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I did a little research on our newest assistant hoops coach - Charlton Young (yet to be announced). There are a few interesting nuggets. I think you will be VERY pleased at what this guy brings to the table.
AS A PERSON
Born August 15, 1971, Charlton James Young, in Miami, he is married to the former Carolyn Jones, a two-time Kodak All-America basketball player at Auburn and Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in 1990-91. She is a former member of the WNBA's Portland Fire and was an assistant coach for the Auburn women's basketball team. They have two daughters, Ariel Victoria (4) and Audia Denise (born Nov. 9, 2003). They also have a son, Isiah, born March2, 2005 (congrats!!). His parents live in ATL
AS A PLAYER
- high school at Carol City High in Miami & led his team to a state championship
- McDonalds All-American nominee
- Played in high school with Charles Claxton
- played at Georgia Southern 1989 - 1993
- majored in Communications Arts
- 1992 Trans-America Athletic Conference Tourney MVP
- 1992 Went to NCAA Tourney
- 1992 was all-TAAC 2nd team as soph and junior
- 1993 was 1st team all Southern Conference (school switched conf)
- named senior captain
- for career averaged 13.3 pts, 4.6 assists
- As a frosh avg 8.9pts, soph 13.3, jun 13.4, senior 17pts (5.1 assists)
- Holds 7 GSU records - career assists (530), career three-pointers made (241) and attempted (589), season three-pointers made (93) and attempted (225), and single-game three-pointers made (8) and attempted (14).
- He was Georgia Southern's "Hoops Legend" nominee for the SoCon's 75th Anniversary in November, 1995.
- 93-94 Played professionally in Tours France averaging 17pts, 6.2 assists.
AS A PROFESSIONAL
1994
He provided color commentary for the Georgia Southern men's basketball team for televised games and GSU women's games on radio as well as working at
WGNX-TV in Atlanta, Ga.
1994 - 1997 Coached at Auburn under Cliff Ellis- 94-95; first coaching job - an administrative assistant
- 96-97; promoted to assistant coach
1997 - 1999 Coached at Jacksonville under Hugh Durham
1999 - 2000 Coached at Northeastern under Rudy Keeling
- 1 year, but put together a nationally ranked recruiting class per Eastern Bask. Mag
- Here's a quote from Rudy Keeling on Young when he left:
The loss of Charlton Young was especially hard for the program, because Young was considered a major reason why the Huskies were able to compile one of the best recruiting classes in the region this year.
Young was seen as the driving force behind the signings of 6-foot-8-inch forward Lorenzo Davis and 6-foot-5-inch swingman Jean Francois, both of whom came from Florida where Young is a native.
"I was hoping [Charlton] would stay for selfish reasons," said Keeling. "But I’m happy for him. It will be a big, big step up for him. He's one of the most fascinating people I have ever met and he added a lot to this program."
2000 - 2004 Coached at Auburn again under Cliff Ellis
- responsible for recruiting, scouting, player development, & on-the-floor coaching.
- his first recruiting class was 3rd in the nation per ESPN
- here's reference to an article in an Auburn magazine about he and his wife
- 2003 team went to sweet 16 and lost to eventual champion Syracuse (Carmello Anthony)
- here's a quote from Cliff Ellis on Young:
"Charlton is a tireless worker, and he helped build the foundation for the success we've had," Ellis said. "He gained valuable experience working for two great
head coaches in Rudy Keeling and Hugh Durham. He was also an excellent guard at Georgia Southern,and he has used that experience to become a great teacher of guards."
Now, things were not all rosy for Young at Auburn during his time there. Cliff Ellis's program was investigated about 3 different times, and in fact, Young was part of an investigation by the NCAA. HOWEVER, YOUNG WAS NOT THE FOCUS OF THE INVESTIGATION. This from 2003:
Auburn received an official letter of inquiry in early September from the NCAA charging the program with major rules violations related to alleged offers and provision of improper inducements to prospective student-athletes. The letter came after a lengthy joint probe by Auburn and the NCAA and charged that Tigers assistant coaches Shannon Weaver and Charlton Young had offered pay-for-play incentives to potential recruits.
Here's a mention of an interview in 2002 with Young by the NCAA:
In September 2002, the NCAA interviewed Auburn players Brandon Robinson, who prepped at Madison County's Buckhorn High, and Marco Killingsworth, as well as assistant coaches Weaver and Charlton Young.
That investigation centered around improper recruitment of Chad Moore. The NCAA claims that two Auburn University men's basketball assistants (Shannon Weaver & Mike Wilson) committed major rules violations during the recruitment of Huntsville's Chadd Moore, who plays for the University of Cincinnati, and Jackie Butler of McComb, Miss., who signed with Mississippi State.
Violations like offering $50,000 and a car. Ouch. In fact, he was interviewed Sept 2002 by the NCAA, and the official NCAA inquiry was opened October 2002.
