Jacob Young to transfer from hoops program

[Aaron Carrara]

University of Texas head coach Shaka Smart lost another player on Thursday, just two days after true freshman Mohamed Bamba announced his decision to leave school early and declare himself eligible for the upcoming NBA Draft.  Sophmore guard Jacob Young, who averaged 16.2 minutes and 6.2 points per game for the Longhorns this season, announced via twitter that he would seek a transfer.



“I appreciate all of the effort that Jacob has given to our University over the past two seasons,” said head coach Shaka Smart in a statement.

Young was a 4-star recruit out of Yates High School in Houston and was ranked as the 23rd best point guard in the country.

 

[DBut82]

50 minutes ago, Aaron Carrara said:



University of Texas head coach Shaka Smart lost another player on Thursday, just two days after true freshman Mohamed Bamba announced his decision to leave school early and declare himself eligible for the upcoming NBA Draft.  Sophmore guard Jacob Young, who averaged 16.2 minutes and 6.2 points per game for the Longhorns this season, announced via twitter that he would seek a transfer.

Any insight as to why he's transferring?

 

[MikeV73]

I thought he was on the rise in the program.  Should have played more minutes IMO.  Shot selection improved since last season...still questionable at times this season.  His improved defense impressed me this year.  Dissapointing, he could have been a key asset to the team next year.  Losing him and most likely Eric Davis does not help this team get better next season.  Shaka needs to get that resume polished up if he hasn't already.  Of course a hefty buyout won't hurt him.

 

[83Dee]

Any insight as to why he's transferring?

I’ll take a guess based on my eyeballs.... playing time.  

I liked the way Jacob played... athletic, pushed he ball up-court with great speed.... but he came here touted as a shooter and we never saw it.  Shooting actually appeared to be the weakness in his game.  

I wish him well.  He  seemed to have a good attitude; even when his minutes were very sparse. 

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I’ll take a guess based on my eyeballs.... playing time.  

I liked the way Jacob played... athletic, pushed he ball up-court with great speed.... but he came here touted as a shooter and we never saw it.  Shooting actually appeared to be the weakness in his game.  

I wish him well.  He  seemed to have a good attitude; even when his minutes were very sparse. 

Can't add much to this except that he had to know he was in line for starter's minutes next year. So that tells me there's more here to the story.

Did he lose faith in Shaka?

Is he resentful over his minutes this year?

Who knows? I wish him the best.

 

[Daniel Seahorn]

From what I’m told, Young almost transferred last year, so this didn’t come as a huge surprise. 

 

[North Texas Golfer]

Any insight as to why he's transferring?

He might have been "encouraged" to transfer due to numbers. In fact, expect one more to transfer due to the numbers.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

He might have been "encouraged" to transfer due to numbers. In fact, expect one more to transfer due to the numbers.

Numbers? He'd likely start or have starter minutes as a junior. We chased away someone of that caliber over numbers?

 

[Bear19]

I wish Shaka would transfer.

 

[bevotee]

I think this will hurt.  For a team that struggles offensively, a guy who can create offense is very valuable, even if that guy gets out of control more than you'd like.  He showed at the end of the season that he should have been getting Davis's minutes all along.  Don't blame him for moving on, or for harboring some resentment towards the staff.

 

[83Dee]

Texas basketball is in this weird zone that is not good, and this (though we had success with Barnes) traces back to his regime.  

There are two broad paths I see to being greatly successful in college basketball:  the Gonzaga path, where you keep and develop your players for four years (see Texas Tech and their senior-laden roster).  Or, the Kentucky path which is turning your team over every year and simply reloading with McDonald All American caliber talent.  

Texas seems to be somewhere in the middle.  We aren’t recruiting KU or North Carolina like talent every year; but we have tremendous turnover.  I used to play the “what if” game in the Rick Barnes era.... “what if” ________ (Aldridge, Tucker, Gibson, Turner) fill in the blank..... would have just come back one more year.... we could ha e been a contender.  

Im not sure I have the answer.... but I see a problem.  Kentucky turnover without Kentucky talent.  

 

[North Texas Golfer]

Numbers? He'd likely start or have starter minutes as a junior. We chased away someone of that caliber over numbers?

It looks that way. Here's what they are saying on another site.

Prior to this transfer announcement, there were 2 spots open for next year. We have signed 4 and there is another kid that they are trying really hard to sign. 

The next expected transfer is James Banks which would put us on the number unless they sign the other kid they are after. Then still another player would need to transfer. 

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Banks doesn't seem to be developing much.

 

[dillohorn]

Texas BB is in epic fail mode.

 

[PTA]

Texas basketball is in this weird zone that is not good, and this (though we had success with Barnes) traces back to his regime.  

There are two broad paths I see to being greatly successful in college basketball:  the Gonzaga path, where you keep and develop your players for four years (see Texas Tech and their senior-laden roster).  Or, the Kentucky path which is turning your team over every year and simply reloading with McDonald All American caliber talent.  

Texas seems to be somewhere in the middle.  We aren’t recruiting KU or North Carolina like talent every year; but we have tremendous turnover.  I used to play the “what if” game in the Rick Barnes era.... “what if” ________ (Aldridge, Tucker, Gibson, Turner) fill in the blank..... would have just come back one more year.... we could ha e been a contender.  

Im not sure I have the answer.... but I see a problem.  Kentucky turnover without Kentucky talent.  

So how do programs like UK keep from getting scholarship dinged from low graduation rates. Surely not every single one of those one-and-done UK players are getting their degrees within the allotted time frame.