By Chloe Spradlin 

The Montevallo men’s basketball team will begin a new era after head coach Danny Young resigned earlier this month. 

The resignation left many people shocked. Young has been in charge of the team since 2003 and gave little notice before the news broke out.  

Montevallo senior associate athletic director Dawn Makofski said: “I think the majority of us were shocked when Coach Young put in his resignation. He’s been here for 19 years and has made our program relevant.” 

The resignation was the beginning of Young’s new life in retirement, according to assistant coach Byron Mincey. Mincey has taken control of the team and will remain in charge until an announcement for the new head coach is made. The shock has not changed the team’s end goal. 

“The main thing for me is just trying to continue to run it. Be loyal to the program. Be loyal to the players,” Mincey said. “We’re just trying to continue to get better, because at the end of the day our goal is to win a Gulf South Conference championship next year. We’re just trying to continue to work and try to stay in the moment.” 

Moving forward, the goal is for the new coach to have high ambitions for the program, with Makofski wanting “to fill the position with a highly qualified candidate.”  

Senior point guard and shooting guard James McNeil said: “It’s kind of a bummer, because we were just talking about the upcoming season and what we need to do for us to win the championship. Hopefully a new coach comes in and provides everything that he was doing. Hopefully he wants to win.” 

Players, coaches and administration alike all wish the best for Young in his next chapter. The university hopes to find Coach Young’s successor in the next four-to-five weeks.