Sophomore Chris Young of the men's basketball team and baseball team recently sat down with senior writer Adam Sorensen.
P: If you had a chance to choose between basketball and baseball, which one would it be and why?
CY: I don't know, I couldn't choose right now. I have a great love for each sport. Right now I'm enjoying both seasons and I know down the road I'll probably have to choose. But for right now I'm not going to worry about it. I love each and I'll continue to play each as long as I'm here.
P: There is something out about the fact you are the 77th rated pitching prospect in the upcoming Major League draft. Do you have the desire to go pro in either basketball or baseball?
CY: Definitely. I think it's any athlete's dream to be a professional. Down the road it's definitely something I look forward to. It's been a dream since I was a kid. Now that I'm getting closer, I realize it's becoming a reality. It's a great opportunity, and it would be hard to turn something like that down.
P: With the graduation of Brian Earl last year, the Penn fans seem to have had to find a new person to pick on and I think it seems to be you. Do you ever mind it when you're down there? Do you like it?
CY: Yeah. It's fun. It creates a good basketball environment. I really don't hear much of the stuff they say. I saw in the newspaper they had signs written about me and I had no clue they had signs and stuff like that.
P: One of the signs said something about a Jabroni.
CY: I have no idea, no idea. I don't know. It's fun when a crowd gets on you like that. A lot of times it motivates me to play harder. A lot of times your energy feeds off the crowd and so it's fun. It's a fun environment to play down in the Palestra and I enjoy it.
P: How easy is it making the transition between basketball and baseball?
CY: The two sports are so different, it really makes it pretty easy. Basketball is real intense — an intense, fast kind of sport. Baseball's relaxed — sort of laid back and sometimes there's a different kind of intensity that goes along with baseball. I think it makes the transition pretty easy. It's almost refreshing to me to get out to a new season and start something different, whereas basketball I played for five months straight and your body is tired. I get out to baseball and I'm sort of refreshed.
P: Rumor has it that you sometimes throw with [head baseball coach Scott] Bradley during the basketball season. Do you ever shoot around with [head men's basketball coach Bill] Carmody during baseball season?
CY: Yeah, I do. Definitely. I work on each sport in opposite seasons so for basketball, I have my individual workouts during the baseball season, and then all winter and all fall I throw with Coach Bradley to try and keep my arm in shape so I don't get hurt when I get out there.
P: How are you guys going to fill the void left by [senior forward] Mason [Rocca] next year on the basketball team?
CY: I don't know. That's a good question, one I've been wondering about myself. You can't replace Mason Rocca. It's impossible — so I think we're going to have to find maybe different strengths for our team. Maybe we'll become a different style team than when Mason was out on the floor. But like I said, you can't fill Mason's shoes because it's impossible. I don't know how we're going to really be next year. It's a ways away and we've got a lot of time to figure it out. But hopefully we'll be able to pick up on some of the stuff he added to our team and maybe win an Ivy League championship next year.
P: When you are playing basketball, what is your favorite play to make — a great block, one of your trademark hook shots, or a three-pointer from the top of the key?
CY: I think it's probably a good pass. If I have a real good pass somewhere during the night, I'll always look back and remember that and sort of think to myself it was a nice pass. It's always fun to score or have a blocked shot, but when you get a teammate a shot, I think that's pretty fun, too. So anytime I have a real good pass or an assist I look back at that and that's kind of my favorite play for the night.
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