Sixers forward Thaddeus Young isn’t that far removed from college. Heck, he’s younger than most players on college teams.

So with the conference tournaments and the NCAA tourney just around the corner, he’s keeping an eye on things.

“I’ve kind of been watching it because I have some friends who are still playing for different colleges and a couple of them are thinking of coming out,” he said. “I try to give them a little advice about how hard it is and the things they have to do as far as keeping your body fully intact.”

Young, 19, knows about that. He played a year for Georgia Tech before making the jump to the NBA. He was drafted 12^th by the Sixers and has worked his way into the starting lineup.

He said he has no regrets about coming out early.

“No, I don’t,” he said. “At first I was having a little doubt when I was getting ready to come out, but then I was like if you’re gonna be in you’ve got to be two feet in.”

Not that he hated his year at Tech, either.

“It was one of the best years of my life. I was in Atlanta plus I had all my teammates who were like brothers to me plus I had the coaches. It helped me out a lot.”