BYU hires Phoenix assistant Kevin Young as next men's basketball coach

PROVO — The Cougars are going to the NBA to bring their new head coach home.

BYU finalized a long-term contract that made Phoenix Suns associate head coach Kevin Young the next head coach of the university's men's basketball program, the school announced Tuesday morning.

Young replaces Mark Pope, who was hired last week to take the same job at his alma mater Kentucky. He'll remain with Phoenix through the NBA playoffs — the Suns open against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday — but will immediately begin work to retain BYU's current players, contact recruits and assemble a coaching staff, according to the university.

"We are excited to announce Kevin as our new head men's basketball coach and welcome him and his family to BYU," BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said. "We had a variety of excellent candidates and a lot of interest in this position. Kevin is someone we have had our eye on for a while. He has risen to the top of NBA assistant coaching ranks. He has been a lead candidate for NBA head coaching jobs and has been instrumental in developing top-level NBA talent. Kevin will bring a new perspective, with an extensive NBA background to our program.

"He is a phenomenal fit at BYU. He is humble, fun and super intelligent. Cougar Nation is going to love getting to know Kevin."

Terms of the deal were not immediately released due to BYU's status as a private institution. But to lure Young, who spent eight years in the NBA's developmental league and nearly eight years in the NBA, back to college basketball, the Cougars put together a contract worth close to $30 million for the next seven years, according to CBS Sports' Matt Norlander.

That's an average of $4.28 million per year for the first-time collegiate head coach, which would make him a top-five highest-paid coach in the Big 12 on a team that finished fifth in the league a year ago.

Young, 42, is a Salt Lake City native who grew up in Marietta, Georgia, and played college basketball at Middle Georgia and Division II Clayton State before rising to become the highest-paid assistant coach in the NBA with the Suns.

He hasn't coached in college since two years as an assistant at Utah Valley in 2007-08 and Oxford College in 2008-09. But the former head coach of the Utah Flash in Orem will make a return to Utah County after pro stops with the Iowa Energy, Delaware 87ers, Philadelphia 76ers and Suns, where he has been the associate head coach since 2021.

Young was reportedly a finalist for the Brooklyn Nets head coaching job, before tapping Sacramento Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez. Considered a rising star in NBA circles, Young previously interviewed to be a head coach with the Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards, while also developing top NBA talent including Kevin Durrant, Devin Booker and Joel Embiid.

His college experience is limited, but college basketball is more transactional than it has ever been, with name, image and likeness and navigating the transfer portal almost as important as high school recruiting.

In that regard, Young's tenure begins immediately with at least three players in the transfer portal in point guard Dallin Hall, center Aly Khalifa and reserve guard Richie Saunders.

Both Hall and Khalifa listed a return to BYU as possibilities after attracting attention from across the country — including Pope and Kentucky, in Khalifa's case — while Saunders directly cited the "uncertainty of the coaching situation" at BYU as the primary reason for his portal entry.

The Cougars already lost incoming four-star recruit Collin Chandler, the No. 33 prospect in the Class of 2022, to Pope and Kentucky.

Chandler, who is finishing a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was released from his national letter of intent Tuesday and committed to the Wildcats, he told 247Sports.

"I am grateful for Cougar Nation in taking me in as family from day one and supporting me in a precious time of my life," Chandler said. "I have been blessed to be able to experience such a passionate and loving fan base. I am especially grateful for Coach Pope and the mentorship and trust he has given me from the very beginning. The journey of chasing dreams is beautiful. Chasing my dreams and aspirations in the game of basketball has always brought me so much joy and fulfillment. The game means the world to me."

The Cougars also signed two players from high school in the Class of 2024, including 6-foot-6, 220-pound power forward Isaac Davis from Hillcrest High in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Brooks Bahr, a 6-foot-4, combo guard from Keller, Texas, signed but plans to serve a two-year church mission first.

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