No list yet for 2006 Young

This past weekend North Carolina head coach Roy Williams witnessed Thaddeus Young, the No. 7 ranked player in the class of 2006, put up some big numbers for 6-2 Mitchell High School in a win over Fairley High School, led by Anthony Mason, Jr.. Practically every high-major program in the country is recruiting Young, a 6-foot-8, 205-pound small forward, but according to his father Felton Young, it will not be until next year when Young narrows his school list down to five schools.

“Coach Williams was here Friday,” said Felton Young. “Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Mississippi State have all been down here to watch Thaddeus. I could try to give you a list of schools, but there are so many recruiting him. Duke, North Carolina, Memphis, Georgia Tech, Arkansas and Indiana are some of the schools.

“We haven’t narrowed it down to any certain schools. Thaddeus still has another year to go before he narrows it down to five schools. Right now he is more focused on his game.”

Felton Young did mention a couple trips that he took without Thaddeus to check out some programs not too far from Memphis.

“I went to Georgia Tech and Arkansas to see what type of programs they had,” he said. “Right now I am backing off from visiting any other schools. These trips are costing too much. I think we will just wait for the official visits.”

Another consideration for the Young’s is the possibility of Thaddeus being a potential lottery pick in the 2006 NBA Draft.

“Another reason we are taking things slow is that I am hearing that Thaddeus could be a lottery pick in the draft. If that is the case, I will just ask him if he wants to go to college and play or go to the NBA and go to college in the summer.

“I am letting the schools know that if he does decide to go to college, he might only be there a couple of years. To me, I think he needs a couple years in college to play for someone like Mr. Williams and North Carolina or Indiana or Duke or a school like that where they will teach him the game.”

In Young’s game against Fairley, he took over in the second half, finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks in Mitchell’s 53-44 win. Anthony Mason, Jr., was a non-factor in the game, largely due to his picking up 4 fouls in the first half.

Although Young puts up big numbers all over the stat sheet, his father only wants him concerned with one stat column.

“I don’t know what Thaddeus is averaging and I don’t want him to know either,” said Felton Young. “I just want him to do his best and not worry about stats. I try to keep him away from looking at points. I do want him to get more rebounds, though. More defensive and offensive rebounds will help us win.”