virginia tech extends mike young; five other head coaches

Chris Hirons

July 9, 2021

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech has extended the contract of men’s basketball head coach Mike Young through the 2026-27 season, VT Athletics confirmed Friday morning. It was initially reported by Jon Rothstein.

Other than the length of Young’s extension, no further details about his contract were announced.

Young, the 2020-21 ACC Coach of the Year, led the Hokies to an NCAA Tournament appearance in his second year at the helm. After former head coach Buzz Williams left for Texas A&M following the 2018-19 season, and a flurry of transfers departed town alongside Williams, Young was forced to completely reshape Virginia Tech’s roster.

A season after Williams led the VT to a near Elite Eight appearance in 2018-19, Young’s Hokies slipped and went 16-16 (7-13 ACC) in his first year as head coach. The Radford, Va. native owns a 31-23 record in his two seasons as head coach at Virginia Tech. For his career, Young has posted a 330-267 career record as a head coach in 19 seasons, 17 of which were at Wofford.

Virginia Tech will return at least three of its five starters from the 2020-21 season. Young & Co. added guard Storm Murphy (Wofford) and 6-foot-10 center Lynn Kidd (Clemson) as transfers over the offseason. Three-star guard Sean Pedulla and unranked 6-foot-8 forward Jalen Haynes will join Tech as freshmen next season.

The Hokies lost guards Jalen Cone (Northern Arizona), Joe Bamisile (George Washington) and Tyrece Radford to the transfer portal. It still remains unclear whether or not guard Wabissa Bede will use his extra year of eligibility and return to Blacksburg.

Virginia Tech Athletic Director Whit Babcock also announced extensions for baseball head coach John Szefc and cross country and track and field head coach Dave Cianelli. Szefc will remain in the third base dugout at English Field through the 2027 season and Cianelli will remain in Blacksburg through the 2023-24 season.

Head coaches Carol Robertson (Women’s Golf, 2027), Jim Thompson (Men’s Tennis, 2026), Terry Ann Zawacki-Holdren (Women’s Tennis, 2023) had their letters of appointment extended as well.

“All of these coaches have displayed their commitment to helping our student-athletes develop in many areas of their lives, while upholding our high standards of academic and athletic excellence at Virginia Tech,” Babcock said in a press release. “Based on a number of factors, we felt it prudent to extend the agreements of all these coaches. We are proud of our entire roster of head coaches at Virginia Tech, and we are particularly pleased that we have retained the talents of these six individuals for the Hokies going forward.”

Szefc, who arrived at Virginia Tech prior to the 2017 season, following a successful stint as the head coach of Maryland, guided the Hokies to their best season since 2015 where they finished the season with a 27-25 (16-20 ACC) record. Midway through conference play in 2021, VT sat atop the Coastal Division standings before youth and inconsistency plagued the Hokies to a 2-15 mark against ACC opponents down the stretch.

Needless to say, it wasn’t a lost season for Szefc’s Hokies; His team qualified for the ACC Baseball Championship for the first time in his tenure.

Cianelli has led the VT cross country/track and field teams for the past 19 years and had arguably his best season to date in 2021. This year, the men’s indoor track squad won the ACC indoor crown by the largest margin in modern conference history. He has produced 17 individual NCAA individual champions, as well as eight Olympians.

Robertson has been with the women’s golf program since it began. She led the Hokies to their first NCAA Championship appearance in program history in 2021 and has qualified for the NCAAs in three consecutive years.

Thompson, who has been the men’s tennis head coach since 1998, is the longest serving active head coach in Blacksburg. He has coached 25 All-ACC players and two All-America honorees Aaron Marchetti (1999) and Joao Monteiro (2016). His teams have qualified for an NCAA berth in 12 of the past 14 years. In 2021, the men’s tennis team finished 12-10 (6-6 ACC) and qualified for the NCAA Championships before losing to Texas Tech in the first round.

Zawacki-Holdren was named the women’s tennis head coach prior to the 2004 season. Since then, she has qualified for the NCAA Tournament twice. Zawacki-Holdren has coached eight nationally-ranked singles players and four nationally-ranked doubles teams. This past season, the women’s tennis team was guided to a 7-17 record (0-13 ACC). In the ACC Championships, Tech defeated Clemson in the first round before losing to Georgia Tech in the second.