Mike Young gets passionate about toughness of MJ Collins after multiple injuries

Virginia Tech freshman guard MJ Collins may not be the biggest, but he’s the toughest according to his head coach Mike Young. The Hokies secured a win over Pitt on Saturday defeating the Panthers 79-72 at home in a game where Collins took his fair share of blows. And after the game, Young spoke about the physical beating his freshman took and about the toughness he’s displayed all season.

“He falls like a sack of potatoes, that’d kill you, it’d kill me, I’m dead, I’m dead alright,” Young said. “And bless his heart, he goes to the rim and he’s got a flipping mask on and a finger goes into his eye and he’s writhing in pain.”

Collins has been wearing a mask in the last few games for the Hokies after suffering a facial injury, but that hasn’t stopped him from playing his brand of basketball. The 6-foot-4, 190 pound freshman even took a hard hit from one of the ACC’s strongest and toughest guards on Saturday night.

“And then here he goes has a great pass, holy cow, I think it was (Justyn) Mutts on a back cut down along the baseline and he’s going to dunk it. And I think it was (Blake) Hinson or (Jamarius) Burton, I would not want Burton to hit me, holy cow that guy looks like an ACC middle linebacker, I mean he’s taller than I remember him being last year,” Young joked. “And boom, he goes down.”

Collins may be tough, but even after the hard hit from Burton he wanted to take a breather.

“I called timeout to see if I could leave him and he said no I want to shoot the foul shots, I said okay, you want to stay and guard (Nike) Sibande? He said no I want you to take me out. So you want the two points, but you want me to be concerned about my matchups here, but I’m proud of him Paul,” Young said.

Collins has come on strong for Virginia Tech, leading all freshman on the team in minutes per game and starting in their last seven matchups. He’s scored in double figures in two of those starts, but the respect earned by his peers for his toughness may go a longer way than his production does for the Hokies.

“He is tough, he is really a tough man and lucky to have the opportunity to coach him,” Young concluded.