Ian Young, a retired 14-year professional basketball player and All-SouthEastern Conference (SEC) former player for Auburn University, accepted the head coaching position for the Oviedo boys basketball team after the 2022-2023 season.
Young came to Oviedo with a history in basketball, and a passion to transform Oviedo’s team. He left the head coaching position at Apopka High School with a 4th place state ranking, a 25-4 record, and a district championship win for the first time in more than 20 years at Apopka.
Young’s passion for basketball has been with him for as long as he can remember.
“I played my entire life,” said Young. “I was playing in high school and I played in college professionally, so basketball was the only logical thing for me to do.”
This passion for sports and basketball has become a family trait. Coach Young has three children, a 19-year-old daughter, a 16-year-old daughter, and an 11-year-old son.
“My oldest plays volleyball,” said Young. “…and my son, he actually really plays basketball, he’s really interested.”
As a lover of the game himself, and a Lake Howell High School graduate, Coach Young is well aware of the reputation Oviedo has and is striving to uphold the program’s success.
“Oviedo has always always been one of the powerhouse schools and powerhouse programs with a good history,” Coach Young said. “When I was coming back leaving college, Oviedo was open, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
Because he is new to the staff, Young brings fresh insight, ideas, and philosophies to the table. This change in staff also offers Oviedo students a chance to get to know someone who could have a major impact on their lives.
“Coach Young is all about business,” said senior shooting guard Alex Harper. “He played basketball too, Division 1, he knows what he’s talking about.”
This connection works both ways since Coach Young has a chance to connect with a whole different group of players.
“It felt good because we’re all fresh faces, we’re all new,” said Young. “It was good to get a group of hungry kids that want to learn.”
Coach Young also brings a whole new environment to the Oviedo boys’ basketball team. The team has been waking up earlier and working harder than they did last year. Everything is new for Young, which gives him a perfect opportunity to reshape Oviedo’s team.
“When you’re starting a new program it’s basically trying to build our culture, and establish that identity,” said Young.
Part of this new environment is a change in team mentality as well.
“We brought players in and we’re more of a team now. We all hang out together and do stuff together. It was never like that before,” said Harper about the new team environment.
Along with a new culture, Coach Young brings strong fundamentals to the team. Young even has a motto of, ‘outwork them’, which is substantially impacting the team.
“Everything he’s bringing in, even with the coaches, everyone’s on the same page,” said Harper. “We’re all locked in for the same goal and he just wants to see the best for us.”
Another shared goal of Young and the team is, of course, to win. The team looks forward to facing Hagerty High School, as well as getting to the regional and state championship games.
“[I want to] bring Oviedo basketball back on the map and obviously to win- to win it all. That’s our goal,” said Young.
