Mike Young’s postgame breakdown might be the beginning of the end at Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech made a bold move to take its football program to the next level. Athletic director Whit Babcock was quick to pull the trigger, firing Brent Pry, and wasted no time in his aggressive pursuit of James Franklin. Now, it might be time to do the same with his basketball program on the brink of missing the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight year after falling to No. 13 76-72 on Saturday in Charlottesville. 

The Hokies are currently in Joe Lunardi’s “First Four Out” and still have the ACC Tournament to play their way into the field. However, seventh-year head coach Mike Young’s bizarre postgame breakdown seems to indicate that he knows Saturday was a major missed opportunity and one that could cost him his job. 

Young detailed the slim margins that resulted in the gut-wrenching four-point loss, including Virginia center Ugonna Onyenso’s two three-pointers, one in each half. “No. 33, come on, man,” an exasperated Young told the media. “Give me a break. Really? Kid makes two threes and a huge one. Come on… What the f*** am I doing wrong, man?” 

Mike Young could not believe Ugonna Onyenso’s huge three-pointers in UVA’s win

Onyenso is in his fourth year of college basketball and on his third team with the Cavaliers. The seven-foot center began his career with John Calipari in Kentucky before transferring to Kansas State in 2024-25 and ultimately landing with the Cavaliers in Ryan Odom’s first year for his final season of eligibility. 

Throughout that college basketball odyssey, Onyenso has hit just seven total three-pointers. All of those made threes have come at Virginia this year as he’s 7-29 (24.1 percent). On Saturday against the Hokies, however, Onyenso went two for three, just the second time in his career that he’s hit multiple threes in a single game. The only other instance came against Hampton in November, a 91-53 UVA win. 

Young hasn’t done enough to save his job at Virginia Tech

Young entered the year on the hot seat, and though the Hokies have been better and are on the cusp of a 20-win season for the first time since the 2021-22 season, Young almost certainly needs an NCAA Tournament trip to save his job. He’s taken the Hokies there twice through his first six years in Blacksburg, as a No. 10 seed in 2021 and a No. 11 seed in 2022, and losing in the first round both times. 

It’s just about undeniable that Young feels the pressure heading into the ACC Tournament, and had those two threes from Onyenso not fallen, he could breathe much easier. 

Maybe that’s an oversimplification of the situation, but for a coach that deep into his tenure with that little success, sometimes it is a simple binary: make the tournament, and you’re safe, miss it, and you’re gone. A run in the ACC Tournament is still on the table, but this press conference looked like the beginning of the end.