Jasmine Young begins her fifth season on the Norfolk State bench in 2022-23 as an assistant coach with the women’s basketball team, and second as associate head coach. Her first four years with the program saw it reach new heights.
In Young’s first year as associate head coach, the Spartans earned a share of the MEAC regular season title for the first time in program history. The team finished with a 17-12 overall record, going 11-3 in the conference. Since Young’s arrival in 2018, NSU has amassed a 36-18 record in the MEAC.
A former guard at East Carolina, Young has helped mentor a plethora of talented NSU guards. Deja Francis and Camille Downs were both named to the All-MEAC First Team in 2021-22, the first time in program history two NSU players have made the first team in a single season. Both players were also named to the BOXTOROW All-America Second Team.
Downs also landed on the conference’s All-Defensive Team and became the second player in program history to win the MEAC Defensive Player of the Year award. The Spartans would advance to the MEAC championship game when Downs hit a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer to defeat Morgan State in the semifinals.
In her second season in 2019-20, Norfolk State tied for second place in the regular season conference standings. The Spartans went 12-4 in the league, their best record by winning percentage since joining the MEAC. Their 19-11 overall mark gave NSU its most wins since the championship squad of 2001-02 and the second-most wins since joining Division I.
The Spartans advanced to the MEAC Tournament semifinals before the season was shut down due to COVID-19. Point guard Chanette Hicks earned the MEAC Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards that season, the first such awards for any NSU player and the first time in conference history one player took home both.
La’Deja James garnered second-team All-MEAC honors that year as well. The duo helped NSU finish fifth nationally in steals per game and eighth in turnovers forced. Hicks ranked second in the nation in steals and 12th in scoring.
In Young’s first season in 2018-19, the Spartans made their fourth-ever MEAC Championship game and the first in 14 years. Norfolk State posted its second-consecutive winning season, going 17-15 overall and 10-6 in the MEAC for a fourth-place finish. The tournament final appearance came as a result of a semifinal upset of top seed North Carolina A&T, which had gone undefeated in conference play that year.
Raven Russell garnered second-team All-MEAC accolades. The Spartans ranked fourth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense. During Young’s first two seasons, Norfolk State has also set D-I program records for field goal percentage, scoring margin, scoring defense, 3-pointers and assists.
Young arrived at NSU with four years of experience as an assistant coach at the collegiate level after a standout career at East Carolina.
Young spent one year at Georgia State in Atlanta in 2017-18, where she assisted Sharon Baldwin, her former coach at ECU. The Panthers ranked in the top half of the Sun Belt in free throw percentage (.735, third), 3-point field goal percentage (.313, fifth) and steals per game (8.3, fourth) in 2017-18.
Under Young’s direction, guard Kierra Henry averaged 14.2 points per game, good for seventh-best in the conference, on 42.9-percent shooting while averaging 3.2 assists per game. Fellow GSU guard Madison Newby ranked second in the Sun Belt in steals per game (2.4) and fourth in assists per game (4.1).
Prior to her stint at Georgia Southern, Young spent three years as an assistant at Virginia Union in Richmond.
In Young’s first year at Virginia Union, the Lady Panthers compiled a 9-18 record. Over the next two seasons, VU went a combined 56-8 and reached the 2017 NCAA Division II National Championship game.
VU scored 78.5 points per game in 2016-17, a mark that ranked 15th in D-II that season. The Lady Panthers led the CIAA in assists per game (14.7) and field goal percentage (.443) and ranked fifth with 9.7 steals per contest.
The Lady Panthers’ turnaround began during the 2015-16 season, when Virginia Union posted a 28-3 record and captured its first-ever CIAA Tournament title. The Lady Panthers fell just shy of reaching the Final Four, falling to Bentley 53-52 in the Elite Eight.
Before going to Virginia Union, Young was an assistant at Powhatan High School in Richmond. The team posted three winning seasons with Young on the bench. Young helped coach two district players of the year and one regional player of the year.
Young enjoyed a three-year professional career overseas, spending time in Puerto Rico, Poland and Germany. Young made her professional debut in 2009 with Aguas Buenas Tigersas and made an immediate impact, leading the Puerto Rican league in assists while also leading her team to the playoffs.
After splitting time in 2010 between Herne T.C. Club and Klub Sportowy Basket 25, Young returned to the Aguas Buenas Tigersas for her final season in 2011.
Young starred at East Carolina between 2005 and 2009, and ranks fifth in all-time scoring with 1,591 points. She owns the team record with 122 starts and was a four-time All-C-USA performer. She thrice earned C-USA all-defensive team accolades and was the first Pirate to earn C-USA freshman of the year honors, when she did so in 2005-06.
Young ranks second in all-time assists at ECU and owns three of the 10-highest single-season assist marks in program history. Similarly, her 264 steals are tied for the second-most in team history, and Young appears twice on the single-season steals top-10 list.
Young holds two bachelor’s degrees from East Carolina, graduating in 2009 with degrees in communications and criminal justice.
Prior to college, Young played for Monacan High School in Richmond.
