Men’s Basketball: Ryan Young announces transfer to Duke
Jonah Elkowitz/The Daily Northwestern
Redshirt junior center Ryan Young attempts a move in the post. After announcing his entry into the transfer portal over a month ago, Young committed to Duke Saturday.
April 30, 2022
Men’s Basketball
Northwestern center Ryan Young is transferring to Duke, he announced in a statement Saturday.
“My four years at Northwestern have been the most fun and impactful years of my life,” Young said. “I am so grateful to Coach Collins, Brian James and the rest of the staff at Northwestern for giving me the opportunity to compete at the highest level and allow me to learn and grow as a player and a person.”
The Stewartsville, N.J. native played three seasons in Evanston, averaging nine points and 4.2 rebounds in just over 17 minutes of action this past season. Young entered the transfer portal on March 24, two weeks after the Wildcats’ season-ending loss to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament.
Next chapter! pic.twitter.com/8sMuXPiKD6
— Ryan Young (@ryanyoung2323) April 30, 2022
Young’s best season at NU came during his freshman year, where he started all 31 games he played in, averaging nine points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
Young featured in 31 games for the Cats this past season, though he started just once in a 64-62 upset win over then-No. 10 Michigan State. Young scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in one of his best performances of the season.
Young is the fourth player to leave the Cats this offseason. Senior guard Ryan Greer announced that he would not be returning to NU for his final year of eligibility, while senior forward Pete Nance and graduate student forward Elyjah Williams both declared for the NBA Draft. On Friday, Stadium’s Jeff Goodman announced Nance would also be entering the transfer portal, should he make a return to the collegiate ranks.
Young will arrive in Durham, N.C. during one of the greatest — and most talked about — college basketball coaching shifts in history. The legendary Mike Krzyzewski will no longer man the sideline for the Blue Devils, as his former player and protege Jon Scheyer takes the helm of one of the sport’s premier programs.
Scheyer, 34, is a Northbrook, Ill. native and played at Duke when Chris Collins was an assistant coach there.
Young will now join a Duke squad fresh off a Final Four appearance and in need of frontcourt depth. The departures of likely lottery picks in freshman forward Paolo Banchero and sophomore center Mark Williams as well as graduate student center Theo John left a hole Scheyer needed to address, and he did so with Young.
Young received interest from a handful of other schools, including Georgetown, Georgia Tech and Boston College, according to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, before choosing the Blue Devils.
“After graduation this June, I have committed to Duke University to play out the remainder of my eligibility and pursue a master’s degree,” Young said. “I am ecstatic about this opportunity and can’t wait to get to work.”
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Twitter: @CervantesPAlex
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