Spartan Nation Caught Up With 2013 Shooting Guard and Michigan State's Tom Izzo Recruiting Target James Young

Let’s be honest, recruiting is a major business these days. One of the current hot names in recruiting among Michigan State Basketball fans is Troy High

Let’s be honest, recruiting is a major business these days. One of the current hot names in recruiting among Michigan State Basketball fans is Troy High school’s class of 2013, James Young. Hoping to get some truth to the public opposed to rumors, Spartan Nation caught up with James after a recent game.

               For those of you that do not know, James Young is currently rated by ESPN as the tenth best player in the nation for the class of 2013. He is a 6’6 210 pound, left handed shooting guard with a stroke so sweet it will give Spartan fans flash backs to Morris Petersen. 

 After watching James in person it does not take a NBA scout to realize the sky is the limit for this kid. He can take his man off the bounce, hit the outside shot, and plays unselfish basketball. In his own words, James feels his strongest traits to his game are, “Going to the left, shooting and driving mostly to the left.” I did not see many holes in his game but James feels he could improve most with, “My mid range game and my right hand.”Â

               When watching a player with James Young’s talent compete in high school games it is hard to gauge how talented he truly is because he is often by far the best player on the floor. I asked James about the differences between high school and AAU ball and he said, “High school is easier and I like AAU because it is more difficult, more competition.” That’s the one comment that stood out to me when listening to James talk about basketball, he does not fear competition. I love a player that raises his game when the talent level takes a step up.

               When it comes to solid public information James has been somewhat of a mystery man. Knowing that information has been limited my intention was to learn about him as a person and not just as a basketball player. When I asked James about what he enjoys and what his talents are outside of basketball his response was, “I like working on computers a lot, I’m a software man.” I will attest to his talents with technology. At one point in the interview I had trouble with my ipad and James fixed it in no time.

 Not only does James enjoy computers, he plays some football and video games in his spare time as well. He is a PS3 guy and plays mainly NBA2K, Call of Duty and Madden. When it comes to music he is a fan of R&B and hip hop. Maybe this is not considered hard hitting news but in today’s media coverage of recruiting it is always nice to have bits of information that indicate these athletes are still kids. It serves as a reminder to think twice when speaking about a player.

The buzz throughout the building was about James Young. Standing in the concession line the only thing opposing fans could talk about was what James did during the game.  The interesting thing is when talking to the Troy coaching staff and fans they did not mention his basketball talent. Instead they focused on James Young the person, not the basketball player. Overwhelmingly the comments I heard were things such as, “James Young is the nicest person you will ever meet” and “Great kid, great kid.” When you talk to James in person and witness his smile I am convinced you will feel the same as the Troy coaching staff and fans. You will walk away as a fan of James Young the person before you are a fan of James Young the basketball player.

I know this may anger some of you reading this but I did not push the topic of college much with James. My belief is that at Spartan Nation the focus is on the athlete as a person and not just the next hot topic in recruiting. James is only a junior in high school and does not need to face the nonstop questions about where he is going to school.  With that said, he did mention his current top three were “Kentucky, UCONN and Michigan State.” That was as far as the college talk went. Matter of fact I did not ask him directly about schools. Instead, I asked him where he is at in the process in regards to college and that was his response

I asked James if there is one thing he wants people to know about him and he replied, “That I’m a great person to hang around with off the court.” As for me, I watched the game and do not remember the final score or how many points that James had. Instead, after spending time with James the one thing I walk away with is not his basketball skills but the fact he truly is “a great person to hang around with off the court” and that is not a rumor, it is a fact.