[1] By the time Young was in high school, the family had found its way to Prince George's County, Maryland.

At Friendly High School in Fort Washington, Young led the Patriots to Maryland state titles in 2003 and 2004, averaging 24.6 points, 14.0 rebounds, and six blocked shots per game as a senior.

The basketball recruiting site Scout.com named Young its National Prep School Player of the Year for 2005.

His 2009 NBA draft stock also increased after his spectacular performance in the 2009 NCAA Tournament in which he averaged 23.5 points in four games.

[26] Scott Cacciola of The Commercial Appeal, the daily newspaper of the Grizzlies' home city of Memphis, Tennessee, wrote: Young has long been known for his work ethic and his determination.

At 6-6 and 210 pounds, he plays basketball in a minor key, all angst and controlled rage, motivated by those who had underestimated him, written him off, ignored him.

While at Pitt, he practiced so much on his own that the coaching staff worried about his knees, and he would regularly play pick-up games at lunchtime during the season.

During his year at Hargrave, he put a poster in his dorm room that read "I can't let my mother work harder than I do."

He also drew from his brother Michael Spriggs, who was born with cataracts and glaucoma and completely lost his sight at age 13,[1] but nonetheless reached the state championships in high school wrestling and won a gold medal in judo at an international blind sports competition.

Before his senior year at Friendly High, he promised to do backflips if the Patriots won the state title, and proceeded to do exactly that.

[2] He also reportedly stunned Pitt's diving coach one day by climbing up to the 7½-meter board and performing a nearly perfect 2½ somersault into the pool.

[6] He also writes poetry; he has spoken with a publisher about compiling his works, and read some of his poems at an open-mic night at a Pittsburgh coffeehouse in 2008.