On full scholarship, Young attended the University of Southern California while maintaining a steady stream of guest spots on series television, including “Philly” (ABC, 2001-02), “Jake 2.0” (UPN, 2003-04) and a four-episode arc on “The Guardian” (CBS, 2001-04). Moving over to features, he landed a supporting role in the football flick, “Friday Night Lights” (2004), playing a determined benchwarmer who gets his shot when he replaces the ailing starting running back (Derek Luke). In 2005, Young graduated magna cum laude from USC with a bachelor’s in Film & Television Production. After a leading role in the short-lived primetime soap, “South Beach” (UPN, 2005-06), Young was the dismissive brother of a precocious young girl (Keke Palmer) from South Central L.A. in “Akeelah and the Bee” (2006), then played Cyborg on an episode of “Smallville” (CW, 2001- ) – a role he later revived in early 2007 when several past superheroes reunited to form the beginnings of the famed Justice League.