Topics

46

YSU Penguin Athletics / YSU's Academic Progress Rate (APR)

« on: June 07, 2015, 11:03:46 PM »

It is my understanding that the NCAA requires an APR of 930 to avoid a post-season ban, as occurred with UWM MBB.  It is my understanding that the Horizon league had two programs with multiyear APRs below the 930 threshold, and both of them are at YSU:  Men's Indoor track(916), Men's Outdoor track (916).

UIC was at 926 last year, but had a multiyear APR above 930.

The HL had four teams in the "danger zone" from 930-939, and one of those four is YSU Men's Cross Country.

It seems like there is reason for concern, if this information is correct.



https://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/apr2014/817_2014_apr.pdf

http://web.ysu.edu/gen/ysu_generated_bin/documents/basic_module/Intercollegiate_Athletics_Agenda_12414_FINAL.pdf

47

YSU Penguin Athletics / Schlegel to Continue Basketball Career in Germany

« on: May 19, 2015, 09:09:07 PM »

Former Youngstown State women's basketball player Heidi Schlegel will continue her basketball career as a professional for the top league in Germany.

Schlegel, who was a First-Team All-Horizon League selection in 2014 and 2015, will play for the Angels of the BG Donau-Ries Club of the Bundesliga. The Angels are located in Nördlingen, Germany, and had a 14-8 record last season.

"I am excited to join the Donau-Ries Angels and continue my basketball career," Schlegel said. "The coach's basketball and life philosophy is similar to mine, so I am looking forward to adding to the club and continuing to build the successes of the team. I am eager to learn the German language and culture and become a part of the Nördlingen community. I am very appreciative of all those who have supported and pushed me throughout the past 10 years and the Donau-Ries Angels for giving me the opportunity to continue my basketball career."

This marks the third straight year that a Penguin has signed to play professional basketball. Brandi Brown signed to play in Sweden in 2013, and she continued her career in Australia last year. Karen Flagg signed to play in the Netherlands in 2014.

Schlegel expressed interest early in the process in playing for a German team due to her family background and still having relatives in the country.

Kurt Wittman, sports director of BG Donau-Ries, said of Schlegel, "Personality and character are very important to us. Everyone we talked to emphasized that as good as Heidi is on the court, she is an even better person off the court. She is a very versatile player who can crash the boards in the post but is just as comfortable stepping out to shoot the 3 pointer. We look forward to having Heidi play for our club this season."

Schlegel ended her Penguins career as one of five players in program history to be named first-team all-conference twice. She set the career record for made free throws while also ranking fourth in points (1,729), fifth in minutes (3,436) and seventh in rebounds (796). Most of those totals came in the last two seasons when John Barnes became YSU's head coach. Her 1,205 combined points in 2013-14 and 2014-15 were the third-most in program history over a two-year span.

"I'm very excited for Heidi," Barnes said. "She has worked extremely hard to take her game to the next level. The fact that a top team in Germany has signed her speaks volumes about who she is on and off the court. I have no doubt she will excel for BG Donau-Ries and help them reach new heights."




http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/ysus-schlegel-to-basketball-continue-career-in-germany-

48

YSU Penguin Athletics / YSU FB ranked 10th in TSN preseason FCS poll

« on: May 19, 2015, 08:15:51 PM »

RANK   SCHOOL
1   North Dakota State
2   Sam Houston State
3   Illinois State
4   Villanova
5   Eastern Washington
6   Coastal Carolina
7   Jacksonville State
8   Chattanooga
9   Montana State
10   Youngstown State
11   Northern Iowa
12   James Madison
13   Idaho State
14   Eastern Kentucky
15   Montana
16   Liberty
17   Stephen F. Austin
18   New Hampshire
19   Indiana State
20   Alcorn State
21   Southeastern Louisiana
22   Northern Arizona
23   South Dakota State
24   Charleston Southern
25   Eastern Illinois




http://www.vuhoops.com/villanova-football/2015/5/13/8602987/2015-fcs-football-preseason-polls-sporting-news-puts-north-dakota

49

YSU Penguin Athletics / Pelini follows Tressel lead on less pay

« on: May 17, 2015, 08:22:02 AM »

Two thumbs up.  BP is off to a strong start.

