Archive for the ‘YSU Basketball’ Category

The Youngstown State men’s basketball program will host four boys’ basketball camp this summer. The coaching staff will offer two team shootout camps, June 5 and June 11. There will also be two individiual camps, June 13-16, and June 20-23.

The team shootout camps (June 5 and June 11) are targeted for varsity and JV high school teams and cost $275 per varsity team and $210 per junior varsity squad. There is also a two-day option which costs $475 for varsity and $350 for junior varisty. The team shootouts run from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on each day.

The Full-Court Camp is an individual camp that runs from June 13-16, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This camp is aimed at kids entering fifth through 12th grade in the fall of 2011. Early registration cost of the Full-Court Camp is $130 and has deadline of June 6. Late registration for the Full-Court Camp is $145.

The Half-Court Camp, June 20-23, is another individual camp that is geared toward kids entering grades second through ninth in the fall of 2011. This camp runs from 8:30 a.m. to Noon. Early registration costs $85 and has a deadline of June 13. Registrations after June 13 cost $95.

For more information, contact the YSU men’s basketball office at (330) 941-3004.

Imagine for a moment that you owned your own business.  The business never really took off but showed potential from time-to-time over a five year period.  Then one day you come to work to find out all but three of your employees quit.  That is what Jerry Slocum faced about a year ago, when he lost some guys to graduation and had a few leave the program for greener pastures.  Vytas Sulskis, Dan Boudler, and Ashen Ward were the only returning players with any real game experience.  Slocum had to scour the country just to have a full bench.

The new crop of talent, combined with the three remaining “employees”, played very respectably last season, showing steady improvement from the beginning of the season through the end.  The chemistry kicked in and suddenly there was a group of college guys thinking that on any given night, they could play with anyone.  Roll players like DuShawn Brooks, Devonte Maymon, and Josh Chojnacki playing like starters, Damian Eargle who keeps getting better, and perhaps the most talented young backcourt in the entire Horizon League, Kendrick Perry and Blake Allen. Make no mistake, this roster is oozing with talent and Slocum and staff are just the right guys I would want steering this ship.

Paneech: Now that Spring workouts are over and you guys are done until August, how do you feel about next season?

Slocum: This was the best Spring that we had since I got here.  There was great skill development with all of those young guys.  You have to remember that Damian, Blake, Shawn, Josh, K.P — they are all young guys.  You have so many new guys and you can’t just tell them how physical it gets.  They all got a taste of that physicality last season and have responded by hitting the weight room.  Individual efforts have been tremendous, not just average, but tremendous.  Fletcher Larson is really going to help us down low at 6’9″, he is a kid who is skilled in the post.

Paneech: What other things can we expect from new faces next season?

Slocum: All of our guys are going to be here through July 4th through first session.  All of the kids that are signed are going to be coming in the Summer too.  We have a challenge next season because we only have 13 home games and 16 on the road.  How many times has Youngstown State had a tandem where Damian [Eargle] is 6’8″ and two more guys ready to come in at 6’9″?  Cale Zuiker and Fletcher Larson add a dimension to our attack with all of that size.  Shawn Amiker is ready to contribute.  With the addition of D.J., Cale, and our two redshirts in Shawn and Fletcher, this could well be one of our best recruiting classes since we have been at Youngstown State.

Paneech: What kind of signs have you gotten from the guys that this season can be different in a better way?

Slocum: I came in here last Saturday morning to meet D.J. [Cole] and had a breakfast meeting with him.  After our meeting, I came into Beeghly for a run and I hear a ball bouncing on my way to the workout room, and when I look to the floor, there is Kendrick Perry for an hour and a half  to two hours just shooting the ball, trying to get better.  We have never had that kind of commitment here, and you get that from a freshman.  Ashen Ward has done a great job leading this team through Spring drills.  We are two years late and the program has encountered a couple of hiccups along the way, but we had a great recruiting period and didn’t bring in any junior college kids, which is where you want to be.  At our level, it is better to take a freshman, realize his potential and grow him into the system the way you want to.  This is the first year that we have not recruited a junior college kid.  Nothing against junior college kids, but it is nice to take a kid, realize his potential and work with him to be a big part of the overall system.

