The Town Crier

[CoachC]

In his biorgraphical inforamation prior to becoming head coach at this institution, Coach Dunst talked about his high school career at a private paroachial school. He also talked about about his college career and his coaching career in collegiate basketball. He left out a couple of years in between, however when he went back to his high school alma mater for 2 years as an assistant coach. He left out the part where he was accused of tampering with incoming parochial school freshmen and offering them partial scholarships against city conference rules. He also left out the part where in his 2nd year as a coach at said high school, he was caught in the girl's locker room claiming to be looking to have a discussion with the head coach of the girl's team.

I well know that accusations are not always what they seem to be. I've been willing to allow coach Dunst the opportuinity to give his version of events in a public forum. But he refuses. Rome is burning!

[PointGuard]

Rumors Surface About Coach KD Durst
By Steve Porter

Nationally-known syndicated sports show host, Jim Rome, recently alleged that Youngstown State’s head coach KD Durst was involved in some questionable activities while temporarily serving as an assistant coach at his high school alma mater. Further, Rome stated Durst has been unwilling to respond to his claims and challenged Durst to comment publicly on these accusations.

When confronted by this reporter about these issues, Coach Durst replied, “I see no reason to give any weight to Rome’s baseless accusations for which he is merely trying to stimulate interest in his moribund show.”

This paper will be delving into the accusations so we can report the facts to our readers as quickly as possible.

[PointGuard]

Investigative Results Regarding Coach KD Durst
By Steve Porter

To follow up on the accusations made by Jim Rome against KD Durst, coach at Youngstown State, this newspaper sent me to the Philadelphia area to investigate.

Rome alleged the Durst tampered in illegal recruiting of talented high school freshmen and was caught in the girl’s locker room while claiming to be having a discussion with the girls basketball team’s head coach.

Officials at Bishop McMonigal High School in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were reluctant to respond to questions concerning allegations made by Jim Rome about incidents by Kendrick “KD” Durst. Their response was that they were unable to discuss personnel matters. They indicated that the school consistently follows all conference requirements for their sports teams and that they have always maintained the highest level of safety and security for the girls attending their school.

Investigation into records of local newspapers as well as discussions with newspaper reporters and other media representatives and supporters of Bishop McMonigal HS provided the following regarding Rome’s accusations:

After graduating from Bishop McMonigal HS and Rice University, Durst coached at two high schools. He then decided to return to the Philadelphia area to pursue a post-graduate degree. While involved in this post-graduate work, he volunteered to assist Patrick O’Malley, his old high school coach (now deceased), as an unpaid assistant. He performed these activities for two years until he was awarded his post-graduate degree. In the second of those two years, Bishop McMonigal won the Pennsylvania State Championship and Coach O’Malley highly praised Durst’s contributions to the team.

There are no records of actions taken against Durst by the Bishop McMonigal High School. There also were no newspaper records regarding improprieties by Durst. The private high school has been the focus of repeated rumors over the years concerning their unusual ability to bring talented freshmen to play for their football and basketball teams, but no disciplinary actions have been taken against the school by local or state sports authorities.

But one of the primary supporters of the high school’s athletic teams is a well-placed and influential business man with many political connections. The name of this individual is Ken Hurst. Hurst was active before, during and after the period when Kendrick Durst was assisting Patrick O’Malley. Ken Hurst was a frequent visitor at the school and highly involved with the school’s coaches for football, boys basketball and girls basketball. All three of these programs were and are exceptionally successful as perennial conference champions and high ranked both locally and statewide. People familiar with the school and its athletic teams indicate that key supporters of those three programs had free access to the coaches both in their classrooms and in their offices in athletic facilities and that the girls basketball head coach was most easily reached via access through the girl’s locker room. There is no record, though, that Hurst ever visited the girls basketball coach by going through the girl’s locker room.

When confronted about Ken Hurst, high school authorities expressed glowing praise and denied that he ever influenced incoming freshmen or had access to the girl’s locker room. They again refused to confirm or deny whether there had ever been any actions taken against anyone for either recruiting violations or improper access to athletic facilities. Attempts to reach Ken Hurst were unsuccessful and he never returned any of our repeated calls.

