The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

Pat White Selected in NBA Draft
By Steve Porter

Today, Pat White was the 49th player selected in the NBA’s pro draft. After playing one season for the University of Oregon, White transferred to Youngstown State and started at PG the past three seasons. This past season White averaged 10.2 ppg and 6.9 apg during the regular season. He then led the Penguins by averaging 12.2 ppg and 5.0 apg during the Penguins 5-game march in the school’s NIT Championship run. Vic Morrissey, YSU’s AD, said, “It was really exciting to have Pat drafted. He’s the first Penguin to be drafted by the NBA. He played well all three seasons he was here. We wish him all the success in the world in pro ball.”

Coach KD Durst said, “I’m so psyched that Pat got drafted. We haven't brought in many transfer players, but when we got Pat 4 years ago, I was excited and the way he played for justified that initial excitement. I think his draft stock went way up by the way he played and how he led the team during the NIT games. I suspect he’s the just the first and that more Penguins will be joining him in the pro ranks in the future.”

White said, “I’m still in shock but crazy happy. You always dream of playing pro ball, but when the call came that I’d been drafted I just about fainted. It’s good there were a lot of my buddies around hollering and pounding me on the back to keep me from falling over. When I called my parents, my makuakane (father in Hawaiian) told me he’d been hoping I’d return to Hawaii after graduation but was so proud but that I’d been drafted. He said he’s glad the Clippers drafted me rather than an East Coast team, since it’ll be easier for him to get over. He’s already asking for free tickets for him and his bruddahs.”

[PointGuard]

Durst Pursued by Other Colleges
By Steve Porter

Following the Penguins championship run in the NIT, several colleges have shown interest in hiring KD Durst, the Penguins head coach. Even though he still is under contract to Youngstown State, the school’s athletic department gave him permission to talk with other programs. The list of colleges that he has visited or spoken with on the phone has not been released, but it’s been learned that he participated in some interviews.

But all indications are that he intends to return to YSU this coming season. A person close to Durst said, “I think KD is enjoying the trajectory of the team’s success and would like to see how much further he can take them. Additionally, with Will O’Neil set to go into his senior year this coming season, I’m sure KD wants to continue working with O’Neil as he completes a phenomenal career with the team. I suspect Youngstown State is working on sweetening KD’s contract to keep him working his magic with the Penguins.”

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State Announces Facilities Improvements
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State University’s Athletic Director Vic Morrissey announced that the university will be making upgrades to the basketball facilities this summer. Morrissey said that the improvements will ensure that the facilities offered for the Penguins are tops in the Horizon League. He said all construction will be completed in time for the beginning of the 2023-2024 season.

[PointGuard]

Bombshell!
By Steve Porter

Kendrick “KD” Durst, the coach who brought respectability to Youngstown State basketball is leaving! With no preliminary notice Durst announced that he has taken a new head coaching job and will be leaving immediately. Seemingly caught by surprise, Vic Morrissey, the Penguins’ AD, has named Brandon Warren, who was Durst’s 1st Assistant Coach, as the interim coach. Morrissey advised he is beginning a nationwide search for a new head coach this coming week.

Durst will be moving to Boulder, Colorado to take the head coaching job at Colorado University. While it’s presumed that the salary for his new Pac-12 post will be substantially larger, no reasons were provided for the unexpected move. Durst simply said, “Coaching at Youngstown State has been a tremendous opportunity and I will miss working with the fine athletes and staff that make up the Penguins basketball program.”

James Asbury said, “I’m in a state of shock. Following our success this season, we all were ready to take the next step. I’m really disappointed to see Coach Durst leaving but wish him well at Colorado. He’s getting us all together later today so I guess we’ll know more then.” Asbury's concerns were echoed by Will O'Neil although his comments are unprintable.

[Wayne23]

Good move!

[Tim Moungey]

Knew it.

Should be a good challenge and quite the leap.

[PointGuard]

Why Did Durst Depart?
By Steve Porter

Penguins basketball seemed to be at its highest point ever. The team had just come out on top of the Horizon League standings for the fifth straight season. During that period the team has a stellar 122-41 (.748) record and had participated in the NCAA tournament three times and the NIT tournament twice. They were coming off a championship run in the NIT tournament this past season. For the first time a Penguins’ player (Pat White) had been drafted by the NBA. While the team was losing four seniors to graduation, a late spring recruiting blitz yielded 4 strong recruits. There were quality players, including Will O’Neil the league’s best player, to start at each position next season with a strong bench already in place. KD Durst, the league’s Coach of the Year the past 5 seasons, and his entire staff were set to return and it was anticipated that each would gain lucrative contract extensions. The university had just approved a facility upgrade that would improve facilities to make them as good or better than any other in the league.

And then….the bubble burst! The team’s lynchpin Coach Kendrick “KD” Durst jumped ship to take on the head coaching reins at Colorado University.

What happened to cause this unexpected action? Rumors ran rampant, but yesterday two reliable sources at the university advised that things were going well until a recent meeting between Coach Durst and Vic Morrissey, the university’s athletic director. During that meeting Morrissey apparently expressed displeasure with the team not winning the Horizon League tournament and going to the NCAA tournament rather than the NIT tournament. Durst felt that Morrissey and the university didn’t truly appreciate the team winning the NIT and his efforts to turn the team from the league doormat to the league’s perennial champ. The discussion turned into a protracted argument and Durst left in a huff. While it was no surprise that there were a number of colleges that wanted to hire Durst (including not only Colorado, but also Boston College, Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Washington State, Wichita State, Bradley, and Rutgers), Durst had seemed to want to take the talented Penguins to the next level this coming season. So everyone was surprised when Durst abruptly announced the next day that he had accepted the position with Colorado, a team on a steep downhill trajectory that finished at the bottom of the Pac-12 this past season.

