Prep Basketball: Highlighting a Trio of Valuable Unsigned 2021 Seniors

Montez Young, 6’5” SF – Waxahachie (TX) / Urban DFW Elite (TX)

2020 HS Stats: 19 points, 11 rebounds per game

Offers: Benedictine (AZ) and Southwestern Assemblies of God (SAGU – TX)
Interest: Sam Houston State, Troy, Incarnate Word and Cornell

Waxahachie’s Montez Young is another senior guard surrounded by D1 talent making his own waves. Young has not been heavily pursued to this point, but has continued to put in visible work to develop and expand his game. Over the summer and current high school seasons, he has been on a tear and is a key cog towards his team’s on-court successes. His momentum is increasing by the day.

Young prides himself on the dirty work first. A notable top-tier rebounder with terrific defensive instincts, Young has scored 19, including a game-winning 3 over in-state power #1 Duncanville, and 22 points in recent winning efforts. However, the most accomplished aspect of these performances has been 16 rebounds in each contest. Young has a very big motor and leaves all of his energy on the floor to come away with impact plays. He carries the ‘want-to’ with him in every aspect of his performances. His effort is hard to compete with on the court and if defenders don’t bring the same energy they will get outworked.

These impact plays undoubtedly provide some of the spark for Young’s scoring outbursts, but his offensive arsenal is also well-rounded. Evidenced by his love and attention to the effort plays, rebounding the ball and scoring tough layups, Young has a patient offensive repertoire. He doesn’t force shots to the rim and is readily capable of coming off of screens to hit both perimeter and midrange shots with precision. Due to his physicality and willingness to compete, Young has the talent to play any number of positions and brings an exceptional amount of versatility to the floor. He has little issue with putting the ball on the ground and climbing the trees to score.

It’s easy to see Young’s effort and decision-making on the court is purely about winning and not padding stats. Even in areas and situations on the court where he can score, Young is able to identify open teammates and distribute the ball accurately for the best outcome to win games. He is a hard-nosed player and asset every team needs to overcome those ‘slugfests’ and ‘rock-fight’ kind of games.

Young is able to quickly assess the defense is out of position upon receiving the ball. He attacks baseline and finishes with the reverse lay-in.
Young puts in a huge effort to run the floor and present a consistent and big target for the ball-handler. Despite the adjustment on the pass, Young manages to adjust in mid-air to collect the pass and finish the layup off-balance.
Young moves in from the baseline and undercuts the big beneath the basket for the initial rebound. After missing the initial attempt, Young gets the 2nd rebound and efficiently hits an open teammate for 3.
Posted in Boys and tagged , , , , , , .