Brittany Young enters her fourth year as the Austin Peay State University head women’s basketball coach after being named the 12th head coach in program history, March 19, 2021.
Young became the first head coach in program history to lead the Governors to back-to-back conference tournament semifinal appearances to begin their APSU career and her 37 wins are the most by a head coach in their first two seasons.
During the 2022-23 season, Young coached one of the nation’s best defensive unites, as the Governors finished top 25 in Division I in scoring defensive and three-point percentage. The Govs also have earned eight postseason honors with Young at the helm, including five last season which was highlighted by Shamarre Hale being tabbed Second Team All-ASUN, and to the ASUN Women’s Basketball Championship All-Tournament Team.
Young led Austin Peay to a 20-13 overall record and 11-7 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play in her first year as a head coach, becoming the fourth coach in program history to lead Austin Peay to a 20-win season and just the second coach to win 20 games in their debut season, joining Andy Blackston (2003-04).
Young earned her first-career win in a 78-49 victory against Pikeville Nov. 12, 2021, in the Winfield Dunn Center. Later in her inaugural season, she led APSU to its first OVC Tournament victory since 2012 following a 67-52 win against Tennessee State, joining Blackston as the second coach in program history to win their tournament debut.
After leading Austin Peay to the semifinals of the OVC Tournament, Young led the Governors to their first postseason victory in program history in a 73-59 win against Furman in the Women’s Basketball Invitational, March 19, 2022.
Under Young’s tutelage, Yamia Johnson and Karle Pace became the first Austin Peay duo to receive First Team All-OVC honors in the same season since Gerlonda Hardin and Ashley Haynes in 2003-04.
Young took over the Austin Peay women's basketball program after a season as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Mississippi State. In her season with the Bulldogs, she helped sign KN'isha Godfrey, a four-star rated recruit by espnW and the No. 8 point guard in the country to aid the program's rebuilding process.
When Mississippi State head coach Nikki McCray-Penson moved to Starkville after three seasons at Old Dominion, Young joined her. The pair led a successful three-season turn at Old Dominion where they helped the program reach its first postseason appearance since 2015 amidst back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
In Young's second year in Norfolk, Old Dominion boasted the seventh-youngest roster in the country after signing nine athletes during their first season. Despite the youth movement, the Monarchs posted a 13-win improvement from an 8-23 season to a 21-11 record in 2018-19. That 12½-game improvement was sixth-best among Division I teams and ODU qualified for the Postseason WNIT. Ajah Wayne, a member of a nine-player recruiting class, was named to both the Conference USA All-Freshman Team and All-Defensive Team
The following season, ODU rolled to a 24-6 record and finished second in Conference USA. The Monarchs were a potential at-large team (ranked No. 33 in RPI) before the Conference USA and NCAA Tournaments were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Three ODU athletes earned All-Conference USA honors and guard Aziah Hudson was named the league's Sixth Player of the Year.
Before joining McCray-Penson the past four seasons, Young spent two seasons as assistant coach at Stetson. She helped the Hatters back-to-back 20-win campaigns: a 20-12 mark in 2015-16 and a 26-7 record in 2016-17 that included a 13-1 conference record to win the Atlantic Sun regular-season title. Stetson qualified for national postseason play each season, participating in the 2016 Women's Basketball Invitational and the 2017 Postseason WNIT.
Young's first full-time coaching position was at Daytona State College (2013-15). She was the program's recruiting coordinator, director of player development, director of operations, academic coordinator, and strength and conditioning liaison. The Falcons improved from 11-17 in 2013-14 to 23-8 in 2014-15, winning a share of the Mid-Florida Conference title.
Young, a Moncks Corner, South Carolina native, was a CoSIDA Academic All-District and all-conference performer at Francis Marion University. She was a member of the school's all-decade team and earned team "Most Valuable Player" honors twice.
In addition to her success on the court, Young was President of the Student Athletic Advisory Council and was just one of 26 recipients of the NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women's Enhancement Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in Athletics in 2011. She graduated from Francis Marion in 2008 with a degree in Political Science.
Following her playing career, Young was a graduate assistant at South Carolina under Dawn Staley. During her two seasons at South Carolina (2011-13), the nationally-ranked Gamecocks twice earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament. She obtained her master's degree in Sport and Entertainment Management from South Carolina in 2013.
