From Tribune/Vindy today
Men’s basketball
YSU finding roles as season arrives
LOCAL SPORTS
NOV 1, 2022
JOEL WHETZEL
Staff writer
jwhetzel@tribtoday.com
Correspondent file photo / Robert Hayes. YSU guard Dwayne Cohill drives and scores during the first half of a game against Morgan State last season.
YOUNGSTOWN — By his own admission, Dwayne Cohill doesn’t pay much mind to preseason polls or honors.
“I don’t really pay attention to it. … It doesn’t really matter to me. It’s just about what happens when we get between those lines,” Youngstown State’s All-Horizon League Preseason First Team selection said.
What happens between those lines is swiftly approaching, as Youngstown State begins its campaign at Canisius on Monday. That sets off a busy November slate in which the Penguins will be on the road a fair amount. The month includes home games against UT-Martin (Nov. 9) and Grace Christian (Nov. 15), and road swings at Canisius, Notre Dame (Nov. 13), the Navy MTE (vs. UC San Diego on Nov. 19 and vs. Navy on Nov. 20) and Western Illinois (Nov. 26).
YSU gets its first shot at Horizon League play Dec. 1 at Northern Kentucky, then visits Wright State Dec. 4.
After an offseason that saw YSU graduate Michael Akuchie, Tevin Olison and others, and add quite a few replacements via the transfer portal, the Penguins were selected fifth in the conference preseason poll, but are considered a contender for this year’s Horizon crown.
In the early goings, things are still a work in progress, head coach Jerrod Calhoun says.
“I think anytime you’re trying to blend five new players with returnees, it’s definitely a process,” Calhoun said. “I think the guys have done a good job of trying to get better each and every day. We’re certainly not there, and have a big week in front of us. We (had) one more scrimmage Sunday, and then we have to clean up our final week to see where we’re at.”
In addition to Akuchie and Olison, YSU also graduated forward Jamir Thomas, while guards Luke Chicone and Owen Long each hit the transfer portal and now are at the Division II level.
The Penguins welcomed forwards Adrian Nelson (Northern Kentucky) and Malek Green (Canisius) via the portal, as well as guards Brandon Rush (Fairleigh Dickinson) and Bryce McBride (Eastern Michigan). Sixth-year senior Garrett Covington entered the portal this offseason before returning to YSU, and the Penguins also picked up freshman recruit John Lovelace Jr. from Milwaukee.
They join returning guards Shemar Rathan-Mayes, Cohill, Myles Hunter and Chris Shelton, and forwards Will Dunn, Jacori Owens and Josh Irwin, who redshirted last season.
In YSU’s first scrimmage, the Penguins rotated a large number of players in and out of action as Calhoun continues to tinker with combinations.
“We’re still in the process of figuring out who’s going to start, who’s going to come off the bench,” he said ahead of the Penguins’ second scrimmage. “We have to continue to work on that as we get closer to that first game, but I think we certainly have depth. Which direction we go with that, I still honestly don’t know.”
Cohill added, “I’m not really sure if we have a schedule, because every team has its own schedule. I just think we’re getting better day in and day out. … At this point, everybody has a complete understanding about what we’re looking for offensively and defensively, how we want to play and just understanding how to play to strengths.
“I think last year we struggled at times to have guys doing things they’re capable of doing, whereas they were trying to do things that they might not have been as strong at. This year, guys are just buying into whatever it is that they do best, trying to do it to the best of their capabilities.”
Calhoun estimates that YSU can have between five and seven players scoring in double figures on a given night, which will give the team “good balance.”
On the other end, Calhoun says YSU will need to protect the rim, “whether that’s guarding the ball better, or whether that’s weak-side defense.”
He added, “I think that’s got to be a big emphasis — to continue to keep people out of the paint and protect that rim area and be a really good two-point field goal percentage team.”
In the team’s second scrimmage, Calhoun said he was planning to whittle down who gets how many minutes, and see which players can provide “execution on both sides.”
And the biggest thing he wants to accomplish?
