Mike Young enters his 17th season as head coach and 30th season on the Wofford men’s basketball staff in 2018-19. He has built the Wofford College men’s basketball program into a Southern Conference powerhouse and NCAA Tournament fixture.
In his 16-year head coaching career at Wofford, Young boasts a record of 269-239 (.530), including 157-124 (.559) in Southern Conference play. Young’s 269 wins rank second in Southern Conference history and second in school history (first in the Division I era) after passing Richard Johnson in the 2016-17 season. Young, current Director of Athletics Richard Johnson (236), and the late Gene Alexander (283) are the only coaches in Wofford history to record over 200 wins.
A three-time SoCon Coach of the Year (2010, 2014, 2015), Young has also received national recognition as the Hugh Durham National Mid-Major Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com. During his distinguished tenure, Young has seen many Terriers go on to play professionally. He has coached Olympian Mike Lenzly, All-American Noah Dahlman, Academic All-American Brad Loesing and 20 All-SoCon selections.
Under Young’s leadership, the Terriers’ resume includes impressive non-conference wins over the likes of Auburn, Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Purdue, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Xavier and Wake Forest. Young believes in playing the best competition. A recent Wofford non-conference schedule was ranked as the most difficult in the nation by the RPI and Sagarin Ratings.
The success Young has achieved on the court has complemented his emphasis on academics. Young’s program has a 100-percent graduation rate for student-athletes who have completed their eligibility at Wofford.
One of the defining characteristics of Young’s program is the family atmosphere, evidenced by current assistant coach Kevin Giltner. Former Director of Basketball Operations, Drew Gibson, and former assistant coach, Tim Johnson, were also former Wofford student-athletes who spent time on Young's staff before going on to coach at other institutions. Young has seen a total of six players remain in the program, after their playing days, as members of his staff.
The 2017-18 season was one for the books. Young & the Terriers welcomed 2017 Final Four participant, the South Carolina Gamecocks, to Spartanburg to open the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Nov. 10. Wofford got its first win in the building on Nov. 12 with a convincing 103-66 victory over Washington & Lee. Characteristic of Young's teams, the Terriers had a tough non-conference slate and traveled to Texas Tech, California, North Carolina, and hosted Georgia Tech. Wofford picked up its first signature win in Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium with a 63-60 victory over Georgia Tech on a buzzer beater from Fletcher Magee. It was the Terriers' first win over an ACC school since Wofford downed N.C. State on the road on Dec. 14, 2014. The win is also the first at home in program history over one of the ACC's current 15 teams.
On Dec. 20, Wofford went into the Dean E. Smith Center and upset No. 5 North Carolina, the defending national champions. It was Wofford's first win over a team in the AP Top 25 in program history. The Terriers finished the season with a 21-13 record, surpassing the 20 win mark for the fifth time under Young. Fletcher Magee was named the Malcolm U. Pitt Player of the Year (Media) and was a First Team All-SoCon selection, while Cameron Jackson earned Second Team honors and Storm Murphy was placed on the All-Freshman team, Wofford's sixth All-Freshman team member in the last seven seasons.
Magee was a finalist for the Lou Henson Award (presented to the nation's top mid-major player) and the Jerry West Award (presented to the nation's best shooting guard) and was on the mid-season watch list for The Lute Olson Award (presented to the nation's top player). He was tabbed as the SoCon Player of the Week four times and the Player of the Month three times. Magee was an AP All-America Honorable Mention selection and named NABC First Team All-District. He led the country in total threes made (148) and his output was second for single season threes in SoCon history (behind NCAA leader Steph Curry) and fifth in NCAA history for threes in a single season.
With Southern Conference Tournament Championships in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015, Wofford was one of 43 programs nationally to have reached the NCAA Tournament at least four times in the six-year span from 2010-15. The Terriers were also one of just four programs to win their conference tournament in four of those six seasons. Young’s teams totaled five postseason appearances and four 20-win campaigns in that span.
Those six seasons saw Wofford emerge as a dominant program in the Southern Conference. The 2014-15 campaign was the best yet. The Terriers went 28-7 overall, 16-2 SoCon, en route to an outright Southern Conference Regular Season Championship, fourth SoCon Tournament Championship and fourth NCAA Tournament appearance. New program records for wins and conference wins were set, with a schedule that ranked 26th in the country in non-conference strength. The non-conference slate saw the Terriers make trips to Stanford, as well as three 2015 NCAA Sweet 16 teams in West Virginia, Duke and NC State. Wofford took a 55-54 win over the Wolfpack on December 14, which was NC State’s first loss in their historic home since the 1999 NIT. The Terriers won eight straight games en route to the SoCon Tournament title, including victories in 14 of their last 15 games.
Young was named SoCon Coach of the Year for a third time and saw senior Karl Cochran named SoCon Player of the Year. Senior Lee Skinner was also an all-conference selection and named SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Wofford earned its highest seed in school history in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, going to Jacksonville, Florida as the No. 12 seed in the West Region to take on No. 5 seed Arkansas. The Terriers led 28-27 at the half, outrebounded Arkansas 37-35 and led for over half the game before the Razorbacks edged out the Terriers, 56-53.
Prior to assuming the head coaching reins at Wofford, Young was an assistant coach to current athletics director Richard Johnson. His impact as a head coach was seen immediately. In his first season in charge, Young led the Terriers to their best record in eight seasons on the Division I level and a third-place finish in the SoCon South Division after Wofford was predicted to finish sixth.
Young’s time at Wofford has spanned four decades and covered the Terriers moving from NCAA Division II to Division I Independent in 1995-96 and to the Southern Conference in 1997-98. He was promoted to associate head coach in August 1998. Young has been on the Wofford bench for 832 contests over the past 29 seasons.
