Kevin Young’s BYU staff is continuing to grow.
Veteran coach Will Voigt has joined the Cougars program as an assistant, the program announced Monday.
“Will is someone I’ve had great respect for,” Young said in a statement. “He is a creative thinker, very organized and has an unmatched work ethic. Will has years of head coaching experience in the NBA G-League, as well as vast experience coaching all over the world, including in the Rio Olympics. He’s not afraid to push the envelope creatively, especially on the defensive end of the floor. Will is a high-level coach who I will lean on heavily.”
Voigt has spent six seasons coaching in the G League — most recently with the Austin Spurs for the past year — and compiled a career win-loss mark of 158-135.
He has also piloted squads in Norway, China, Germany and Egypt, and, in 2015, he led the Nigerian national team to its first-ever Afrobasket championship, which automatically qualified the team for the 2016 Olympic Games.
The Vermont native got his start as an intern with the Los Angeles Clippers in 1998, then served as video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs for a pair of seasons before entering the college world as an assistant at Texas under Rick Barnes in 2001, according to BYU’s press release.
Voigt is best known for creating the “peel switch” defensive strategy, where a primary defender beaten off the dribble switches onto an open player while the nearest help defender then switches onto the ball handler. Given such a background, Voigt is expected to serve as BYU’s de facto defensive coordinator, with Young running the team’s offensive operation.
Voigt is the third assistant coach hired by Young thus far, joining Brandon Dunson and Chris Burgess.
BYU still has two more assistant positions to fill on its coaching staff, though the hirings have likely already been made but not yet officially announced by the school.