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David Young
 

   David Young was born and raised in Monroe County. In high school. Young played football, basketball, baseball, and ran “some” track. The 1969 graduate of Tompkinsville High School went on to Eastern Kentucky University. In 1974, Young was hired to coach P.E. and help coach football and a new sport---girl’s basketball. Three years later, Young succeeded Sandra Williams as coach of the Lady Patriot basketball team---setting the stage for a coaching career among Kentucky’s finest.

   Over the next 16 years, Young led the Lady Patriots to an amazing record of 337 wins and 125 losses. AC-S won 15thDistrict Championships 14 times in 16 years, captured Fourth Region titles in 1979 and 1985 and reached the 1979 KHSAA Quarter-finals.

   Young's 1980 team won a school record 29 games and captured the championship of the prestigious Louisville invitational Tournament---vaulted the Lady Patriots to their first ever number one ranking in the state. The LIT title and the team’s 29-3 record led to Young being named as the Courier-Journal’s Coach of the Year for 1980.

    Over the 13 years, Young’s AC-S teams were always in the mix for regional titles and a consistent presence among the state’s elite. Highlights include, 1983, when Young guided AC-S to a 28-3 record during a year in which the Lady Patriots spent about half the year as the state’s top-ranked team and climber to as high as 16thin the nation in rankings by USA Today. In 1985, Young’s team won a second regional title before losing to the state’s top-ranked team in the opening round of the state title. Young’s 1990 team just missed a third regional title in 1990---losing on a buzzer-beater in the regional title game. 

  By the time Young stepped aside in 1993, his teams had won 20 or more games in a season 10 times. He finished his high school career with a .729 winning percentage. Young coached several young ladies that went on to play college ball---including a pair of Lady Toppers, Susie Starks and Laura Ogles Rhea. He also served as a role model for all his players and managers---instilling in them that God, family, school, comes ahead of athletics.

    Young closed his educational career in Allen County serving for several years as principal at ACSH and later working as safety director for the district.