Morrissey has not returned repeated calls to confirm this story, and no “official” report about the loss of Coach Durst has been provided by the university. Durst is in Boulder, Colorado to participate in Colorado’s press conference formally announcing his hiring so has been unavailable.

So we’re left to interpret as best we can:

Durst: Thin-skinned? Yes, it seems so. He could have worked this out with Morrissey rather than storming out and jumping ship. This isn’t the first example of his thin skin though. I’ve been the recipient of his wrath if I even deigned to question one of his decisions. And what’s Durst do with his new “freedom”? He takes a job with a team that is deep in the gutter in a very competitive conference when he could have landed much better jobs. Is that rational or a death wish?

Morrissey: Stupid? Yes! Rather than holding Durst to some arbitrary “goal”, Morrissey should have been congratulating Durst for how he’s built the program and be happy to have a new trophy in the athletic department’s trophy case. Now he has to try to find someone who can not only replace Durst but continue to build the program. And yes, the team’s nucleus remains, but there’s always the possibility that some of the players may decide to seek greener pastures now that their coach (the one they committed to when accepting a scholarship at YSU and the one who led them to a championship) is gone. If the team’s performance goes downhill, Morrissey’s head could (should?) be on the chopping block.

So readers…what are your thoughts?

[Wayne23]

My thoughts? Colorado will slowly get better over the next few years. KD has proven that he knows how to build a solid team.

YSU will spiral downhill. When a good coach leaves a school that result is almost inevitable, especially with a relatively low rated school.

[PointGuard]

[Porter’s Thoughts]:

"No one in Boulder or Denver wants to hire me, so I won’t be following Coach Durst. Instead I will hold onto my job at the newspaper here in Youngstown. Newspaper jobs aren’t that easy to come by these days. Therefore, it will be up to Coach Durst (and possibly others) to pass along how things go in Colorado. I can only hope that whoever Youngstown State hires as a new head coach can keep the Penguins being an interesting story so the paper will want me to keep writing stories about YSU basketball."

(Soooooo--–Steve Porter, signing off)

[PointGuard]

Rocky Mountain Hell?

(Steve Porter told me it's going to be up to me to let you know what's going on...unless someone in Boulder decides to fill you in.)

Well, I made it to Boulder. Gotta say, the University of Colorado has been extremely supportive. They even helped find me a nice house. I think they want to as few demands from external factors as possible so I can jump right in and focus on the Buffaloes basketball program.

I’m still in shock after my quick decision to move on from Youngstown State. I really was expecting to stay at least another season there. It was hard to part ways with the players I’ve been working with there. Since I’ve never had such a talented player before, I’m sure going to miss seeing Will O’Neil complete his collegiate career and take his first steps into the pro ranks. But when there’s a lack of respect from your boss, staying on just didn’t make sense. So that overrode my desire to work with O’Neil this coming season and my hope to get the Penguins deep into the NCAA tourney.

There were some great opportunities with several programs, but Colorado provides the biggest turn-around possibilities. Maybe too big since I’ve gotten several “what the hell were you thinking when you took on such a f’d up program?” comments from other coaches I know well.

There definitely are positives: great (A-) facilities, strong (B) academics, being part of a power conference (Pac-12), a nice college town with beautiful surroundings, and more than a doubling of my previous salary.

But then there are the negatives as well:

1. The team’s record the past 3 years: 10-18, then 8-20, and finally just 5-23 (4-14 and tied for last in the Pac12 with an RPI of 281) this past season. Over the past 6 seasons, the Buffaloes have had losing records to 8 of the 11 other Pac-12 teams in the conference.

2. Only 1 returning starter (PG Chris Smith) with just 5 other scholarship players and 2 walkons returning. Other than Smith, only 2 of the returnees were frequent subs, 1 was ineligible due to transferring, and the other 4 were little used or not used at all this past season.

3. Colorado had 7 scholarships to fill this season but…no recruits signed or committed and there’s just $5 in recruiting budget and just 2 weeks to try to land SOMEone. Just 3 recruits on the team’s current list of recruits have any notes and just a few recruits have a + interest level.

4. Starting budget: $222,500 with $200,000 obligated to asst coaches. The remaining of this season there is just $5 left in the $22,500 recruiting budget.

5. And the assistant coaches? The 1st asst (Jeff Favors, great coach with a reputation of 41 and a 99 recruiting skill level…but a $99K salary with 3 years remaining on his contract); the 2nd asst (Deshawn Reyes, again a very talented coach with a reputation of 39 and a scouting rating of 52…but a $68K salary with 3 years remaining on his contract): and a 3rd asst (Ivory Snoddy, a very strong coach also with a reputation of 39 and a 64 rating for recruiting but being used for practice and his player development rating is just 34…at least his salary is reasonable at $27K with 3 years remaining on his contract). The salaries for the 1st and 2nd assistants just aren’t justifiable since it leaves us with so little money for recruiting activities.

So in hindsight the “what the hell were you thinking” comments were pretty much on target.