University of Minnesota head men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino today announced the first members of his staff, assistant coaches Mike Balado and Kimani Young.
Balado comes to the Twin Cities after spending one season on Coach Pitino’s staff at Florida International University (FIU). While at FIU, Baldo assisted with all aspects of the program, most notably recruiting, scheduling and academic monitoring, as well as practice and game preparation.
Prior to his time in South Florida, Balado spent three seasons at High Point University as an assistant coach. His main role at High Point was as the program’s recruiting coordinator and played a key role in recruiting the program’s first two classes under head coach Scott Cherry. That class helped HPU to 17 wins overall this season, including 12 conference victories and the program’s first Big South Conference’s North Division title since moving to NCAA Division I prior to the 1999-2000 season.
Balado joined the HPU staff after spending the 2008-09 season on the University of Miami basketball staff in player development as a graduate assistant. That year the Hurricanes compiled a 19-13 record and a trip to the National Invitation Tournament.
Prior to coaching at Miami, Balado spent three years on the Florida Atlantic University basketball staff. In Balado’s first season at FAU in 2005-06, the team posted its second-consecutive winning season, the first time since the early 1990s that the Owls had consecutive winning seasons. In 2006-07, the Owls won 10 Sun Belt Conference games, the third-most for a first-year Sun Belt member. The team also set a program scoring record, averaging 74.9 points per game. The Owls went 15-18 and 8-10 in Sun Belt Conference play in 2007-08.
Balado spent two seasons at Miami Dade College before taking the post at FAU. While at Miami Dade, he helped lead the Sharks to back-to-back winning seasons, including a program-best 27-5 mark, en route to the conference championship. He recruited four of MDC’s 2004-05 All-Conference selections, including the Player of the Year.
Balado began his collegiate coaching career at Augusta (Ga.) State University where he served as a graduate assistant from 1998-2000.
Balado played collegiately for two seasons at St. Thomas University in Miami, where he was a two-year starter and team captain, and two seasons at Warner Southern College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1998 from St. Thomas and added a master’s of education in exercise and sport science from Augusta State in 2000.
Young also comes to Gold Country after spending last season on Coach Pitino’s staff at Florida International University (FIU). Young assisted with all aspects of the program including recruiting, scouting of opponents and practice and game preparation. He was also in charge of creating and running individual training sessions for the guards and coordinated community service activities for the program.
Young arrived at FIU after two stints (2006-08 & 2009-12) at New Heights Youth, Inc. in New York City as the program’s athletic director. While at New Heights, Young managed all aspects of the basketball program, including the athletic budget, and built relationships within the basketball community.
In between stints at New Heights, Young spent one season at St. John’s University as the program’s head team manager and video coordinator. He coordinated film exchange with opponents and oversaw the taping of all games and practices for the 2008-09 season. Young was also heavily involved in coordinating the team’s community service activities in the New York City area.
Working with youth is a passion for Young. He has served as the center director for the Police Athletic League of NYC at the Wynn Center (2005-06), assistant center director for the Police Athletic League at Miccio Center (2001-05), a therapeutic recreation assistant at Jewish Board of Family Children Services Kaplan House (1999-2000 and 2001-06) and the program director at Aim High Foundation/S. Carter AAU program in Brooklyn (1998-2000 and 2001-06).
A graduate of Texas-El Paso in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, Young starred on the hardwood for UTEP and legendary coach Don Haskins from 1993-97. He finished his tenure with the Miners as one of only 22 all-time players to reach the 1,000-career point plateau. Young enrolled at UTEP after starring as an all-city performer for Forest Hills High School in Queens, earning honorable mention McDonald’s All-America honors as a senior in 1992.
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