The High Point University men’s basketball team added Assistant Coach Antoine Young to the staff during the summer of 2024.
Young was a part of HPU’s 2026 NCAA Tournament run. As the 12-seed, HPU made history with its first-ever tournament win, with an upset over No. 5 seed Wisconsin, 83-82 to make the Round of 32. The Panthers hoisted the Big South championship trophy and cut down the nets for the second time in program history and become the first Big South team to win back-to-back tournament championships since Winthrop from 2019-21. HPU finished the season with a Big South and program record, 31-5, breaking the program and conference record of 29 wins set by High Point last season and Winthrop in 2006-07. The Panthers collected their third straight Big South Regular-Season title and No. 1 seed entering the Big South Tournament after setting a new program record in league play going 15-1.
During the 2025-26 season, Young played an intricate role in the Panthers' sideline and baseline out of bounds plays. In KenPom, the Panthers ranked 10th in raw offense with a 120.7 rating, behind Vanderbilt and Florida. On the defensive side, HPU ranked 37th overall in raw defense with a 101.3. High Point performed in the top 25 in national statistical categories finishing out the regular-season as 1st in steals per game (10.9), 1st in scoring margin (19.7), 4th in assist/turnover ratio (1.74), 3rd in free throws made (19.9), 3rd in scoring offense (90.0), 3rd in fastbreak points (18.88), 19th in effective field goal percentage (56.6%), and 20th in field goal percentage (49.1%).
High Point finished the season 3rd in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major Top 25 poll -- highest placement in program history -- and have been in the poll for 56 consecutive weeks making for the longest streak in Big South program history. HPU also ranked in the Field of 68 mid-major rankings, finishing 7th at the end of the season. In the final weeks of the season, High Point was receiving votes in the Associate Press poll and received as many as 14 votes on March 15, the most ever by a Panthers team.
In 2024-25, he helped the staff lead the Panthers to their first ever-NCAA tournament appearance as the No. 13 seed and matched up against No. 4 seed Purdue. He helped the staff turn around an under .500 program and guided the Panthers to back-to-back outright Big South Regular Season titles for the first time in program history. High Point became the first team in the Big South since 2011 (Coastal Carolina) to win back-to-back outright regular season titles.
HPU finished with an overall record of 29-6 during the 2024-25 season, which tied for the most wins in Big South program history (Winthrop, 2006-07) and the most wins in HPU program history. The Panthers finished the regular season with a 26-5 record and a 14-2 league record. The 26 regular-season wins is the most in program history and tied the Big South regular-season wins record with Coastal Carolina's 2010-11 season (26-4). The Panthers also set the best win percentage in Division I era with an 88-percent win percentage in conference play and an 84-percentage win percentage in the regular season.
Young joined the High Point staff after spending six seasons as an assistant coach with the Nebraska-Kearney men’s basketball program. He became interim head coach in November 2023 and joined the Lopers in the summer of 2018.
Young helped the Lopers to a winning season in 2019-20, UNK went 16-13, defeating NCAA Tourney qualifiers Rogers State and Colorado School of Mines. The Lopers qualified for the MIAA Tournament, had three seniors tabbed All-MIAA and posted an 11-3 mark in the Health & Sports Center.
In a COVID shortened 2020-21 season, the Lopers went 8-14 with nearly every game decided in the last five minutes. UNK knocked off NCAA Tournament qualifier Missouri Western, swept Central Missouri and saw senior forward Austin Luger earn All-MIAA honors. UNK upped its’ win total in 2021-22 as transfer guard David Simental came in at 18.8 points per game. The team shot nearly 50% from the field and scored the same number of points (2,057) as its’ opponents. During the 2022-23 season, forward Darrian Nebeker reached 1,000 points despite being at UNK for just three seasons.
The former Bellevue West and Creighton star came to UNK after spending two years at as the graduate assistant coach at MIAA-member Pittsburg State. He worked under head coaches Kim Anderson and Kevin Muff, helping Pitt win 22 games and reach the 2018 league tournament. Young also coached two All-MIAA players.
Young began his coaching career at NAIA Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. During the 2015-16 season the Bulldogs went 18-12 and had four players named to the All-GPAC (Great Plains Athletic Conference) team.
Holding a B.A. in Journalism from Creighton and a master’s from Pittsburg State, Young played professional basketball in Amsterdam, Switzerland and Mexico before entering the coaching ranks. At Creighton, Young was a two-time All-Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) selection who scored 1,342 points from 2008-12. His play helped the Bluejays win 97 games and reach the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
During his days at Bell West, Young was named first-team all-state three times and made the all-state tournament squad three times. He finished his career with 1,726 points thanks to averaging 18.5 points over his final three seasons. Finally, the Thunderbirds were Class A state runners up in both 2007 and 2006.
In the summer of 2023, he married UNK Associate Head Athletic Trainer Whitney Ryan.
