4. Mike Young – Virginia Tech
Early in his career, Young was a player and assistant at Emory & Henry, a D2 school in Virginia. After a brief stint at Radford, he’d spent the next three decades at Wofford, including 17 years building success as head coach of the Terriers. Young took Wofford to five NCAA Tournaments, including setting program records with 30 wins and a first-round victory in his final campaign with those Terriers. Young accepted the Virginia Tech job soon after and has been in Blacksburg for the last four seasons.
His work with the Hokies has been phenomenal. After a rough first season, Young took Virginia Tech to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, winning the 2022 ACC Tournament as the conference’s 7-seed in a remarkable run. Virginia Tech was not in this year’s NCAA Tournament but still won 19 games, sunken by a rough stretch early in the conference season. Overall, Young has won at the Hokies, though there’s more work to be done.
Young built Wofford basketball and sustained that program for a decade and is now winning games in the ACC as well. He’s suddenly one of the most experienced head coaches in the ACC, both in his entire career and specifically with the Hokies. Making two of three NCAA Tournaments is a great start at a program with limited success in basketball, but can Young maintain their spot among the best in the ACC?