August 12, 2005 — Creighton head coach Dana Altman receives a verbal commitment from Bellevue West sophomore-to-be Antoine Young.
Young verballed to the Bluejays after a freshman year that found him the sixth man on Nebraska’s Class A championship team in 2004-2005. Turns out that was the only season Young wouldn’t garner first-team All-Nebraska credentials as lead guard for the Thunderbirds. He was also made the all-State Tournament team three times, albeit every time finishing the tournament as runner-up.
When asked by Omaha World-Herald reporter Steve Pivovar about why he committed early, Young said:
“It really wasn’t a tough decision because it’s a really good offer,” he said.” It’s something I really wanted to do. Now I can go out the next three years, play and not have to worry about who’s out there watching me.”
And he did just that. The 6-foot guard averaged 17.7 points and 4.4 assists per game as a senior, 20.6 points as a junior, and 17.7 points and 5.1 assists per game as a sophomore.
Last year, as a true freshman, Young averaged 4.9 points per game for the 27-8 Bluejays. After playing double-digit minutes in just 6 of the team’s first 15 games last season, Altman turned to Young to spark the Jays on the road against Bradley in early January. Antoine responded with 13 points in 21 minutes, and he saw double-digit minutes in every game the rest of the season.
With Josh Dotzler graduating, Young seems poised to take over the starting point guard role when official team practices start in two months..