Butler Basketball: Four-star PF Kyle Young lands with Bulldogs

Chris Holtmann and Butler basketball have reeled in their third commitment in the class of 2017.

A couple of days after Villanova added a top-50 recruit in the class of 2017, Butler has landed a highly skilled power forward, Kyle Young.

Young, who is a native of Massillon, Ohio, committed to the Bulldogs over Clemson, Ohio State, Michigan, and Purdue. The 6’7″, 210 pound forward is ranked 89th in ESPN’s top 100 (84th in Scout.com’s rankings), is the third best player in the state of Ohio, and is the 13th best player at his respective position.

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Young is a tough, versatile forward who fits the modern style of “small ball” perfectly. He can stretch the floor because of his solid ability to knock down shots from the outside, while he also possesses the toughness to rebound and battle bigger fours on the block.

He needs to develop his attacking mentality off close-outs, and he must add more strength and bulk to his frame. However, Young’s athleticism, versatility and motor should help him produce at a high level for the Bulldogs for years to come.

He’s not a one-and-done prospect, but the Bulldogs have made a living of developing gifted, undersized forwards over the course of four years (just look at what Roosevelt Jones and Andrew Chrabascz have done for the Bulldogs).

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With Chrabascz heading into this final season of college basketball, Young will be the perfect replacement for a player that has been a key piece to the program over the last few seasons. While Young is more athletic and may be the better player at the end of his career, him and Chrabascz are a similar size and can both open the court with their shooting touch.

The Bulldogs now have three commitments in the class of 2017. Young is the headliner, but they also will add two un-ranked (according to ESPN) point guards in Cooper Neese and Jerald Butler. Both players have good size for the lead guard position, offering more versatility for head coach Chris Holtmann to play with.

On a bigger scale, the Big East is recruiting a high, high level. In the 2016 class, the conference has three teams ranked in the top 25 (according to Scout), Villanova (20th), Marquette (21st) and St. John’s (24th).

So far in 2017, Xavier is ranked 8th in the country after snagging the services of Naji Marshall, Elias Harden and Jared Ridder. Villanova is 9th, as they beat out Duke, Kansas and Indiana for Jermaine Samuels on Saturday. Add in Creighton (14th), and Butler’s latest recruit, and the Big East is in business moving forward.

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Young is not only helping the Bulldogs, but he’s helping a Big East Conference that is on a roll as of late.