Paneech: Talk about the tremendous improvement, especially Damian Eargle and your guards, Blake Allen and Kendrick Perry.

Slocum: I think that K. P. and Damian can grow to be top players in the Horizon League.  We had the best backcourt in the conference with the best turnover to assist ratio with Blake and K.P. the last ten games.  Damian Eargle, over the last ten games, averaged almost a double-double with 15 points and almost ten rebounds a game.  The common factor was that as the year went on, all of our guys got better.  K.P. might be the best two-guard in the conference and Blake Allen works hard and had one of the best turnover to assist ratios in the league.  Damian led the league in blocked shots and is learning how to stay on the floor a little longer.

The third and final installment of the Jerry Slocum interview will hit the site this weekend and is titled How Winning Affects Recruiting.

Jerry Slocum is a winner.  His record speaks for itself and he is one of just 17 active NCAA men’s basketball coaches to have reached the 600 win mark.  The 12th head coach in Youngstown State Men’s basketball history had a lot of success at Gannon and Geneva, which prompts his critics to point to school size and unknown opponents.  Slocum wears his heart on his sleeve and coaches with aggression and passion that would make Bobby Knight jealous.

I sat down to interview Slocum, and for a guy who takes so much criticism for his 17 second press conferences and cold personality, the 28 minutes he spent talking with me cannot be covered in a single story.  The interview will be broken into three parts.  Media Treatment, 2011-2012, and How Winning Affects Recruiting.

Paneech: First of all, congratulations on the marked improvement that the team showed this year.

Slocum: I appreciate that.  Obviously, I was excited about this class and I am very excited about our future here.  I thought that the improvement was more noticeable as the year went on.  Damian Eargle and Kendrick Perry got better.  Blake Allen and Ashen Ward got better.  As things moved along, all of our guys just got better as the year went on.  The thing that is obviously the most disheartening to me is that we are not winning enough games.  It is not acceptable, but in the same breath, the growth and competitiveness were both there.  I appreciate you saying that because I do take a lot of criticism.  I know that the criticism is a part of the job, it is what happens to coaches.

Paneech: Please expand on the growth you saw this season.

Slocum: When you beat the team that was in the final game played in college basketball this season, you lose to Valpo in overtime, you have a shot to tie or win the game against Detroit, you should have, could have, beaten Akron.  When you look at the entire body of work, you were extremely competitive, and it gives you hope for where you are going in the future.  I think with our new recruits combined with who we are getting back, we have good Horizon League talent.  Do I think we are the cream of the crop?  I don’t think so, not yet, but I think our guys can grow into that.

Paneech: You have the reputation for being someone who is really tough to handle at a post game interview.

Slocum: You can take your shots, and say the negative things that you want to say at me, but at least report the facts also.  Report the facts, for example, the questions being asked at the press conferences are things like, “Everyone thought you were going to get blown out by 20 tonight, are you happy that you didn’t get blown out?” or “Do you feel that this was a wasted effort tonight?”  Take your shots at me, that’s part of the job, but in the same breath, at least report the facts.  We had the best backcourt in the conference with the turnover to assist ratio, Damian Eargle averaged 15 points and almost ten rebounds a game while leading the conference in blocked shots.  Report the fact that this team is growing and improving.  They are losing games, but for the first time in probably ten years, you are looking at a core group of kids who are coming in from the bottom up as Freshmen and Sophomores who have a chance to be the best Division-I team put on the court here at Youngstown State.

Paneech: Even reporting the facts, there has to be some quote to describe them.

Slocum: My point is that I have been doing this for a really long time.  I thought I was being a professional by keeping my answers short and quiet and not exploding on a question, I would just be quick.  If you lose a game, for example, the Milwaukee game, why not say, “Coach, that was a great basketball game tonight, you hit a five minute stretch where you didn’t score, can you comment on that”.  That is the way a question should be asked by somebody who understands basketball.  My reaction would be, here is an intelligent question, and I would do all I could to answer it.  I have never, no matter how tough the losses have been, not answered a question put to me that was a well-phrased question.  When you sit down in there and your heart is broken, you have never lost in your career, and now all of a sudden you are into your sixth year of misery  because you can’t get this thing where you want it to be, it weighs on you every moment that you are awake, and you come so close… and the first thing you get is a guy saying to you, “Do you think tonight was a wasted effort”.  I have never said,  “this is the end of the press conference”, but there is silence.

