Charlton Young’s record as a head coach is 0-0.

Where it goes from there is anybody’s guess, but as of right now, with a dozen or so practices and six months of individuals under his belt, he’s off to a good start.

“We won the preseason, I know that,” said the former Georgia Southern point guard and first-year coach. “I don’t know if we’re going to win any games. I don’t know if we’re going to win a championship or not. We believe we can, but I don’t know that. I do know we won the preseason. For six months since the day we walked into this office, the returning guys, they’ve recommitted. They’ve been working. I told them if they keep working, the score’s going to take care of itself.”

One of the problems Young saw from the team he inherited was on the defensive side of the ball has been rebounding. Crashing the boards is the foundation to what he hopes to accomplish.

“For the preseason, I would give these guys a B-plus or an A-minus in terms of getting better defensively and getting that mentality,” Young said. “They know our philosophy is we want to defend, get the rebound and run the ball down people’s throats, and they’re buying into that.”

Back in the groove

One player who is glad to be back to work is Willie Powers. The junior guard averaged 14.5 points per game a year ago before getting sidelined for the final 19 games with a knee injury.

It took six months of rehab to get back into playing shape.

“It’s the toughest thing I’ve ever gone through,” Powers said. “Dealing with a whole six-month period, finally getting back to play with the team has been great. It was just a relief. It felt like years even though it was just six months, so it felt good to get out here and run around with the guys again.”

All of the turmoil of the 2008-09 season – the injury, the suspension of three players for undisclosed academic reasons, an eight-win season, a looming NCAA investigation and the resigning of 10-year coach Jeff Price – has left Powers hungry to bounce back this year.

“Last year was tough, dealing with the injury then the suspensions and everything that went down with coach,” said Powers. “This year we’re just looking to come back strong and hopefully make a run for a SoCon championship.”

A new kind of fast

Practicing under Young has been a whole new experience for the Eagles.

“It’s really intense,” said guard Ben Drayton, who averaged 26.6 minutes per game and hit 48.9-percent of his 3-point attempts as a freshman last season. “(Young) always stresses no gaps, so it’s always going from one drill to the next as fast as we can. Last year we were a fast-break team. Now, we’re really a fast-break team as far as wanting to score in five or six seconds every possession, every time we get a rebound.”

Young won’t make his players do anything he isn’t willing to put himself through.

“I never played for a coach who has more energy than the players, so that’s a first,” Powers said. “He keeps us excited about what we’re doing. Preseason was tough, but he helped us push through it.”

Young doesn’t have a problem teaching his team the finer points about rebounding, playing defense and scoring, but one thing that’s tough to coach, says Young, is effort. The Eagles haven’t been lacking in that department.

“Today’s practice wasn’t (as good as) the nine practices we’ve had before that,” Young said after Wednesday’s session as the players hit the weight room, “but the effort was there. As long as I don’t have to coach effort, I’m happy.”

The mid-major advantage

When Young looks at what teams like George Mason, Vermont and Southern Conference member Davidson have been able to accomplish in the March Madness Tournament, he thinks of GSU.

What separates a mid-major program from the major conferences is the ability to retain players. Now, there’s no constant fear of a mass-exodus of players leaving early for the NBA.

“The biggest difference in coming back here,” said Young, who has major-conference coaching experience at Georgia Tech and Auburn, “is that I’ve got a bunch of guys who are really serious about winning – about putting the team first and letting the chips fall where they may – as opposed to coming in and saying, ‘You know what? I gotta be a one-and-done guy.’ That causes a lot of college basketball programs to hit the skids.”

Some new faces

Coaching changes are never easy for any program, but Young has made the transition easy for his players. His past association with the program helped the team to buy in right off the bat.

“When I found out it was going to be CY, he’s a Hall of Fame point guard here,” Drayton said. “That’s one of my goals, so if I had anybody to learn from, it would probably be him.”

The two new recruits are here simply because they wanted to play for him.

“He was actually recruiting me from Georgia Tech since my ninth-grade year all the way up to my senior year,” said freshman Cameron Baskerville, a 6-foot-7 forward, “so as soon as he got the job at Georgia Southern, I decided to come here.”

Rory Spencer came to GSU from Johnson County Community College after winning the 2009 NJCAA Division II national championship with the Cavaliers, where he was coached by former Eagle Mike Jeffers.

“(Young) is a great coach, a great motivator,” said Spencer, who measures in at 6-foot-8. “I just wanted to play with a coach like CY all my life. He called me, called my mom, came up and met my family and he brought me down here.”

The Eagles tip off the season at home on Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9408.