Skyler Young was named assistant women's basketball coach at Bradley in July 2012 and is in his fourth season with the Braves after spending the previous three years as an assistant coach at Ohio University.
During his time on The Hilltop, Bradley has been one of the top scoring offenses in the Missouri Valley Conference; ranking in the top three in the league in two of the last three years.
In 2014-15, Young helped a young squad gel toward the end of the season and win five of the final 12 regular-season conference games. The non-conference slate, which opened with five straight road games, was highlighted by a home win against Southeastern Conference foe Missouri. Senior Michelle Young led the team in scoring for the second consecutive year at 12.0 points per game and became the second player in school history with 1,000 career points, 275 made free throws, 120 assists and 185 or more steals.
Looking to the future, Washington State transfer Whitney Tinjum scored 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in 22 outings after she made her Bradley debut in mid-December. After slowed by injuries early in the year, center Tamya Sims averaged 11.2 points, 8.2 boards and 2.5 blocks per game over the final six contests and was the first Bradley freshman to average 8.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and at least 2.0 blocks.
The 2013-14 campaign featured a school record six individuals averaging 8.0 points per game or more. Bradley made a school season record and MVC best 512 free throws with the Braves scoring a league-high 24.5 percent of its points at the charity stripe. Young was an honorable mention All-Valley pick after posting the best scoring average on The Hilltop since 2001-02 and Leti Lerma landed on the MVC’s All-Freshman team after averaging 6.9 points and 6.6 boards per game in league play.
Bradley opened the 2013-14 season with a thrilling victory against Illinois and the season also included the first series sweep of I-74 rival Illinois State since 2002-03. The Braves played a school record 12 games decided by five points or fewer.
Young helped guide Bradley to its best Missouri Valley Conference record (8-10) and finish (6th) since the 2009-10 season in his first year on The Hilltop in 2012-13. The Braves, which posted their best home record since 2009-10, led the Missouri Valley in scoring at 71.3 points per game (21st in the nation) in addition to averaging a league-best 10.4 steals per contest in Young’s first season at BU. Bradley ranked eighth in the nation in free throw percentage, shooting a school record 78.1 percent from the free throw line.
The 2012-13 season also saw Katie Yohn move into the post after playing on the perimeter for her first three seasons. She went on to garner Second-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors after becoming the first player in school history with 300 points, 175 rebounds, 70 assists, 25 blocks and 70 steals in a season.
At Ohio, Young worked primarily with the Bobcats perimeter players, helping Kamille Buckner wrap up her career second in Mid-America Conference (MAC) history with 199 career blocks, while Tenishia Benson garnered First-Team All-MAC honors after leading Ohio in both scoring and rebounding in 2011-12. During his time in Athens, Ohio, Young helped secure a top 60 recruiting class, which included a 2011 Parade All-American and a junior college all-american who was ranked as the third-best junior college player in the country.
A 2005 graduate of Western Michigan with a degree in business administration, Young started his collegiate coaching career with the Broncos during the 2005-06 season and spent three seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater. Between the 2005-06 and 2007-08 seasons, Young helped coach the top two scorers in Western Michigan history, the 2006-07 Mid American Conference co-Player of the Year and four first-team all-MAC award winners.
Casey Rost was a Kodak honorable mention All-American after Young's first year as an assistant coach (2005-06) and Carrie Moore also earned Kodak honorable mention All-America honors following the 2006-07 season. The 2006-07 MAC co-Player of the Year, Moore also went on to garner Second-Team Capital One Academic All-America honors that same year after leading the nation in scoring with a 25.3 points per game average and later went on to play in the WNBA along with a one-year stint in a professional league in Poland.
Young also served as an undergraduate manager at Western Michigan, helping the Broncos to the 2002-03 MAC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament along with the WNIT quarterfinals during the 2003-04 season. In addition to the postseason success, Young helped WMU produce two Kodak honorable mention All-Americans and a MAC Player of the Year during his time as an undergrad.
Before starting his coaching career, Young spent the 2005 season as equipment manager with the Seattle Storm of the WNBA, where he also assisted with on-court individual skill development for players.
A native of Grand Rapids, Mich., Young served as assistant coach at Detroit Mercy during the 2008-09 season; helping the Titans to six more wins than the year prior to his arrival and recruiting one of the top incoming classes in the program's history.