First hire on Dennis Gates’ Missouri Tigers staff comes with impressive credentials
The first staff hire for new Missouri men’s basketball coach Dennis Gates is a veteran assistant and former head coach who, although never having coached in Columbia, struck plenty of right notes about the program’s history.
Charlton “C.Y.” Young comes from Florida State, where served on Leonard Hamilton’s staff for the previous nine seasons. For six of those years, Young and Gates were members of the staff before Gates became the head coach at Cleveland State.
Growing up in South Florida, Young knew about the black and gold teams of Norm Stewart and Quin Snyder.
“I’m a basketball junkie, so I’ve always been in love with Mizzou basketball,” Young said Friday. “When I think of Mizzou basketball, I think about Derrick Chievous, Lee Coward, Anthony Peeler, Doug Smith, (Jon) Sundvold. We used to watch them on cable TV when I was a little boy in Miami.
“I remember all of South Florida becoming Mizzou fans when Keyon Dooling and Clarence Gilbert came. I understand the basketball tradition here. And I understand the potential of this place.”
Before Florida State, Young spent four years as Georgia Southern’s head coach, returning to his alma mater where he became one top players in program history and is a member of the school’s athletic Hall of Fame.
As a coach, Young has been part of teams that went to eight NCAA Tournaments — including an Elite Eight — won two regular-season conference championships and included 13 NBA Draft selections. He recruited and helped develop recent first-round picks Scottie Barnes, Devin Vassell and Patrick Williams.
Young also spent time as an assistant at Georgia Tech, Chattanooga, Auburn, Northeastern (where Young tried to recruit Gates when he was a high school player) and Jacksonville.
Missouri also got good news on Thursday when Blue Valley High product Aidan Shaw, who had originally signed with the program and reopened his recruiting when Cuonzo Martin was fired, recommitted to the Tigers. Shaw is a four-star prospect and the new staff believes there can be more like him that will be attracted to the Tigers.
“Mizzou is a national brand,” Young said. “I feel strongly that we’ll be able to recruit nationally.”
This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 8:54 AM.