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Recruiting Youngstown & Success Outside of Football
Penguin Nation:
No one vacations in Fargo.
It's not location, it's leadership. or an epic lack thereof.
IAA Fan:
I agree ...it does apply equally. In the Horizon, it seems like most every school used to have a strong sport, that is not part of the conference. We are football, CSU is wrestling/lacrosse and fencing, UDM is lacrosse and fencing, UWGB is bigger in Nordic skiing that we are in FB, UWM hands out scholarships in large men's sports in soccer and S&D (those happen to be Horizon sports), UIC are very big in Gymnastics. Most of the newer schools to the conference barely are DI and do not offer much outside of the required conference athletics. As you say they are similar
Yet many of the other schools in our conferences, as a whole, are not as nice as YSU: none of them have our facilities (although I cannot speak for a couple of the newer schools that I have not seen). Take a drive and visit the former Butler some time. Take a walk down Hampton Ave. How about UIC & the former Loyola ...in the heart of Chicago. WIU is nothing and SIU is a corn field. We have all been to Pitt and the nicest part of that college is the part that is actually a part of Carnegie Mellon. Yet what player does not want to play om Heinz Field?
I think the key to much of this is local talent ...they already know what Youngstown is all about. As our campus becomes nicer and nicer (which it clearly is) this is going to overshadow much of the city's issues and attract local talent. President Tressel's commitment to the city is phenomenal and he continues to make YSU the focal point of the city of Youngstown. Let's hope that sense of pride grows among the student body.
What Wick is saying is true. I remember the parade for the '91 team, the city hired many people to decorate old abandoned buildings.
Penguin Nation:
I'll use FAU as an example since my daughter studies there, and also it has multiple YSU connections. Carl P was a HC there, and YSU and FAU traded a home and home and each went 1-1 if I recall correctly in the early 90s. They are G5 so are still similarly situated in terms of level of competition IMO. SIU is the opponent in this years opener.
Anyway, FAU has a nearly brand new stadium which has hosted bowl games, and from which you can see the Atlantic Ocean. If there ever was a University which had location as a selling point to recruits, it is FAU.
FAU FB went 3-9 the past two seasons.
The success or failure of a football program doesn't depend on location, but rather its leadership. What else could it be? Solar flares, turtle dove migratory patterns? No, its the individuals in "leadership" roles.
MBB and FB will remain pretty close to what it has been for the past ten years, with some inevitable variations. BP will improve the program, I think, and then leave when NE $$ runs out. If we are content with the state of FB and MBB, then we should maintain the same "leadership" we have had for over 10 years.
go guins:
--- Quote from: Wick250 on June 01, 2016, 12:56:55 PM ---Go Guins,
Your thesis about the impact of downtown Youngstown does not hold up. During the 1990s, downtown was a mess, suffering the full impact of the loss of those steel mills. Boarded up buildings everywhere. Yet the 1990s were the Golden Age for YSU sports: four football titles, three women's NCAA appearances, even a conference final for the men. In fact, the 1997-98 academic year was the single best sports year in our history: the fourth football title, the women beating Memphis in the tournament, the men under Dan Peters playing for the conference title but losing. Today, downtown Youngstown has reinvented itself. New government buildings, the world class business incubator, the additive manufacturing center, the Covelli Center, new apartments and gentrification, an artistic colony, cultural venues, and various watering holes.
Obviously, we are not going to recruit the kid that places a high priority on going to a party school. But beyond that, location and facilities are secondary to the relationship between the recruit and the coach. We are successful in track and women's hoops because we have good coaches. We lose in men's basketball and other Olympic sports because we have bad coaches.
--- End quote ---
No, the '90s was the Golden Age of Jim Tressel!
"Today, downtown Youngstown has reinvented itself. New government buildings, the world class business incubator, the additive manufacturing center, the Covelli Center, new apartments and gentrification, an artistic colony, cultural venues, and various watering holes."
Drinking too much of the the cool-aid Wick! Read the damn crime report in the Vindy! The city of Youngstown is a REAL NEGATIVE to YSU.
I believe the good coach bad coach answer is just a cop-out, but whatever. If you guys are happy with the state of afairs in Youngstown, that's fine with me. I'll stay away except to football home games and you enjoy your walk down the city streets after dark!
go guins:
Here is the "reinvented" Youngstown:
These Are The 10 Worst Places To Live In Ohio
We used science to determine which Buckeye State cities are the real pits.
Nick James, RoadSnacks
June 30, 2015 - 435,158 views
#1 Youngstown (please note the 435,000 views, that's what hurts)
10 Worst Places to Live in America
Aaron Crowe, WalletPop
1
COMMENTJoin the Discussion
You don't need the US Misery Index to tell you that things are bad in some parts of the US. Unemployment is near or at all-time highs in many parts of the country, foreclosures continue to happen at unprecedented rates and there are some very real indicators that we are heading toward a double-dip recession.
"Northern Ohio has seen 309 public officials convicted of crimes over the past 10 years"
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