Paneech: I have been there for some of those moments, and have seen silence.

Slocum: The reason why there is silence is because most of the people who criticize me do not have enough confidence that they can ask me a legitimate or intelligent basketball question.  Any media guy can say, “your back court was 5-19 and had nine turnovers, did you think that affected your chances to win tonight?”, and that is the most disappointing thing.  Some guys can’t even see the game to know the right question to ask, and then when they report on it, they can’t even report the facts.  How can you not write or report on the last month of the season with all of those big games we were in and how close we were.  Some reporters just don’t get it.  Their basketball IQ is not to the point where they can effectively ask a question.  Whether or not they are good people is not for me to judge.  I get paid to win basketball games, and I think we are on our way to doing that.  Have some knowledge of what you are reporting on instead of asking some of the most ridiculous questions I have ever heard.

Early next week, Part II, 2011-2012, will be up.

You will not meet a more personable group than the Youngstown State University Women’s Basketball Coaching Staff. They are all very genuine, real, and fun people to talk with.  John Vogel, who handles the women’s basketball program from a sports information director position was gracious enough to tape the roundtable interview I got to conduct.  Topics discussed are the recruiting process, Brandi Brown being overlooked on postseason awards, and a fun segment where the coaches have to pinpoint what their peers like and dislike.

Big thanks to Mr. Vogel for not only creating this opportunity, but for also being very helpful with my requests.  Also, a million thanks to Coach Bob Boldon for being a guy who is always candid and approachable.  This was my first real conversation of any kind with the assistants.  Pictured above are John Cullen, Kate Schrader, and Tavares Jackson.  Not pictured but included in the video is Jen Theissen.

Just before this interview was conducted, these coaches were working with a few of the players on the last day of workouts until August.  To watch how they coach as a group was fun.  Coach Boldon is kind of an overseer and delegates authority for an assistant to watch a defender and another coach to monitor an offensive player.  The other assistants usually encourage the players working in the various drills.  The dedication of this staff is going to put bodies in seats over the next couple of years.

Also, a new piece of equipment was in use at practice.  As a player shoots a three-point shot, a three foot high box announces the arc, or highest point, that the ball hits on its way to the basket.  Coach Theissen explained that the machine would register different numbers based on factors such as a players size.  For example, Macey Nortey and  Tieara Jones are about a foot different in stature meaning their arc would be different.  Very nice piece of equipment!

Thanks again to all who participated!

• The Youngstown State men’s tennis team dropped a hard-fought 4-3 match to third-seed Wright State on Thursday at the Horizon League Championships. The Penguins now face Butler in the fifth-place match on Friday morning at 9.
• The Youngstown State women’s basketball coaching staff will offer three camp formats this summer for young student-athletes and high school teams.  For individuals entering fourth through ninth grade, the staff is offering a half-day camp from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. from Monday, June 27, to Thursday, June 30. Players who are preparing for the collegiate level are invited to participate in the overnight elite camp on Thursday, June 30 and Friday, July 1. There will also be a team camp for varsity and JV squads on June 10 and June 12.   For more information, contact the Women’s Basketball Office at (330) 941-3004.
• The Youngstown State softball team picked up a single game against Ohio State tonight at 7 p.m. before heading to Indianapolis for a three-game Horizon League series against Butler, April 22-23.
• Youngstown State had eight winter sport student-athletes named to the Horizon League’s various All-Academic teams on Tuesday. The swimming and diving program led the way with three selections.  Representing YSU from the swimming and diving program were senior diver Amanda Carpin, senior swimmer Alana Kane and sophomore diver Casey Hill. It was the second straight year Carpin, a 3.95 student in Special Education, was named to the team.  Sophomore Brandi Brown was named to the women’s basketball all-academic team. Brown is the first Penguin since Lauren Branson in 2007-08.  The track and field program had four representatives named to the Academic All-League team. On the men’s side, senior Adam Kagarise was named to the squad for a third time while sophomore Jeff Hanselman earned his first academic honor. On the women’s side, senior Alisha Anthony earned her third indoor academic selection while sophomore Samantha Hamilton picked up her first track and field academic honor.
• According to YSU Sports Information Director Trevor Parks, the No Stone Unturned Pancake Breakfast held this past Sunday was a huge success.  The paid admission is estimated to be right around 1,000 meals served, which is 3,000 pancakes.  The charity function, headed by Coach Wolford and his wife, also did well with raffles and a Chinese Auction.

