| Guard Elizabeth Hornberger Signs as Boldon's First Recruit |
| Monday, June 7 2010 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Youngstown -- Elizabeth Hornberger, a point guard from Reading, Pa., has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Youngstown State University under first-year head women’s basketball coach Bob Boldon. Hornberger, who is 5-foot-7 and Muhlenberg High School’s all-time top 3-point shooter, is the first recruit Boldon has signed since taking over the reins of the program on April 14. Liz Hornberger“Liz is a point guard who can stretch the defense with her 3-point shot, but she also handles the ball well and has the ability to get to the rim,” Boldon said. “She is a bright student-athlete who brings with her a lot of success at both the high school and AAU level. We feel she will be a tremendous addition to our program.” Hornberger comes to YSU after starting all four seasons at point guard for the Mules. She scored 888 points over her career and directed Muhlenberg to an 87-25 record. She hit a school-record 185 3-pointers in her career, and she hit six triples in a contest, which tied a school record. With Hornberger at point guard, Muhlenberg won four straight division titles and qualified for districts all four seasons. The Mules qualified for the state tournament three times, and they were the top defensive squad in Berks County in each of Hornberger’s four years. As a senior, she averaged 10.8 points, six assists, four steals and four rebounds to earn all-county honors. She started at point guard in the All-Berks County All-Star game. Hornberger also played for the Philadelphia Belles AAU squad that reached the finals of the 2009 U.S. Junior Nationals in Washington, D.C. |
| Veteran Canfield Coach John Cullen Hired as Director of Operations |
| Friday, June 4 2010 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Youngstown -- Long-time Canfield High School boys basketball coach John Cullen has been hired as the Director of Women's Basketball Operations at Youngstown State, first-year YSU head coach Bob Boldon announced. Cullen joins the collegiate ranks for the first time after coaching high school basketball for the past 37 years in the Youngstown area. He amassed 472 victories in his 32 seasons as a high school head coach. "We are ecstatic to have Coach Cullen join our staff," Boldon said. "He brings an incredible amount of basketball knowledge to our team. His connection to the local community will also be invaluable in helping to restore the winning tradition of Youngstown State women's basketball." Cullen spent the last 28 seasons as the Head Boys' Basketball Coach at Canfield High School, leading the Cardinals to a 433-186 record under his leadership. In his tenure on the bench, Canfield won 15 sectional titles, 12 league championships and five district titles. He was named the Mahoning County Coach of the Year 15 times in his 28 years. Prior to his successful stay at Canfield, Cullen also coached three seasons at Brookfield High and one year at Badger High. He led Brookfield to a 38-18 record and three sectional championships. Cullen got his coaching start as an assistant at Brookfield, helping the Warriors to five sectional championships, a regional title and a berth in the state semifinals over five years. Cullen also spent four seasons coaching in the Amateur Athletic Union. His squads qualified for the AAU national tournament three times. In the classroom as a high school teacher, Cullen taught physical education, health and integrated science. Cullen will begin his duties on July 1, 2010. |
| Horizon help: Butler’s run aids Slocum with recruits |
| Thursday, June 3 2010 |
| Courtesy of: Joe Scalzo The Vindicator |
| By Joe Scalzo scalzo@vindy.com west middlesex, pa. Butler’s run to the NCAA men’s championship game this spring did more than uplift the image of Horizon League basketball. It gave YSU a welcome recruiting boost, too. Since losing five seniors to graduation and another four to transfer, Penguins coach Jerry Slocum has added four recruits during the late signing period and five overall. “Anytime your program isn’t where you want it to be, change is a part of that,” said Slocum, who went 8-22 this winter. “We’re really happy with the kids we’ve brought in. We feel like we’ve really helped ourselves in the backcourt with the recruits that we have signed. “With [Warren Harding High graduates] Damian Eargle and Sheldon Brogdon playing next year, we’ve very excited about the upcoming year.” Eargle, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, sat out last season after transferring from Division I UNC-Greensboro. Brogdon, a 6-0 guard, redshirted his freshman season while rehabbing from a torn ACL he suffered his senior year. Two weeks ago, doctors gave Brogdon full clearance to resume basketball activities, Slocum said. “It’s a work in progress,” Slocum said of Brogdon’s recovery. “Our athletic training staff is working with him and we feel probably sometime in the first semester he’s going to be 100 percent.” Brogdon and Eargle will join incoming recruits Devonte Maymon, DuShawn Brooks, Josh Chojnacki, Fred Ford and Kendrick Perry on what will be a very young and inexperienced Penguins squad next winter. YSU’s schedule, which will be released in a few weeks, will feature road games against Akron, Kent State and North Carolina State. Slocum said Butler’s success played a key role in recruiting. “It’s something we all take pride in,” he said. “I think it’s awesome for our conference and believe me, when we were [talking to] Fred [Ford] and some of those guys from major junior colleges, Butler’s run was something we were always talking about.” On the women’s side, new coach Bob Boldon recently completed his coaching staff and has turned his attention to recruiting for next season. “We’re in the thick of it with a lot of other mid-major schools throughout the Midwest, Ohio and Western Pennsylvania,” said Boldon, who takes over a program that went 0-30 last winter. “We’ll see how it shakes out when it comes to sign, but we think we’re on some pretty good kids.” Boldon’s program could get a boost soon when the school names a director for basketball operations. Longtime Canfield High boys coach John Cullen is reportedly close to accepting that job. |