Following our investigation, Coach KD Durst again said, “I’m unwilling to give any credence to any of Jim Rome’s diatribes and unsupported innuendos by commenting further.” He did acknowledge that he knew of Ken Hurst, both while he attended and played basketball at Bishop McMonigal and while he served as assistant coach. Durst said, “I’m completely unaware of the details regarding Hurst’s support of high school athletics. I merely saw him at the high school on occasion and had a few fleeting inconsequential discussions with him.”

[PointGuard]

Panthers Pounce on Penguins
By Steve Porter

The Penguins led throughout the first half, but Milwaukee cut into their lead late and the half ended with Youngstown State holding onto a 31-25 lead, primarily due to an 11-4 turnover advantage. SF Colin Chambliss led YSU’s scoring with 7 points.

Youngstown State held onto a lead throughout the 2nd half, but with 2 minutes to go, the Panthers knocked down a 3 to put them on top 56-54. 30 seconds later, Will O’Neil fouled out. With 1:16 remaining, Colin Chambliss sunk a 3 from the corner to allow the Penguins to regain a 1-point lead. After a missed shot by Milwaukee, Matt Angner was fouled and he dropped in both shots to make it 59-56 in favor of YSU. Milwaukee called a time out and ran a play to get a clear 3-point shot. They were successful and tied the game with 31 seconds on the clock. The Penguins worked the ball inside to Andre Lilly but he was unable to convert on a drive to the hoop. Milwaukee put up a shot from 15 feet with 6 seconds to go and it went in to sink the Penguins and send them to a 61-59 defeat. Although YSU held a 22-11 turnover advantage that was offset by a 2nd game with poor shooting. The Penguins hit just 37% of their FG attempts, 29% of their 3’s, and 47% of the FT attempts.

SF Colin Chambliss scored 12 while hauling in 7 rebounds. PG Pat White added 11 points.

In the post-game interview room Coach KD Durst expressed disappointment in how his team performed, “We held a lead throughout almost the entire game, but then let it get away from us in the final minutes. This is a game we should NOT have lost.”

Durst reported that SG Matt Angner strained his back in the final seconds of the game and will be held out of practice the next few days, but that team athletic trainers believe he will be ready to play in the Penguins next game.

When asked by a TV reporter what he had to say about Jim Rome’s accusations and if his thinking about them detracted from preparation of his team for this game, Durst replied, “Why would I have a comment about bogus and asinine allegations? I really didn’t give them a moment’s concern. There was absolutely no reason at all for me to lose my focus on preparing the Penguins to play Milwaukee. I’ll take the hit, though, for not rallying the team in the waning moments of the game when the Panthers caught up and passed us. But the guys executed the play we diagrammed during the time out before our final possession very well. The ball just didn’t drop through the hoop. Unfortunately that happens sometimes.”

The same reporter followed up by asking Durst if there were any skeletons hiding in his closet. Durst testily snarled, “That’s a helluva dumb question to ask anyone, and if that’s the best question that can be asked, there’s no reason for me to be here any longer.” He then rose from the interview table and stormed from the room.

[PointGuard]

Whistles Haunt Penguins
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State travelled to Detroit to take on the first-place Detroit Titans (7-4, 2-0) last night.

The Penguins fell behind 11-3 to start the game. YSU fought to cut into the Titans lead from there on but each time they did, Detroit re-established a 6-9 point advantage. But when SF Colin Chambliss tossed in a long 3-pointer with 2:04 remaining, the Penguins forged ahead 39-37. The half ended with the score knotted at 41-41. SG Matt Angner led the Penguins’ scoring with 10 points.

With the refs still calling foul after foul against the Penguins in the 2nd half, the Titans again pulled ahead. The officiating drove Coach Durst vent his outrage against the officials resulting in a technical. YSU struggled to get back on top but trailed by between 1 and 5 points and with 4-1/2 minutes left were behind 70-69. With 3:14 to go, C Will O’Neil was fouled and dropped in both free throws to tied the game 71-71. Two more fouls against the Penguins allowed Detroit to go ahead 75-71 with 1-1/2 minutes remaining. The Penguins were unable to score from there on and lost 77-71. Detroit went to the line 15 more times than YSU and scored 8 more points on free throws. With the loss the Penguins league record fell to 1-2 and dropped them 2 games behind league-leading Detroit and Oakland.

SG Matt Angner scored 16, C Will O’Neil had a double-double (12 points and 12 rebounds), and PF/C Andre Lilly scored 11.

Following the game, when asked about the officiating, Coach KD Durst simply stared at the questioner and was mute.

