The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

Are YSU Inactions Jeopardizing Coach’s Longevity?
By Steve Porter

Rumor has it that Coach KD Durst may be kicking himself after turning down head coaching jobs proffered by other colleges following another successful season at YSU. A reliable source says that Durst has been asking for facility upgrades after each season, but that the university board has rejected the request every year including after the last two seasons when Durst led his team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. According to the same source, Durst feels that the current state of the facilities is hampering recruiting and that upgraded facilities would aid player development and increase the number of fans attending which would make the home court advantage bigger.

In the 5 seasons Durst has been head coach for the Penguins, they have a record of 103-56 (.648), have finished atop the Horizon League standings 3 times, won the league tournament 2 times, had three 20-win seasons the last 3 years (the team has gone 73-25 during those seasons), been to the NCAA tourney twice, the NIT once (the team got all the way to the semifinals), and the CBI tourney once. Durst has been named the league’s coach of the year 3 times.

Fans are concerned Durst may seek in the near future a job at a college where his talents will be more appreciated. John Parsons, a long time fan of the team said, “Coach Durst’s record speaks for itself on how successful he’s been here. The university should recognize that by granting his request. We need to keep him as our coach.”

[Tim Moungey]

Yep, I have to think Durst is going elsewhere next year.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Upgrade Schedule
By Steve Porter

The Youngstown State athletic department published the team’s 2021-2022 schedule. The pre-conference schedule is significantly tougher than in previous years, although five of the nine games this season will be at home. Coach KD Durst explained, “It’s time for us to challenge ourselves more. This is the first step in that process. If we’re successful, we can take on even tougher competition in the future. The one thing I’m very unhappy about is that, even though we’ve been to the NCAA tournament the past two years, we still haven’t been given an invitation to a pre-conference tournament. We deserve that and it’s a travesty that we continue to be slighted. There’s a lot of teams that will be in those tournaments that haven’t made it to the Big Dance in either of the years we’ve made it. Maybe it goes in tandem with many of the high prestige programs being willing to play us on their home courts, but afraid to play us in Youngstown. We might have a lackluster history, but we have a bright present and future and it’s time for us to get the respect that should engender.”

The Penguins pre-conference schedule:

@ SMU
@ Georgia Southern
ARIZONA STATE
ST. BONAVENTURE
BALL STATE
NORTHWESTERN
@ Virginia Tech
UNC GREENSBORO
@ Stanford

Following that the 18-game Horizon League competition begins on December 27 when the Penguins host Valparaiso.

[PointGuard]

Yep, I have to think Durst is going elsewhere next year.

Time will tell.

[PointGuard]

Recruits Commit to Youngstown State
By Steve Porter

The Penguins have received verbal commitments from two recruits for next season. No further scholarships are available to be awarded.

The first recruit to commit was Donnie Williams who attends BellevilleTownship East High School in Belleville, Illinois is a 6-7 PF. Last season Williams scored 15.2 ppg, pulled down 8.4 rpg, dished out 1.5 apg, and had 1.6 spg and 1.5 bpg.

The second recruit is Mike Lofton, a 6-4 SG from Ashtabula, Ohio who attends Saint John Paul High School where he averaged 11.0 ppg, 2.9 apg, 3.9 rpg, 2.6 spg, and 0.7 bpg last season.

Brandon Warren, YSU’s 1st assistant coach in charge of recruiting, said, “We’re happy to have filled both of our available scholarships so early this year. Our recruiting budget is nearly exhausted. So it would have been difficult to be able to pursue and sign anyone in the spring as we have done in previous years.”

When asked about the recruits, Warren responded, “Both are good players but we’re not anticipating that they will immediately take key roles. Rather, we expect to work with them with the aim of having them contribute in their final 3 years at YSU. Williams is a good inside scorer with solid defensive and rebounding skills. He’s presently ranked as the 367th best recruit in the country, although he has previously be rated higher and I suspect his ranking will improve as he plays out his senior year. Donnie was a top 25 player at the Chicago Prep Review this summer. Lofton is a hard-working kid who is a gym rat. He’s not been a prolific scorer but has a nice shot from outside. He’s an excellent passer and ball hawk. His recruit ranking has also slipped some recently. He’s presently rated as the #852 recruit in the nation, but like Williams, that is likely to improve as the season progresses.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Gear Up for Season’s Start
By Steve Porter

With the season about to get underway, I interviewed Coach KD Durst to see what his thoughts were going into his sixth season:

