NBA: USC Forward Nick Young Declares for NBA Draft

2006-07 team MVP plans to forego his senior season.

Young was second among all Pac-10 players and led USC in scoring with a 17.5 average. Young stands at sixth on USC's all-time points scored lsit. Photo courtesy: USC Athletics

LOS ANGELES - USC junior guard/forward Nick Young announced today that he has made himself eligible for the 2007 NBA Draft.

"Nick has played well enough to receive consideration from the NBA," said USC head coach Tim Floyd. "He has our support and we wish him the best. He will have a home here if things do not work out the way he would like with the NBA."

Young was the second-leading scorer among Pac-10 players during the 2006-07 season with a 17.5 average and led conference players with 13 games of 20 or more points.

Young's 647 points scored this past season rank as the fourth most ever in a single season by a Trojan.

Young finished the season sixth on USC's all-time points scored list with 1,486 career points, within striking distance of Harold Miner's school record of 2,048 points.

The junior from Los Angeles hit 52.5 percent of his shots last season (239-for-455) to rank fifth in the conference and tied with teammate Lodrick Stewart for second among Pac-10 players in three-point percentage at .440 (44-for-100).

Young and Stewart's three-point percentage also tied for the second best in a single season by a Trojan.

Young was voted the 2006-07 USC team MVP, an honor he has won or shared all three seasons he has played for the Trojans.

Young is one of four Trojans in school history to be named team MVP three times, joining John Rudometkin, Ron Riley and Ronnie Coleman (four-time MVP).

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports