I won’t lie, once I heard Mike Young was back in Pittsburgh to announce his decision, I figured he was picking Pitt. That or he was engaging in LeBron James level trolling.

But Mike Young makes it a point to say that choosing Pitt was not about being back home (Insider subs).

Young, No. 67 overall in the 2013 class, announced his decision at a family gathering in Pittsburgh, one day before leaving to return to St. Benedict’s. Family played a significant role in his decision.

“It was a major factor,” Young said. “I love my family and we’re all very, very close. It was a Pitt decision and they all believed that they would have seen me no matter where I went. Now my mother is only 25 minutes away and my little brother and sister is right here.”

Since the eighth grade, Young’s had a relationship with former Panther and current assistant coach Brandin Knight. Young wasn’t always a Pittsburgh target; Knight was always an outlet for Young. As the relationship progressed, Dixon eventually came aboard and signed off on Young.

“The most memorable thing was Brandin being able to stick with recruiting me from eighth grade until now,” Young said. “He stuck with me even at times when he thought I wasn’t going to be a Pittsburgh player. Now I’m a player that he really wants. Coach Dixon went from calling me here and there to very often and that was the most memorable [part of the process].”

Young is now prepared to turn recruiter for his hometown Panthers. “I think the next big prospect is Jamel Artis (Baltimore/Vermont Academy) and BeeJay Anya (Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha),” Young said. “They really like Josh Hart (Washington/Sidwell Friends). I think the next guy close to committing is Artis. Coach believes in players who can play together.”

Nice.

Young accumulated offers from UConn, Florida, WVU, and plenty of other high majors. At the end of the day, he always wanted to play for the Panthers.

He also had offers from Connecticut, Miami, Massachusetts, Memphis, Xavier, St. John’s, N.C. State, Seton Hall, Rutgers, West Virginia and Georgia Tech.

Young, 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds, lives in McKeesport and was at Shady Side during his freshman season before playing the past two years in New Jersey at St. Benedict’s Prep and Hudson Catholic. After averaging 16 points and 13 rebounds at Hudson last season, he plans to return to St. Benedict’s this year.

“Mike is a good rebounder,” ESPN senior analyst Dave Telep said, “and what he has is a mixture of presence in the paint and on the perimeter to be a dangerous (power forward). Mike really cranked it up to the level of a top-75 guy when he became a more aggressive rebounder. I think Jamie Dixon gave him every chance to become a Pittsburgh Panther. They dangled it and let him chase it.”

So what has Young shown in the past year?

When evaluating Young over the spring and summer, he demonstrated his talent and had many strong performances for the NJ Playaz, which plays a schedule against all the best summer programs in the nation. Young is versatile, competitive and a factor on the boards and in the paint.

He always tries to make the most of a possession by finishing a break or following a teammate’s missed shot, while being a legitimate low-post scoring threat. He can spin on defenders with a quick move in the low post, face up and shoot from mid-range, which has improved from a year ago. He also does the little things that tend to go unnoticed, such as coming off and setting screens. He will help run Dixon’s offense because he knows his strengths and is comfortable playing to them.

Looking forward to seeing him in Pitt Blue and Gold in a year.