Mizzou men’s basketball coach Dennis Gates introduces his first hire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou men's basketball coach Dennis Gates made his inaugural hire official on Friday morning, as he and newly named associate head coach Charlton "C.Y." Young hosted a press conference.

"He's over-qualified to be an associate head coach in thee SEC," Gates said.

Young will bring more than 25 years of coaching experience to the Mizzou sideline, as he joins his colleague in Columbia. Gates and Young both worked together under Leonard Hamilton at Florida State for six seasons. Young spent a total of nine years with the Seminoles before accepting a position in Columbia.

"This is big. I love this guy [Dennis Gates] more than you'll ever know," Young said. "We've been together a long time. I recruited him, so proud of him, and think he's one of the best young coaches in the country."

Recruiting success has been a big focus of Young's career, as the 50-year-old helped Florida State land top-10 classes in each of his first eight seasons. He recruited and developed the Seminole's seven NBA first round draft picks. He has been a part of 13 NBA Draft picks' journey in his time in college athletics.

"Recruiting is like shaving. You got to do it every day," he said. "You got to be a cop. You're on the job. I think if you're going to be at this level in the SEC, you have to take that approach."

Young also served as the head coach at his alma mater, Georgia Southern, from 2009 to 2013.

"I think my experience will help him. Again, I have a tremendous amount of humility," he said. "He's Michael Jackson. I'm Tito Jackson. I got no problem with that. They sold a lot of hit records."

Young said he is in the process of getting settled in Columbia, but will be working the phones and getting on the road as soon as possible.