Projo College Hoops

PROVIDENCE -- It doesn't take John Eurey long to crystallize just what makes Joe Young a top-flight college basketball prospect.

"Best shooter in America," said Eurey, Young's AAU coach with the Houston Superstars. "There's not one high school kid in America who can outshoot Joe Young."

Young visited Providence College over Labor Day weekend and verbally committed to coach Keno Davis on Monday. Young, who led Houston's Yates High to the Texas Class 4A title last March, was at PC with his father, Michael. Michael Young is a one-time Boston Celtic first-round pick (1984) who played three years in the NBA after starring with the University of Houston's Phi Slama Jama teams.

Eurey said Michael Young's training regimen with his son has helped deliver the 16-year old to the Big East.

"Michael Young had Joe shooting 1,500 jumpers every day. He told Joe, 'If you can shoot the ball, that will take you a long way,' " said Eurey.

That shooting skill has always been Joe Young's calling card. While some Big 12 schools like Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas watched Young and deemed him a bit small at 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds to play off-guard, or not slick enough with the ball to run the point, Providence did not. Young only turned 16 over the summer and when PC assistant Chris Davis saw him play in the Reebok Summer Championships in Las Vegas, he shined. Young hit 14 threes in four games and averaged 23.8 points, third-best in the national tournament.

"Chris Davis called me and said Providence wanted to recruit Joe Young. These other schools weren't sure. Providence was," said Eurey. "He said they needed scorers and somebody who could score against Syracuse's zone and all those tough Big East teams. I said, 'Joe Young is your man.' "

Young played on a powerhouse team at Yates that will be a favorite to repeat as Texas champions once again. Yates finished 34-1 and scored over 100 points 12 times. Young earned All-State honors and was the MVP in a state title win over Dallas' Kimball High when he poured in 29 points and dropped home seven 3-pointers.

Michael Young is the director of basketball operations and performance enhancement for Houston's basketball program. He apparently was interested in seeing his son leave Houston for college.

With Young, the Friars now have three verbal commits for the class of 2010. The others are guard Gerard Coleman and power forward Ron Giplaye. If all three do enroll next September and no current players leave the program, the Friars will be out of scholarships. However, Keno Davis and his staff are still involved with several forwards, including New Jersey's Devon Collier and J.P. Olukemi, a junior college player from Fullertton, Cal. Alex Murphy, the South Kingstown native who is regarded as one of the top-ranked high school sophomores in the country, was visiting the PC campus Tuesday.

-- KEVIN McNAMARA

 Tags  Gerard Coleman Joseph Young Keno Davis Ron Giplaye

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