PEORIA, Ill. -- Skyler Young has been named assistant women's basketball coach announced by first-year Bradley women's basketball head coach Mike Brooks Friday. Young joins the Braves after spending the last three years as an assistant coach at Ohio University.
At Ohio, Young worked primarily with the Bobcats post 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 last year after leading Ohio in both scoring and rebounding in 2011-12.
"We are very pleased to add Skyler Young to our Women's Basketball family," said Brooks. "Skyler is an accomplished Midwest recruiter and will bring a great deal of knowledge and experience to our team. He has shown the ability to motivate student-athletes to perform at a high level in the classroom and on the court. His experiences working on skill development with WNBA players and Division I student-athletes will be a valuable asset."
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.
"I'm honored to have this opportunity and want to thank Coach Brooks," said Young. "His vision and dedication to the success of Bradley Women's Basketball on and off the court makes me excited for the journey ahead. I look forward to working with the student-athletes to contribute to the team's future success."
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.
