Through the 2014 NBA Draft set for June 26 in New York, New York, Florida Gators center Patric Young will be keeping you up-to-date on his Path to the Draft with exclusive comprehensive blog entries here at OnlyGators.com.

The 11th player in school history 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 at Florida 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 claimed SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors for the first time but was also named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the third-straight season, becoming the first player in league history to accomplish that feat.

He checks in for the second time from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, his new temporary home, after Young spent the last week going through the process of choosing an agent and graduating from the University of Florida.

Hello again world! I am glad to once again be able to give all of my readers and fans insight on my path to the draft.

Quite a lot has happened since my first post last week, so I will try to fill you in on it as best I can.

After the season, the first thing I needed to do was hire a sports agency to represent me and put me in the best possible position to get drafted this summer. This was a long, tedious process, but I knew whoever I chose would be holding my future in their hands.

My family and a close friend of mine were all contacted by a wide variety of agencies, but we narrowed it down to four of the top agencies in the country. We set interviews up in Gainesville, and when that process was over, I chose to go with Jim Tanner of Tandem Sports. All of the agents that I interviewed were amazing, but Jim had that it factor that I think can help me get to where I want to be.



[Editor’s Note: Tandem Sports also represents Tim Duncan, Ray Allen, Jeremy Lin, Marvin Williams and Thaddeus Young, among others.]

While I was waiting to make things official with Tandem Sports my contract to be completed, I started training in Orlando working on my shot and all-around game. As soon as everything was signed and the paperwork got sent off, I began officially training at IMG Academy in Bradenton.

Let me tell you something – this place is amazing! It has everything to offer and more than I could have hoped. Everything is state-of-the-art here. It’s like a college just for athletes.

My agency set me up with a four-bedroom villa where I am living with fellow Tandem client and draft prospect Alex Kirk from New Mexico.

Our schedule is basically the same every day. We wake up at 7:30 a.m., eat breakfast, rehab any ailments or injuries, go to the weight room, participate in basketball workouts, eat lunch, take a nap, go back for a second on-court session, eat dinner, and finally watch as much of the NBA Playoffs as we can before lights out at 10:30 p.m.

I’ve been so tired every night there hasn’t been much time for anything else, but you all know I had to bring my Xbox down here.

This past weekend, I came back up to Gainesville because I graduated with my bachelor’s in telecommunications. Being back in Gainesville, I was able to see some old friends for one last time and pack my room up at my house. It feels great to now be an alumnus of the University of Florida, but it is very weird to call myself that now.

I feel like I could just come back to Florida and put my jersey back on and play tomorrow. It still hasn’t sunk in that I will be playing in the NBA, God willing. I will never forget the four years I spent at UF and how much people have loved and supported me.

While driving back to Gainesville for graduation, I received some great news – a call from my agent informing me that I had been invited to participate in the NBA Combine in Chicago, Illinois. This is the biggest pre-draft event for top prospects and an opportunity for me to show that I only scratched the surface of my potential at Florida.

This news made me want to work that much harder! I am now back at IMG and will be here until it is time for the camp in late May.

I am about to lay it down and get ready for the grind, so it is time for me to head off.

Don’t worry Gator Nation, I’ll be back soon with another update!

Go Gators!