 Youngstown State men’s basketball Head Coach Jerry Slocum will be a featured guest today on SportsCenter at 4:30 p.m. on ESPNews.

Slocum has been a highly-requested guest of the national sports media recently due to the Guins being the last team to defeat Butler, who is playing in its second straight national championship game.

Last Saturday at the Final Four in Houston, Texas, Slocum was a guest on FoxSports Radio’s “Game Time Show” with Anthony Gargano, Lincoln Kennedy and Jeff Goodman.

The Horizon League usually gets just one team into the NCAA’s Big Tournament every year.  The last two years, Butler has been the one team from the conference to represent.  Last year they went all the way to the finals before losing to Duke in the closing seconds. This year, they knocked #1 seed Pitt out of the tournament with a dramatic 71-70 win on a Matt Howard free throw with less than a second remaining.

The last time Butler lost was at Youngstown State, 62-60, on February 3.  The Bulldogs, at that point, were a question mark to even make it back into the tournament field this postseason.  However, they got hot at the right time, won the Horizon League Tournament, and snared the automatic bid.

Here is where my gripe begins with the selection committee.  There were eleven Big East teams in the tournament.  Eleven.  Why? Yeah, the Big East has some good teams, but the lone Horizon entry knocked out the best (by seeding).  St. John’s had no business being in the field of 68.  Villanova was another questionable choice.  Georgetown stunk.  For Butler to have as many losses in the Horizon League as they did and still win tournament games, why doesn’t Valpo or Cleveland State get an at-large bid? The NIT is in New York, so Villanova and St. John’s wouldn’t have had to travel far to play where they belonged.

I hope Butler rolls through their bracket and wins the whole thing.  It is unlikely, but they are representing a whole conference that is undervalued by everyone from the tournament selection committee and ESPN.  Yep, the giant sports channel does little more than roll a few Horizon League scores on their ticker every half hour or so.

Butler isn’t the only team to do the conference proud.  Homer Drew had some moments with Valpo and Cleveland State has made some noise in recent tournaments.

The “experts” would be hard-pressed to find a conference that has had a better overall winning percentage than the Horizon League in the past ten tournaments.  How about a little respect?

For the second year in a row, Youngstown State’s Brandi Brown has been snubbed by the voting members of the Horizon League who determine postseason honors.

Last season, Brown, despite having better stats than Yar Shayok of Detroit was voted the runner-up for Horizon League Newcomer of The Year.  It felt like because the Lady Penguins went 0-30 last season that the argument was diluted.  Perhaps individual awards were given to teams with better records.

This season, Brown led the Horizon League in scoring.  I do not care what sport it is, when an individual leads their conference in any category, they should be rewarded for it.  Brown scored 20 points per game AND was tied for fifth in the conference in rebounding.  Top five in the two biggest categories that basketball players are measured.  Brown ranked 15th in the nation, IN THE WHOLE NATION, in scoring, 581 points in 29 games, do the math.

Green Bay seniors Celeste Hoewisch and Kayla Tetschlag were named Co-Players of the Year. They were joined on the first team by Cleveland State’s Shawnita Garland, Milwaukee’s Lindsay Laur and Wright State’s LaShawna Thomas.

Julie Wojta (Green Bay), Chloe Hamilton (Butler), Molly Fox (Wright State) and Brittany Bowen (Butler) joined Brown on the second team.

Brown’s snubbing can also be known as the first time a player was not named to the first team when leading the league in scoring.

Saturday Bojana “Boki” Dimitrov played her last home game as a Youngstown State Penguin.  The ending was bittersweet for the fiery Serbian because she rolled her ankle, only logged five minutes, and did not score a point in the Penguins victory over Loyola–not quite the way it was planned. Before the game during the shoot around, Dimitrov made her way over to the media table and thanked everyone, just a fraction of the class this kid has.

