The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State University Penguins Player Stats for 2018-2019 Season:

[PointGuard]

POST-SEASON TOURNAMENTS

Man, I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I'm sort of happy that the Penguins didn’t win the Horizon League Tourney. Well, yeah it would have been a big honor for them and for the city of Youngstown to have them in March Madness, but….

But…now they’ll be in a lesser tournament and maybe have a chance to play more that the one game they would have played and lost in the NCAA tourney. And yeah, that means a few more bylines for me.

And…had they won and gone to the NCAA tournament, it probably would have been Coach Durst’s ticket out of town and on to a bigger and better job and we would’ve more than likely got a loser head coach in his place.

So, let's check out where Youngstown State and other Horizon Teams ended up for Post-Season Tourney Time and how they did:

CIT (Horizon League participants):

UIC is the #1 seed in the South Region

Round 1:

#8 Memphis-97, #1 UIC-87 (UIC was behind by as much as 22 points; SG Tim Patterson scored 19 and PG Dan Rucker scored 12 points and had 10 assists)

NIT (Horizon League participants):

Detroit is the #8 seed in the Midwest Region
Youngstown State is the #2 seed in the West Region

Hey, the newspaper just told me I can follow the team to any of their NIT games so I get a chance to see some of the world outside of Youngstown. I’m writing stories for each game they play, but will just give you a short synopsis here rather than the whole enchilada.

Round 1:

#8 Detroit-66, #1 Mississippi State-64 (Close all the way; SG Rufus Benton scored 17 and C William Rogers scored 13 and had 12 rebounds)

YSU's Game 1—Since YSU is the higher seed, the game will be played on their home court. Not much of a trip for me.

#2 Youngstown State-75, #7 Loyola-Chicago-73 (The Penguins led by as much as 10, but had to hold off a frenzied finish; PF Aaron Tice scored 14 and had 8 rebounds; PF Rich Braswell scored 14; C Jamal Grady scored 10; C Kevin Anderson scored 10)

Round 2:

#5 Gonzaga-82, #8 Detroit-73 (Detroit trailed by 17 early in the 2nd half; SF Garvin Moore scored 18 points)

YSU's Game 2—Well damn..they’re still the higher seed and again the game is here in Youngstown. The newspaper’s happy as hell about this since they’re saving all sorts of money.

#2 Youngstown State-99, #3 Baylor-84 (First half was close with many lead changes but the Penguins took a 49-40 lead to the locker room and then held a double-digit lead throughout the 2nd half; C Jamal Grady scored 23; PF Aaron Tice and PG Levall Hart both scored 15; PF Rich Bramwell scored 12)

Round 3:

YSU's Game 3—Finally, the Penguins at the #2 seed play the #1 seed and it’s off to Oklahoma for me. Norman, OK is not my idea of paradise, but so be it.

#2 Youngstown State-93, #1 Oklahoma-78 (The Penguins trailed 46-41 at the half but rallied early in the 2nd half and pulled away for a big win; C Jamal Grady scored 28 points and had 9 rebounds; SF Chad Delzell scored 16; PF Aaron Tice scored 12)

Round 4 (SemiFinals):

YSU's Game 4—In the semi’s and on to Madison Square Garden and the Big Apple for me. Now we’re talkin’!

#1 Georgia-80, #2 Youngstown State-72 (The Penguins trailed 38-35 at the half and while staying in reach in the 2nd half were unable to catch up; C Jamal Grady-13; PG Linehan Murphy-11; SF Chad Delzell-10).
So the Penguins season concludes. 25 wins and 8 losses overall with a 15-3 league-leading record and making it all the way to the Semifinals in the NIT. Quite an improvement over Coach Durst’s first two seasons.

YSU's Game 4 aftermath—Damn, we lost. I tried to wheedle staying in New York City for the championship round, but my editor said, “Hell no, get your ass home. No one in Youngstown cares now that the Penguins don’t have a chance at being champs and you damned well know that no one here gives a damn about Georgia vs Gonzaga playing for the NIT championship. We’re not spending money on you for nothing. Catch the next flight out of that den of inequity.”

NCAA Tournament (Horizon League participants):

#1 seeds: Louisville, Arizona, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest

Milwaukee is the #13 seed and will play #4 Michigan State.

Round 1:

#4 seed (19th ranked) Michigan State-73, #13 seed Milwaukee-55 (Milwaukee never led; PG Corsley George scored 14 points)

Championship: Georgetown-74, Temple-60

[PointGuard]

Penguins Awarded
By Steve Porter

The Horizon League announced their awards for the 2018-2019 season yesterday. Top awards went to three Penguins.

