Basketball Signs Trio of Frontcourt Recruits for 2017-18

[IAA Fan]

The Youngstown State men's basketball program has signed three frontcourt recruits to National Letters of Intent to join the Penguins for the 2017-18 season, YSU Head Coach Jerrod Calhoun announced.

The Penguins signed 6-foot-8 forward Noe Anabir (Geneva, Switzerland), 6-foot-5 forward Tyree Robinson (Fall River, Mass.) and 6-foot-11 center Alex Wilbourn (San Diego, Calif). All three will be juniors in 2017-18 and have two years of eligibility remaining.

Anabir played last season at Mesa Community College and averaged 8.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 58 percent from the field. He scored in double figures 12 times, including a season-high 22 points against Phoenix College. As a freshman at Northwest Kansas Technical College, Anabir connected on 52.3 percent of his shots and averaged. 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

"Noe is a very physical player who can play the 4 or 5 for us," Calhoun said. "He is strong, and his versatility is a key attribute. He can play inside but also step out and shoot the 3. He is a good fit for us as a player and as a person."

Robinson, a three-star recruit out of Notre Dame Preparatory School, spent the last two seasons at Odessa (Texas) College. Last season, he scored 410 points for an average of 12.8 points per game and posted seven rebounds per contest. Robinson, who connected on 66 percent of his field-goal attempts, scored in double figures 23 times and had at least 20 points three times last season. As a freshman, Robinson shot 70.4 percent from the field and averaged 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. During his time at Odessa, Robinson made 75.8 percent of his free-throw attempts as a freshman and 72.2 percent as a sophomore.

"Tyree has a tremendous motor and a lot of energy," Calhoun said. "He is very similar to many guys that I've coached before. He is a scorer and a great rebounder and very good for our system."

Wilbourn, from Mission Bay High School in San Diego, Calif., played two seasons at San Diego City College and scored 574 points and grabbed 351 rebounds with 62 blocks. Last season, he averaged 8.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 51.1 percent from the field and collecting 38 blocks. As a freshman, Wilbourn scored 8.9 points per game with six rebounds per contest and shot 48.9 percent from the field.

"Alex is a very skilled player," Calhoun said. "He can run, block shots and take you in and out. He can also shoot the 3 as well."

[go guins]

We going the NFL 53 man roster route with YSU MBB?  Seems like a LOT of recruits.  Must be several redshirts in the HS recruiting class.

[IAA Fan]

We going the NFL 53 man roster route with YSU MBB?  Seems like a LOT of recruits.  Must be several redshirts in the HS recruiting class.

I think that you will find that less players return than once thought.

[go guins]

We going the NFL 53 man roster route with YSU MBB?  Seems like a LOT of recruits.  Must be several redshirts in the HS recruiting class.

I think that you will find that less players return than once thought.

I'm certain of that!  I didn't thing that most would return.  We had a roster with 1 sure, and a couple other marginal D1 players, that's it. Several of the freshmen are going to get redshirted.  205lb. kids will get a year to weight train, but even then, there won't be room for several holdovers to hold over!   
Pelini had major holes, but he hand more in the cupboard than Calhoun for sure.

[IAA Fan]

I agree that coach P had some talent, but I cannot credit the work of the coordinators enough for last year's success. Carl drove me insane at first, the way he brought forward all of his secondary & we were burnt; but with one stud returning and Carl's patience and effort we had a decent secondary that could cover by year-end, looking to be solid again in 2017; maybe even a strength. Montgomery worked with 3 different offenses and pushed Bo (at risk to his job) to make a change and then made it work. Both of those guys (Carl and Monty) had to work around huge losses due to off-field issues and still took us to the final. Bo's personality did the most important thing, that is make a bunch of players that previously had not even a "smell" of the post-season, work hard and improved each week during the play-off run ...something I did not think we could do.

MBB had several solid DI players (at least 5, despite one leaving) with one arguably the top players in the conference. We are a mid-major program, we cannot expect anything but marginal DI guys unless we develop them and/or take "issues". For all the attacking you guys do against Slocum, you cannot his ability to develop players; as our string of HL 1st-team players tells us. Let's just hope we keep our current honoree. I too think we will excel quickly; we have no choice, as the conference will not sit back and watch another team be successful.

[go guins]

I agree that coach P had some talent, but I cannot credit the work of the coordinators enough for last year's success. Carl drove me insane at first, the way he brought forward all of his secondary & we were burnt; but with one stud returning and Carl's patience and effort we had a decent secondary that could cover by year-end, looking to be solid again in 2017; maybe even a strength. Montgomery worked with 3 different offenses and pushed Bo (at risk to his job) to make a change and then made it work. Both of those guys (Carl and Monty) had to work around huge losses due to off-field issues and still took us to the final. Bo's personality did the most important thing, that is make a bunch of players that previously had not even a "smell" of the post-season, work hard and improved each week during the play-off run ...something I did not think we could do.

MBB had several solid DI players (at least 5, despite one leaving) with one arguably the top players in the conference. We are a mid-major program, we cannot expect anything but marginal DI guys unless we develop them and/or take "issues". For all the attacking you guys do against Slocum, you cannot his ability to develop players; as our string of HL 1st-team players tells us. Let's just hope we keep our current honoree. I too think we will excel quickly; we have no choice, as the conference will not sit back and watch another team be successful.

I agree the coordinators did a good job, and I agree Pelini got everybody on the same page and believing they could accomplish far greater than previously and that anyone expected, and allowed good things to happen.  Wonder why you don't give the overall leader JT the same credit.  After all, Strollo is the equivalent of a coordinator to head coach JT?