Kevin Young Named Iowa Energy Head Coach

The Iowa Energy lost the only head coach in franchise history this offseason when Nick Nurse decided to take the same position with rival D-League franchise Rio Grande Valley. The team's head coach in waiting, Nate Bjorkgren, was hired by the Dakota Wizards right before that happened, however, leading to the team needing to go on a coaching search.

That coaching search ended on Tuesday, though, when the team's front office decided that former Utah Flash head coach Kevin Young was the right man for the job. Young was effectively a free agent due to the Flash ceasing operations at the end of the 2010-11 season after finishing with a 28-22 record and eventually losing in the first round of the NBA Development League playoffs to his new employers.

Young has had a rather interesting ascension to his current position.

Prior to being named the head coach of the Flash last season, the recently-married Young (congratulations, Coach!) served as the second assistant on the Utah Flash bench under current Austin Toros head coach Brad Jones. Prior to being added to the coaching staff, Young held the title of Director of Basketball Operations during the team's inaugural season after previously serving as an assistant coach at NJCAA school Oxford College of Emory in Georgia and Utah Valley State, where he worked at developing players' skills as well as contributing with video breakdowns and scouting.

Young was one of the candidates I mentioned originally for the job and heard through the grapevine that he had an in-person meeting with the Energy during the interview process. It apparently went better than his in-season meeting at center-court with Eric Musselman this past season.

Oh, and it might be worth mentioning that longtime NBA assistant/scout Gordon Chiesa worked closely with the Flash over the past few seasons considering Energy general manager apparently picked his brain. Oh, and once again, Marty Tirrell was wrong.