Horizon League Player of the Year: C Jamal Grady
Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year: PF Aaron Tice
Horizon League 1st Team All-Conference: C Jamal Grady
Horizon League Coach of the Year: Kendrick “KD” Durst

Vic Morrissey, YSU's Athletic Director, was enthusiastic as he talked about the Penguins who received awards, "We've known all along that Jamal, Aaron, and Coach Durst are special and were the keys leading to the re-emergence of basketball success here at Youngstown State. And believe me, we're very pleased to see that others recognize the excellence of these three individuals. Jamal has been a leader on our team the entire three years he's been with us, but his growth during the period has been exciting to watch. Aaron dominates inside and is rock-solid defensively, but also adds offensive strength to our team. And Coach Durst has brought excitement to our basketball program that had long languished before KD came to us three years ago. His leadership and coaching capabilities were evident from the start. Recruits recognize he's bringing excitement and success to YSU basketball and that he can help them develop into more complete players. Fortunately for us, all three of these individuals will be back with us next year as we continue to take the steps necessary to put Penguins basketball on the map."

[PointGuard]

Penguins Sign New Recruit
By Steve Porter

The late spring has brought more than blossoming flowers. It also brought welcome news to Penguins basketball. The Youngstown State Athletic Department announced that Lee Pauly from Toledo, Ohio has signed a letter of intent. Pauly is a 6-7 SF. He averaged 15.0 ppg and 8.7 rpg for Toledo High School this past season. Steve Simmons, the recruiting assistant for the Penguins, said, “We’ve been talking to Lee a long time. Once we found out he had a qualifying SAT score we really honed in on him and Coach Durst visited him and his family twice. Lee is a very strong rebounder and is strong defensively. He’s a good inside shooter and scorer and also can score from outside. He’s the 68th highest ranked recruit in the nation. So now with SF Colin Chambliss and PF LeRoy Delea who signed letters of intent early this year, we have 3 excellent players coming to us next year. We were pursuing two very highly ranked recruits, but they decided to go elsewhere. So we haven’t been able to fill the 4th and last remaining scholarship. Therefore, we’ll likely look to fill it with a transfer player.”


[Other thoughts fro:m the mind of Steve Porter]:

No announcement from the university, but I hear by way of the grapevine that they renegotiated Steve Simmons’ contract as 1st assistant upping his salary and the number of years left on his contract. I imagine that’s due to his work in getting the #68, #101, and #226 ranked recruits to fill scholarships for the upcoming season. Youngstown State is more used to having an extra digit or two added onto the rankings of athletes they recruit…like 1068, 1101, and 1226. My sources say that the program’s not really all that unhappy about not filling the 4th available scholarship either. That’s because they prefer to have 3 rather than 4 or more players in each year class. Also they feel this way they get a chance to possibly pick up a high quality transfer player who may have already proven himself at the college division I level, and the team has the depth to wait a year for him to become eligible to play. I’d sure like to have them find someone who can hit 3’s.

I also hear that since Coach Durst got a bump up in salary and a lengthening of his contract after last season, that they didn’t do anything more for him this year. After the year the Penguins had, that probably isn’t going to sit well with him. From what I hear he had some offers from other schools, but turned them down. If the team keeps improving, YSU is going to have to treat him better or it’s off to better digs for him.

All just rumblings from the peanut gallery so nothing I can write up for the newspaper, but thought you might be interested.

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State Adds Transfer Player
By Steve Porter

It’s two months past the end of last season and five months before the beginning of next season. But the Athletic Department announced today that Pat White will be transferring to play on the men’s basketball team. White is from Kahuku, Hawaii and was the starting point guard last season for the University of Oregon. White, who is 6’5” tall, will have to sit out this coming season but will be a sophomore for eligibility purposes when he can suit up for the Penguins for the 2020-2021 season. He was the #53 ranked recruit when recruited by Oregon Sand started all 29 games last season for the Ducks. He averaged 11.6 ppg, 3.1 apg, and 3.0 rpg as a freshman. He also possesses a 4.0 college GPA.

Coach Steve Simmons, the recruiting assistant for the Penguins, said that the team looked over a large number of PG and SG transfer players. Said Simmons, “There were really some excellent transfer players this year, so it took us a while to evaluate the available players and then contact and recontact several of them. We were not only impressed with Pat’s basketball skills but also his work ethic and durability. When he becomes eligible, we feel he can jump right in as either a starter at PG or SG. He’s a good scorer who can fill up the basket from beyond the arc, with mid-range jumpers, and by posting up in the paint. He’s a strong rebounder and has excellent defensive skills. He’s a very good passer with good court vision. Fortunately he gained experience with our main offensive and defensive sets while playing at Oregon. And oh yeah, he's a guy we won't have to be putting on study table or have to find a tutor for.”

Coach KD Durst added, “I’m extremely excited to land a player with Pat’s skills and can’t wait for him to be able to play for us. Pat said he was impressed by the advances our team made this past year and looks forward to helping us take further upward steps.”

