Oklahoma State Parts Ways with Women's Tennis Coach Chris Young

Oklahoma State announced that head coach Chris Young will not return to the women's tennis team.

Oct 14, 2017; Stillwater, OK, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys mascot Pistol Pete motions to the crowd during the walk prior to the game against the Baylor Bears at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Ferguson-Imagn Images | Rob Ferguson-Imagn Images

In a continued report regarding Oklahoma State's women's tennis team and the NCAA's lawsuit over recruiting violations, the Oklahoma State Athletics announced that head coach Chris Young will not be returning to the team for the 2025-26 season.

BREAKING: #OKState women’s tennis head coach Chris Young will not return for the 2025-26 season after the NCAA investigation’s findings, per release. pic.twitter.com/1tEvd09wAp

— McClain (@McclainBaxley) July 9, 2025

Young, who was found guilty by the NCAA for initiating contact with athletes before they officially entered the transfer portal, having team members act as go-betweens and failing to follow or understand NCAA transfer contact rules, was set to face several penalties next season. However, he was only going to be sidelined for two matches to begin this season.

Even though Young and the Pokes will part ways, the school still faces several fines and penalties ahead of the season. OSU will have to pay a fine of $35,000 plus 1% of the women’s tennis program budget and will reduce its official visits by 18% based on the average number of visits for the previous four years. The Cowgirls are also prohibited from unofficial visits for 10 weeks during the spring of 2025, which could be a significant hit to their team next season.

In a press release, it was announced that the head coach had failed to cooperate during the investigation, which essentially added fuel to the NCAA's fire.

"Last week, the NCAA announced the conclusion of an investigation into the OSU women’s tennis program. The violations were classified as Level I-Mitigated for Oklahoma State and Level I-Standard for Young. According to the agreement, the underlying violations in this case are Level II, but Young’s conduct during the investigation elevated the case to Level I. The investigation found that, in addition to multiple instances of improper communication with student-athletes, Young failed to cooperate with the investigation by not producing all of the electronic communications he had with a student-athlete and then directed that student-athlete to withhold information from NCAA investigative staff."

The Cowgirls will continue their search for a new head coach amidst these recent announcements; however, until then, assistant coach Henner Nehles will be the interim head coach as the team continues to prepare for the 2025-26 season.