Talk about a wealth of talent. DeMatha High School and its legendary basketball program will add to its legacy when Chase Young is chosen in the NFL Draft Thursday.
The Ohio State defensive force played on the basketball team at the high school. One of his teammates was Markelle Fultz, who happened to go No. 1 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft out of the University of Washington
“It’s funny, we always used to talk when we were younger that I was going to be the number one pick in basketball and he would always say he was going to try to meet me up top and be the number one pick in football,” Fultz told NBA.com.
Young confirmed the conversation to Yahoo Sports.
“It does (give me chills),” Young, who attended college at Ohio State, said. “We’re two competitors. He always said he was going to go number one in the NBA Draft and I always tell him, you’re not going to be the only one. I’m going to go (at the top) of the NFL Draft.”
One high school producing a top overall pick in the NBA Draft followed by an almost-certain top-two pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Wow.
Markelle Fultz and Chase Young high school best friends on the same basketball team.
Fultz #1 pick NBA Draft 2017
Young likely #1 or #2 or pick in 2020 NFL Draft
CRAZY!!!!! pic.twitter.com/5FzQrvFch7
— Ben Stinar (@BenStinar) April 22, 2020
Young transferred to DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md. as a 6-foot-3 junior. One of the people Young befriended was Fultz.
An article from @YahooSports on the connection between Markelle Fultz '16 and Chase Young '17: https://t.co/7CleVGZo1X
— DeMathaHighSchool (@DeMathaCatholic) April 16, 2020
Fast forward to the end of his college career and Young decided to train for the draft in Los Angeles, where he reached out to Fultz when the Orlando Magic guard was on a road trip for a game against the Clippers.
“He told me right now is the time to have the most focus,” Young told NBA.com. “This is the time where a lot of players, they get silly or goofy and can get in trouble just having all this free time, having all these new experiences, things like that. I went to his game when they played the Lakers and met with him after and you know we just spent some time together. A lot of times when we get together, we really don’t rap about sports, we talk about life and stuff that’s going on.”
Fultz spoke about Young on a podcast with NBC Sports Washington.