Kevin Young BYU Basketball Press Conference

New BYU Men’s Basketball coach, Kevin Young, addresses Cougar nation, stating the importance of his family, God, and other mentors in his decision process to join the BYU family. Additionally, Coach Young states his excitement to elevate BYU Basketball to a level it’s never been and answers media questions!
—
Watch BYUSN live and on demand on the free BYUtv app or BYUtv.org

Join the conversation on:
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/BYUSportsNation
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/byusportsnation/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/BYUSportsNation

here he is Kevin young appreciate it everyone oh there we go that’s off to a good start there we go all right um wow this is exciting for me and my family just uh I don’t know when you’re doing everything on the phone and you’re and you’re and you’re not here to feel the energy and and just feel this building um when you step foot in here even my my kids um that this place is going to be rocking we’re going to get this thing rolling so um excited to be here I really want to first start by thanking a couple people um Brian Tom president ree Keith um that for us and when we met um it was it got clear pretty quickly um that this was going to be something that me and my wife were going to be have to make uh an amazing decision to join and it became obvious pretty quickly as we were talking about how amazing this place is um and I’ll speak to that a little bit more but I really want to thank you four guys in particular as we went through the process um as president mentioned I got a lot of my family here I want to first thank thank my wife she’s been my rock for 13 years and the coaching world is one uh that’s not easy on families it’s not easy raising little ones and we got three of them Jude van and Zoe are have been right there with us for for a good majority of it so excited that they’re here with us too and then my mom and dad and all my siblings are here as well so um I’m one of six and and and even Aaron what’s up dude haven’t seen you uh even BYU Alum I might add so he he’s here Meg hey um and my couple my my nieces too so it’s a really special day for our family and uh we certainly don’t take it lightly so I also want to thank a few other people that that have been really instrumental and and and me getting here um you know James Jones and Matt ishp with the Phoenix Sons and Coach vogle who I’m working for now Monty Williams who’s been a huge mentor of mine and is uh an outstanding guy and funny enough opened up every meeting with an opening prayer true story for the last couple years in Phoenix so pretty used to that um Brett Brown who hired me in Philadelphia is one of my greatest mentors um and a couple people that got me to Utah in the first place brand Anderson and Joe Brown um coach hunsaker at Utah Valley who I worked for and then U so many other people that I can get to but I I definitely want to shout that group out um where I really want to start this thing with is the Players okay you guys were the first ones I I saw when I got into this building the the things that you guys were able to I just told all of them so in the locker room the things you guys were able to accomplish first year in the Big 12 absolutely remarkable um cannot wait to have every one of you guys back in a BYU uniform and get to it that was one yes let’s get that up and so that make no mistake about that’s my first priority is those guys and I can’t I’ve already started building relationships with those guys and um we’re going to take that part of it to to a whole another level that’s if if I’ve learned anything in the NBA it’s it’s about this whole thing is about relationships I’ve been able to build some with some of the best players in the world um currently still working with those guys and hoping to take them to to somewhere they haven’t been yet um in this playoff run but that’s what it’s all about is those relationships so those guys heard me talk about it a few minutes go and look forward to that um with that being said this is a new challenge for me you know I’ve been I’ve been on a different side of basketball all of my career and I as I went through the process um getting to this decision the the excitement I had for the new challenge at hand in terms of transitioning to the College World coming from the world I was in got me extremely excited the more I started to wrap my head around what that looks like and the thing that really moved the needle for me and my wife was the environment that we’re going to be doing it in here at BYU what this University stands for what the mission of this University is um I’m a lifelong member of the church um so to be able to do what I love at the highest level from a career standpoint and blend that with my faith and being able to do it my wife and my three little ones that’s why we came here okay that’s why we came here and uh that’s really special so on top of that man the thing that’s blown me away um is just the level of support from the athletic department from the University from many people the resources that that this place has the fact that it’s in the Big 12 the highest level of college basketball um there there was a lot of things that played a role into me coming here and that was one of the big ones uh just a couple other things I wanted to hit on before we before we move on to some of the questions was I just want to make make it clear that I I coming from my background and talking to to the players you know a lot of guys have not a lot all of them have ambition to play in the NBA and I think with my background we’re going to build we’re going to this this is this is amazing place has been for a long time what I want to do to take it to the next level is make this place the best place in college basketball to prepare young men to play in the NBA and I think with my background I think we’re going to be able to get that done and I really look forward to doing that uh and that what I’ve also learned really quickly is because of the history of this school and this program and what you guys have been able to accomplish long before I showed up add in addition with the resources in addition to uh what the reputation of this school is players want to play here i’ I’ve learned that quickly players want to play here and coaches want to coach here and I’m in the proud process now putting