His homestate school was playing for a national championship Monday night, but James Young probably wasn’t paying that much attention. The Detroit-area native didn’t grow up a Michigan Wolverines fan, despite the Ann Arbor campus being just an hour’s drive from his house.
Tom Izzo has taken nearby Michigan State to six Final Fours and won a national championship in Young’s lifetime, but he wasn’t a Spartans supporter either.
While his friends wore green or maize, Young preferred Kentucky blue.
“It’s always been my school,” the McDonald’s All-American told the Herald-Leader last week. “I’ve had UK stuff forever. Even before Calipari, I always used to watch them — it was my dream school. So when he called and wanted me to go there, it was a blessing.”
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter’s Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.