UNC Basketball Jaydon Young Q&A: ‘I was a Carolina Super Fan’ Growing Up

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina transfer addition Jaydon Young met with reporters on Thursday afternoon. Young, a native of Goldsboro, N.C., played prep basketball at Greensboro Day School and spent the last two seasons at Virginia Tech.

The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 8.1 points per game last season for the Hokies, starting 10 of 32 games and scoring in double figures 11 times. Young’s scoring picked up substantially near the end of last season. He supplied 16.3 points per game across Virginia Tech’s final six games, highlighted by a career-high 27 points at Miami and 26 points a week later against Syracuse. Through the last two seasons, Young shot 30.9 percent from 3-point range (57-for-184), including five successful 3s against Miami last season.

In UNC’s Blue-White scrimmage game last week, Young finished with five points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals, according to unofficial stats compiled by Evan Rogers of Inside Carolina. Young went 2-for-6 from the field, including 1-for-4 beyond the arc.

UNC has a high-profile exhibition game at BYU (on Oct. 24) and another exhibition game against Winston-Salem State (on Oct. 29), before opening the new season on Nov. 3 against Central Arkansas.

Watch Young’s full interview from Thursday’s availability at the Smith Center, and scroll down to read some noteworthy comments below.

As someone who grew up in North Carolina, was Chapel Hill your desired spot out of the transfer portal? Or did it just happen to work out that way?

Young: “Definitely excited to have it happen how it did. They weren’t really on my radar when I first got in the portal. I did it kind of fast, just because a lot of people were calling. I didn’t really like that. I was ready to get somewhere and start working on my game, so it really didn’t all pan out until after I committed to High Point University and the coach ended up leaving. And then a few people started calling. So that’s where this ended up.”

Growing up a Tar Heel fan in Goldsboro, what were some of your early UNC memories?

Young: “I played basketball and football at the Boys & Girls Club in Goldsboro. We used to take team trips to come to football games, tour the locker room and stuff like that. Then basketball-wise, we used to come to ‘Late Night with Roy’ almost every year — unless my grades were bad or something — but every year used to try to sneak in a couple games, stuff like that. But I was a super fan, being at school and almost having butterflies when they played Carolina and Duke games, stuff like that. So I can remember all of it.”

Do you feel like this team has a hunger about itself this season? Or a certain competitive edge?

Young: “That’s very accurate. I think we all are huge competitors, willing to do anything to win, and I don’t think anyone’s out for the credit. I don’t think anyone’s out to get noticed by themselves, if that makes sense. I think it’s really a team effort and everyone’s ready to compete, everyone’s willing to win, whatever it takes.”

What has your relationship with Hubert Davis been like?

Young: “I didn’t really know a lot about Coach Davis before, so I couldn’t really say much, but the guy that he is, now that I’ve met him, he’s definitely a people’s person. He likes having a relationship with his guys, and he’s a man in his word, so I can respect that about him. But I love Coach Davis. He likes to sit down and have conversation with us. Likes to be around us, and it’s definitely neutral. So I appreciate him.”