together a staff talking to a lot of different people this is a very desirable place to be I look forward to teaming up with a lot of elite people that we’re going to get in here to do this thing together and U with that let’s go cougs hi check um at this time we’ll open things up for questions for the media for Coach young um please raise your hand if have a question we’ll bring the microphone to you please stand state your name and your news Outlet uh Patrick inan KSL was it a hard decision to come here knowing that maybe at least for a temporary season or so that and when I say season I don’t mean literal I mean a time of life that the NBA dream of being a head coach might be put on hold no not really once we once I realized how special this place was um you know it it became easier and easier to be honest with you um and what I you know I’ve known a lot of a lot of these guys Tom and Brian like he said we go back um some years but when um when President Ree and Keith came down and we and we were talking um that moved the needle quite heavily for me to be honest with you as as it relates to the NBA and and the dream and so forth truth be told is never actually really been my dream to be a head coach in the NBA I love basketball I love working with young players I love developing players I love building relationships and again to be able to do all those things at a place that has the the the family atmosphere that I so desired for my kids and my wife to be around it really it actually became a really easy Choice John Associated Press um you know BYU’s had a tradition last couple years of of having kind of wideopen offense emphasis on three-point Shing what what’s your philosophy in terms of offense and defense that you plan to bring to BYU yeah I mean you know I’ve been a kind of my my label I so to speak in the NBA world has been you know I’ve run the offense of every team that I I’ve been a part of and a lot of that’s been based around you know where the NBA sh shifted to which is kind of how BYU started has played over the last couple years Fast Pace getting up and down spreading the floor out you know five out read and react so there’s going to be a lot of that you I was encourage encouraging our guys to you know watch this this uh series of the Suns and the and the uh T t- wolves to kind of take notes on how we’re doing some things there um so there’ll be some similarities with teams I’ve coached in the NBA for sure but you know I think I’m a I’m a modern thinker of the game I want to push the envelope and um and ically push the envelope you know with shooting threes as you mentioned and defensively that’s where I get really excited because I’ve been able on the offensive side so long in the NBA you know you have you you see how Elite defenses guard certain things and I’ve been able to put together pretty um extensive defensive background that with the rules in college obviously being different um I look forward to being able to scheme and and get creative here on that side of the ball as well Jared Lloyd haral the college game may be closer to the professional game than it’s ever been at this point but it’s still different what’s it like what do you think it’s going to be like to adapt to the challenges of nil transfer portal all of those elements that that are a little different in the college world than they are in the NBA world yeah I mean obviously that’s that what you just spoke on the last bit there is the the biggest difference the big thing for me there number one great support here in terms of administration um how things are run here that put me at I was scared of that to be honest with you still am but um being able to rely on the people that are here and then that’s the huge priority of me with the staff is having people that I can surround myself with that have an amazing grasp on that but not just a grasp on it that are Elite at at navigating those Waters that can really help me uh do what I’m I think I’m best at hi I’m Greg rubel I’m your radio play byplay guy right once upon a time you were part of a couple of college coaching staffs what excites you most about being back in the college game generally and about being at BYU specifically so some of you guys know might know some of my history maybe not um I this was not going to be the first time I’ve I’ve lived in the area uh I coach for the Utah flash which was the old minor league of the Jazz I lived in fact I lived in BYU housing and met my wife she was a student at BYU um so I’m familiar with everything that’s going on around here and I when I was doing it that was during the gimmers era here I remember coming to a game here I believe it was against Wake Forest and that was my first time ever coming to a game here and uh that was the most incredible atmosphere I’ve been in at the college level and so that’s what excites me the passion the it’s crazy here I mean the hype video had me hype I was ready to get these guys running suicide didn’t get to it right now but uh um yeah it’s just different so for my kids there you know my family my boys and my daughter Zoe you know they’re they haven’t experienced that that passion really the NBA you get it some but not not like it it is here so that’s probably the thing that excites me the most is just the overall passion that this place has Matt Bonte KSL News radio how do you plan on juggling finishing up with the Phoenix Suns and get getting started here at BYU fantastic question it’s uh it’s it’s going to be a challenge but I look forward to it um because a lot of special things that and relationships I have with those guys down at Phoenix um couple of them I’ve been with for four years and two wins away from winning NBA championship with with book in particular uh he’s kind of the main guy left from that crew so I’m I’m invested in in and those guys um but in terms of how I plan on jug the Staffing piece is huge you know I’ve been um working tirelessly on that my phone’s been I’ve been on the phone more in the last 24 hours than I have in fact Kanani almost body slaming because he’s like bro I texted you what’s up and uh so but uh he know he knows he knows how it is but uh that’s my first outside of these players man that’s my first matter of business is getting getting a staff put together that can hold the fort down but at the same time I think it’s a really unique experience to tell the next chapter BYU story um in terms of leveraging my this playoff