Episode 174: Mike Young, Be Yourself

The Basketball Podcast

Guest: Mike Young, Virginia Tech Basketball Head Coach

In this week's coaching conversation, Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young joins the Basketball Podcast to discuss his offensive and defensive philosophy, and how to be yourself.

Mike Young was named 2020-21 ACC Coach of the Year as the Hokies made the NCAA Tournament. 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. Virginia Tech was picked 11th in the ACC’s preseason media poll last fall but returned to national relevance in Young’s second season at the school. The Hokies beat Villanova, Clemson, Duke and Virginia, among others.

Mike Young teams have made the NCAA Tournament in six of the last 11 seasons, including being the fastest Virginia Tech coach to make The Dance. Tech’s third-place finish was the Hokies’ highest finish in the ACC standings since Seth Greenberg’s Hokies tied for third place in 2010. The Hokies landed the No. 3 seed for the ACC Tournament — their best seed in that event since Greenberg’s Hokies were the No. 3 seed in 2007.

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.

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