Posts Tagged ‘Jerry Slocum’

Riding the wave of a 2-0 road start, Youngstown State got to play a home game.  The Penguins responded in an adequate way – with a win.  YSU scored 42 points in the first fifteen minutes of the second half to pull away from Saint Francis and coast to a 75-60 win to push their record to 3-0 for the second season in a row.

“The key to the game was the first seven to eight minutes of the second half”, said Jerry Slocum.  “We preached on the way home from Georgia that we have to keep our identity and know how to handle winning.  We need to stay grounded in our fundamentals and our team play.”

The Penguins and the Red Flash played a pretty even 18 minutes to start the game.  YSU trailed by four points with 7:52 left in the opening session, but were able to close the half strong enough to carry a 29-24 lead into the locker room.  Kendrick Perry paced Youngstown State with 11 points.

The Red Flash got nine points from Stephon Whyatt and another eight from Stephon Mosley, but no more than three points from any other player.  The Red Flash started the game doing a very good job on defense, but the Penguins adjusted to assert their skills.

Senior guard Blake Allen (above) heated up in the second half.  Allen connected on a three with 15:01 to play that gave YSU a 42-30 advantage.  The next Saint Francis possession, Kamren Belin stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for the easy layup to push the Penguin lead to 14.  After a defensive stop, Allen connected for another three to give YSU their biggest lead of 17 points.

Allen talked about his regimen between practices.

“I get in the gym every chance I get”, said Allen.  “I shot anywhere from 800-900 free throws in the last two days.”

The Penguins were the beneficiary of good half-court defense forcing the Red Flash into ten second half turnovers.  In fact, YSU scored 22 points off of Red Flash turnovers in the game.

Meanwhile, Perry kept consistently knocking down buckets for the Penguins.  KP had the whole array going as he was hitting twos, threes, free throws, and layups.  He would finish the game with 19 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

Perry and Allen spearheaded an outburst that made it 67-46 with 7:09 left to play in the contest.  Allen’s sixth three in eight tries and a pair of Perry charity tosses boosted the Guins to their largest lead.

Allen knocked down six threes on his way to 18 points and Damian Eargle played a good all-around game as he knocked in 12 points, blocked two shots and garnered five rebounds.

The Red Flash were lead by Whyatt who would finish the game with 18 points.

The Penguins head back to the road for three games in three days starting Monday at North Dakota State, then head back East to face James Madison on Tuesday, and conclude the swing Wednesday night at Duquesne.

“Our schedule is simply a gauntlet.  All three of those teams we play in three days are very good teams with high basketball IQ’s”, said Slocum.

 

With a hot start to the Youngstown State men’s and women’s basketball seasons, now is the perfect time for those who waited to purchase season tickets. The men have road wins at Georgia and George Washington while the women defeated Pittsburgh in their opener to start the season.

Both teams make their home debuts this weekend at the Beeghly Center. On Friday night, the men’s program plays host to Saint Francis (Pa.). Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. The women are in action on Sunday against Bryant in a special noon start time.

Tickets are available at the YSU Athletic Ticket Office by calling (330) 941-1978. Ticket office hours this week are extended from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The YSU football team is also in action at home this Saturday playing host to Indiana State. Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m.

Tickets for all men’s and women’s games are available for $175 as part of the “Penguin Package”. Men’s game only ticket packages are $155 while women’s only packages are also $155. A general admission package for the entire year is $115.

The men have 14 home games this year while the women will be in action 13 times.

After Friday’s game against Saint Francis (Pa.), the men are next in action at the Beeghly Center against Kent State on Nov. 28.

Single-game tickets are $14 for reserved and $10 for general admission in advance, but increase to $16 and $12 on gameday. Youth pricing is available for children under 12. YSU students are admitted free.

By joining the Penguin Club’s Courtside Coaches group, fans get access to tickets, parking and admission to the Coaches Court Room in the Beeghly Center. For information on joining the Courtside Coaches group contact the Penguin Club at (330) 941-2351.

