Larry Penkava
Staff Writer
CLIMAX —
Jim Young may be retiring but don’t count him out of coaching.
He worked his final day at Providence Grove High School last Friday after two years as head coach of the boys basketball team. Before that he coached girls basketball several years at Eastern Randolph.
With an overall 610 wins against just 270-plus losses during his 38-year career, Young said he still loves coaching. But he wants to take a year off, do some traveling and watch his daughter play her senior year as a point guard at Mars Hill College.
Brittini is the reason Young came to Randolph County. After a successful stint rebuilding the Davie County High program – during which time he coached his son Mitch – he wanted the opportunity to coach Brittini as well.
That opportunity came with an opening at Eastern Randolph. Young said when then-Principal Ed Todd and Burton Cates, former athletic director, offered him the head coaching job of the girls basketball team, he knew that gave him the chance he was looking for.
The Wildcat girls went from a mediocre team to a record of 69-9 during a three-year stretch under Young. Brittini was one of a group of stars Young groomed during that period.
“The thing I’m proud of is the programs I took over that were in bad shape, I rebuilt them,” he said. “To turn things around is really exciting.”
As a fresh head coach straight out of college in 1969, Young learned a valuable lesson in his first year. After playing basketball for Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania, he landed a head coaching job at a high school that was in his old prep conference. SRU High School in northeastern Pennsylvania had a basketball program that was at a low ebb.
“My first job right out of college, I was walking into the gym thinking we were going to win,” Young recalled. “We went 4-22 (the first year). I vowed that was never gonna happen again.”
The lesson he learned, he said, was that to be successful you had to outwork everybody else.
After trying sales for four years, Young decided to go back to coaching, returning to SRU High School, which was suffering through a 36-game losing streak. Within a few years he took them to the district title with a 29-4 record.
“It was like ‘Hoosiers’ – the whole town shut down for the playoffs,” said Young. “I couldn’t stand not coaching. I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Young worked at the high school and college levels before retiring from Pennsylvania. He spent the past 13 years in North Carolina, the first six at Davie County.
He said Davie County was in a down period when he arrived. But it wasn’t long before he had his team among the top five in the state. “We were the only team in the state to beat (Winston-Salem) Reynolds (which was in the midst of three state championships).”
Young said building successful basketball programs has “been really fun,” but the rewards of coaching go beyond winning games.
“The thing I really enjoy the most is the kids,” he said. “There are lots of them I stay connected with.
“One team had seven seniors,” Young remembered. “They were very close. When one would get married, we’d all come and play hoops before the wedding. You can’t put a price tag on things like that.”
Young said he’s enjoyed his two years at Providence Grove, where he found the staff and community to be very supportive.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with (Principal) Mr. (Rick) Dawes,” said Young. “He’s done a great job of putting the staff together. And Athletic Director Danny Martin works his tail off to make the program successful.”
Young said it was “amazing” how his career started and finished at small schools with a family atmosphere. “Finishing up, Providence Grove has come back to be as close to the school I started out with,” he said.
During the next year, Young hopes to take a trip to Hawaii with his wife Kim, who is a guidance counselor at Ramseur Elementary. Then he’ll follow Brittini during her senior year at Mars Hill.
His “honey-do list,” which he called “longer than the refrigerator,” will need some attention. Then, who knows? Young said he still has coaching in his blood, so he may yet be seen on the sidelines somewhere, sometime.
