Kimani Young latest addition to Hurley's UConn coaching staff

Kimani Young, who has strong recruiting ties in the region, will join Dan Hurley's UConn basketball staff as an assistant coach.

Young served as an assistant the last five seasons at the University of Minnesota.

UConn assistant Tom Moore confirmed multiple reports on Tuesday that Young is heading to Storrs.

While Young is likely not a familiar name to UConn fans, he's well-known in the recruiting circles, especially in the New York area.

"Both of us know him from New York recruiting circles," Moore said. "He's been an AAU coach at New Heights. He was in the Big East at St. John's . ... He's a guy that we bump into a lot on the recruiting trail. He's had a good relationship with Dan and certainly had a good relationship with me, too. He came highly-recommended from a lot of people in the New York area, high school and AAU coaches."

Hurley stated at his press conference following his hiring at UConn that he plans to focus his recruiting efforts in the Northeast.

Young, an all-city player during his high school days at Forest Hills in Queens, has spent a great deal of his basketball-related career in the region.

He's had two different stints working as athletic director for New Heights Youth, Inc., a non-profit sports-based youth development and education organization in New York City. Before that, he was head manager and video coordinator for the St. John's basketball program for the 2008-09 season and also worked as the program director for Aim High Foundation, most recently from 2001-06.

A former standout at Texas El-Paso, Young's college coaching career started at Florida International, where he served as an assistant on Richard Pitino's staff. He spent one season (2012-13) there before leaving with Pitino to go to Minnesota.

The addition of Young gives Hurley two assistants on his staff. Moore, who was officially hired Thursday, came with Hurley from Rhode Island.

The next coaching move will likely depend on whether David Cox, Hurley's associate head coach at URI, is hired as the next head coach in Kingston.

— Gavin Keefe