Co-Lin honored Gwyn Young, its legendary women’s basketball coach, at a reunion of his former players on Thursday, February 15, the Thames Conference Center on the Wesson Campus.
Young served as the head of the Co-Lin Wolves for 48 years, amassing a career record of 1,004-306 for a .766 winning percentage. He is the second winningest inactive women’s basketball coach in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Young set a career milestone of 1,000 wins on January 12, 2023. He served as the men’s assistant coach from 1975-1978, leading the team to an MACJC State Championship in 1975-76 before becoming the head coach in 1978 for also one season with a team that finished 10-12 overall. Other Co-Lin coaching duties encompassed the slow pitch softball team, which Young led to the 1988 MACJC State and NJCAA Region XXIII titles.
Young and his former players were also recognized during halftime of the women’s basketball game against Northeast Mississippi.
“We are thrilled to be able to honor Coach Young and his family,” said Co-Lin Athletic Director Bryan Nobile. “He has put Co-Lin women’s basketball program on the map.”
Young is a member of the NJCAA Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the Copiah-Lincoln Sports Hall of Fame, and the Mississippi Association of Community College Conference (MACCC) Hall of Fame. He won eight MACJC state titles, seven NJCAA Region 23 tournaments and was runner-up 11 times. His teams made six NJCAA National Tournament appearances, with the 1989 team finishing a school-best fourth in the national tournament. He was named Region XXIII Coach of the Year in 1989, 1993, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2010, and 2011, and MACJC and MAC Coach of the Year in 1993, 2001, 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2013. The Clarion-Ledger has also recognized him as Coach of the Year for Junior Colleges on numerous occasions, and the court in Mullen Gymnasium was named in his honor in 2011. His former players have signed with over 37 different colleges and universities in his career with many former Lady Wolves going on to become coaches themselves.
Young was a standout player for the Wolves. After graduating from Co-Lin, he attended Mississippi College where he was team Most Valuable Player and a team captain. Young received his bachelor’s degree from Mississippi College and master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. Young and his wife, Velesta, have two adult children, Lane and Jessica, and five grandchildren, Mailey Kate and Reece Young; Justin, Mary Gwyn, and Grant Hynum.