The answer is yes. Patric Young always has been built like a Greek god.

Bennita Young remembers taking her boy to the pediatrician when he was 2 or 3. She remembers the doctor exclaiming over his tiny six-pack of abs and muscular frame.

"My God, what does this kid do?" the doctor asked.

Bennita promised the doctor her toddler was not lifting weights at home. That's simply the way the son of a former college and professional tight end was born – sculpted and strong.

This week the 6-foot-9, 249-pound Florida big man will bring the most imposing physique of anyone to the Final Four. But to know Pat Young for his hard body only is to disregard the soft center that truly makes him who he is – for better and worse. He is far more than a powerful pair of biceps and a manly Zeus beard; the heart and soul are where his story truly lies.

Growing up in Jacksonville, Fla., Patric Young never locked his basketball locker in middle school. Everyone kept telling him to do it, and he never did.

"Who is going to take something from me?" he said.

Someone took something from him. His game jersey. He missed that game and two more, as the school principal reinforced the lesson: Quit blindly trusting the world around you, and lock your locker.

View photos

"He was a babe," Bennita Young said. "This big manchild who was very naïve about some things in the world. He learned hard lessons at times about people not always telling you the truth or wanting you to do things that were only good for them and not for you."

That would be an ongoing lesson. The kid who looked like a Greek god also had a touch of Greek philosopher in him – always thinking deep thoughts.

From a young age, Patric digested every conversation between his older sister Sara and his parents. He soaked in his surroundings. His mind was always going.

"Honestly, I always call him an old soul," Bennita Young said. "He was always reasoning through things. He was very introspective and pretty quiet. He would be keeping his own counsel."

But the old soul could also be easily led. He was respectful enough to listen to everyone and gullible enough to believe most of what they said.

So when adults started comparing him to Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, he listened to it. They had the same physique and similar height. Why not model yourself after a guy who became a teenage millionaire?

The first key difference was that Young would go to college. The McDonald's All-American picked his dream school – the place where parents Robert and Bennita had season football tickets.

But that glorious body of his turned out to be as much a detriment as an advantage. Everyone wanted him to dominate like Dwight; instead he averaged just 3.4 points and 3.8 rebounds.

"People do him no service always comparing him to Dwight Howard," Bennita Young said. "He cannot help the body God blessed him with. He's very sensitive to how others perceive him."

Still, since the NBA draft is all about potential, he was a projected lottery pick after one season. And what projected lottery pick goes back to school?

"I was listening to people say who I should be," Patric said. "People saying I should do this, I should do that. I needed to minimize that circle of people around me. You have this false reality in your mind. …You get hit with the reality, 'Wow, I'm not as good as I thought I was.' "

Story continues