When the Miami baseball team takes McKie Field at Hayden Park on May 3 for its doubleheader against Marshall University, the team will be playing in front of the Dave Young Press Box for the first time ever. Dave Young, Miami's sports information director from 1967-1991, and a member of the Miami Athletic Hall of Fame, will be honored before the game for his years of dedication to the Redskins. "Everybody says, 'Where does this rank among your highs?' Well, I have been very fortunate to be inducted into the National Sports Information Director's Hall of Fame, the Miami Hall of Fame and the Butler County Hall of Fame, but I would have to say that this sets even a higher standard," Young said. "It's neat to have a picture hanging in the Hall of Fame down in Millett, but to think that I am going to have my name on a building that is going to be here forever and ever, in one of the nicest baseball facilities that I have ever seen and associated with a sport that was my favorite - it really is very meaningful." Current SID Mike Harris is pleased that Young will be honored with the naming of the press box. "This is great because this is a way that we will remember Dave forever," Harris said. "I was actually here when he made it to the Hall of Fame, and I thought that was the same way - just a great honor for him." Young grew up engrossed in the Mid-American Conference - his father was a professor at Bowling Green State University. Young was an assistant SID at West Virginia University and spent two more years as the head SID at Ohio Wesleyan University before becoming Miami's head SID. As the SID, Young was responsible for the coordination between the athletes and the media. "I feel there are a lot of benefits to dealing with not only the student athletes but also the coaches, and I can't say that I know of any negatives, to be honest," Young said. "I can honestly say that there was not one student athlete or coach who we could not work things out with." Harris recognizes the impact that Young had on Miami athletics, acknowledging the work he did in his time in Oxford. "I think Dave in his 30 years here has been one of the hallmarks of Miami athletics," Harris said. "Wherever you go across the country, everyone knows who he is. He is considered one of the top professionals in our business. He had a lot to teach about being personable and getting to know the media. It's not just about doing the job. It's about getting to build relationships and knowing people." During his 34 years at Miami, Young was instrumental in the success of a number of athletes, perhaps the most prominent being former Miami basketball player Ron Harper. "Ron Harper, of all the athletes whom I have ever dealt with, is probably one of the nicest people that I have ever met," Young said. Harper, who came to Miami as a freshman in 1982 to play basketball, was also taking courses at the university to help with a speech impediment. With the help of his Young's wife, Marilyn, a first-grade teacher at Kramer Elementary School, Young teamed Harper up with a first-grade student at Kramer to help him overcome his impediment. The story, first picked up by the Cincinnati media, quickly gained national attention, giving Young the opportunity to showcase Harper's talents on the court - one of Young's proudest moments. "I'll tell you what really makes me feel good, is when he comes back to campus and gives my wife a hug and shakes my hand and says, 'You started it all.'" Marilyn was also instrumental in Young's recovery from two heart attacks that he suffered during his time at Miami. Young's first heart attack struck during a triple-overtime basketball game in Oxford versus his alma mater, Bowling Green. Young, who was also covering women's basketball at the time, stayed in Millett Hall for eight hours before arriving at the hospital 10 hours after the heart attack began. The second heart attack struck in 1986 due to the long hours that Young was working, pushing for Harper to be named an All-American. "As the sports information director of a one-man shop, I would spend anywhere from 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, 11 months out of the year," Young said. "Now that doesn't give you much time to squeeze your family in. So what I learned early was that you do as many things with your family as possible." Even though he loves many sports, Young said that he enjoys baseball the most. Young served as the Red and White's honorary baseball coach for the 1995 season and was the official scorer at more that 1,800 Redskin baseball games. "I covered football during football season, and I covered basketball, both men's and women's, during basketball season. But I looked forward to the spring," Young said. "I didn't cover spring football. I covered baseball." Some of Young's fondest memories come from the times that he spent working during the baseball season. "There have been many, many baseball players who have gone on to make it in the pros, but my association with those kids goes way back to the early 1970s when we were winning our first Mid-American Conference Championships," Smith said. "People like Dennis Smith and Gary Wright. I'm hoping they are going to be here on May 3 when they dedicate the press box. If it weren't for Billy Doran, that press box wouldn't be in my name." Praised for his honesty, Young takes great pride in being straightforward with those he knows and works with. "As a publicity man, you are judged by your peers and judged by the media that you serve," Young said. "If they don't trust you, then it doesn't matter. So I always felt that I was going to be honest, that I was going to tell them the truth every time even if it got me in trouble." Now retired, Young spends time attending the annual College Sports Information Directors of America's annual convention. Young will be attending his 40th convention this year, having missed only one during his membership because of a heart transplant. "I am very proud that I stay involved, even though I retired in 1991, helping younger kids coming through the organization and helping out with the job seekers committee at the national convention each year," Young said. Young and his wife are spokespeople for the LifeCenter in Cincinnati, and they're also co-chairmen of the speakers' bureau, giving donor talks to churches, schools and civic groups. "We feel this is our payback from a program that enabled me to be living now, whereas I would have been gone three years ago," Young said. "So here I am enjoying life because of somebody that was willing to donate their heart to me."