 Young was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third round of the 2000 amateur draft and signed a $ 1 @.@ 65 million contract with Pittsburgh on September 6 after holding out until he gained assurances that he would be able to complete his collegiate education . His athletic career was not entirely on hold as an upperclassman , and he was able to get some low minor league experience before completing his degree at Princeton in politics in June 2002 and becoming a full @-@ time professional athlete . He played in the class A minor leagues after his junior year . Young then completed his senior thesis , entitled " The Impact of Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball on Racial Stereotypes in America : A Quantitative Content Analysis of Stories about Race in the New York Times " while commuting on minor league buses as a player for the Hickory Crawdads . Young was also offered a two @-@ year guaranteed contract to play basketball for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association in 2002 by fellow Princeton alum and Kings president Geoff Petrie . 