Expectations were higher than usual heading into the 2012-13 basketball season for Jerry Slocum‘s Youngstown State Penguins.  Reality drawn from those expectations has been over the top.  Just two nights after defeating George Washington, the Penguins went into Georgia and bit the Bulldogs, 68-56.

Kendrick Perry (above) had 23 points (17 in the second half) to lead the Penguins.  Newcomer Kamren Belin posted 17 points and Damian Eargle rattled off a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Penguins defensive effort was tremendous as YSU forced Georgia into 15 turnovers.  The YSU defense also held the Bulldogs to 17 total field goals and a 32.1 shooting percentage for the game.

After trailing by eleven at the half, Georgia was able to cut the YSU lead down to three, 32-29, but a jumper by Eargle, a free-throw by Perry and a 3-pointer by DJ Cole, the first of his career, put the Guins back up 38-29, with 11:43 left.

YSU then used a 13-4 run and led by as many as 18 after a four-point play by Perry made it 51-33 with 7:48 to go.  Georgia never got within 10 the rest of the way.

The Guins shot 38.5 percent from the field and held the Bulldogs to a 12.5 field-goal percentage in the first half.

Shawn Amiker scored the first four points for the Penguins as they jumped out to an 8-0 start.

After the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 12-6 at the 9:16 mark, the Penguins defense allowed just one more field goal the rest of the half. Georgia scored its final six points at the free-throw line.

Belin gave the Penguins a jump start hitting a jumper and a 3-pointer to push the YSU lead to 10 points,  19-6, with 4:40 to go.

Youngstown State started the 2012-13 season on the right foot with a big 80-73 road win at George Washington of the Atlantic-10.  Blake Allen paced the Penguins with 19 points, including four three-pointers, but the bench and free throw shooting to close the game out made the difference.

Damian Eargle was fouled with 40 seconds left in the game as he sank a shot to break a 71-71 tie.  Eargle hit the free throw to complete the three-point play and put YSU ahead.

Allen’s 3-pointer with 2:40 left put Youngstown State ahead 71-65, but the Colonials charged back with six straight points, the last of which was an  Isaiah Armwood dunk following a Penguins’ turnover. Armwood led George Washington with 18 points.

Youngstown State made six free throws in the final 25 seconds, and the Penguins escaped victorious after nearly blowing a late lead.  The bench played a big role in the season opening win.

Newcomer Bobby Hain played 27 minutes off of the bench and contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Penguins.  DJ Cole picked up the slack off of the bench for Kendrick Perry who did not make a basket in nine shot attempts.  Cole played 28 minutes and scored twelve points and had a pair of big steals.

With the win, his 75th at YSU, Jerry Slocum tied Mike Rice for third on the school’s all-time wins list.

Not much time to celebrate this one as the Penguins head South for a game with the Georgia Bulldogs on Monday.

The 2011-12 Youngstown State Penguins basketball team exceeded expectations to some degree.  Coming off of a winning season with a 16-15 record, the nucleus remains.  Head Coach Jerry Slocum has survived some tough times and is now able to reap the benefits of his hard work.

Kendrick Perry, Damian Eargle, and Blake Allen all return for Slocum this season. Ashen Ward and DuShawn Brooks have finished their careers.  Perhaps the biggest role to fill this year will be the leader role vacated by Ward.

“Kendrick, Blake, and Damian have all stepped up into leadership roles”, said Slocum.  “They have really raised the bar as to where they want this team to be.”

Slocum often complimented the way Ward was a leader both on and off of the court.

Unfortunately for the Penguins, like last year, the schedule is a mess.  Last season YSU only hosted 13 of their 30 games and got to host a playoff game.  The fact that they had a winning season, going 10-4 at home, shows how good that team really was.

This year, the schedule was finalized in September.  September, 2012.  Some of the scheduling problems had a lot to do with Butler leaving the Horizon League.

