There might not be a more popular and polarizing player in the country than Oklahoma's Trae Young.
The 6-2 point guard has been venerated as the second coming of Stephen Curry, leading the nation in points (27.4) and assists (8.8) per game nearly all season. He's been denigrated as his Sooners have fallen from grace, going from a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament to a bubble team as they lost seven of eight in February, a nosedive that coincided with a dip in his production.
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There also hasn't been a freshman who has taken on more of a burden than Young, who's second in the nation in usage (37.1 percent).
When Duke's Marvin Bagley III, the ACC Player of the Year, missed two weeks with a minor knee sprain, senior Grayson Allen picked up the slack and helped guide the Blue Devils to four straight wins. Arizona's Deandre Ayton, who could be the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NBA Draft, was named the Pac 12's Freshman and Player of the Year after leading the conference in rebounding and finishing second in scoring. But the 7-1, 250-pounder plays alongside guards junior Allonzo Trier and sophomore Rawle Alkins, both of whom are leaving school early to turn pro. Michigan State's Jaren Jackson Jr., the Big Ten's Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year, is the Spartan's fourth-leading scorer and No. 3 rebounder.
Following the Sooners' 71-60 loss against Bedlam rival Oklahoma State in their Big 12 Tournament opener Thursday night, Young leads Oklahoma in minutes, field goals, 3-pointers, free throws, assists and steals. In Big 12 play, Oklahoma won just one game in which Young scored fewer than 27 points, and that came last Friday against bottom-dweller Iowa State.
Love him or hate him, he's the most indispensable first-year player in the country. That's why he's Sporting News' 2017-18 Freshman of the Year.
"By getting the results he's gotten," answered Sooners coach Lon Kruger when asked by NCAA.com's Andy Katz how Young earned his trust so early. "If he wasn't getting the results, then we'd probably rein him back in a little bit more quickly. But he makes good decisions with the ball in his hands. He's really made a remarkably high percentage of good plays and good decisions."
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The comparisons to Curry, with whom Young shares a physical build and unwavering faith in the work he puts in to pull up from inside the half-court line, came hot and heavy as he led OU to a 14-2 start, including a pair of 43-point performances in wins against Oregon and a then-16th-ranked TCU squad.
News outlets such as Complex, the Washington Post, Sports Illustrated and the Big Lead mentioned Young in the same breath as Curry. The Warriors star himself had nothing but kind words for Young.
Steph Curry asked about Trae Young from OU, who some have compared to him: "He's incredible" pic.twitter.com/TGlDvHvUix
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 4, 2018
"It means a lot, coming from someone who I looked up to. Growing up, I watched a lot of film of his game," Young told ESPN's Jemele Hill and Michael Smith in January when asked about Curry's praise of him. "I love his game. I'm just a big fan of his, but it's kind of surreal.
"Maybe, one day, here in the next few years, I can be playing against him. So, it meant a lot and it was pretty cool."
The Ringer's Bill Simmons, who literally wrote "The Book of Basketball" (whatever you think that's worth), said Young is the best freshman college guard he's ever seen. He ranked the SN All-American ahead of Magic Johnson, who led Michigan State to the Elite Eight in 1977-78, and Kenny Anderson, who averaged 20.6 points on 51.5 percent shooting from the field and 8.1 assists to help Bobby Cremins' Georgia Tech squad to an ACC title and Final Four appearance.
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Ironically, debates about whether freshman Young was as good as junior Curry, an unfair comparison to begin with, started to come to a halt after what might go down as the Norman, Okla., native's most valiant effort.
Young scored a career-high 48 points, his third of four 40-plus point performances this season, in an 83-81 overtime loss against Oklahoma State on Jan. 20, but took 39 shots to do so. Apparently, in nearly leading his team to a win on the road against its most bitter rival, he'd committed a crime against all basketball-watching humanity.
Forget that he poured in 24 points in the second half, knocking down 6-of-12 3-pointers, and his 35.9 percent shooting from the field was still better than the rest of his teammates combined (32.5). All of a sudden, the kid that could do no wrong was the subject of intense scrutiny. Fans on messages boards, always a bastion of basketball brilliance, questioned whether he was "an incredible ball hog or offensive phenom."
The public had officially began chasing him down the street it was once prepared to name after him. If you had stock in "I told you so" or "playing the game the right way" after he scored 26 on just nine shot attempts in an 85-80 win at home against Kansas on Jan. 23, a signature victory for the Sooners, it would've been a great time to sell.
Granted, Young, by the lofty standards he set out of the gate, has struggled as of late. Since going for 44 points (11-for-20 shooting, including 6-of-11 on 3-pointers) in a 98-96 win at home against Baylor Jan. 30, the Sooners have gone 2-8, including a six-game losing streak, to fall to 18-13.
During that stretch, easily Young's worst of the season, he's shooting 24.2 percent from 3-point range, but he's still averaging 20.2 points and 7.2 assists while turning the ball over five times per game. Those figures would be good enough to lead the SEC, Big Ten and American in both categories and the Big East and Pac-12 in assists and scoring respectively.
"It surprised everyone that he burst onto the scene as quickly as he did as a freshman, but those first 10-12 games were off the charts," Kruger said.
The last 19-21 have been pretty darn good, too.