Penguin Coach Bob Boldon talked about losing his lone senior.  “She provided a lot of character and perspective.  She lived through a war, an actual war.  So as we complain about gas prices going up and all of our problems, someone who lived through a war keeps things in perspective for us. She genuinely loves to play basketball.  She always played hard and that just carried over because she always practiced hard too which is great for the younger kids to learn from.”

Brittney Zemko (above) also participated in her last game as a YSU Cheerleader.  Zemko was the lone senior honored of a great cheering squad that is appreciated but seldom written about.  Give credit to these young ladies and men for the hard work and preparation that goes into all of the backflips, pyramids, and chants we often, as fans, take for granted.

Congratulations also go to Vytas Sulskis and Dan Boudler who played in their last games as Penguins.  Sulskis had a fantastic career and did his home country, Lithuania, very proud.  Boudler was a quieter and more reserved guy who did a lot of the dirty work inside during his playing career.  They will both be missed.

Congratulations to all of the seniors on a job well done!

Youngstown State University finished the season on a high note and kept their momentum heading into the Horizon League Tournament as they handled Loyola, 84-65, on Senior Day.  Brandi Brown was sensational in the win, scoring 27 points and grabbing seven rebounds.  This was a physical game, especially the first half, when three players had to leave the contest injured, one being Boki Dimitrov.

Bojana Dimitrov was honored as the lone senior player before the game and had to leave the game when she sprained her ankle with 11:31 left in the first half.  Not the storybook ending anyone would have wished for the bubbly Serbian in her last home game.  Brown caught an inadvertent elbow to the face while contesting a shot and would miss a stretch of just over seven minutes for the Penguins, who proved worthy even without Brown holding a 13-11 lead while she was attended to.  When she came back with what looked like a half-roll of Charmin in her nose (see top picture), Brown made up for lost time.  In the second half, she moved into 18th on the YSU all-time scoring list, quite an accomplishment for just a sophomore.

Brown impacted the game as soon as she returned scoring  12 and extending her consecutive free throws made streak to 17-17 on a 5-5 first half.  The streak would end at 17 as she missed the first of two charity tosses in the second half.  With 13:25 left in the game, Brown hit a couple more free throws to put YSU comfortably ahead, 52-38.  Monica Albano did her best to keep Loyola in the game when she buried a three with 10:59 left in the game to cut the YSU lead to 54-43.

Kenya Middlebrooks and Liz Hornberger each hit a three to extend the Penguin lead to 66-55 with 5:58 left in the game.  Albano again responded for Loyola hitting another three from the corner to cut the lead to 66-58.  The Penguins stretched their lead to 80-62 on a pair of free throws from Macey Nortey with 1:38 left in the game.

“Our intensity at practice has really kicked up”, said Hornberger after the game.  “Brandi always shows up and if the rest of the team intensity can stay where it is, we can play with anyone in the league.  We are going into the tournament hot.”

YSU got big numbers from Brown again as she set a few more records.  Brown finished the game with 27 points and moved into 18th all-time on the scoring list.  She also recorded the fifth highest point total in a season.  Hornberger had a career high in points with 12, all threes, and has given some quality minutes the last few games.  Tieara Jones played a solid game recording 11 rebounds to go with her 11 points.  Monica Touvelle (above) and Kenya Middlebrooks each hit four threes.  For Touvelle, the twelve points was a career-high.  In fact, five Penguins hitting double figures had not happened since 2004.

With the win, Youngstown State nabbed their second in a row to end the regular season and improved to 6-23 and 4-14 in the Horizon League.  The 84 points scored was the highest total for the Penguins offense this season who shot a blazing 53.8% from the floor in the second half.

Loyola got a great effort from Monica Albano who finished the game with 34 points.  The Ramblers dipped to 11-18 and 5-13 in the Horizon League.

Coach Bob Boldon talked about the constant improvement and expectations heading into the league tournament.  “The way our offense is run, it takes time to pick things up and develop.  We are better than we were last month and this is when you want the team to be playing their best basketball.  It is better to be a bottom team in a tournament and make crazy things happen, than being one of the good teams and having all of the crazy stuff happen to you.”