From the Vindy:



When Jim Tressel was hired as Youngstown State’s president last May, he decided to take less than his predecessor.

Bo Pelini did the same.

While Pelini will (famously) spend the next four years making millions not to coach at Nebraska, he voluntarily gave up about $65,000 per year in his four-year YSU contract in marketing compensation (which is worth $50,000 per year) and retirement benefits. That’s money that counts against his Nebraska buyout but won’t go into his pocket.

“When we were going through the whole interview process, Bo heard what President Tressel did and he took it upon himself to give back,” Penguins athletic director Ron Strollo said. “He wanted to follow the same lead.”

Tressel makes $300,000 per year as YSU’s president, taking $75,000 less than the school’s two previous presidents David Dunn and Cynthia Anderson.

Pelini’s base salary at YSU over the next four years will be $213,894, the same as the Penguins’ previous coach, Eric Wolford. Per the terms of his Nebraska buyout, Pelini will still make $128,009 per month from the Cornhuskers over the next 46 months, so it’s not like he’s going to struggle to make his mortgage payments, but as Strollo said, “that $65,000 is real money he’s giving up.

“Bo understood that the school is laying people off and he wanted to make that statement,” Strollo said. “People internally understand what he did, but I think it’s important that the public knows because everyone assumes Nebraska is making up the difference [in the $65,000].”

YSU’s budget for assistant coaches will remain the same as it did under Wolford, so that $65,000 in savings will simply lower YSU’s football budget.

“That helps the institution because it lowers the support it has to give us,” Strollo said. “I feel like it was really unselfish of him. It’s something he didn’t have to do and he volunteered to do it himself.”


http://www.vindy.com/news/2015/may/17/pelini-follows-tressel-lead-on-less-pay/

50

YSU Penguin Athletics / Horizon League to add 10th member

« on: April 25, 2015, 07:30:40 AM »

From the Vindy:

"The Horizon League is planning to add a 10th member, Wright State athletics director Bob Grant said Friday, according to WSU’s school newspaper, The Guardian.

The member will be within busing distance of Dayton and will be announced by the end of May, Grant said. The most obvious choice is Atlantic Sun-member Northern Kentucky, which is just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati and has shown interest in joining the Horizon League for several years. Belmont, which is located in Nashville, Tenn., is a member of the Horizon in soccer only.

The league has lost Butler and Loyola in the last three years and added Oakland before the 2013-14 school year."

http://www.vindy.com/news/2015/apr/25/horizon-league-to-add-th-member/?newswatch#sthash.RJhFuyrX.dpuf

51

YSU Penguin Athletics / The State of MBB, Part Two

« on: April 20, 2015, 10:42:33 AM »

Marcus Keene transfers to CMU.

"Central Michigan is discovering that as the Chippewas landed Youngstown State guard Marcus Keene, the Penguins' leading scorer at 15.6 points per game, he told the Free Press today.

"I decided to leave Youngstown because I didn't feel it was the right fit here," he said. "The atmosphere. I liked the coaching staff and the players but I wanted to go to a different spot, a winning organization."

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2015/04/19/central-michigan-basketball-marcus-keene/26034019/

In other news, YSU PD have placed Bobby Hain under house arrest.

52

YSU Penguin Athletics / Horizon League passes cost-of-attendance measure

« on: April 14, 2015, 10:47:00 AM »

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Horizon League has voted to expand scholarship limits that will cover the full cost-of-attendance for some athletes.

Detroit Mercy President Antoine Garibaldi made the announcement Monday, saying the conference's board of directors passed the measure unanimously.

Officials from the Indianapolis-based league say the additional money will go only to men's basketball players and an equal number of female athletes in league-sponsored sports.

The additional money covers costs that go beyond traditional scholarship limits, which previously covered only tuition, room and board, books and fees. The five power conferences approved a similar measure in January and gave other conferences the option of adopting similar provisions.