When all was said and done, Cliff Ellis was "shown the door". However, the recruits really wanted Young to stay. Check out this quote by Auburn player Nathan Watson:
The fate of Ellis' staff was still unclear late Thursday. Watson would like for
the school to retain assistant coach Charlton Young. Young recruited Watson for
the Tigers."He's been kind of like having a dad here at Auburn," Watson said.
Now, to make sure everyone realizes that Charlton Young is on the up-and-up, here's a quote from recruit Derrick Bird, who was recruited by Young during that time and asked to comment on the investigation:
"From the time Coach Young (Charlton Young) started recruiting me until the time I graduated, Auburn was straight up all the way," Bird says. "They didn't offer me a car or any money or anything illegal and didn't offer anybody else on the team anything like that. I have no idea what is all about. Being a part of the program at Auburn I know those charges just don’t make any sense. All of the coaches at Auburn are good people and I am sad they are having to go through this."
Evidently Young was instrumental in getting Tony Douglas to Auburn:
Charlton Young, Auburn University, is doing a great job of recruiting in Georgia. He already has a commitment from Toney Douglas, a top junior combo-guard from Jonesboro HS, and Charlton says, he isn't finished...
When Charlton convinced Ian Young to play for Auburn, this is what Ian had to say made the difference:
Ian Young, who has a 34-inch vertical leap, was recruited by Auburn assistant coach Charlton Young. An in-home visit from Coach Young with Ian and his mother, Marilyn Young, played a big part in Ian choosing the Tigers.
"He was great," Young noted. "When I first met him, he didn't give me all the B.S. like most of the other coaches I talked too. What made me want to go to Auburn was when he came into my house and met with my mother and me. It made a real big impression on her and that is where she wanted me to go."
On the salary front, evidently Young made about $90,000 with Auburn when he left.....
2005 - current; assistant at UT-Chat.
Interesting comment about the fact that he convinced a guard prospect to come to UTC when UTC ended up with 9 perimeter players, and do it late in the process:
The day after Lebo took the Auburn job, Shulman sat in the guidance counselor's office at Hunt's high school waiting to make sure Hunt had his bags packed for Chattanooga and not a prep school. Daniel, however, changed his destination to the Plains. His decision gave Shulman an extra scholarship. Then the NCAA axed the 5/8 rule, allowing him to round out the team with players of his choice.
"We were getting caught in that rule," Shulman said. "We were essentially done recruiting with Hunt and Daniel." Shulman first signed point guard Jerice Crouch, whom he'd been recruiting for Lebo. Then associate head coach Charlton Young convinced Steve Cherry to become a Moc. "Charlton was looking at him when he was coaching at Auburn," Shulman said. "Now we have a guy that was recruited by SEC and C-USA schools making our wings better every day in practice."
MISC STUFF
You will find other oddities on the internet. For example, Young was interviewed about recruiting Patrick Sparks, who plays at Kentucky (as a walk-on), and it was quite humorous.
This must be a mistake.
That was Charlton Young's initial reaction when he arrived at the Great Florida Shootout in Kissimmee, Fla., in December 2001 to watch Muhlenberg North play Buffalo Traditional High School.
Young, then an Auburn assistant coach, had heard a lot of good things about Sparks so he decided he had better make a move before other coaches caught on. Soon, however, he wondered if he had been duped.
"I walked in the gym and I saw all these little hillbillies from Kentucky," said Young, associate head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. "I couldn't figure out which one was him."
So Young enlisted the help of North's coach and Patrick's dad, Steve.
"I thought, he looked sick," Young said. "Like he was going through chemo or something because he had this bald haircut."
To make matters worse, Young noticed plenty of athletic 6-8, 6-9 players for Buffalo Traditional, a team that eventually went on to win the New York state and federation title.
As he watched Buffalo warm up, he thought North was going to get crushed.
It was a matter of minutes before Young learned he was wrong on all accounts. North beat Buffalo in overtime behind Patrick's 37 points and nine assists.
"I promise, if you take Patrick Sparks off that team, they get beat by 40," Young said. "He just controlled the whole game. He shot it well, other guys were getting lay-ups because of him. I was sold."
So what does Charlton Young have to say - check it out here....... It's all the right stuff:
"I’m kind of down about leaving the guys, but this is a chance to work with Coach Hewitt, a chance to be close to my parents and a chance to win a national championship," Young said. His parents live in the Atlanta area.
What did his current coach at UTC have to say?
"I thought he was primarily going to be a recruiter, but he brought a lot of knowledge to the court," Shulman said. "He really helped our perimeter guys, especially our point guards."
Coach Shulman threw in one jab at Coach Hewitt for fun:
This was a no-brainer for him," Shulman said. "I told Coach Hewitt, ‘I will allow you to talk to Coach Young if you come play in Chattanooga.’ He jokingly said he’ll do it if his athletic director signs off on it."