To celebrate 30 years of SLAM, we’re featuring the 30 most influential men’s college teams of the past 30 years. Stats, records and chips are not the main factor here, it’s all about their contribution to the cultural fabric of the game.
Over the next 30 days, Monday through Friday, we’ll be featuring full list here. We also have an exclusive retro collegiate collection out now that pays homage to the threads of each squad. Shop here.
There’s a reason why we called it “the greatest hoops show” back then. With the knowledge of Ice Trae sending shivers down everyone’s spines at Madison Square Garden during the playoffs, Trae Young silenced the doubters at the Lloyd Noble Center as well.
The 2017-18 Oklahoma Sooners didn’t just have a star freshman, they had a rebel. He simply couldn’t be held to the confines of the three-point line or held back by others’ opinions of his size or potential. As we wrote about him on the cover of SLAM 214, “not only has he completely reshuffled mock draft orders and NBA scouting routes, he’s also reshuffled media coverage of college basketball, this publication included.”
Young’s destiny in Norman, the same town where he grew up and attended high school, was written long before he milked the crimson and cream. He was the ball boy for the men’s team back in ’06, and Young’s family lived less than 15 minutes from campus.
“Having the opportunity to play for a (future) Hall of Fame coach and play in my backyard and represent my city and state. challenge,” Young told us in 2018.
He was set to join a team that had an 11-20 record the previous year in 2016-17, and his arrival meant helping a team loaded with talent and some experience, with junior Christian James the team’s second-leading scorer. At 11.9 points, the Sooners would have the attention of the world. As Trey hit mid-range floaters and shots from the logo, his teammates were there for him. The Sooners even went on a ten-game winning streak between November and January.
Despite an up-and-down season, the 2017-18 Sooners ended their season with losses to Oklahoma State and Rhode Island, but ultimately the show they put on that year was bigger than the final box score. And as for Yang, that was just the beginning…
Photos via Getty Images.