“We start with five of six on the road this year”, said Slocum.  “I have continually been upset that our kids are put into that situation, and it is going to be an equally tough task this year.”

The season starts on November 10th at George Washington and two nights later in Georgia to face the SEC Bulldogs.  After a home game, the Penguins play three games in three days (November 19-21) against North Dakota State, James Madison, and Duquesne.  Three of those five teams have been in the NCAA Tournament in the past three years.

In January, the Penguins get to repeat the touring as four of their first five conference games are on the road.

Coach Eric Wolford and some of his football players have been quoted as saying that they have to do things one week at a time, one game at a time.  Don’t dwell, don’t gaze forward, just focus on the task at hand.

When asked, Slocum agreed with the theory, and then some.

“We don’t look past our next practice”, said Slocum.  “Whether it is conditioning, shooting, or understanding things, we cannot look a day past or forward.  When we work hard, everything takes care of itself, but it is a daily thing for us.”

Kamren Belin, Larry Johnson Jr., Bobby Hain, Ryan Weber, and Ronnye Beamon are all new players in the system.  Allen, Perry, and Eargle are joined by Shawn Amiker, DJ Cole, Josh Chojnacki, Danny Reese, Fletcher Larson, and Mike Podolsky to round out the roster.

“We went from 6’6″ and 6’6″ to 6’7″ and 6’10” at the four sport”, exclaimed Slocum.  “By adding some length, I think we are taking care of rebounding, which was a concern.  We are just bigger.”

Bigger expectations too.  I will predict the Penguins win 20 games this season.  For an exact call, let’s say 20-13, meaning they would play into the third round of their playoffs.

“I don’t sit around wondering which games we will win”, said Slocum.  “Our goal is to be playing the last week of our conference tournament this season.  If we play the way I know we can – unselfishly, and do the right things, there is no reason why we can’t be playing that far into the tournament.”

In the Winter of 2008, I had to have a hip replacement.  The down time I had to endure meant a lot of sitting around with nothing to do except watch reruns of Two And A Half Men and a bunch of game shows.

A friend of mine, Ethan Jaynes, who operated a blog called NESW sports, asked me to write a couple of posts.  When those stories did well, Jaynes hooked me up with the knowledge I would need to run my own site, Paneech.com.

In the time since, I have made a bunch of good friends and probably a few enemies too.

Fast forward to September of 2012.  I am working a 40-hour-a-week job, and still trying to keep up with this website.  Sometimes the posts seem scant, but that is because of the time constraints I have to deal with.

On of the biggest events I was lucky enough to cover was the dedication of Dave Grohl Boulevard in Warren.  I was interviewing Jen Campbell, the organizer of the event, in a side building as warm-up bands were wailing away outside.

Suddenly, on the third question of the interview, the door opens, and it is Dave Grohl.  He looks at us, the only two people in the room, and asks, “Am I early?”

Campbell had to run and gather some folks which left me solo with Grohl, who offered me a Budweiser.  We talked about everything from the steel industry to Wedgewood Pizza, to Kurt Cobain, to how often he sneaks back to this area to visit family.

It was the biggest, ‘right place at the right time’, moment in my life.

I have caught some good breaks to gain access.  My first real coverage was of the Youngstown Thunder Arena Football team.  Those games were a lot of fun and I was able to develop my first player profile interviews while I was there.  Thanks to Anthony Farris for a chance.

The next break to fall into my lap was the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.  Marc Means and Dave Smith, the GM at the time, were instrumental in getting me the trial year of credentials.  The Scrappers, now functioning on the watch of Jordan Taylor, are fun because of the themes, the wrestling, the fireworks, and the personalities you meet who deal with baseball as a way of life every day.