[Wayne23]

$#%$##@#*&*&*^%$ Refs!!!

[CoachC]

'There are no records of actions taken against Durst by the Bishop McMonigal High School. There also were no newspaper records regarding improprieties by Durst. The private high school has been the focus of repeated rumors over the years concerning their unusual ability to bring talented freshmen to play for their football and basketball teams, but no disciplinary actions have been taken against the school by local or state sports authorities'."

And although it is public record that local authorities and the state high school association never brought charges against coach Dunst, during that period, it doesn't mean he wasn't investigated, however ineptly. What we at the Rome Institute For Better Sports Reporting have uncovered, however are the reports of the diocese that were never made public and which the state authorities never bothered to subpoena. That Coach Durnst has never bothered to directly answer questions directly to the founder of this institute implies that he has something to hide

[PointGuard]

The Most Reverend James D. Flannery, Aux. Bishop of Philadelphia Overseeing Catholic Education, has made a formal written request to the Rome Institute for Better Sports Reporting to provide a copy of any and all documents and reports the Institute possesses regarding alleged improprieties related to Bishop McMonigal High School as reported by Jim Rome and the Institute so that these allegations can be thoroughly reviewed and investigated.

[PointGuard]

Penguins’ Defense Rules
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State played defense soundly and pulled away to a 23-7 lead over visiting Wright State after 11 minutes of play. The Penguins continued to pile it on and by the end of the half were burying the Raiders to the tune of 46-18. YSU held Wright State’s shooting to 21%, dominated the boards 25-12, and had a 9-4 turnover advantage. C Will O’Neil scored 15 while pulling down 7 boards.

The Penguins merely held off the Raiders in the 2nd half and ended with a 80-54 thumping of Wright State. YSU had a 48-26 rebounding advantage and forced the Raiders to make 17 turnovers while making just 7 themselves. Even though the Penguins improved their Horizon League record to 2-2, they remain 2 games behind league-leaders, Detroit and Oakland.

C Will O’Neil scored 23 and had 8 rebounds. PG Pat White scored 12 and had 6 assists and 6 boards. PF/C Andre Lilly added oints.

“It’s nice to get a solid win at home, but now we have to get back to winning on the road,” said Coach KD Durst.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Offense Surges
By Steve Porter

Wisconsin-Green Bay entered last night’s game with a 3-1 league record and a 7-6 season record. But 3 of those 6 losses were against teams ranked 1st, 2nd, and 5th in the nation. Three players were averaging in double figures: C Jamil Weekes 15.5 ppg, SG Romain Perry 14.9 ppg, and SF Julian Bonner 10.1 ppg while reserve C Reggie Little averaged 8.8 ppg. “Playing this team on the road is a heckuva challenge. We’re going to have to execute extremely well if we want any chance to win this game,” said Coach KD Durst.

Even though the Penguins jumped out to an 8-2 lead, C Will O’Neil was called for 2 fouls less that 2 minutes into the game. Even though the refs were calling nearly all the fouls against YSU, the Penguins shot well early and held a 24-12 lead with 11 minutes to play in the first half. YSU hit 58% of their FG attempts in the half and even though the refs send the Phoenix to the line 10 more times, the Penguins led 44-38 at the break. SF Colin Chambliss led YSU’s scoring with 12 points.

The Phoenix cut the lead to 2 early in the 2nd half, but Youngstown State responded by pulling ahead by 12 and then holding onto a double digit lead for most of the rest of the half. Wisconsin-Green Bay cut the lead to 78-72 with 1:52 remaining. But the Penguins tightened down defensively allowing them to pull away to soundly defeat the Phoenix 87-74. YSU dropped in 55% of their shots and controlled the boards 35-29. The win improved the Penguins Horizon League record to 3-2 and put them in a 3-way tie for 3rd place.

PF/C Andre Lilly scored 17, PF Lee Pauly had a double-double (14 points and 12 rebounds), SF Colin Chambliss finished with 12, and SG B.J. Dennis scored 10. For Wisconsin-Green Bay, C Jamil Weekes tossed in 23 points.

“This was a career game for Lee Pauly. With Will O’Neil’s minutes limited due to foul problems, Andre Lilly came on strong also. The entire team pulled together when the Phoenix threatened in the early going of the 2nd half. I was really pleased by how we played tonight and happy to see us regain our footing on the road,” said Coach KD Durst.