAA Titles?