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Over the
last four years, the University of
Montevallo men's basketball team has
transformed from a team enjoyed measured
success into a team that has garnered
national attention. The Falcons have
posted four consecutive 20-plus win
seasons for the first time in the
four-decade history of the program. Last
March, a game-ending buzzer beater that
was featured at number two on ESPN
SportsCenter Top 10 Plays helped the
Falcons to their second consecutive NCAA
Division II South Regional Championship
and berth in the NCAA "Elite Eight” in
Springfield, Mass. Eventually, even
successful teams need to rebuild. Six
seniors concluded their careers at UM
last season. Two were First Team
All-Americans, one of which is
continuing his career as a professional
basketball player. This season, the
Falcons will return just three letter
winners. Instead of rebuilding, the
Falcons will be renovating for the
2007-08 season.
Renovating a lineup is not new to
Danny Young, who had to transform
the Falcon men's basketball lineup when
he arrived on the Montevallo’s campus
in the summer of 2003.That season, with
only one returning player, Young molded
his first Falcons squad into a solid
competitive unit, winning 19 more games
than the previous year’s team, and
posting the biggest turn-around in UM
basketball history, tying a school best
23 wins. The team also went on to win
their first-ever Gulf South Conference
championship, and to the “Sweet 16” of
the NCAA Division II National
Tournament.
Young, who became the sixth head coach
in Montevallo basketball history,
recently etched his named in the NCAA
Division II Men's Basketball record
book. He has averaged just over 26 wins
in four seasons, including a
school-record 29 victories in 2005-06.
He currently leads all active NCAA
Division II men's basketball head
coaches (minimum five seasons) in
winning percentage at just over 80
percent. Young is 106-28 overall as he
begins his fifth year at the University
of Montevallo.
In his four years at UM, he has guided
the Falcons to two "Elite Eight"
appearances, four consecutive NCAA
Division II South Regional Tournaments,
which included back-to-back regional
championships in 2006 and 2007 as well
as three Gulf South Conference
Championships (2004, 2005 and 2007).
He has been named Gulf South Conference
East Division Coach of the Year for
three consecutive seasons (2005-06-07)
and was named South Region Coach of the
Year by the National Association of
Basketball Coaches in 2007. He
also had the opportunity to coach in the
inaugural Collegiate Basketball
Invitational, spotlighting the top
small college men's basketball
players in the country (NCAA Division
II, NCAA Division III and NAIA) in
the spring of 2007.
Prior to UM, Young was Athletic Director
and head Men’s Basketball Coach at Salem
International University in Salem, West
Virginia. He was associated with the
Top-20 ranked SIU program for seven
years, and posted a 51-11 (.823) record
in two seasons as head coach. His first
collegiate victory came while still an
assistant coach, as he led SIU to
victory over West Liberty State
University. in a game that the head
coach was suspended. He guided the
Tigers to a No. 18 NCAA Division II
final national ranking in 2003, but SIU
made it as high as No. 4 earlier in the
season and appeared in the Top Ten both
of his seasons as head coach. Young’s
team also won the West Virginia
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
championship and went to the NCAA East
Regional appearance, finishing with a
25-6 record overall in 2002-03. He also
had a 138-21 (.867) record in five
seasons as an assistant coach with the
Tigers from 1996-2001, which included
three WVIAC championships, two NCAA
Division II East Region Championships,
one NCAA “Sweet 16” appearance and one
NCAA Division II “Final Four”
appearance.
Prior to SIU, Young served as an
assistant at Wheeling Jesuit University
from 1994-96, and spent a season as an
assistant at the University of
Nebraska-Omaha. Young’s first coaching
job came when he returned to his alma
mater, Grand Canyon University, for
three seasons as an assistant after
playing two years professionally. While
there, he helped the Antelopes to a
62-28 (.689) record including two
appearances in the NCAA Division II West
Regional.
In his coaching tenure, Young has
coached nine All-Americans and six
conference Player of the Year
selections. Marcus Kennedy and Greg
Brown were named NABC All-Americans this
past season. Kennedy also became the
first player in Gulf South Conference
history to be named Division Player of
the Year twice in a four-year career. In
his career, Young has guided teams to an
NCAA Division II Regional Tournament in
13 years total, including the last 11
straight.
A native of Duncan, Arizona, and
standout athlete in high school, Young
earned Honorable Mention All-American
honors and was also nominated to the
McDonald’s All-American Basketball Team.
In college, Young was coached by former
NBA player, Paul Westphal. He later
earned his bachelor’s degree in Physical
Education from Grand Canyon University
in 1990.
Young and his wife Sabrina reside in
Pelham with their children Caleb, 15,
Sophia, 8, and Cole, 2. |
