Florida's Patric Young Ready to Break Out
Florida's sophomore center Patric Young, a high school All-American, takes the reins in Billy Donovan's rebuilding frontcourt that lost its three starters. The 19 year-old continued to chisel his 6'9", 245-pound frame as the year and showed his ability to muscle his way around the paint on both ends of the floor. Young's maturation for a Gators' team that fell just a few points short of a Final Four appearance is important as reigning conference player of the year, Chandler Parsons along with Alex Tyus and Vernon Macklin, have all graduated. Young has shown bright glimpses of improvement through Team USA's U-19 play thus far in the World Championships.
Young has started all six games for the 5-1 first place American team and is averaging a team-high 7.5 rebounds to go along with his 10 points per game; he is shooting 70.6 percent from the field, but shows that he needs to continue to work on his free-throws where he is just 12-of-25 in the tournament thus far for 48 percent. On Tuesday, Young had two key three-point plays on dunks in overtime to spark the US' comeback against Lithuania, 107-105. Against Croatia on Wednesday, the Americans' first loss, Young had 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting. He is showing a drastic change from last season at Florida where he was one of the least effective offensive players in the country due to his raw abilities, but if he can muscle his way in the post and use his quickness and athleticism to finish plays on both sides of the ball, Young will reflect his Top 10 status in our new Mock Draft.
By President Corey Ruff - 7-7-11
