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YSU Penguin Athletics => YSU Penguin Athletics => Topic started by: IAA Fan on March 26, 2017, 08:38:56 PM
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Sports Team 27 has learned that Jerrod Calhoun is expected to be officially named the next men’s basketball coach at Youngstown State University this week.
A YSU spokesperson would not confirm the hire.
Calhoun spent the past five seasons as the head coach at Division II Fairmont State, leading the program to a record of 124-38.
During the 2016-17 season, Calhoun led Fairmont State to a record of 34-3 overall. The Fighting Falcons reached the Division II National Championship game, which they lost on Saturday.
Calhoun was voted the 2017 Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year. He was also the NABC Atlantic District Coach of the Year.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Calhoun previously served as an assistant coach under Bob Huggins at West Virginia. He also served as an assistant at Walsh.
As quoted in the Fairmont State media guide, Huggins offered a glowing assessment of Calhoun.
“Jerrod brings a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, a strong work ethic and determination being a relentless recruiter with a tremendous knowledge of the game of basketball,” Huggins said.
He played collegiate for two years at Cleveland State under Rollie Massimino.
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Hopefully Calhoun can do something that John Robic and Jerry Slocum could not do, and this get this program on the short term to the middle of the pack on a consistent basis and then eventually every so often make a tournament run.
The best news for YSU would be if Calhoun were here 4-5 years, and moved on. Get this program headed the right way, and take a better job.
It will be very difficult though, we all got caught up in the win over Oakland, but other than that win, this past season was a disaster. Although we return Cam Morse, we have no size and strength inside.
Head basketball coach at YSU is a very hard job. We have no tradition and there are teams in our league who are basketball schools. I certainly wish him the best, but this will be a very difficult challenge ahead.
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Hopefully Calhoun can do something that John Robic and Jerry Slocum could not do, and this get this program on the short term to the middle of the pack on a consistent basis and then eventually every so often make a tournament run.
The best news for YSU would be if Calhoun were here 4-5 years, and moved on. Get this program headed the right way, and take a better job.
It will be very difficult though, we all got caught up in the win over Oakland, but other than that win, this past season was a disaster. Although we return Cam Morse, we have no size and strength inside.
Head basketball coach at YSU is a very hard job. We have no tradition and there are teams in our league who are basketball schools. I certainly wish him the best, but this will be a very difficult challenge ahead.
I'd agree with most everything you said though I wouldn't completely say the season was a disaster. I think the number of wins was disappointing; however, I thought the team competed hard and was competitive most nights unlike the last 2 seasons. They had good wins against Akron, road wins against Wright State & Green Bay, Northern Kentucky, and of course Oakland. They took Toledo to OT. Should have beaten Milwaukee on the road if it wasn't for a missed traveling call. The UIC games went right down to the end, one in OT, but lost both. The Wright State went down to the wire at home. The Valpo games were competitive this year unlike the past. We really played Michigan State tough without Cam.
On that note there certainly were bad losses. Canisius, American, and the 2 Detroit losses. Totally uncompetitive in the 2nd Oakland game and the 2nd Cleveland St game wasn't pretty.
On a side note, does anyone know why Brett Frantz didn't play in the final game? I know he had struggled of late, but I thought that was very odd he didn't get any minutes. Tough not to play in your final game when you played in every one.
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On a side note, does anyone know why Brett Frantz didn't play in the final game? I know he had struggled of late, but I thought that was very odd he didn't get any minutes. Tough not to play in your final game when you played in every one.
Thought I heard he had a minor injury or illness, but I'm not 100 percent sure of that.
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The focus now turns to recruiting...after watching Fairmont on Saturday I saw inside players that attacked the glass...Calhoun has nothing here that remotely resembles that...Calhoun might have to run a few guys out of here immediately...cruel but he didn't recruit them...Morse Santiago and Hartfield are fine but the rest are questionable at best...Moss will have to come in and be better than Williams and Rosic...much much better....Calhoun must hit the ground running and bring some tough hardnosed kids in...canr wait to see what happens
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He's from the Huggins coaching tree so his teams have that press and like to turn you over. Shoot a lot of 3's.
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I will not relax until this hiring becomes official. Read Vargo's column in today's Tribune for insight into how Calhoun is valued by the coaches at the best high school program in Ohio.
As you all know, high school basketball in the Mahoning Valley stinks. But northeastern Ohio schools just won all four state championships this Saturday. Slocum was inept at recruiting in Tressel's "State of Youngstown," even failing to grab Eargle right out of high school. There is every indication that Calhoun will fix that glaring flaw. That is an essential first step on the long road back to respectability.
