Ht/Wt: 6' 7" / 200 lbs
Position: SF
Team: Kentucky
Class: Freshman

2014 Draft Profile - James Young

Strengths:
Young has all of the physical tools you like to see in a wing player. He has the size to play both wing positions and is young enough that his frame will fill out a little more, which will allow him to bang with some of the larger small forwards of today.

Offensively he is an excellent shooter, especially when he has space. Whether it is off the dribble or spotting up, Young has shown the ability to make teams pay when he is left open. He is a crafty scorer, who can get his shot off over defenders as well.

He is capable of getting to the basket, though it is usually better if he is going in a straight line to the basket. He excels at the midrange pull-up jumper and the fact that he is a lefty helps him as most players still struggle to guard left-handed players.

Defensively he is active and his length allows him to challenge shots that others are unable to and recover if he is beaten off the dribble. He has also proven himself to be a good rebounder for his size.

Weaknesses:
Young will be barely 19 when the season starts and is one of the youngest prospects in this draft. As such, he is still extremely raw at this point in his career, both offensively and defensively.

While his jump shot is the best part of his offensive game, his shot selection can be shaky at times. In addition he does not possess the quickest first step that allows him to blow by defenders. It all adds up to Young taking a lot of contested mid-range jumpers, and his percentage drops considerably on those types of shots.

Defensively, he gives effort, but simply doesn’t understand the basics of defense when it comes to spacing and positioning. He can also lose focus at times when his assignment doesn’t have the ball.

In general, Young is an inexperienced player whose game needs a lot of fine tuning. You see a lot of things you like, but his fundamentals still need a lot of work. Young is a project, but one that can really pan out if he develops a niche in the league.

Stats:PPG: 14.3 RPG: 4.3 APG: 1.7 SPG: 0.8 BPG: 0.2 FG%: 40.7 FT%: 70.6 3PT%: 34.9

Player profile submitted by: Corey Hansford - April 24th

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James Young Videos

James Young - 2013 McDonald's All-American Game - Interview


James Young announces to UK


Kentucky Wildcat commit James Young DUNKS OVER defender in front of John Calipari


Kentucky Wildcat commit James Young 2013 Rochester goes for 43 points vs Avondale







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