John Young Joins MSU Baseball Coaching Staff
8/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Aug. 5, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - John Young has been named an assistant coach on the Michigan State baseball staff, head coach Ted Mahan announced today. Young joins the Spartans after 14 seasons on the coaching staff at Bradley University, including the last seven as associate head coach.
"With over 20 years of coaching experience, John is a perfect fit for what we need right now at Michigan State," said Mahan. "We lost a very experienced coach in Cory Mee, and I really felt I needed to bring in someone with a lot of experience. I certainly feel John fills that need."
Young, who will coach the hitters and catchers for the Spartans, has 21 years of experience as a college coach. Prior to his stint at Bradley, Young was an assistant coach at the University of Michigan for seven seasons. In addition to his coaching duties, Young has served as assistant marketing and promotions director at Bradley since 1991.
During Young's years at Bradley, the Braves had 32 players who signed major league baseball contracts. Eight players were drafted in the first 10 rounds, including a first-round draft pick in 1999. Three of Young's players have reached the major leagues.
Young's Bradley teams produced 31 all-conference players and two All-Americans. The Braves hit better than .300 in six of the past ten years, and during that span led the Missouri Valley Conference in batting average once, doubles once and home runs three times including the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Bradley has posted six of the school's top 10 records during his tenure, including three of the top four records.
Including his stints at Michigan and Bradley, Young has helped recruit and coach 13 future big leaguers, including Jim Abbott, Mike Grace, Scott Kamieniecki, Barry Larkin, Mike Matheny, Hal Morris, Bryan Rekar and Chris Sabo, and Young even sent one player, Greg McMurtry, on to the National Football League as a wide receiver with the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears.
A native of Sterling Heights, Mich., Young is a 1978 graduate of Henry Ford II High School, where he was a three-sport athlete and a 13th-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He opted for college and attended Michigan, where he was a four-year baseball letterwinner, and in 1981 he was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team and hit .400 at the College World Series. Young earned a bachelor's degree in education from Michigan in 1983, and a master's degree in education administration from Michigan in 1985.
Prior to enrolling at Michigan, Young was selected for the inaugural Olympic National Sports Festival in 1978, which was held in Colorado Springs, Colo. Young played for the Midwest squad, working behind the plate as his team's catcher in five of six games. He helped lead the Midwest to a 5-4 victory over the South in the gold medal game.
Young played for the Peoria Pacers in the Central Illinois Collegiate League (CICL) in 1980 and 1981, when he was named All-CICL. Young led the 1981 Pacers to a league-record 34-5 mark.
Young was drafted in the 16th round by Detroit following his senior year of college and spent parts of two seasons in the Tigers organization. Following his pro playing career, Young returned to Michigan and became an assistant coach for the Wolverines, a position he held for seven seasons. During that time, Michigan won four Big Ten titles and made seven trips to the NCAA Tournament, including two appearances in the College World Series.
Young also coached in the Detroit Adray Collegiate League for seven summers. His teams made three appearances in the AABA World Series in Johnstown, Pa., and played for the national championship in 1984.