One league school, Oakland University, already has issued a statement saying it will develop a strategic plan for rapid implementation of the measure.




http://www.ksl.com/?nid=283&sid=34225938

53

YSU Penguin Athletics / MBB HL teams in the post-season

« on: March 16, 2015, 09:24:52 AM »

NCAA-- Valpo
NIT-- UWGB
CBI---- no HL teams
CIT----Oakland, and CSU

54

YSU Penguin Athletics / Penguins Ranked 7th in 2015 FCS Preseason Poll

« on: February 16, 2015, 07:07:38 PM »

From the Sports Network:

"Bo Pelini didn't win enough to satisfy everybody at Nebraska, but he steps into a ready-to-win situation at Youngstown State as the Penguins go after their first playoff appearance since 2006. Many of the team's best players will be back, including quarterback Hunter Wells, running backs Martin Ruiz and Jody Webb, wide receiver Andrew Williams, defensive ends Derek Rivers and Terrell Williams (who combined for 24 sacks), and linebacker Dubem Nwadiogbu. The Penguins beat Pittsburgh in 2012 and will take another shot at the Panthers to open the '15 season"

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/writers/infcshuddle/archive/haley_01_13_2015.htm

55

YSU Penguin Athletics / Renewing rivalries with Akron and Kent State

« on: January 20, 2015, 11:57:00 AM »

A few quotes from a recent Scalzo piece:


Regarding renewing rivalries with Akron and Kent State:


"Tressel would like to see Youngstown State schedule more games against Akron and Kent, but he doesn’t think the Penguins need to be in the Mid-American Conference to do so. "

" “We have new presidents at Akron and Kent and we’ve gotten to be pretty close from the standpoint of being the new ones in the room at the state meetings and having some of the same learning curve,” Tressel said. “We’ve had just preliminary off-the-cuff discussions that that would really be a good thing for all of us if we played one another more often and created those natural rivalries."

" “In terms of the Mid-American thing, we did apply for the Mid-American back in the 1990s and they wanted to geographically branch out. What will happen in the next five-10 years in terms of conference affiliation, I think will be very interesting.” "



Regarding the Athletic Budget:



“We have a chance to raise our [athletic] revenue by selling more tickets, raising more money, more sponsorships corporate-wise and so forth, but as far as directly from the institution to the athletic department, you will not see an increase because there’s not increases available for anyone at this time.

“The only way we’re going move up more is to generate more and that’s just the reality of it. The same thing is being said to schools way larger than us.”



http://www.vindy.com/news/2015/jan/20/tressel-pleased-by-downtowns-resurgence/



I am stoked that there is a realization of the value of playing a robust OOC schedule with opponents that will energize the Penguin fanbase.  As I noted in another post, if we win, we can establish ourselves as the dominant NE Ohio program and lure all local non-P5 recruits here.  If we lose, we collect our check and are in the exact same recruiting situation we were in before.  These are winnable games (especially Kent) as the MAC is inferior to our MVFC opponents.

Also, Tressel alludes to the fate of the G5, which will likely suffer from enhanced scholarships that the P5 will likely begin to offer.  This will play into YSU's favor.

Regarding the budget, the renewing of Heacock's contract was devastating to Athletic Department revenue.  A strong argument could be made that he never should have completed his first contract.  The meltdown in MBB adds further to this loss of revenue.  These words from President Tressel gives me hope that he "gets it" on a number of important areas regarding YSU athletics.  Hopefully he and the BOT will get a competent AD that does not sabotage the revenue generation of YSU athletics, and create an OOC schedule that increases interest in our program.

56

YSU Penguin Athletics / President Tressel to be inducted in the College FB Hall of Fame

« on: January 09, 2015, 11:42:40 AM »

"Tressel was 106-22 in 10 seasons as coach of Ohio State, including a national championship in 2002. He was forced to resign after the 2010 season after he withheld information from the school and NCAA about possible violations by some of his players, who traded memorabilia and equipment for tattoos. The NCAA imposed a five-year show cause order on Tressel that would open up a school to possible sanctions if it hired him as a coach. That order ends September 2016.

Tressel also coached 15 seasons at Youngstown State, winning four Division I-AA national titles. He is the only coach to win national championship at both levels of Division I. He was named president of Youngstown State on May 9, 2014."

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/12141880/jim-tressel-bill-snyder-selected-college-football-hall-fame

Many congrats!

57

YSU Penguin Athletics / Accountability and YSU Athletics

« on: November 22, 2014, 05:37:36 PM »

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."

