Scottie Young and Troy Young aren鈥檛 related, but they鈥檙e family.
The Arizona Wildcats freshmen refer to each other as cousins and have the same last name. They鈥檙e roughly the same age, play the same position and will both be wearing cardinal and navy on Saturday, when the Wildcats open their season against Northern Arizona. They鈥檝e become fast friends despite coming from vastly different backgrounds.
Scottie Young was born and raised in La Mesa, California, a suburb of San Diego, where the sun shines and the beaches are always open. He chose 蜜桃影像AV over offers from Colorado, Washington State and San Diego State; the other three schools pushed him to decommit from the UA right before signing day.
Troy Young hails from Prichard, Alabama, making him an outlier for two reasons. The Wildcats don鈥檛 land many Southerners, for one, and not many Southerners head west for college. If you鈥檙e from Alabama, you鈥檙e supposed to stay in Alabama. And Troy nearly did: Alabama Birmingham pushed him to reconsider his UA pledge.
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The Youngs are at Arizona now, and even though they come from different places, they鈥檙e always grouped together. When a coach or a teammate praises Scottie, he praises Troy too, and vice versa. It鈥檚 a package deal.
Both could be impact players on the Wildcats鈥 youthful defense.
Scottie will start at free safety, and Troy Young will back up Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles at the 鈥渂andit鈥 safety position. Both will play a lot, and sometimes together.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not roommates, but we鈥檙e always together,鈥 Troy said, laughing. 鈥淲e both have the same last name, so we probably family somewhere down the line.鈥
Earlier this month, the Youngs illustrated exactly why they鈥檝e been the talk of the preseason.
On one series during an open scrimmage, Troy tipped a pass from UA quarterback Brandon Dawkins to a teammate for an interception. He nearly picked off another pass later in the scrimmage. Scottie tackled quarterback Donavan Tate for loss on an attempted keeper, and later leveled running back Branden Leon with a big hit.
Teammates say Scottie and Troy have been playmakers since the beginning of camp.
鈥淭he first day we went out, I noticed them,鈥 sophomore cornerback Sammy Morrison said. 鈥淯sually freshmen come in and they鈥檙e hit with the speed of the game. They鈥檙e caught off guard by how fast the game moves.鈥
Scottie and Troy are 鈥渇ast learners,鈥 Morrison said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e smart guys. Even though they鈥檙e young and they may not know what they鈥檙e doing, they don鈥檛 hesitate.鈥
The Star sat down with both Youngs as training camp ended. Here鈥檚 what they had to say about their relationship, their quick grasp of Arizona鈥檚 scheme, playing as freshmen and how they ended up in Tucson:
How do you feel like your first training camp went?
Scottie: 鈥淐amp went really well. I think as an individual I got better as camp went on. Well, really from when I first got here in early June all the way to now I feel like I鈥檝e gotten better as an athlete and as a football player. Camp went really well, we got good as a team. We bonded a lot together, I got close with the upperclassmen, so that鈥檚 always a positive in my book.鈥
Troy: 鈥淚 mean, camp was something I never experienced before. I liked it and I learned from it and I鈥檓 still learning every day. Upperclassmen, they鈥檝e taught me things I鈥檝e never thought of. We鈥檙e in meetings every day and then translating what we鈥檙e learning in the meetings onto the field is just something I need to do better, but I can always improve on all of my attributes, really.鈥
It seems like you two are always lumped together when people talk about you, Scottie Young and Troy Young. What鈥檚 that like, and how cool is it knowing you guys will be sort of growing through this program together?
Scottie: 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to be really exciting. Back when we first committed we were talking about, 鈥楳an, it鈥檚 gonna be fun. They鈥檙e gonna see both S. Young and T. Young back there in the secondary.鈥 It鈥檚 gonna be fun to be able to do that. It鈥檚 unique.鈥
Troy: 鈥淚t really is cool. Me and him came on the same official visit week. We really did hit it off. I met his family, he met mine and from then on we鈥檝e just been talking. We said we were gonna ball out when we got here, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing now.鈥
Both Coach Rodriguez and safeties coach Jahmile Addae have mentioned how quickly you鈥檝e grasped concepts and your high football IQs. Where does that come from?
Scottie: 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 just when guys love football I think they develop a natural 鈥楩BI,鈥 which is what I call Football Intelligence. But they love it so they鈥檙e gonna watch the film, they鈥檙e gonna try to learn from their mistakes and try to get better every day and try to learn the little details. Coach Addae is a big guy on details, so whenever I watch film I always try to look at the little details and try to get better. I watch film for an hour every night before I go to sleep. That鈥檚 just the big thing for me.鈥
Troy: 鈥淚t鈥檚 studying film, paying attention in meetings, and in our meetings they give us notebooks. So every time a coach says something, we write it down. We gotta go over those notes and watch the film that night.鈥
A handful of recruits that were committed to Arizona flipped at the last minute and went elsewhere. You stuck out your commitments and signed here. Why?
Scottie: 鈥淚 was all-in from Day 1. That鈥檚 all I can say. I was committed and I stayed committed. I鈥檓 not a guy who鈥檚 with the flip-flopping and so when I committed, I was committed. 鈥 The coaches, I love them. They made me feel like family, they made me feel like I was at home.鈥
Troy: 鈥淲hen I got the offer, I really didn鈥檛 know anything about Arizona. Coach Addae and Coach (Calvin) Magee, I looked them up and I was watching the season go on, there was a lot of injuries and I was like, 鈥業 have a chance to play here.鈥 It wasn鈥檛 just the chance to play here, but when I came here on my visit, I loved it. I loved the campus, I loved the scenery, I loved the team. It felt like a family atmosphere. 鈥 I loved it but it was really the playing time aspect. Like, I can come here and play early; at the other schools, I had a chance of playing early but here I could really see myself playing.鈥
Coaches often promise playing time during the recruitment process, but Rodriguez seems committed to playing freshmen. What鈥檚 it like getting that opportunity?
Scottie: 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a blessing (to start). I just try to take advantage of every rep I get and try to learn as much as I can, be a sponge out there, learn from the vets and the guys that have been there. I learn from Coach Addae, he鈥檚 a great coach. I learn from (support staffer) Chuck Cecil. And if I just keep on learning from those guys, I feel like I鈥檒l get better each day.鈥
Troy: 鈥淚t means a lot to me that coach is sticking to his word. But it鈥檚 not just the coach; we have to come out here and grind every day just like the upperclassmen are because we鈥檙e still competing for spots; so it means a lot.鈥
