Sprayberry Grad Hired for D-League

alum Kevin Young is the new head coach of the Iowa Energy, the defending champions of the NBA Development League.

The Energy announced the 29-year-old’s hiring Wednesday afternoon in Des Moines.

It’s Young’s second head coaching job in the D-League after he led the Utah Flash to a 28-22 record and a first-round playoff loss to the Energy.

The Flash shut down, making Young available when Energy coach Nick Nurse quit to take over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, who won the league title in 2010.

The D-League is the NBA’s official minor league and is moving ahead with the 2011-12 season even while a labor dispute threatens to cancel the NBA season.

The Energy is affiliated with the Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Hornets and Washington Wizards.

The D-League’s coaches include such former NBA coaches as Del Harris of the Texas Legends and Eric Musselman of the Los Angeles D-Fenders.

Musselman, then running the Reno Bighorns, provided one of the most memorable moments of Young’s rookie year as a D-League head coach when he physically confronted Young at midcourt in a game.

The resulting video has become part of D-League legend and impressed the Energy’s owners, the Des Moines Register says.

The youth of Young, who graduated from Sprayberry in 2000, also excited the Energy, the Register says. The newspaper broke the news of his hiring Wednesday morning.

“We couldn’t be happier with Kevin Young. He’s bright, confident, experienced in the league and ready to hit the ground running with the Energy,” said Jerry Crawford, the Energy’s managing partner. “Simply put, faced with a choice of hiring the past or hiring the future, we hired the future.”

Young, who was born in Salt Lake City to Jody and Phil Young, served several roles for the flared-out Flash, including director of basketball operations and assistant coach, basketball blog Ridiculous Upside reports.

He actually got his start as a head coach at age 23 in Ireland with the Shamrock Rovers and served as an assistant at Utah Valley State and Oxford College of Emory.

Young played two years at Middle Georgia College and finished his college career as a two-year starter at point guard at Clayton State.

At Sprayberry, he averaged 15 points and six assists a game as the senior captain on a team that finished 27-4. He was twice named All-Cobb County, according to his Clayton State bio.

Young’s coach at Clayton State, Gordon Gibbons, praised his “relentless work ethic” after Young was hired as the Flash’s head coach.

The Energy announcement of Young’s hiring noted his “discernible Southern drawl” but added that his wife, Melissa, is from Omaha, NE.

“We feel very at home in the Midwest, and I can’t wait to get started with the Energy,” Young said. “The team plays in the best arena in the league, and the Energy players and management have shown the rest of the league what it means to build a fan base. I am excited to be here and looking forward to a great season.”

That season starts Nov. 25 in Canton, OH, and Young’s first home game as the Energy coach will be Dec. 3 against Erie.