Porter: So Coach, do you have a set starting lineup going into this season?
Durst: Not at all, Steve. Only two of the five positions are set. Junior Pat White will start at PG and sophomore Will O’Neil will start at C. We’ll do some experimenting during pre-conference play to see how the other 3 positions work out.
Porter: What are some of your options for the rest of the starting lineup?
Durst: Our two seniors, B.J. Dennis and William Swan, have the inside track to start at SG and of course both started for us last season. But sophomore Noel Manning and JC transfer Matt Angner have shown the ability to put some points on the board so one or both of them may challenge as the season progresses.
Swan, along with freshman Matt Stafford and junior walk-on Blake Elleby, will back up Pat White at PG.
Junior Colin Chambliss is the incumbent starter at SF, but sophomore James Asbury has been shooting very well from outside. We could start Asbury at SF and start Chambliss at PF. Colin is only 6-3 but he plays much bigger and is a great rebounder and can score well inside as well as outside. Actually Colin has the talent and ability to play SG and even PG for us if we need it.
Junior Lee Pauly might start for us at PF. He’s a natural SF but last season showed the ability to handle himself inside and do a good job rebounding. Along with Chambliss, another option to start at PF is freshman Andre Lilly. He looks like a very strong inside scorer so he’s going to see a lot of time at both PF and C. We also have sophomore LeRoy Delea and senior walk-on Mike Watson who will provide back up at PF.
Lilly and freshman Morris Phelan will be our backups at C to Will O’Neil.
So with all those options we just need to see how guys produce once games start and how they develop and mature during the season.
Porter: How do you expect your team to do this season?
Durst: That’s hard to say. Things are more uncertain that last season. Certainly that’s obvious from what I’ve said with regard to starters and subs. We have a good core and if our returning players improve their skills as we expect, we should do OK. But we have 4 new guys who still need to get familiar with our offensive and defensive sets as well as blending into our team. Additionally, our pre-conference schedule is definitely tougher than we’ve had in the past. I think we’ll have an exciting team this season. But we’ll just have to let things play out and see where we are at the end of the season.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Ride Herd On Mustangs
By Steve Porter

When they journeyed to Texas for their season opener against SMU, all Youngstown State’s starters were familiar names with Pat White at PG, B.J. Dennis at SG, Colin Chambliss at SF, Lee Pauly at PF, and Will O’Neil at C. Pauly was the only one to not start a game previously but he saw action in most all games last season.

The Mustangs scored 6 points before the Penguins got on the board at the 17:18 mark when Colin Chambliss took a pass from Pat White inside and drove to the hoop for a thunderous dunk. Freshman C Andre Lilly scored 4 points in his first 2 minutes on the court to put YSU on top 14-12 with 12-1/2 minutes left in the half. SMU then ran off 9 unanswered points. After falling behind by as much as 11 points due to poor shooting, the Penguins fought their way back, mainly at the foul line and with 3-1/2 minutes left in the half, SF William Swan sunk a 3-pointer that put YSU back on top 32-30. The lead shifted back and forth the remainder of the half. Youngstown State came out of it with a slim 42-41 lead. C Will O’Neil scored 13 points with Andre Lilly adding 9.

In the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half with both teams shooting at a low percentage, the refs continued to exercise their whistles so a parade of players going to the free throw line kept the score advancing with the Penguins maintaining a small lead. After a time out, the Penguins freed SG B.J. Dennis up for a 16 foot jumper that gave them a 10 point lead at 68-58 with 7:48 remaining. YSU maintained their double-digit lead until a last second 3 by the Mustangs finalized the score at Youngstown State-85, SMU-76. In the last 10 minutes of the game, the Penguins improved their shooting to hit 48% of their shots by the end of the game whereas SMU only scored on 35% of their shots. The Penguins held small advantages on all team statistics with the exception of 3’s where YSU hit just 1 of 13.

C Will O’Neil started the season where he left off last year by leading the Penguins scoring with 21 points. C Andre Lilly scored 15 while SG/PG William Swan added 11. SF Colin Chambliss hauled down 10 rebounds and had 5 blocks and PG Pat White had 9 assists.

“Of course we all know what Will O’Neil can do, but Andre Lilly’s ability to come off the bench to spell him and take over right where Will left off was huge,” said Coach KD Durst. “Our guys put things together real well in the 2nd half. We were able to get our entire bench some playing time and everyone contributed something. I was really proud of our defense. Even though the Mustangs scored 76 points, 25 of those were from the free throw line. We held their shooting well under 40% and had 8 blocks and 8 steals.”

