Virginia Tech men's basketball head coach Mike Young announced the hiring of David Moats as the program's third assistant coach on Thursday.
Moats spent the last eight seasons at Boise State — five as the director of basketball operations and three as an assistant coach and the director of recruiting — before stepping down from the program on Aug. 7.
He replaces Kevin Giltner, a longtime assistant of Young's who was named Wofford's head coach on Monday. Giltner spent the last 12 seasons on Young's staff — six in Blacksburg and six in Spartanburg.
Moats is the third offseason addition to the Hokies' staff, joining associate head coach Chester Frazier and general manager Nelson Hernandez, both of whom came from West Virginia.
"We're excited to welcome David Moats to our coaching staff here at Virginia Tech," Young said in Tech's release. "David is a rising star in the profession whose knowledge of the game, attention to detail and commitment to player development make him a perfect fit for our program. David has worked for [eight] years at Boise State for Leon Rice, a coach that I admire a great deal. He has earned respect at every stop in his career, and we're confident he'll make an immediate impact as we continue to pursue excellence on and off the court."
In his time with the Broncos, Moats oversaw recruiting, player development, rebounding and game scouting. As the director of basketball operations, his tasks included travel and equipment arrangements, along with the program's camps and clinics. Colleague B.J. Rains, formerly of the Idaho Press and currently of Bronco Nation News, wrote a great feature on Moats in 2019 when he was BSU's DOBO.
He was hired by Boise State head coach Leon Rice in 2017 and was part of three NCAA Tournament teams, a Mountain West Tournament title and a conference regular-season crown, both of which came in 2021-22. The Broncos were 174-90 in his time there with six 20-win seasons.
"He'll be a terrific coach," Rice told the Idaho Press in 2019. "He's a big, big part of what we do. He's destined for some great things in this profession."
Prior to his time in Boise, Moats was at Weber State in Ogden, Utah, for three years as the Wildcats' director of basketball operations under Randy Rahe, the Big Sky Conference's all-time winningest coach at 316-191 (.623). He was part of an NCAA Tournament team in 2015-16 that posted a 26-9 (15-3 Big Sky) record.
Moats is a native of Guernsey, Wyo., about 100 miles northeast of Laramie, and played basketball at Northwest Junior College in Powell, Wyo., for two seasons before transferring to Wyoming, where he got a degree in kinesiology. He applied to be a team manager with the Cowboys and got his start there under then-head coach Heath Schroyer. When Larry Shyatt was hired the following year, it led to his big break.
The former head coach at Clemson from 1998-2003, who had NC State head coach Will Wade on his staff as a manager from 2002-05, Shyatt helped Moats land a job at Florida under Billy Donovan. Shyatt was previously an assistant coach for the Gators from 2004-11.
Moats was in Gainesville from 2012-14 as a graduate assistant, where he earned his master's degree in sports management, and was part of two SEC regular-season titles, a conference tournament championship and trips to the Elite Eight and Final Four. Florida was 65-11 over that stretch.
Though inconvenient timing with preseason practice beginning on Monday, Young had adequate time to brainstorm ideas on a potential replacement in case Giltner got the Terriers' head job. After all, he spent 30 years at Wofford and is still well-connected with the university's leadership — which includes his wife, Margaret, who is on the Board of Trustees.
"I've got to do what's right by this team," Young said at Tuesday's press conference. "I've got a good team, we're excited about this team. Who can we bring in here or elevate here that will keep the train rolling? And we're well on our way to doing that. … This started rolling last week, well before anybody was aware."
David Moats' Coaching History:
• 2010-12: Wyoming (student assistant)
• 2012-14: Florida (graduate assistant)
• 2014-17: Weber State (director of basketball operations)
• 2017-22: Boise State (director of basketball operations)
• 2022-25: Boise State (assistant coach, director of recruiting)
• 2025-present: Virginia Tech (assistant coach)