Geoff Young
Coming off four straight appearances in the NCAA tournament, Geoff Young has turned Minnesota into one of the premier teams in the Big Ten conference. The Gophers are only one of four Big Ten schools (Illinois, Michigan and Ohio State), who have played in the NCAA tournament four straight years.
Young, who is entering his seventh season leading the Gophers, will look to make it five straight years during the 2012-13 season.
Minnesota, which regularly played three freshman in the lineup, went 13-8 during the 2011-12 season and ended the regular season ranked No. 36 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The Gophers were 8-3 in the Big Ten, which tied them with Illinois for third place in the conference. Minnesota was especially strong at home, posting an 8-1 record at the pristine Baseline Tennis Center.
Seven of Minnesota's 13 wins were against ranked opponents and the team's highest profile victory was a 4-3 home triumph against No. 28 Michigan. The win allowed the Gophers to keep the Little Brown Jug, which Minnesota secured with a 5-2 upset win at No. 22 Michigan in 2011. Minnesota also won the Border Battle for the second straight year against Wisconsin with a 6-1 victory.
Minnesota's season ended in a gallant 4-2 loss to No. 20 and Round of 16 qualifier Tulsa in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The Gophers were 19-6 during the 2010-11 season and ended the year ranked No. 23 by the ITA. Both of those accomplishments are highs of the Young era. Minnesota finished third in the Big Ten in the regular season and advanced to the Big Ten tournament final for the first time since 2003. Young was named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year as a result of Minnesota's success.
Minnesota was 8-2 in conference play, and avenged a regular-season loss to Indiana to advance to the Big Ten tournament final. Minnesota's six defeats all came to teams ranked in the top 40. Five came to teams ranked in the top 30 and three defeats were to teams in the top six.
In addition to the upset win at Michigan, the Gophers also beat No. 18 Illinois on the road to pick up their first win--and snap a 19-match skid to the Illini--since 1996. Minnesota's season also included two wins (regular season and Big Ten tournament) against border-rival Wisconsin and a dramatic 4-3 road win at 25th-ranked Miami (Fla.). The Gophers' season ended when they were upset by Fresno State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
In 2009-10, Minnesota finished 14-11 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten to finish fifth. The Gophers played a challenging schedule with all 11 losses coming to teams in the top 30 of the national rankings. Included in the schedule was a win against No. 24 Pepperdine and NCAA tournament participants Nebraska and Western Michigan. The Gophers opened the NCAA tournament with a win against Arizona before falling to third-ranked Texas in the second round.
In 2008-09, Minnesota posted a 19-8 overall record and 7-3 Big Ten mark, which came just one year after a 7-17 overall record and 4-6 Big Ten ledger the year before. The Gophers were ranked 30th in the final rankings and made their 14th trip to the NCAA tournament in the past 16 years and their 20th overall, beating New Mexico in the opening round before falling to eventual national champion and eighth-ranked Southern California.
For just the seventh time in school history, the Gophers had six different players post 20 singles wins during 2008-09, including Ishay Hadash, who reached the second round of the NCAA individual tournament and finished 50th in the final ITA rankings.
In 2007-08, Young's team won five of its last eight matches to set the foundation for the record-setting turnaround the following year. Minnesota had three wins and 16 losses coming against nationally-ranked opponents. The Gophers, who played 11 matches against NCAA tournament teams, were ranked as high as 40th in the country following the fall season, but early-season injuries got the team off to a slow start in the spring. The season came following a successful inaugural season to Young's tenure that saw the Gophers reach the NCAA tournament.
Young guided Minnesota to a 15-10 overall record and a 5-5 mark in the Big Ten in his first season in 2006-07. Minnesota was ranked sixth in the final Midwest Region rankings and lost to South Alabama in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
Young owns a 158-128 overall record in 12 collegiate seasons as a head coach. He won his 100th match on Feb. 22, 2009 against Binghamton and his 150th match on March 3, 2012 at Virginia Tech. Young is 87-60 in six seasons at Minnesota.
Off the court, Young's squads have also achieved success. This past year, his squad had the highest grade-point average of any men's sport at Minnesota. In 2009-10, the Gophers had the highest grade-point average of any small men's sport at Minnesota and senior Dino Bilankov was named the school's Outstanding Male Scholar Athlete. The 2008-09 and 2010-11 teams were also recognized with the school's award for most community service hours by a men's sport.
Prior to coming to Minnesota, Young spent six seasons as head coach at the University of Denver. During his tenure with the Pioneers, Young posted a 71-68 overall record. In his final season in 2005-06, he led Denver to a 13-9 record and then a program-best fourth-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference and a No. 66 national ranking.
While at Denver, he worked with the Pioneers' all-time winningest player Magnus Ramfelt, who totaled 71 singles wins from 1998-2002. He also coached Adam Holmstrom, who set a single-season school record with 28 singles wins in 2005-06. Holmstrom also became the first Pioneers' player to qualify for the NCAA championships in his rookie season.
Young served as the head women's tennis coach at Denver during the 1999-2000 season and during the fall of 2000. In his one season, the Pioneers finished 9-8 in Denver's second season at the NCAA Division I level. Prior to his stint at Denver, Young served as an assistant men's coach at the University of Alabama for three seasons.
A two-time all-Big Ten player at Northwestern, Young was the team's co-captain during his senior season in 1994 and collected 83 singles victories. He graduated from Northwestern in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.
A Marion, Ohio native, Young was also a successful junior tennis player. He was ranked No. 1 in singles in the Midwest region 18-and-under division in 1989 and No. 1 in doubles in 1990.
Young is married to the former Dana Peterson, a four-time letterwinner with the Gopher women's tennis team from 1993-96 and an assistant coach at Minnesota from 1997-99. Dana was also the head women's tennis coach at Denver for six seasons. They have three children.
As head coach of the Gophers, Young is a strong believer in working as hard at doubles as on the singles court. Coach Young spends time with each player on an individual level, working with them on their specific needs to help make each Gopher a well-rounded, complete collegiate player.
"If I can recruit players with great attitudes who love tennis, then we will be able to develop these players to the top level of college tennis," Young said. "Doubles is an area we must excel if we are going to reach our goals. Therefore, we practice doubles nearly every day.
"My philosophy is to take each player's strengths and weaknesses and develop their game accordingly so their strengths are maximized and their weaknesses are minimized. Our focus will be on trying to really get better and have a great spirit about ourselves and our own identity during matches. The wins and losses will take care of themselves in a positive light if we are able to accomplish this team spirit."
