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Vols' summer growth spurt continues

CARTERVILLE - The Volunteers' men's basketball season has had quite the growth spurt this summer.

On Wednesday, John A. Logan head coach Kyle Smithpeters announced the transfer of 6-foot-9 forward Trace Young from Wyoming University.

Young is the third transfer for Smithpeters' squad, joining ballers Eric "Boss" Boone from Tallahassee Community College and Jalen Johnson from Murray State University.

Coincidentally, all three hail from Kentucky as Young is from Owensboro, while Boone is from Lexington and Johnson hails from Hopkinsville.

As a freshman at Wyoming, Young averaged 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds a game. Young came to Wyoming out of Mt. Zion Prep and was a three-star recruit by ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals.

At Mt. Zion, Young averaged 15 points, five rebounds and three assist per game on a team that was one of the nation's top prep school teams in the country.

Young follows his cousin and former JALC guard Ben Moss, Jr., to the Vols, a place he is familiar with and where he is happy he signed.

"Coach Smithpeters and I have had a very good relationship for the last 2.5 years. John A. Logan is a place I feel right at home at and with the number of players from Kentucky, it's not going to be an uncomfortable environment."

Young added that familiarity and camaraderie he will have with the current crop of Bluegrass boys is something that will add to the overall chemistry of the team.

"The thing that I'm most excited about is just how hungry everyone is. We all want to compete for a national championship. But this team is going to have a lot of size and a lot of athleticism, that should be fun to watch.

"As far as the ones from Kentucky, there is no getting to 'know each other,'" Young said. "There is no awkward state. We've all known each other for the better part of five years now and I look forward to getting on the court with them and showing what we can do."

Young brings more size and strength to a Vols' lineup and now includes Sydney Curry (6-8, 280 pounds) and Jamarion Sharp (7-0, 190).

"He handles the ball well and is a really good shooter," Smithpeters said. "He's extremely skilled and excited to see him on one wing and Jay Scrubb on another. It allows you a lot of versatility on offense and on defense for that matter. This will allow us to get into some passing lanes and put some different things out there that we just haven't had before."

Smithpeters said as the summer is moving forward and workouts are going on he is adapting to the makeup of his ball cub.

"I think any good coach will adapt to what his team is, too many people will look at it the other way, the team needs to adapt to the coach. I do believe in some of those scenarios, but some of the great coaches find what fits their team the best and then learns from that and teaches what they do well.

"We have to find what we do well and obviously with our length and skill, we need to be really conducive to that. Offensively, we are going to score points, my biggest thing right now is our mental toughness and ability to guard people and if we can take care of those two things, I think we can be really good."

Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois Local Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.

Wyoming transfer Trace Young averaged 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds a game. Young came to Wyoming out of Mt. Zion Prep and was a three-star recruit by ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals. UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING