The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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APRIL 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 13 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Gavin Young is a Minnesota transfer in his fourth season with the Wolverines. The 2022 Big Ten Freshman of the Year earned All-Big Ten honors the last two years (second team, 2023; first team, 2024) and has competed in the NCAA Championships in singles and doubles those same seasons. Young is a U-M team leader who's recently been limited by injury but is striving for a return to form this season. Here are some things about Young that you may not have known: Best Aspect Of Being From Apple Valley, Minn.: "I loved growing up in Minnesota. Even though the cold sometimes can be brutal, I loved having seasons. There are a lot of winter sports that I participated in, was big into hockey, as most people are." Favorite Restaurant In Ann Arbor: "Frita Batidos. That place is just incredible." Best Meal He Can Cook By Himself: "I can cook a pretty mean steak." Favorite Professional Athlete: "Sebastian Korda. He's an American tennis player who has a similar build to me. He's a taller guy, and his game style is pretty similar to mine, which I like and try to emulate sometimes. I'm also a huge [Minnesota] Vikings fan, so I love [wide receiver] Justin Jefferson, love [quar- terback] Sam Darnold." Sport He Enjoys Besides Tennis: "Golf. My parents put me in tennis, but they also wanted to put me in golf, since they're the two sports you can play for the rest of your life. I also played hockey and baseball growing up." Favorite Movie: "'Top Gun: Maverick' is up there for me. 'Edge of Tomorrow' is good. I love Marvel, so 'Avengers: End- game' is a good one for me. I just watched 'Why Him?,' which is a comedy." Favorite TV Show: "'Game of Thrones.'" Why He Chose Michigan: "The program got cut [at Min- nesota], which is too bad. My dad [current Purdue head coach Geoff Young] was the coach [of the Gophers], and it was really tough for me. That's something I always wanted to do. At the time, the coach at Michigan [Adam Steinberg] was good friends with my dad. I knew him growing up, so that was part of it, the coaching staff. On top of that, the team was great. They made the Final Four at the Indoor NCAA Tournament, and they were on a roll." What He Hopes To Do After Michigan: "I'd like to stay playing tennis for a few more years after I graduate, and then, to be honest, I'm not totally sure what exactly I want to do. But that's OK, I'll have time to figure that out. I've always thought about going into banking." Favorite Memory At Michigan: "Beating USC my sopho- more year to make the Elite Eight. That match was incredible. It came down to me and Ondrej Styler. We were playing outside; the courts were packed. We won it, and that was super cool because I think we had a pretty long losing streak to USC previ- ous to that." Overall Experience At Michigan: "It's been an amazing journey. I feel really, really lucky and grateful, because I've had all the resources provided to allow me to give myself the best opportunity to be the best player and student that I can be." — Clayton Sayfie Young went to Minnesota to play for his father, Geoff Young, but the school cut its men's tennis program in the fall of 2020. He became the Big Ten Freshman of the Year at U-M in 2022 and earned All-America honors in doubles this past fall. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS ❱ Getting To Know Men's Tennis Senior Gavin Young