Star high school point guard Trae Young commits to Oklahoma

Published Feb. 16, 2017 3:14 p.m. ET

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Five-star Norman North point guard Trae Young verbally committed to Oklahoma on Thursday.

The McDonald's All-American, who is averaging 43 points per game as a senior, made the announcement during a ceremony at his school. He picked the Sooners over Oklahoma State and Kansas.

Young is coach Lon Kruger's biggest catch - Buddy Hield wasn't nearly as highly recruited coming out of high school.

Longtime Oklahoma point guard Jordan Woodard is a senior, so Young is positioned to step in. Woodard was knocked out for the season with a torn ACL last Saturday, and a group relying largely on freshmen and sophomores rallied to win their first game without him Tuesday against Texas. Young said he considers Kameron McGusty and Kristian Doolittle two of the top freshmen in the nation.