Fork Union Military Academy Athletics

Mike Young is a 1982 graduate of Fork Union Military Academy and has established himself as one of the top men’s basketball coaches at the collegiate level. Young arrived in Fork Union in 1981 to play for the legendary coach Fletcher Arritt, who is one of Young’s mentors to this day.   

 

After graduating from FUMA, Young went to play for coach Bob Johnson at Emory & Henry College. He was a four-year letterman and team captain his junior and senior seasons. He credits Johnson for having a major influence on his playing and coaching career. He graduated from Emory & Henry in 1986.  

 

After short stints as an assistant coach at Emory & Henry, Radford University and Wofford University, Young was named head coach of the Terriers in 2002 where he catapulted his coaching career. In 17 seasons, Young compiled an overall record of 299-244 (.551) 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. 

 

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 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. 

 

In Young’s final season 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. 

 

Following his outstanding Wofford career, Young was called home to the Roanoke Valley when he was named head coach at Virginia Tech in 2019. The Radford, Virginia native has made the NCAA Tournament in seven of the last 12 seasons, including being the fastest Virginia Tech coach to make The Dance. In his second season with the Hokies, Young led Tech to a 15-7 record, including 9-4 in the ACC to finish third overall and to be named ACC Coach of the Year. A year later, Young led the Hokies to their first-ever ACC Tournament Championship, as a No. 7 seed, beating top-seeded Duke, 82-67, in his third season in 2022.  

 

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. 

 

Young and his wife, Margaret, were married on Aug. 13, 1994, and the couple has a daughter, Cooper, and a son, Davis.