“Really just stay healthy,” Calhoun said. “I think that’s the most important thing this time of year is not overdoing it and keeping healthy. I really want to see some momentum coming out of this second scrimmage.”
Women’ Basketball
Penguins looking to meet lofty expectations
YSU picked 1st in Horizon League preseason poll
LOCAL SPORTS
NOV 1, 2022
JOEL WHETZEL
Staff writer
jwhetzel@tribtoday.com
Correspondent file photo / Robert Hayes. YSU’s Mady Aulbach, right, forces IUPUI’s Rachel McLimore, left, into a traveling call during a game last season.
YOUNGSTOWN — A year ago, Mady Aulbach says, Youngstown State women’s basketball was out to prove others wrong for selecting the Penguins seventh in the Horizon League preseason poll.
Now, she notes, the Penguins are out to prove people right.
After another busy offseason in the transfer portal, YSU enters the 2022-23 season with sky-high expectations, as the Penguins were selected first in the Horizon League preseason poll for the first time in program history.
“I think the mindset lately has been proving people right and just focusing on us, doing what we know how to do,” Aulbach said. “There’s going to be a target on our back, and we have to bring our best every single day in practice, game in and game out every time we step on the court.”
The Penguins welcomed a bevy of transfers. At guard, YSU added Shay-Lee Kirby (Austin Peay) and Dena Jarrells (Chattanooga), and at forward, the Penguins picked up Emily Saunders (Tennessee).
Those three and returning guard Paige Shy all played AAU basketball together in West Virginia.
Now reunited, they’ll be joining a team that returns All-Horizon League forward Lily Ritz and other forwards Lindsey Linard and Jen Wendler, as well as guards Aulbach, Malia Magestro, Megan Callahan and Lindsey Mack. Forward Tenleigh Phelps could factor in this year after sitting a season ago with an injury, and guard Haley Thierry is back, too. The Penguins also added one freshman recruit, guard Mackenzie Hurd.
Thus far, head coach John Barnes says things are still a work in progress, due in part to minor injuries that have nagged the team during preseason practices.
“We’ve had a lot of little injuries here and there and haven’t … (been able) to go five-on-five as much as we would like, so my evaluation of where we’re at isn’t quite where it should be,” Barnes said.
But, he added, the roster is getting each of those players back, and now has had two scrimmages to begin sorting out a lineup.
In the first scrimmage, Barnes said, the Penguins threw a bunch of different lineup combinations into the mix, while in the second, he expected to be more specific and judicious in determining playing time.
As the season opener approaches, Barnes says the emphasis is on the finer details.
“We want to be really detail-oriented,” he said. “We didn’t do a lot of the detailed things that we like to do defensively, and it cost us in our (first) scrimmage. So just doing the little things and executing all those little details. That’s going to be the difference between us being good this year and now.
“Right now, we’re average at those details, and we have to get really good at them.”
And, of course, the largest question remains finding a replacement to Chelsea Olson, something Barnes says will be a group effort both offensively and defensively.
“It’s more of a lot of people stepping up and trying to be a leader, and everyone talking and having good energy and feeding off each other and not there just being one person we’re always trying to look to, because this team is full of a bunch of all-stars that could all be a really good leader and player,” Aulbach said. “I think this year, it’s more of a committee thing, everyone joining together and feeding off each other.”
The season begins Nov. 7 at home against Wofford, which begins a challenging month of November that also includes games at Penn State (Nov. 15), Akron (Nov. 18) and Western Michigan (Nov. 22) along with a home contest against St. Francis Brooklyn (Nov. 26).
Then, the Penguins get their first taste of Horizon League action with a road trip to Northern Kentucky and Wright State to begin the month of December.
“I think we’re trying to develop a really high sense of urgency,” Aulbach said. “I think we know what needs to be there, and I think we can definitely improve upon it. We really need to remember that last year, it was a lot of hard work to get to where we got, so just remembering that and keeping that chip on our shoulder will help us further develop that sense of urgency.”
