Virginia Tech basketball: Mike Young hires a replacement for Mike Jones

It didn’t take long for Virginia Tech basketball coach Mike Young to replace top assistant Mike Jones. Jones left Virginia Tech earlier this week after two years to take a similar position with the Maryland Terrapins. Jones, a legendary former high school coach at DeMatha Catholic, returns home under second-year Maryland coach Kevin Willard.

While rumors were flying on who Young would target to fill Jones’ shoes, Young finally opted for someone with a strong connection to Virginia Tech. On Friday, Jon Sauber of the Centre Daily Times broke the news that the Hokies had hired J.D. Byers to fill the vacancy on Young’s staff.

Who is Byers?

Byers spent the previous six seasons as an assistant at VCU. He had recently been hired as an assistant at Penn State, following Mike Rhoades to Happy Valley. Rhoades replaced Micah Shrewsberry as Penn State’s new basketball coach.

Before coming to VCU, Byers spent three seasons as an assistant at Rice. Ahead of his time at Rice, Byers coached three years at Radford, so he knows the New River Valley well. He’s also coached at St. Francis [Pa.], Randolph-Macon and Lebanon Valley. He played collegiately at Lebanon Valley and was a Division III All-American.

So, what is his connection to Virginia Tech?

Byers is married to Virginia Tech head volleyball coach Marci Byers. Mrs. Byers has been Virginia Tech’s volleyball coach since 2020. The couple has two children and now reunite in Blacksburg.

Byers is known as a dogged recruiter with strong ties to the Richmond area due to his time at VCU. Byers is likely not replacing Jones as the top assistant, as Christian Webster could receive that bump. That would give Young a full-time coaching staff of Webster, Byers and Kevin Giltner.

Welcome home, Coach Byers.