run that hopefully we’re on both for our players for our fans for recruits for all that stuff and it I think it’s a a really a separator I believe Jay catch the KSL Sports Zone building off Matt’s question how are you going to adapt to recruiting Because you haven’t had to do that in 15 years in the NBA yep you know it’s it’s what I’m learning is it’s actually starting to Trend to more similar to the way that the NBA works as I’m learning the ins and outs of it but again leveraging relationships man I’ve been coaching for almost 20 years I know people at every level um it’s been amazing to just kind of have a reminder of how big you know my network actually is um and again relationships in this business are the most of the utmost importance both with the players and with the the people that on the Grassroots front agents coaches the whole nine yards so my own personal network but the staff piece is enorm there I’m going to surround myself with people that that’s what they’re Elite at and that’s what’s going to help us the most Darnell Dixon daily Herold can you take us through the timeline of when you became aware that the job was open and then your interaction with Tom and Brian getting to this point that that’d be a great movie actually uh um yeah honestly at this point all the days are running together so I don’t remember exactly how things went went down but um just to be transparent I was I was making the interview circuit in the NBA on some head coaching fronts and uh all all the while we had a six or seven day road trip with the son so I would break off from them and go have meetings with Executives and owners and then fly back and meet the team and and so forth so I was already juggling a lot and then right when I landed from one of those meetings I had gotten a I had gotten a word of of you know coach Pope leaving in Kentucky which tremendous opportunity for him and shortly after that my phone rang um and then just Wildfire happened after that to be honest with you so I was juggling a lot me and my wife the tricky part honestly was her and I weren’t together I was on the road we was in LA sack Minnesota and we were trying to make maybe arguably the most the biggest decision of our lives and so I was trying to tell everyone involved man I just got to get home I just got to get home to my wife I got to look at her in the eyes and we got to talk this thing through and uh it’s been a wild ride but uh you know we obviously landed in an amazing Place Coach Dave mccan from byuv and Deseret News congratulations and welcome I want to follow up on that just a moment can you take us to that first conversation with your wife when you told her that BYU called and how that played out and then also when you go back to the sons have they seen you with a cleanly shaven face will we have to reintroduce yourself so I’ll start there so uh I walked in into pract so we had practice this morning in Phoenix so we’re getting ready the playoffs as I keep saying but uh no they hadn’t actually so I walked in there and all the guys were kind of looking at me you know and uh we had a good laugh about it but uh funny enough with that my wife’s been wanting me to shave for like 13 years so the fact that uh here it is so she’s happy about that but um in terms of uh her first reaction though uh a lot of emotion and I actually I’m actually going to take you past her first emotion um I was we were in midair actually I was flying from sack to go to Minnesota actually and she sent me a really long text to let me know you know how she felt about everything that we had going on that was really impactful for me and uh she’s she’s as excited or more um about this opportunity that I am but she had a major major influence on me coming here and what it would do for our family life and uh she’s she’s amazing love you babe thanks for everything and uh cougar Nation I honestly wouldn’t be here if she uh she was in the mix so J Drew Deseret News Kevin uh when did you first decide that you wanted to be a coach to be in the this profession and when did it first cross your mind the possibility existed that you could be the coach of BYU so I was really lucky as a player I always had really good coaches um the whole reason I wanted to be a coach was uh my high school coach Roger quam who I should have shouted out at the beginning so coach I apologize for that but um yeah he’s had probably the most he’s been the most impactful person on my on my life as a youngster when I was in high school and um I wanted to be like him he had a great life he had five kids and he coached basketball on top PE every day and I was like that seems pretty cool and so uh that’s what I want I wanted to be just like him and then uh I got in I played in in college and jumped right into coaching and you know one thing led to another that took me to a different path but in terms of ever thinking I could be the coach at BYU um you know got connected with with Brian and Tom um about four or five years ago through a mutual connection when I was out in Philadelphia and uh you know kind of some seeds were planted and in the back of my mind I thought you know maybe maybe maybe one day that’s something that that would happen and never in a million years thought it would happen at the Timeline that it did but you know I’m a firm believe everything truly does happen for a reason and uh it’s it’s amazing how everything lined up for it to happen right now all right we have one more question for you coach hi and welcome to BYU coach my name is Olivia Allen and I’m one of the co- Rock presidents for this upcoming year and we are absolutely stoked that you are here the rock is considered by many to be the best student section in the nation how excited are you to have them behind you this upcoming season what first of all thank you for the question and I look forward to getting to know all the all the students here on campus as well but yeah I’m I’m I’m thrilled about it I I I mean I’m thrilled about it for my my kids honestly so they can feel what it’s going to be like in here how loud it’s going to get in here the passion that everybody has um you know I’ve coached a couple I’ve coached a couple players that have played at Duke that I hear Maybe Might rival the fans here so I want to be able to rub it in those guys faces about how much better this place is in that place so all right thanks coach let’s give one more round of applause for uh coach Kevin