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Suns assistant Kevin Young becomes next head coach at BYU

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After interviewing for multiple NBA head coaching positions in the past, Phoenix Suns assistant Kevin Young will become one in college instead.

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According to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Young is heading to his home state of Utah to complete a deal to take over as head coach of BYU.

“Phoenix Suns associate HC Kevin Young is finalizing a long-term deal to become the next coach at Brigham Young University,” Wojnarowski said. “An aggressive push to hire NBA’s highest paid assistant lands BYU its top target.”

Adding on to Wojnarowski’s report, CBS Sports analyst Matt Norlander claimed that a source has the finer details of the contract.

“Phoenix Suns lead assistant Kevin Young is in line to be the next coach at BYU,” Norlander said. “Process is not yet through, but one source said BYU is ready to put a deal on the table worth approximately $30 million and for seven years.”

Before taking this opportunity, he was the highest-paid assistant in the NBA. On June 3, 2023, the Salt Lake City native signed a five-year, $10 million contract extension with Phoenix.

Young was in the running for Phoenix’s next head coach after Monti Williams was fired last season. Once the Suns hired Frank Vogel, however, he returned to the team’s coaching staff this season.

Amongst one of the many contributions he made to the Suns, he was Devin Booker’s player development coach.

Young will now become the next HC of the Cougars program after Mark Pope joined Kentucky. Pope was BYU’s head coach for five seasons (2019-2024) before replacing college basketball legend John Calipari who left Kentucky for Arkansas.

With him heading to Provo, Young will assume a high-profiled head coaching job for the first time since leading the G League’s Delaware 87ers in 2014-16.

This news about him joining BYU came not even 24 hours after the Brooklyn Nets will be hiring Sacramento Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez as their next head coach – a vacancy that Young interviewed for.

The 42-year-old also had an interview with the Charlotte Hornets for the same job, but there has not been a finalization yet of who will guide Charlotte onwards.

Last season, BYU finished 23-11 overall, were 10-8 in the Big 12 Conference and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 11 Duquesne, 71-67.

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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers Phoenix Sports News for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini

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