Aaron Young has been named as the Sal’s NBL Coach of the Year after another outstanding season at the helm of the Auckland Tuatara.
Young was confirmed as the league’s best coach during the Hoop Heads show on Sky Sport on Wednesday night after the leading the Tuatara to a league-best 13-5 record in 2023.
The third-year coach has made the playoffs in each of the three seasons he has been at the helm – in 2021 while with the now defunct Auckland Huskies and in 2022 when he took the Tuatara to the grand final in their inaugural season.
It caps a massive few weeks for Young, who has signed to be an assistant coach of the Perth Wildcats in the Australian Basketball League this season as well as being confirmed as an assistant on Pero Cameron’s Tall Blacks coaching staff for the upcoming FIBA World Cup.
“We are absolutely rapt for Aaron,” said Auckland Tuatara GM Dale Budge. “He thoroughly deserves this recognition. There are a number of outstanding coaches in the league but what Aaron has done with this franchise goes so far beyond coaching it isn’t funny. He has been a quasi-GM through his time with us, helped us get a handle on pro basketball at this level and has created the culture, and convinced the right players to be part of what we are building.
“He is calm and measured in the most trying of circumstances and that rubs off on the players and the wider organisation.
“The fact that a leading ANBL club and the Tall Blacks have come calling does not surprise us one bit and we are just counting our blessings that he can remain at the helm of our franchise.
“We wish Aaron and the rest of the Tall Blacks team all the very best in what is a massive couple of months for them.”