Alex Young isnt letting a small school stigma slow him down.
The 6-foot-6 shooting guard from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) played in a smaller conference than most of the players at the Sixers pre-draft workout on Wednesday, but is projected to be drafted higher than the other four players.
The Sixers worked out Young, who is projected to go in the late first-round to early second-round range in Junes draft, on Wednesday afternoon at St. Josephs University in Hagan Arena along with four other prospects: Dominic Cheek (Villanova), Kim English (Missouri), Mindaugas Kupsas (Lithuania) and Temi Adebayo (Philadelphia University).
Sixers general manager Rod Thorn, Vice President of Basketball Operations Tony DiLeo, Director of Player Personnel Courtney Witte and head coach Doug Collins attended the workout.
The players participated in several different drills that included shooting, 1-on-1s and pick-and-rolls.
IUPUI is in the Summit Conference, and Young did not have the opportunity to play against players from traditional basketball powerhouses on a regular basis. Thus, he is making the most of every chance he gets to showcase his abilities for NBA teams against other talented players.
Coming from a mid-major like I do, we dont always get that spotlight like the big guys, Young said. So its critical for me to show what I can do each time I get the chance.
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Young singled out English, a three-point specialist, along with Mississippi State guard Dee Bost and Purdue forward Robbie Hummel as some of the best players he has gone up against in workouts.
He added: I try to come in with a mentality of going at people and showing them what I can do just to let them know we play in a good conference although we dont play power-conference teams every night.
The fact that Young comes from a lesser-known school did not prevent the Sixers from learning about him. Witte, an Indiana native who played in college at Indiana and spent 11 years working for the Pacers, was already familiar with Young through connections in the Indianapolis area and was aware of his strengths as a player.
Hes a very long-length individual, Witte said of Young. Hes athletic. Hes got the ability to take the ball off the dribble. Hes a player that will have a chance to play professionally.
Although the pre-draft workouts do not include 5-on-5 drills, Young said they are still a good opportunity to show teams the intensity with which he plays.
Just go hard, Young said. Communicate. Show em everything you can do.Just playing hard every possession and having fun in this process. I think a lot of people get stressed out about it, but you still have to have fun when youre doing it.
Prior to Wednesdays workout, Young had already worked out for several teams, including the Warriors, Clippers, Pistons and Thunder. He was also part of a 44-player combine in New Jersey earlier this month.
Young, who played all four years in college, was a First Team All-Summit League selection by coaches, media and sports information personnel in each of his final three season at IUPUI. He led the conference in scoring as a senior with 20.4 points per game and averaged nearly six rebounds per game while shooting over 81 percent from the free throw line.
Im versatile, Young said. I can shoot the ball. I can score the ball in many ways. What I do is I put the ball in the hole. I want to continue doing that.
In his senior season, Young shot just under 34 percent from the three point line, down from 39.6 percent his senior season. He said that since the season ended, he has mostly worked on his perimeter game and his ball handling.
Young knows he could end up any number of places, but he has paid attention to the NBA playoffs and was impressed with the Sixers run. He said he likes the players on the team and could see himself fitting in well with the young team.
They got a nice team, Young said. Jrue Holiday really sticks out to me. I like the way he has handled himself just being in the league for a couple years. They got some nice young pieces and the way I see theyll be around for some years to come."