You won’t find many better coaches in the country than the one that resides in Blacksburg and spearheads the operation of Virginia Tech men’s basketball than the ol’ ball coach of the Hokies in Mike Young.
From his uncanny ability to connect with players, fans and so many types of people, to his prowess of having one of the ‘great minds’ in college basketball, Young has been able to take Tech to great heights and doesn’t plan on halting that momentum any time soon as he enters his fifth season in Blacksburg.
NOTABLES
- Hired on April 7, 2019.
- Has made the NCAA Tournament in seven of the last 13 seasons, including being the fastest Virginia Tech coach to make The Dance.
- Steered the Hokies to their first-ever ACC men's basketball championship by winning four games in four days in Brooklyn, New York in March 2022.
- Holds a 6-0 record in conference tournament championship games.
- Is no stranger to winning Coach of the Year awards, earning five conference Coach of the Year honors since 2010, and was the 2020-21 ACC Coach of the Year.
- Is a two-time National Coach of the Year, earning the status in 2010 (Hugh Durham Award) and 2019 (Sporting News).
- During the 2020-21 season, was named one of 15 coaches to the Naismith National Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List.
- Proven winner versus elite teams, taking down three top-five foes over the last four seasons, including No. 5 North Carolina (2017-18), No. 3 Michigan State (2019-20) and No. 3 Villanova (2020-21).
- Under his watch in 2020-21, led Tech to being 4-0 versus the AP’s Top 25, with the four wins being tied for the most ranked wins in a season in school history.
- Has been able to beat current and future Hall of Fame coaches consistently, including Mike Krzyzewski, Jay Wright, Tom Izzo, Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams and Tony Bennett.
- Defeated No. 8 Virginia 65-51 on Jan. 30, 2021, marking the first time Tech had beaten its rival by double-digits in 14 seasons (2007), and beat Wake Forest 84-46 on Feb. 27, 2021 to mark the biggest point differential in an ACC game in program history (38 points).
- Led the 2020-21 Hokies to being the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament, tying the highest in program history and marking the first time ever getting a double-bye since the tourney expanded in 2014.
- Got the Hokies to be ranked for 14 weeks during the 2020-21 season in the AP’s Top 25 poll, marking the third-longest stretch in school history.
- Known for always having a team that can hit it from deep, over the last three years his teams have had two games of hitting 20 or more 3-pointers, including the ACC and Virginia Tech record for most triples in a game with 21, which took place against Delaware State on Nov. 19, 2019.
- His 2021-22 squad finished the season with a 39.2% clip from beyond the arc, which ranked third in the nation.
- Guided forward Keve Aluma to being named 2020-21 second-team All-ACC, first-team NABC All-District II and to the USBWA All-District III Team, as well as Tyrece Radford to ACC honorable all-mention. Under Young’s tutelage on and off the court, Wabissa Bede was named a Senior CLASS Award Candidate.
- Holds a high standard for his student-athletes in the classroom, as a school-record five players made the ACC Men’s Basketball All-Academic Team. Since his arrival, the team has carried an impressive 3.46 GPA through four semesters, with two semesters breaking the program record for highest GPA.
- In March 2022, Justyn Mutts was named Virginia Tech's first-ever Skip Prosser Award winner, given annually to the scholar-athlete of the year in ACC men's basketball.
- In Year 1 at Tech, he tallied 16 wins to make it the most victories by a first-year head coach at Tech since 1999-00 and tied for the fifth-most wins ever by a first-year Hokie coach. He also became the first coach to win two of his first three road ACC games in school history.
- Four Hokie freshmen hit 49 or more 3-pointers in 2019-20, which was the most by any program in over the last 25 years. Behind the young bucks, Tech finished 13th nationally in 3-pointers made per game with 9.9 triples a contest, which was the highest average in school history.
- Utilizing its freshmen on the offensive end in 2019-20, Tech finished with its freshmen averaging 50.7 points per game, which is the fourth-most in ACC history behind Duke’s 2018-19, 2017-18, 1982-83 teams.
Prior to Virginia Tech: The Radford, Virginia native joined the Hokies after a record-setting 17-year tenure as the head coach at Wofford. The Terriers posted a 30-5 overall record in 2018-19, including a perfect 18-0 mark in Southern Conference play, and registered a convincing 84-68 win over Seton Hall in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
The 2019 Sporting News Coach of the Year, Young built the Terriers into one of the Southern Conference's preeminent programs and a perennial NCAA Tournament participant. He guided Wofford to five NCAA Tournament berths over the past 10 seasons and five Southern Conference championships. In addition to the on-court success of his teams, 100 percent of Young's student-athletes at Wofford who completed their eligibility graduated.
Producing high-caliber players, Young helped groom the NCAA’s leader for most 3-pointers made in a career in Fletcher Magee with 509, a two-time SoCon Player of the Year at Wofford. Over his career, Young has developed three AP All-America selections, four SoCon Player of the Year and 34 all-conference selections.
Of Note: Young compiled a 299-244 (.551) overall record at Wofford and earned Southern Conference Coach of the Year honors four times (2010, 2014, 2015 and 2019). Under his guidance, the Terriers registered an impressive list of nonconference wins, including ones over the likes of Auburn, Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, NC State, Purdue, Seton Hall, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Xavier and Wake Forest. Arguably the most compelling nonconference victory of his tenure at Wofford came on Dec. 20, 2017 when the Terriers faced then-No. 5 North Carolina at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and registered a 79-75 victory over head coach Roy Williams and the Tar Heels.
In addition to owning numerous coaching accolades, Young currently serves as a member of the NCAA's Men's Basketball Ethics Committee.
Before being a head coach: Prior to assuming the head coaching reins for the Terriers in 2002-03, Young was an assistant coach to current Wofford Director of Athletics Richard Johnson. Young came to Wofford after serving as a graduate assistant for one year under Oliver Purnell at Radford University.
A 1986 graduate of Emory & Henry College, he was a four-year letterman in basketball for coach Bob Johnson and the team captain his junior and senior seasons. He credits Johnson for having a major influence on his playing and coaching career.
Upon his graduation, Young became a full-time assistant coach for two years at Emory & Henry before moving on to Radford. Another of Young’s mentors is Fletcher Arritt, longtime coach of Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy. Young played one season for him before attending Emory & Henry. In the summer of 2015, Young was inducted into the Emory & Henry College Sports Hall of Fame, as well as the Radford High School Hall of Fame.
Education: Emory & Henry, 1986.
Personal: Young and his wife Margaret have a daughter, Cooper, who works for Savi (public relations firm) in New York City, and a son, Davis, who is a junior at Wofford.