A Relationship Forged Through Basketball

Maryland men’s basketball assistant coach Mike Jones used to run a basketball camp as the head coach of DeMatha Catholic High School. It was a camp that many young future stars attended, but one athlete stood out from the rest. 

He was unique for many reasons. He was left-handed and much younger in comparison to the other boys. He was no older than 7 years old and so young that his mother had to convince Jones he was skilled enough to attend. He was shy and muttered about two words during the entire first day of the camp. But he was incredibly talented and competitive even when stacked against the older and more experienced boys, Jones said. 

It’s a recurring theme that would define the life of Jahmir Young - having to prove himself repeatedly on the hardwood. However, it took someone like Jones who was the first to take a chance on the kid from Upper Marlboro, MD, to see that he was special. 

Jones is now an assistant on the Terps coaching staff where he coaches Young, who’s having a career year for the Terrapins. The 2023-24 season is the only one they will share as a player-coach duo at the collegiate level, but their 15-year relationship stems from a connection through a lifelong love for the game of basketball. 

“I find myself sometimes just truly trying to soak in the blessing that he and his family have been in my career,” Jones said. “Like this is pretty cool to be going through. Maryland's been home for me for so long. We're both Marylanders. We're both representing the state university and we're doing it at the same time on the same team and he's leading the way.”

Jones always wanted Young to play for him at DeMatha, but they were a powerhouse filled with immense talent, especially at the guard position. Young attended St. Mary's Ryken High School in Leonardtown, MD, where he played for the Knights’ varsity basketball team during his freshman and sophomore years. 

Young traveled over an hour each morning and often encountered the tedious traffic that plagues the Capital Beltway to play for the Knights in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC). DeMatha also competes in the WCAC, where many of the top basketball recruits in the area strive to play. Young was the main catalyst at St. Mary’s Ryken who helped turn the program around during his time there.

The Knights head coach that had recruited Young, Patrick Behan, left for another coaching job at St. John’s College High School in D.C. Young had a decision to make. He debated following Behan or playing for Jones at DeMatha. 

The talented guard decided to transfer to nearby DeMatha even after defeating them a couple of weeks prior while still attending St. Mary’s Ryken. A couple of stars on the roster graduated, opening an opportunity for Young. He was also already an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teammate of many players on the roster.  

“I haven't really been to many camps growing up. I've been to a lot of DeMatha camps, so I was able to be in front of Mike Jones a lot,” Young said. “So, he was more familiar with my game than anybody else. But I mean, Behan was going to St. John’s, but they also had a couple of guards there. So, it wasn't the ideal situation like DeMatha was.”

Jones recalls what made Young a player he wanted on his roster at the time.

“He could do pretty much everything. He could score the ball, he could distribute the ball, he could guard the ball,” Jones said. “He had an uncanny ability to rebound the ball for a guard and a guard at his size, but he was able to do all of those things. He literally was leading a St. Mary's Ryken program that traditionally wasn't a power and wasn't necessarily the best team around, but he had them really good while he was there and were showing no signs of slowing down.”

Every pre-conceived notion Jones had of Young’s talent was proven faithful in his last two years of high school. He became the full-time starting point guard from the jump and continued to start every game on a roster that featured Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson, Villanova’s Justin Moore and Bryant’s Earl Timberlake.

He helped DeMatha win three championships, including a state championship in his first season as a junior in 2018. He then earned All-Conference and honorable-mention Washington Post All-METS honors as a senior. However, scouts weren’t convinced his talent would transfer to the next level.

He was often overshadowed by his teammates, but Jones says Young was more focused on doing whatever it took for his team to win.

“I'll be one of the first people to say that he definitely was very underrated, but even more so underappreciated,” Jones said. “Jahmir sacrificed for other guys to be as good as they were. Jahmir could have shot more basketballs. He could have scored more points. He could have done a lot more things that maybe would show up on a stat sheet, but Jahmir wanted to win.”

Young always wanted to be the hometown kid attending the University of Maryland. However, he didn’t receive much interest from the Power Five or even the Power Six level. Jones says several Mid-Major programs were hoping he flew under the radar so they could grab him. 

One of those programs was Charlotte, coached by Ron Sanchez at the time. Jones feels that Sanchez was one of the few coaches who truly understood how good Young was while other coaches got caught up with the factors he couldn’t control. 

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound guard played with the 49ers for three seasons from 2019-22 and found success immediately as a freshman. He continued to improve every year and compiled numerous honors while being amongst the conference's best. Young also remained in contact with Jones who eventually left DeMatha after 19 years to become the associate head coach at Virginia Tech in 2021.

Jones says he would watch Young’s games when they were televised and paid for an ESPN+ subscription to watch him play when they weren’t.

Young returned home last season when he transferred to Maryland and once again people had doubts about the ability of his game to translate to a higher level of competition. He silenced those doubters by being named to the 2023 All-Big Ten Second Team.

It was a successful first season competing in the Big Ten along with head coach Kevin Willard. Successful enough that three of Willard’s assistants accepted head coaching jobs elsewhere. He searched for new assistants and Jones was one of the people he reached out to. 

“When rumblings started to kind of surface, honestly the first person to call me was his (Jahmir’s) mom. And she was like, ‘Are you coming to Maryland?’” Jones said. “At that point in time, it was not definite that I was. But I told her that I was thinking about it. And she and I had our private conversation about how cool that would be. Then I reached out to him (Jahmir). …The possibility seemed pretty exciting to him as well.”

Jones joined the staff during the offseason in early April of last year and reunited with Young for his final season in College Park. Now the fifth-year player is having a career year for the Terps while averaging a career-best 20.8 points and 4.1 assists. 

Young recorded a career-high 37 points in a win against UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 22. He then dropped 36 points in a narrow road defeat to Northwestern on Jan. 17. Young was named Big Ten Player of the Week twice during that span. He currently sits behind Purdue’s Zach Edey as the second-leading scorer per game in the Big Ten. 

The hometown kid attributes much of his success to the first coach to believe in him. 

“Him just being hard on me from the jump. Just trying to make me into that ideal high-level D-1 point guard,” Young said. “So, I'm just thankful for him. I'm thankful that he pushed me the way that he pushed me. And I mean, it's all making sense now. And just all the knowledge that he was able to give me while I was there, and that he still does.”

Jones shared a similar sentiment of being thankful for being a part of Young’s success. As he has done in the past, he can’t wait to root for him when he graduates to the next level.

“I know how much he's worked. I know that he's driven by a faith and a quiet confidence,” Jones said. “I know what we all see him doing on the court is something that he's dreamed of doing his whole life. So, to know how hard he's worked for that and actually seeing him doing it is very special.”