Men's Basketball | June 8, 2023

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Clayton State University men's basketball alumnus Kevin Young signed a new contract to be the Associate Head Coach for the Phoenix Suns.  The Suns made this announcement on June 3^rd according to a report made by the team. 
 
Young will serve alongside former NBA Champion Frank Vogel, who just signed a multi-year contract, to become the Head Coach of Suns. Last season, he helped guide the Suns to their second-straight Western Conference Semifinals appearance.  In his first season with the organization, the Suns advanced to the NBA Finals eventually losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.
 
Young has held many different coaching responsibilities since leaving Clayton State after the 2003-04 seasons. He started his coaching career, at the age of 23, oversees in Ireland coaching the Shamrock Rovers Hoops from 2006-07.  Then, when he came back to the states, he was an assistant coach at Utah Valley State (2007-08) and with Oxford College of Emory (2008-09).  Young then tested waters in "G" League, the NBA's equivalent to the minor leagues in baseball, with the Utah Flash, Iowa Energy, and Delaware 87ers. He stayed in the "G" League for eight years prior to becoming an assistant in the NBA. Young spent 2016-20 as an Assistant Coach for the Philadelphia 76ers.  There, his staff guided the 76ers to two Eastern Conference Semifinals.
 
During his time in Morrow, Ga., Kevin Young was coached by Clayton State Hall of Famer Gordan Gibbons.  Gibbons, currently, is the winningest coach in Laker men's basketball history with over 200 wins.  Young's teams in 2002-03 & 2003-04 went a combined 39-20 including going 21-14 in the Peach Belt Conference. In the 2003-04 season, the Lakers made it to the Semifinals of the PBC Tournament losing to eventual Division I school Kennesaw State, 43-39, and won 20+ games for the first time since the 1994-95 team.  In that same season, Young led the Lakers shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc and with 55 steals.  Those 55 steals are good for seventh all-time in a single season in program history.  Before coming to Clayton State, Young played for Middle Georgia, who was a Junior College at the time.  Kevin graduated from Sprayberry HS in Marietta, Ga.
 
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