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- The Story of Brock Young
If you’re a fan of high school basketball in Raleigh, then you may have heard the name Brock Young before. Not only is he a Firebird, but he played at Broughton High School and has his jersey retired there. He’s had quite a journey in his basketball career…including taking John Wall’s roster spot? Let’s dive into Young’s career, and how he ultimately ended up on the Firebirds.
Table of Contents
Early Life and High School
Young was born on February 6th, 1988, to parents Virginia and Ted Young. Basketball runs in the family, as Young’s uncle is Danny Young, a Wake Forest star who spent time playing in the NBA for the Seattle Supersonics, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, and Milwaukee Bucks.
Young attended high school at Needham B. Broughton High School, a sports powerhouse in the area. Young was so good as a freshman in 2003-04 that he not only made varsity, but he led the whole team in scoring! He also lettered and won the team’s MVP award, signifying his importance to the program.
As a sophomore, Young set school records for assists and steals. However, it was during Young’s junior year that he began to turn some heads. Although Broughton only went 9-9 in games I could find, Young was named CAP-7 Conference Player of the Year and began to draw the attention of major college programs.
Young would have an immensely successful senior year, but before it began…he was challenged for his spot at starting point guard by a young transfer. His name was John Wall, and he was coming from Garner Magnet High School. Unfortunately for Wall, he had attitude issues that resulted in him being cut from the varsity team. Head Coach Jeff Ferrell not only didn’t like Wall’s attitude but knew he wouldn’t get much playing time behind Young. The decision turned out to be a good one, as Wall would become a star after transferring to Word of God Christian Academy, and Young would be unchallenged for minutes.
During the 2006-07 season, Broughton finished 21-6, including 11-1 in Conference play, which meant a CAP-7 championship. Young was again named the Conference Player of the Year, team MVP, and finished high school with over 1,500 points scored. He then committed to play college basketball for the ECU Pirates. Due to all these accomplishments, he would later have his jersey raised to the rafters, and become a member of the Broughton Athletic Hall of Fame.
College Playing Days
As a freshman at ECU, Young didn’t get much playing time, but he did play in all 30 of the team’s games. He started a total of two games that year, and in one of them, against NC Wesleyan, he displayed his potential, dropping 24 points.
As a sophomore, Young saw an increased role and dramatically began to improve. He had the 20th-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the entire country and finished second in the entire NCAA with an average of 7.6 assists per game. He started all 30 games while averaging 33 minutes a game, had five double-doubles, along with a 25-point outing against NC State.
Young was named third-team All-Conference USA (the conference ECU plays in), while averaging 15.5 points and 5.5 assists per game. He once again started every game and broke school records, becoming the Pirates’ all-time assists leader, and setting single-season records for most minutes played and free throws made.
Unfortunately, Young’s senior year would see him suffer a career-limiting knee injury in the Conference USA Tournament that robbed him of much of his athleticism. Still, he won the CUSA’s 6th Man of the Year Award and played in 30 games pre-injury.
Professional Career
Overall, Young had a very successful college career, which resulted in records broken and 121 games played. Post-college he would play professionally in Canada, and then with the Owensboro Thoroughbreds in the TBL’s inaugural season. The Thoroughbreds were located in Kentucky, but once the Firebirds were ready to play their inaugural season in 2019, it made too much sense for Young to join the team. He played with the Firebirds from 2019-2022 and also served as Enloe High School’s head basketball coach. His Firebirds career has been very successful, helping lead them to a TBL semifinals appearance and dropping 29 points against the rival Carolina Coyotes in 2022.
Man, watching that highlight video of him makes me long for the Firebirds’ 2024 season to begin!
And if you also can’t wait for the Firebirds season to start…
We are under two months away from our first game! Make sure you go to our website and buy tickets now!