By Matt Norlander @MattNorlander
Oklahoma’s Trae Young has been selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to receive the 2017-18 Wayman Tisdale Award as the National Freshman Player of the Year.
Young makes history in doing so. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 27.5 points per game and 8.9 assists in the regular season, becoming the first player in Division I men’s basketball history to ever lead the nation in both categories at the end of the regular season.
Here at CBSSports.com, Young went wire to wire in the Frosh Watch, our weekly ranking of the top 10 freshmen in college basketball. The Sooners’ star won Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Oklahoma plays Wednesday night in the Big 12 tournament’s first round against Oklahoma State.
Four times this season Young had 40-point games. He scored 30 or more nine additional times. He earned Freshman of the Week four times this season for CBS Sports and the USBWA, which work in conjunction for the Tisdale Award. Young’s 826 points are the most ever in the regular season in the Big 12 and the most by any player since J.J. Redick at Duke in 2005-06.
With 267 assists, Young is 22 away from breaking Bobby Hurley’s single-season freshman record of 288. Young is only the second player ever to eclipse 800 points and 250 dimes in a season, joining Oakland’s Kay Felder (2015-16). With six more assists, he’ll set the Big 12 single-season record, currently held by former Texas point guard T.J. Ford.
On Dec. 19, Young tied the NCAA record for single-game assists when he had 22 against Northwestern State. Young’s trophy case will be populated with a lot of hardware after a magnificent season; he will receive the Wayman Tisdale Award at the College Basketball Awards dinner April 9 at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, which has partnered with the USBWA on the event. At that event, the USBWA’s award for Player of the Year (Oscar Robertson Trophy) and Coach of the Year (Henry Iba Award) will also be handed out.
