New BYU Basketball coach Kevin Young has spent multiple years at the NBA level and elected to leave the Phoenix Suns organization to take over for Mark Pope in Provo.
Young joined the College Hoops Today Podcast with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein and mentioned that the appeal to coach at the “highest level of college basketball” was a major interest of his.
During his interview, Young mentioned his years coaching basketball and commended the Big 12 Conference for their incredible cast of coaches, athletes, and administrators.
“Just looking around the room and looking at all the iconic Big 12 coaches in that room, you’re quickly just reminded of how tough things are gonna be from that side of it,” Young said about attending Big 12 coaches meetings in Pheonix. “And then you start looking at the talent that those coaches have assembled on their rosters. That was one thing that really intrigued me about the BYU situation was coaching at the highest level in the NBA, and now to be able to go to the highest level of college basketball was something that was really interesting to me.”
Young also mentioned the compelling influence the league has on recruiting, saying, “I think a really big piece on the recruiting front. I’m learning that the players feel the same way. They want to play at the highest level like I want to coach at the highest level, so the fact that BYU is in that conference with that level of talent on the coaching and playing side, I’m excited about that.”
Young’s assessment of the league’s impact on recruiting was spot on, as the group landed a massive commitment in the Class of 2024 on Tuesday in the form of Real Madrid guard Igor Demin.
While the Cougars’ new head coach will still have to perform well in college basketball’s toughest conference, his appearance on the College Hoops Today Podcast gave BYU fans worldwide something to look forward to.
