Florida Gators center Patric Young signed a two-year deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, a source close to the process told OnlyGators.com on Saturday afternoon.
Young, the 2014 Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year who was not selected in the 2014 NBA Draft on June 26, was given a guaranteed training camp deal with the Pelicans and played for New Orleans during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The team had been considering adding Young to their roster but did not officially come to a deal with the big man until Saturday.
In five Summer League games with the Pelicans, Young averaged 7.4 points and 8.0 rebounds in 25.2 minutes per game. He started the last four contests at power forward for New Orleans and shot 48.4 percent from the field over the course of the week.
The 11th player at Florida to end his career with more than 1,300 points and 800 rebounds, Young averaged a career-high 11.0 points per game as a senior and also contributed 6.2 boards per contest last season. He is second all-time among Gators in games played (149), fifth in blocks (159) and dunks (142), eighth in minutes played (1,644), and ninth in field goal percentage (.577) and games started (107).
Young in 2013-14 was also named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the first player in league history to win the award in three-straight seasons.
“It feels good going to a situation with a team that really wanted me but couldn’t get me instead of a team that would get me on the team just to have me on the team and see what I could do,” Young wrote in his exclusive OnlyGators.com Path to the Draft blog about joining the Pelicans for Summer League action. “The general manager, Dell Demps, called me and said he’s really excited for me to be here. He wants me to play defense and rebound in Summer League and everything else will work out. I was excited to hear from him, especially with him saying those things. This definitely feels like the best scenario for me right now.”
Update: Young thanked his fans for their support on Saturday evening.
It's a blessing to announce that I signed a contract with the New Orleans Pelicans. Thank you to everyone that supported me!!!
— Patric Young (@BigPatYoung4) July 19, 2014
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