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He's from the Huggins coaching tree so his teams have that press and like to turn you over. Shoot a lot of 3's.
Let us grab couple guys to play the 4 and 5 who can make FTs. Because of our poor FT shooting, we practically gave up 8 points every game. I still think the reason for us to win over Oakland in the playoff was because we only had 9 FT attempts. If we had 15 FT attempts that night, we probably would have lost that game.
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The focus now turns to recruiting...after watching Fairmont on Saturday I saw inside players that attacked the glass...Calhoun has nothing here that remotely resembles that...Calhoun might have to run a few guys out of here immediately...cruel but he didn't recruit them...Morse Santiago and Hartfield are fine but the rest are questionable at best...Moss will have to come in and be better than Williams and Rosic...much much better....Calhoun must hit the ground running and bring some tough hardnosed kids in...canr wait to see what happens
You're a 100 percent correct that morse,santiago,and Hartfield are a nice returning nucleus. Calhoun needs bigs. Might be easier said than done. It's recruiting at another level that YSU needs. No excuses.
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The team was competitive most years giving fans hope for the following years. Like the 18-15 year. Losing 21 games most of the Slocum years was inexcusable! I liked coach, but he become a broken record every other game! "I'm disappointed in our defensive effort," was something that was something that was said practically every loss.
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Congrats to Strollo for what looks to be a great hire. I am no Strollo fan but when someone does something right I am willing to give them credit. Now we need to get student involvement . We need butts in the seats.
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4ever,
Excellent point. As another Strollo critic, I congratulate him on an outstanding selection. Even in the unlikely event that Calhoun will not work out, nobody can argue that Strollo blew this one.
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I did go and read Vargos article in the Trib and was highly encouraged by the words of Babe Kwasniak, coach at VASJ. The fact that he believes and trusts Calhouns ability to recruit is what's needed here..forget recruiting in Texas or Louisiana and concentrate closer to NE Ohio..perhaps kids won't transfer out if closer to home. In an earlier post I mentioned he might have to get rid of a few players to free up schollies...simplw really..call a kid in and shoot straight by telling him he will not play here and help him find a place that he will.. like perhaps a Dll school...its not being mean..its being realistic...our roster is dotted with guys that cannot play at a level that would allow us to contend in our league...perhaps going the JC route in Calhoun first year is the way to go...i can't wait to see what the immediate future holds.
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Great hire!
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Congratulations to Ron Strollo on a terrific hire. He identified a tremendous candidate that fit the credentials across the board. Calhoun is a native of nearby East Liverpool. He eventually ended up in Cleveland and has been coaching across this region since he graduated from CSU. He has D2 head coaching experience and high level D1 assistant coaching experience. From what I heard early last week he was the guy. Dana Balash went so far as to say he heard from a source at the start of the search that Calhoun to YSU was going to happen and that he wanted the job.
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Interested to see the assistant's he brings in and what his contract looks like.
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Congratulations to Ron Strollo on a terrific hire. He identified a tremendous candidate that fit the credentials across the board. Calhoun is a native of nearby East Liverpool. He eventually ended up in Cleveland and has been coaching across this region since he graduated from CSU. He has D2 head coaching experience and high level D1 assistant coaching experience. From what I heard early last week he was the guy. Dana Balash went so far as to say he heard from a source at the start of the search that Calhoun to YSU was going to happen and that he wanted the job.
Announcement of Hiring Calhoun from Strollo on YSU website:
Jerrod Calhoun, who led Fairmont State University to the 2017 NCAA Division II National Championship game, has been named the 13th men's basketball Head Coach at Youngstown State University, Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Ron Strollo announced today.
"Jerrod Calhoun brings every attribute that we were looking for in a head coach to our basketball program," Strollo said. "Not only does he have an enormously successful track record as a head coach, he also has experience with a high-major Division I program as an assistant coach, strong regional recruiting ties and a passion to be at Youngstown State.
"Jerrod is highly motivated to build our program, connect with our community and make a positive impact on the lives of our student-athletes."
Calhoun, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, spent the last five seasons as the head coach at Fairmont State and accumulated an overall record of 124-38. He guided FSU to the NCAA Division II Tournament in each of the last three years and four times overall. The Falcons won at least 20 games in each of his five seasons and won nearly 80 percent of their conference games.
"First of all, I want to thank President (Jim) Tressel, Athletic Director Ron Strollo and the entire YSU community for the opportunity to lead this program," Calhoun said. "I am from Northeast Ohio, I have family all over Northeast Ohio and I know people in the Mahoning Valley love sports. We're excited to build and grow a program that people love to watch.