When asked about his first game, Andre Lilly responded, “I was excited about getting into the game. Fortunately Pat White fed me a pass right away where I could get in and put the ball in the hoop. From there on I just got more and more comfortable out there. It was a lot more difficult establishing good positioning for rebounds than in high school, so I know I gotta work on that more.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Fly Higher Than Eagles
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State overcame some early turnovers to pull ahead 20-6 after trailing Georgia Southern by four points. The Eagles then closed late to within 2 points, but the Penguins scored the last 6 points in the half to take a 36-28 lead to the locker room. YSU dominated the boards 24-11 but made 8 turnovers. C Will O’Neil scored 13 and hauled down 6 boards in the half.

The Penguins held onto a small lead in the 2nd half but couldn’t pull away and then with 7:11 remaining, Georgia Southern went ahead 55-53 as YSU’s shooting went ice-cold. In the final 3 minutes the Penguins fought back to take a 4 point lead and then PG Pat White hit a 3 from the corner that put them ahead 67-60 with 1-1/2 minutes remaining. The Penguins then stopped the Eagles defensively and won going away 71-60. YSU outshot Georgia Southern 50% to 30% and held a 45-29 rebounding advantage, but made 16 turnovers to the Eagles’ 11.

C Will O’Neil dumped in 25 points while yanking down 9 rebounds. PG Pat White had a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. SF Colin Chambliss scored 8 and had 11 boards. For Georgia Southern, SG DerMarr Williams hit for 19 points, dished out 4 assists, grabbed 7 rebounds, and had 3 steals.

“We had a real letdown in the 2nd half but were able to pull it together late,” said Coach KD Durst. “I wasn’t happy with all of our turnovers though, so guess what we’ll be working on in practice.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Bedevil Sun Devils
By Steve Porter

In their home opener the Penguins scored the first 12 points of the game and held Arizona State scoreless for the first 4-1/2 minutes of the game. YSU eventually opened a 21 point lead. The Sun Devils hit some late buckets, though, to cut their deficit to 49-36 at halftime. The Penguins outshot ASU 53% to 41%, outrebounded the 24-15, and held a 7-4 turnover advantage. C Will O’Neil poured in 12 points.

Youngstown State continued to dominate in the 2nd half, opening as much as a 31 point lead and finishing with an 87-63 beatdown of Arizona State even with Coach Durst playing his bench extensively. The Penguins his 53% of their shots while holding the Sun Devils shooting to 31%. YSU held controlled the boards 42-28.

Leading the Penguins was C Will O’Neil with 16 points and 9 rebounds while playing just 18 minutes. SF Colin Chambliss and PF Lee Pauly both scored 11 and C/PF Andre Lilly and SG B.J. Dennis each had 10 points. PG Pat White dished out 8 assists.

When asked about his decision to start Andre Lilly at PF, Coach Durst said, “Andre has a lot of talent. We decided to gradually work him into the flow and he ably backed up at both C and PF in our first two games this season. We started him at PF alongside Will O’Neil at C tonight, then brought Lee Pauly in at PF fairly early so that Andre was rested enough to take over at C when Will needed a blow. That way those three players can handle the majority of the minutes at our interior positions with Morris Phelan, LeRoy Delea, and Colin Chambliss sharing the remaining minutes.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Suffer Home Defeat
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State held a small lead throughout the early-going in the first half, but then surrendered the lead as the visiting St. Bonaventure Bonnies controlled the boards and were rewarded with trips to the line. The half ended with the Bonnies in control 37-34 with both teams hitting under 40% of their shots. The Penguins’ guards PG Pat White and SG B.J. Dennis scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

YSU scored the first 6 points of the 2nd half to recapture the lead but surrendered it immediately thereafter. The game stayed close until midway through the 2nd half when the Bonnies began hitting their shots and the Penguins continued to miss theirs. Then late in the half, St. Bonaventure slayed the Penguins and took an 18 point lead before ending with a 73-59 walloping of Youngstown State.

Leading the Penguins offensively were PG Pat White with 14 points and B.J. Dennis with 13. White also had 8 assists.

“Give St. Bonaventure credit. They took away our inside game completely. Not only did we not score well inside, but we got beat on the boards (46-34), and we let their center Larry Latham score 21 and grab 10 boards and their PF Sam Livas also had 10 rebounds,” said Coach KD Durst. “We started the season with 2 solid wins on the road and a walkover win at home, so I think we had a case of over-confidence. I hope it’s a wakeup call for our guys that things aren’t going to be easy and that they have to come out attacking each and every game.”

SF James Asbury twisted his ankle in the game but is not expected to miss the Penguins next game.