Youngstown State University is something I never thought I would want to cover.  Too much stuff going on.  I wanted to give football a shot, so for the 2009 season, Jon Heacocks’s last,  Trevor Parks gave me that chance.  Call it good timing because nobody but WFMJ and Pete Mollica cared about the football program which seemed to be spiraling negatively.

I took a real liking to the way that the YSU people do things.  There were not too many media people who bet Jerry Slocum would still be around.  I got to know Slocum a little better than some and am glad he has found his niche here.

Covering Cindy Martin was tough because when a team goes 0-30, it is hard to ask many questions with positive answers.  Bob Boldon and his staff have picked up the slack in a big way and made that program fun.

When Ron Strollo hired Eric Wolford for the 2010 season, he made the best possible choice for the university to rekindle a program known for its strong tradition.  Strollo has been fantastic and has seemed to make all of the right moves in the past couple of years.

Wolford is destined for bigger things.  I do not know how long he will be here, hopefully until he retires, but he makes no bones about being an SEC guy and by getting all of the good experience as a head coach here, Wolford will make a jump to a D-I school within the next few years.

Kelly Pavlik was getting recognition for beating Jermain Taylor a couple of times when I got to sit with him and chat.  Still active and back on the rise, The Ghost has provided some huge moments for this site.  Everything from title defenses to a bitter separation with Jack Loew, and no mention of foul play or substance abuse here.  No reason to.

Jake Giuriceo seems to be the next thing to emerge as a televised boxer from Youngstown.  This kid is so laid back, so spiritual, and so focused, that anyone who talks with him would be hard-pressed not to root for him.

As the website continues to progress, I remain focused on trying to be entertaining and informative without the demise factor.  There is enough positive in the Youngstown area to avoid all of the negative.

So to Larry Holmes, the Youngstown Phantoms, 38 Special, Ron Stevens, and Pete Rose.  Thanks for the roles you have played here at Paneech.com!

Youngstown State men’s basketball Head Coach Jerry Slocum will participate in the Northeast Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer Program and Fall Tip-Off Event, Friday June 15, at 5 p.m. at the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge in Cleveland, Ohio.

Joining Slocum are Northeast Ohio Division I Head Coaches Keith Dambrot (Akron), Rob Senderhoff (Kent State) Gary Waters (Cleveland State) and special guest Phil Martelli from St. Joseph’s.

Coaches vs. Cancer is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) that empowers coaches, their teams, and communities to join the fight against cancer.  The recent success of the event has led to the program’s expansion at the high school and Division I, II and III college levels.

Since its national inception in 1993, Coaches vs. Cancer has raised more than $70 million to support the American Cancer Society’s work to save lives from cancer.

For more info on the Coaches vs. Cancer, please contact Dave Heck at 215.985.5316 or david.heck@cancer.org .

 

Both the YSU men’s and women’s basketball teams will be offering Summer camps in June.  The camps both feature great instruction and drills to make the attendees better all-around players.

Jerry Slocum oversees the Youngtown State 2012 Summer Boys’ Basketball Camps in June.  The Full-Court Camp is set for June 11-14 while the Half-Court Camp is slated for June 18-21.

The Full-Court Camp is for kids in grades six through 12 (as of the Fall 2012), runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and costs $140.  The Half-Court Camp, which is for kids entering second through ninth grade, runs from 8:30 a.m. to Noon and costs $95.

For more information on the camps, please call Director of Basketball Operations Jason Pacanowski at (330) 941-3004 or email at jfpacanowski@ysu.edu.

The women’s basketball staff, led by third-year head coach Bob Boldon, will host two individual camps. The Half-Day Individual Camp will go from June 25-28 and will focus on improving the all-around game. Open to players entering fourth through ninth grade, participants will work on all fundamentals with ball-handling, passing, shooting, defensive and rebounding drills. The camp will go from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. all four days, and the fee is $85.