"There are many really good things happening at Youngstown State, and we want basketball to be a part of that. I believe you build it with people, and the people of Youngstown State drew me to this job. The administration, the campus and the city are all full of good people."
The 2017 Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year, Calhoun directed the Fighting Falcons to an overall record of 34-3 and the program's first national runner-up finish in 2016-17. Fairmont State won its first conference championship in 21 years with a mark of 21-1 and received its first NCAA Division II No. 1 ranking since 1976. The program also won 30-or-more games for the first time since 1974-75.
Calhoun was a successful assistant coach at Walsh and most recently at West Virginia under Bob Huggins. He spent four years at WVU as the director of basketball operations before serving as an assistant coach in 2011-12.
The Mountaineers went 19-14 during Calhoun's last season there and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. During his five years in Morgantown, W.Va., the Mountaineers posted an overall record of 120-36 with five NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2010 Final Four and the 2008 Sweet 16.
At Walsh, the Cavaliers posted an 82-21 record during his three seasons in North Canton, Ohio. Walsh won the 2005 NAIA national championship while advancing to the Elite Eight in 2006 and the Sweet 16 in 2007.
Calhoun, a 2004 graduate of the University of Cincinnati, began his coaching career at Cincinnati in 2003-04, where he served as a student assistant under Huggins. That year, the Bearcats were 25-7 overall and advanced to the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
"There's a lot of excitement around here, and we want the basketball program to be a part of that," Calhoun said. "Our players will be a part of the community. They'll be visible, they'll be active and we'll build a program that makes this university and the Mahoning Valley proud."
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He will be bringing one assistant with him from Fairmont State, Paul Molinari.
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Press conference today at 3.
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we need to build a basketball practice facility, recruit a couple of Mcdonalds all americans and we will be fine. :D
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5 years, 200k base salary for Calhoun.
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Press conference today at 3.
Just finished watching his press conference. He wants fast tempo offense (with lots of 3s) and defense. He wanted guys who can run (he will run them tomorrow).
it sounds like he wants to engage the community which is the opposite of JS.
He is bringing in 1 assistant but did not say if he plans to retain any of the current assistant coaches.
He is ready to hit the ground running.
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So we raised the salary by about 60k. That is impressive and about as far as we can go for basketball.
He plans to pressure all over the court with a variety of man and zone presses. Love it. It also means that we must play many more people than Slocum did to avoid fatigue. That will be great for team morale.
He spoke of playing a demanding schedule. Hopefully, we have seen the last of Slocum's junk home games in December that turned everybody off.
One month ago, I never would have believed that we could make a hire that, on paper at least, is fantastic.
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Watched it as well. Like everything I heard. The exact opposite demeanor wise from JS. Love his enthusiasm. Can't wait to see the product on the court. Very excited about this hire! Maybe I will actually get back to Beeghly now to see a game.
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The easiest and quickest way to get money for the program is a demanding schedule with paydays... The team should've been playing 4 or 5 not 2 per season anyway....
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I've been posting off and on for years that we could never recruit stud inside players so instead get players in the 6'5, 6'6 range that can run and jump...it sounds like that is the plan for Calhoun. Players love it because they will all play. Think back to Kevin Mackeys teams at Cleveland State. 94 feet of pressure..run and stun..if you don't like it don't schedule us. We've needed this breath of fresh air and community involvement for years. Those of you into recruiting , keep your eyes on the Cleveland area. This sure sounds like it's gonna be fun
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Very impressed with the choice of new HC. Has lots of fire to get the job done and turn our program around. Now YSU needs to get fully behind him and market the team better. I attended one game this year the debacle against American and boycotted since. I will be back now. Hopefully we get to the .500 mark this year. I feel we can. Go Guins!!!!
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Really looking forward to the future of Penguin hoops. On paper this is a great hire. Hope it translates to the court. Successful D2 head coach, assistant in a successful D1 program with a veteran head coach, has spent his lifetime in Ohio and West Virginia, great contacts in those two states plus Pa, Kentucky, Maryland and Virgina. I plan on purchasing season tickets come fall.
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I haven't been to a men's basketball game since they put up the new scoreboard. I will be there next year though, and I'm very much looking forward to it.
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According to the vindicator the Curbstone Coaches are having a evening dinner meeting to welcome
coach Calhoun. The meeting will be Apr 27 at 6:30 at Avion Banquet Center. Cost of buffet dinner is $11.
The public is encouraged to attend. Please come and meet the our new coach! No reservations are required.