---Albert Einstein

As a life-long Penguin fan and alumni, it pains me greatly to witness the current condition of YSU FB and MBB, and the pre-Bolden era of WBB.  I hope that the latest FB November meltdown leads the University to analyze everything regarding YSU athletics, and not just the HC of FB.  I hope that conference affiliation is looked at, especially for FB.  YSU is simply not an upper-level team in the MVFC, the travel is expensive, and the fans don't care about teams in the Great Plains region.  NDSU is an unpaid blood game...or worse...as they are a better team than many BIG teams and all MAC teams.  Maybe YSU should even consider a partial-scholarship conference.

The acceptance of mediocrity in MBB needs to stop.  It reflects poorly on the University.  Unless a surprising turn-around occurs this year, Slocum needs to leave.   

The Athletic Director must be held accountable for the immediate deterioration of YSU FB on his watch, from a championship and playoff caliber team to a solitary playoff appearance in 14 years. 

It is time for accountability and a new attitude regarding YSU athletics.  I hope President Tressel makes the necessary and bold decisions that are required to end this era of mediocrity.  As the Einstein quote suggests, the problems with YSU Athletics cannot and will not be solved by those who created them.

Go Penguins.

58

YSU Penguin Athletics / YSU @ NDSU

« on: November 17, 2014, 01:47:30 PM »

Everything is on the line for Saturday.  Will YSU beat the Bison in the Fargodome as they did in 2011? 

Massey gives YSU a 6% chance of winning  and predicts a 21 point MOV for the Bison.

Go Penguins!  Raise some hell in Fargo.

59

YSU Penguin Athletics / Massey FCS rankings

« on: November 05, 2014, 02:01:52 PM »

YSU is ranked 5th in the nation.  The six top teams are all from the MVFC.  Every MVFC team (except the Yotes) is in the top 25.

http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?s=cf2014&sub=11605

Compare this to the laughing stock known as the Coaches Poll, where a Patriot League team with a weak SOS and the recipient of an epic beating from Villanova gets ranked 9th and above every MVFC team except NDSU. 

If the post-season selections were merit-based, and the top 24 teams got in, than 9/10 MVFC teams would be selected.  Instead we have auto-bids and crazy at large bids from 1AAA conferences.

Look at where the MVFC is rated versus FBS conferences:

http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?s=cf2014&c=1&sub=11590

Above the MAC (duh..), CUSA, Sun Belt, and American Athletic.  You have to scroll down a bit to find another FCS conference. 

Amongst other things, it makes me think that we should play two FBS games a year from these FBS conferences (preferably the MAC), and get well paid to bust them up, and  improve our SOS and chances for post-season.  Maybe keep one "cupcake " game....not three.

60

YSU Penguin Athletics / MVFC Playoff Outlook

« on: October 26, 2014, 01:39:06 AM »

Lots of FB to be played, but seems to me 4 Valley teams will likely make it with 8 wins or better.  IMO, a 7-5 MVFC team would defeat the majority of auto- and at-large bids, but I don't see the selection committee sharing that opinion.

IN barring the Apocalypse:

NDSU   4-0 / 8-0  (not only in but should get the #1 seed and all home games through Frisco.)
ISUr     4-0 / 7-0   (even if loses next two to UNI and YSU)

Likely in:

YSU    3-1 / 6-2   (TOUGH November schedule....the ISUb game may become a de facto playoff game)
SDSU  2-2 / 5-3   (I think a 3-0 after Fargo gets them in....unless the D3 game is not counted..)

Possibly in:

ISUb   2-2 / 5-3   (still has SDSU and YSU.....I don't see both YSU and ISUb in....prolly a just miss)

Doubtful:

UNI     2-2 / 4-4   (needs to win out....next two games ISUr and NDSU.....good luck)
SIU     2-3 / 5-4    (needs to win out...with UNI and ISUr ahead.......)
MO St  1-3 / 4-4   (needs to win out.....with NDSU, ISUb, and UNI ahead)

Out:

WIU    1-4 / 3-6    (they can brag they beat YSU at least)
SD       0-4 / 2-6    (MVFC bottom feeders beat NAU who beat #2 EWU...and would likely win the first round if selected).