There will also be an overnight elite camp designed for players getting ready to play at the collegiate level. There will be intense workouts that focus on shooting, ball-handling, passing, post moves and defense. The camp will have competitive games as well as speed and agility drills, and it will be run very similar to a college practice. The camp will be broken into two sessions. The first session will be June 28 from 5-9 p.m., and the second will go from 9 a.m. to noon on June 29. Campers will stay overnight in campus housing, and the cost is $50.

The annual Team Shootout will be on June 2. The camp is a good chance to start the bonding process, and teams are guaranteed four games with certified high school officials. The camp will go from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is available for both varsity and junior varsity teams. The cost is $200 per team.

For more information, call Director of Operations John Cullen at (330) 986-6265 or visit the women’s basketball page at YSUsports.com.

• Youngstown State junior Damian Eargle has been named to the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major All-Defensive Team, the website recently announced.  Eargle set the Horizon League single-season blocks records for all games and league-games only. Eargle finished with 116 blocks, including 65 in Horizon League play. He also owns the Horizon League career record for blocks in conference play at 122.

•  The 6-foot-7 forward led the Horizon League and ranked third in the country with 3.7 blocks per game.  Eargle recorded a block in 30 of 31 games last season, had 26 multi-block games and posted at least five blocks on 12 different occasions, including an eight-block performance against UC-Riverside on Nov. 18, 2011.  A 2012 Horizon League All-Defensive Team, selection, Eargle averaged 11.1 points per game and grabbed 7.5 rebounds per game.

• Youngstown State men’s basketball Head Coach Jerry Slocum has announced that Kamren Belin (Atlanta, Ga./Walton), 6-foot-7, 225-pound forward, has signed a National Letter-of-Intent to continue his basketball and academic career at Youngstown State University.  “When I visited Youngstown State it just felt right and I really clicked with the players on the court,” Belin said. “It’s a good league and I think we have a chance to do something big.”

• Besides being an outstanding basketball player, coach Jerry Slocum was impressed by Belin as a person.  “We are very excited to have Kamren join our program,” Slocum said. “He is a quality person and a very gifted all-around basketball player.”

Several players were handed some well-deserved postseason accolades.  Among the recipients were:

• Sophomore Kendrick Perry, a All-Horizon League First-Team selection, won the Dom Rosselli Coaches Awardfor the team’s most valuable player and also earned the Assists Award. Perry led the team with 121 assists.  Perry, who was just the fifth player in league history to lead the league in scoring and steals, led the Guins with 16.8 points per game.

• Senior Ashen Ward, now a wideout for Eric Wolford, who averaged 10.0 points per game, was awarded the Tony Vivo Hustle Award and the Bill Dailey Leadership Award.

• Junior guard Blake Allen, who averaged 12.8 points per game and led the Horizon League with 91 3-pointers made, won the Free-Throw Award with a free-throw percentage of .732.

• Eargle was awarded the Leo Mogus Rebouding Award for leading the team in rebounding with 7.5 rebounds per game. Eargle also led the Horizon League with 121 blocks and was named to the league’s All Defensive Team.

• Sophomore Mike Podolsky, who owns a cumulative grade-point average of 4.0, was the recipient of the Four-Square Club Scholar-Athlete Award.

Congratulations to Coach Slocum and staff and players on a fantastic season!

The Youngstown State University basketball team is looking for a couple of bodies to fill the void left by the sudden departures of Cale Zuiker and Nate Perry.

The Penguins are heavily recruiting and Coach Jerry Slocum should announce one of those he is pursuing as a new Penguin as early as tomorrow.  Kamren Belin is reportedly very close to committing to Slocum’s program.  Belin will come as a junior college transfer who stands at 6′ 7″, averages around twelve points per game, and has a reputation as a shot-blocker.

Can you imagine Damian Eargle having a pal to swat shots with?

Jonathan Octeus is another name that has been heard swirling around campus.  No word on his commitment yet, but the Penguins are trying to land him and it is very possible that he may commit within the week.

Neither signing is official, but when they are and if they happen, you will get the details here.