It’s all about the student-athlete experience for Young. Every player means the world to him, and it’s not just those 20 All-SoCon selections. Noah Dahlman (2010-11), Karl Cochran (2014-15) and Fletcher Magee (2017-18) have been SoCon Players of the Year, while Dahlman was the SoCon Tournament’s Most Outstanding Performer in back-to-back seasons (2010, 2011). Cochran received the honor in 2014, followed by Lee Skinner in 2015.
Young’s influence on incoming players has been seen with 11 Terriers appearing on the All-SoCon Freshman Team (Ian Chadwick, Justin Stephens, Tyler Berg, Junior Salters, Brad Loesing, Karl Cochran, Spencer Collins, Eric Garcia, Fletcher Magee, Nathan Hoover, and Storm Murphy). Chadwick (1997-98), Cochran (2011-12) and Magee (2015-16) were named SoCon Freshmen of the Year. Magee led the nation in free throw percentage (92.5 pct.) as a freshman, setting the program’s new single-season record and becoming just the sixth freshman to shoot 90-percent or better in NCAA men’s Div. I history (min 2.5 makes per game). Magee’s freshman season also saw him rank third nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (47.9 pct.).
In 2013-14, the team was 20-13 overall and 11-5 in the Southern Conference to finish third overall. Following a tough non-conference slate, the Terriers won nine straight games in January and February. A key road win at Elon in the final week of the regular season secured a bye for the SoCont Tournament. The team secured victories over The Citadel, Georgia Southern, and Western Carolina to take the title and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In Milwaukee, the No. 15 seed Terriers lost 57-40 to No. 2 seed Michigan.
Following the campaign, Young was named SoCon Coach of the Year for the second time. Karl Cochran and Lee Skinner earned All-Southern Conference honors, while Cochran was named Most Outstanding Performer at the SoCon Tournament. Eric Garcia was named to the All-Freshman squad.
In 2012-13, the Terriers posted a 13-19 overall record, highlighted by a 56-55 non-conference win over Xavier. In the Southern Conference the team was 7-11 and finished tied for third place in the South Division. Karl Cochran was named All-SoCon second team, while Spencer Collins earned a spot on the All-Freshman team.
In 2012, each of our the program’s five graduates (Drew Crowell, Kevin Giltner, Brad Loesing, Joseph Tecklenberg and Matt Steelman) were named to the Southern Conference All-Academic Team.
During the 2011-12 season Wofford took on a tough non-conference schedule but were 8-6 after a 56-52 win at Wake Forest. A home win over the College of Charleston and a six-game win streak against SoCon opponents pushed the Terriers towards the top of the South Division standings. With wins in four of the final five regular season games, Wofford locked up the second seed in the Southern Conference Tournament. The season ended with a first round game in the CBI at Pittsburgh.
Following the regular season, Brad Loesing was named SoCon Defensive Player of the Year and both Loesing and Kevin Giltner earned All-SoCon honors. Karl Cochran was named SoCon Freshman of the Year. In addition, Loesing was honored as a first team Academic All-American.
The Terriers opened the 2010-11 campaign with a challenging slate of non-conference opponents and were 5-8 at the end of December. Once into conference play, the team quickly won five-of-six games to get over .500. To end the regular season, Wofford won five straight games to earn a share of the Southern Conference South Division title with the College of Charleston.
In the SoCon Tournament, the Terriers defeated Appalachian State and Western Carolina for a second-straight appearance in the finals. In the title game, Wofford faced College of Charleston, who had won both regular season meetings over the Terriers. The third time was all Wofford in a 77-67 win to cut down the nets in Chattanooga. Noah Dahlman earned Most Outstanding Player honors for the second straight season.
Wofford, seeded 14, faced No. 3 seed BYU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Denver. The Terriers kept the game close, but were unable to stop NCAA Player of the Year Jimmer Fredette. Following the season, Noah Dahlman, Tim Johnson and Cameron Rundles earned All-Conference honors.
In 2009-10, the Terriers began the season 4-6, but then proceeded to finish by winning 22 of 24, including a 13-game winning streak which matched the longest in school history. Also included were wins over SEC-foes South Carolina and Georgia. After securing the South Division Championship with a 15-3 conference mark, Wofford entered the SoCon Tournament as the top seed for the first time. After defeating UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina, the team earned a spot in the finals. In a game dominated by the Terrier defense, Wofford won 56-51 over Appalachian State to take the first Southern Conference Championship and the league’s bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In the Jacksonville Regional, Wofford was a 13 seed and faced four-seed Wisconsin. The Terriers were down eight points at the half but used a 12-4 run to tie the game and kept it a one possession game until the final seconds in a 53-49 loss.
After the season, Young was named the SoCon Coach of the Year by the coaches and media. He also was named Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year by collegeinsider.com. In addition, Noah Dahlman was named SoCon Player of the Year and honorable mention All-American. Dahlman, Tim Johnson and Jamar Diggs earned All-Conference honors.
A native of Radford, Va., Young came to Wofford after serving as a graduate assistant for one year under Oliver Purnell at Radford University. A 1986 graduate of Emory & Henry College, he was a four-year letterman in basketball for coach Bob Johnson and the team captain his junior and senior seasons. He credits Johnson for having a major influence on his playing and coaching careers.
Upon his graduation, Young became a full-time assistant coach for two years at Emory & Henry before moving on to Radford. Another mentor in his coaching philosophies is Fletcher Arritt, longtime coach of Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy. Young played one season for him before attending Emory and Henry. 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 in her hometown of Camden, S.C. She is a 1992 Wofford graduate and a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The couple has a daughter, Cooper, and a son, Davis.
