NBA Daily: Collin Sexton’s Nickname Is ‘Young Bull’ For A Reason

His friends dubbed him “Young Bull” growing up in Atlanta, but that probably wouldn’t be your first guess meeting Collin Sexton for the first time.

As a 19-year-old entering the world of professional sports, he’s timid. A reserved side shows when he talks. His words are said in a soft-spoken tone.

But there’s a certain charm about Sexton. With a great smile and an easygoing personality, he’s easy to approach and, frankly, somebody who’s down-to-earth.

Despite being a typical one-and-done player out of Alabama, he was honed in on hitting the books. A straight-A student in the classroom, an interest in business and engineering will drive him to one day go back to school and earn his bachelor’s degree—joining his two siblings, Jordan and Giauna, who have already done so.

So how is it that a young man who prioritizes education, carries himself so quietly and epitomizes respect off the floor has such a nickname?

The answer is simple—because his game is disrespectful.

“When you get in between those lines, it’s no friends,” Sexton said at his introductory press conference for the Cleveland Cavaliers. “When you get in between those lines, it’s us against them. We’re trying to win. So it’s like a switch that cuts on. It’s going time when you get on the court.”

Take two examples from his Pebblebrook High School days that made their way across social media on draft night.

The first video revealed that Sexton was competing against the son of Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. Sexton repeatedly looked in the direction of the former NBA All-Star and yelled to him, “He’s trash.”

In a different game, another occurrence came while at the free throw line. Lining up to get set for a box out in the paint, an opposing player next to him was looking at him nonstop. In response, the five-star recruit stared back and crouched down to his level.

“I felt somebody looking at me, so then I had to look back,” Sexton said with a grin when asked about the situation.

Potentially one of the most telling pieces of evidence regarding how he operates on the hardwood was when the Crimson Tide took on Minnesota at the Barclays Center last November. Long story short, Alabama was short-handed after the team’s entire bench was ejected due to a scuffle in the second half.

With teammates in foul trouble and 13 minutes and change left to go in the game, they were down to five players, then to four, and eventually all the way down to three. The Golden Gophers led by double digits when the disqualifications happened but found themselves in a tussle down the stretch. Sexton was relentless in attacking the basket and scoring the basketball to keep the Tide within reach.

It was like being on the wrong side of a power play in hockey and somehow still fighting through the game. Sexton finished with a game-high 40 points, six rebounds and five assists in 36 minutes played. Alabama nearly pulled off the victory because of his will to win, but ultimately fell 89-84. It’s a game that Avery Johnson—his head coach at the time—said he took hard and was “basically in tears.”

“I just felt like I didn’t give up,” Sexton said of the memorable game. “I fought to the end and we had an opportunity to win.”

Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman was not present at the time but did have a scout watching Sexton almost pull off the unthinkable for his team.

“He called me up and said, ‘You are not gonna believe what happened tonight,’” Altman recounted. “And it was actually going through the ticker, what had happened. I said, ‘You gotta be kidding me.’ And he said, “No, no man. This kid is a dog! You’re gonna love this kid.’ And I was like, ‘I gotta watch it.’

“And we watched it. I was shocked. He almost had a chance to bring them back. He’s a competitor.”

Sexton’s words may not command the spotlight, but his talent certainly will. He’s one of those players who has a ton of confidence in himself and will bring explosiveness every time he hits the floor. Johnson, who believes Sexton will be a better pro than what he showed in the NCAA, has a feeling that people will be surprised by him.

“He has that entertainment and wow factor,” Johnson said of Sexton. “The bigger the stage, the better.

“He’s not afraid of the big stage, the big lights. When you’re playing against all of these elite point guards in the NBA, he’s not gonna ask anybody for any autographs. He’s gonna obviously give them a healthy dose of respect, but he’s gonna think that he belongs on the floor.

“And it’s not fabricated. It’s just who he is.”