Somewhere between a relaxing Christmas break and a personal meeting with his coaches, something clicked for Patric Young.
The freshman center, who has underperformed based on his lofty preseason expectations, returned to Gainesville with a renewed focus and commitment, and the results have been noteworthy.
With nagging injuries threatening to limit Vernon Macklin’s minutes, the development of Young could be crucial as Florida (12-3, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) traverses the grind of SEC play, which continues tonight at 9 in Knoxville against Tennessee (10-5, 0-1 SEC).
“I feel like I’m learning a lot,” Young said. “I’m trusting the coaches a lot more and buying into what they’ve been telling me, and it’s been showing the last few games.”
In UF’s three games since the holiday break, Young has averaged 4.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game.
While those numbers appear modest, they are nearly two points and two rebounds per game higher than what Young averaged in the team’s first 12 games, when he played 14.3 minutes per contest.
“I think he came back and realized this is going to be a process for him,” coach Billy Donovan said last week. “He’s really tried to focus on doing the things that he knows he can do.”
When Young arrived on campus, many assumed the 6-foot-9, 245-pound freshman would immediately provide the post presence the Gators lacked in years past.
Those without a close connection to the team assumed he would have no difficulty adjusting to the physicality of the college game and that he would provide a low-post scoring presence right off the bat, regardless of the fact that he was making a major jump in competition and was never a scoring threat in high school.
“I think there was a frustration point for Patric going through November and into the month of December where he wanted to do so well so bad that he got down on himself,” Donovan said. “He got frustrated with himself, and it really led to him not getting better at the rate that he needed to get better, and his attitude was really preventing that.”
Young admits his mindset wasn’t always what he needed it to be, and he was guilty of listening to the wrong people on many occasions.
He also acknowledges that all of the hype and expectations surrounding the start of his career got to his head and made things more difficult than they needed to be.
“(I was) putting a lot of pressure on myself to perform, which is probably the worst thing I could do,” Young said.
All that began to change when Young met with Donovan and assistant coaches Larry Shyatt and Rob Lanier to discuss his development.
The coaches seemed to sense something was wrong with the freshman, prompting them to request a private meeting to converse about Young’s attitude, outlook and goals going forward.
“They just helped me, talked me through it,” Young said. “We were in there for a while, just (discussing) what I need to do and what I should focus on, trying to keep the game simple for me.”
If Young can continue to approach his opportunities with the right attitude and commitment, Donovan believes he can find a prominent and consistent role in the Florida lineup.
“He can rebound, he can defend, he can be physical,” Donovan said. “As long as he continues to do those things, he’s going to help our team.”