The signing of a top-flight transfer player to fill the last remaining scholarship is like icing on the cake for Youngstown State, which had just completed an outstanding recruiting year with it’s signing of incoming freshmen SF Colin Chambliss, SF Lee Pauly, and PF LeRoy Delea. Chambliss is already expected to start this coming season at SF. Those 3 signings ranked the incoming Penguins’ recruiting class as 50th best in the nation, far above anything that Youngstown State has ever achieved in previous seasons. The next best recruiting class for schools in the Horizon League was UIC which ranked #123.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Recruiting Underway
By Steve Porter

With 3 scholarships to fill this year, Youngstown State began evaluating this year’s crop of recruits. “We would like to pick up 2 guards and a big man this year,” said Steve Simmons, YSU’s assistant coach in charge of recruiting.

Penguins Will Keep Bags Packed
By Steve Porter

The Youngstown State athletic department published the schedule for their basketball team. Fans were shocked when they discovered that the team’s first 7 games will be on the road and 8 of their 9 pre-conference games are away games.

Vic Morrissey, the YSU Athletic Director, explained, “When we tried to renew our insurance for Beeghly Center this summer, we were informed by our insurance carrier that structural repairs needed to be made in order for them to continue providing insurance. We got bids from contractors and scheduled the work for as soon as it possibly could be done. But the repairs won’t be completed until nearly a month into the season. That necessitated the scheduling of the string of games on the road. No one is happy about this, but there really was no alternative.”

Asked if the work included any upgrades to the facility, Morrissey responded, “I wish it did, but the repairs by themselves dipped deep into our budget. So upgrades can only be considered for the future.”

Coach KD Durst said, “At first it was quite a shock, but we’ve now accepted the fact and are looking at it as a challenge. At least the repairs will be completed before Horizon League play begins.”

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State Lands Recruit
By Steve Porter

It’s only mid-September but Youngstown State’s basketball program has already received a verbal acceptance for one of their three scholarships that will come available at the end of this season. The news for the Penguins goes beyond being good to exciting because the player is the 68th highest ranked player throughout the entire nation.

James Asbury is a 6’6” SF from Dexter, Michigan. Last season as a high school junior he averaged 18.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg. Steve Simmons, 1st assistant coach at YSU, exclaimed, “We’re extremely happy to have James commit to our program. He’s a prolific scorer who shoots very well from outside but is very talented at getting inside and putting points on the board there as well. He’s also very strong defensively. We really liked what we saw of him at the Chicago Prep Revue this summer and he was a top 25 player at that camp. He very well could come in and challenge immediately to be a starter. He’s not shone academically but we’re hoping he does well on his SAT’s.”

Simmons added, “We’re working hard to fill the other two scholarships. We’d like to add at least one big man.”

[PointGuard]

Durst Announces Starters for Penguins
By Steve Porter

KD Durst, the head coach for the Youngstown State Penguins announced the starters as the Penguins begin their 2019-2020 season. Said Durst, “Three of the five starting positions are set, but we’re very likely going to have multiple starters at the two guard positions as the season progresses.

“At PG 6-3 Sr Levall Hart will be starting in our opener but the competition between him and both 5-7 Jr Linehan Murphy and 5-6 Sr Tim Lostetter has been extremely intense. All three started part of our games last season, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a repeat of that this season.

“At SG our initial starter will be 6-0 So B. J. Dennis, who started some of our games last season. 6-0 So William Swan and Tim Lostetter will be getting significant minutes, though, and could be starters at some point.

“Our starting SF will be 6-3 Fr Colin Chambliss. But 6-8 Jr William Worley and 6-7 Fr Lee Pauly should be effective coming off the bench.

“6-6 Jr Aaron Tice will again start for us again at PF. He’ll be spelled by 6-7 Jr Kent Jones, 6-3 Fr Colin Chambliss and 6-6 Sr Charlie Paben.

“At C we have 6-10 Sr Jamal Grady, last year’s Horizon League Player of the Year starting. Backing him up will be Kent Jones and 6-8 Sr Kevin Anderson.

“We’ve redshirted freshman PF LeRoy Delea this season. PG Pat White is ineligible to play until next season due to his transfer.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins in Foul Mode
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State travelled to Connecticut for their season opener and took on the Hartford Hawks. The game was a defensive battle early. With the Penguins on top 6-3 though, C Jamal Grady picked up his 2nd foul and an immediate question arose whether YSU would falter with their starting center having to miss most of the half. The Penguins stumbled and dropped behind by 4 points. But YSU didn’t fall bu instead came back to go ahead 24-19 with 6-1/4 minutes left in the half. By the 6 minute mark though, the refs had tagged 4 of the team’s 5 big men with 2 fouls apiece. The short-handed Penguins toughed it out as Coach Durst subbed guys into the game in out-of-positions When the half ended Youngstown State had built a 35-27 lead on the basis of a smothering defense and control of the boards. SG B.J. Dennis led the Penguins scoring with 7 points.

After playing just 4 minutes and scoring just 2 points in the first half, Jamal Grady carried the Penguins, scoring 17 points in first 11 minutes of the 2nd half. With 8 minutes left to play YSU had expanded their lead to 65-51. After opening a 19 point lead a few minutes later, the Penguins coasted to a 77-66 road victory. Youngstown State held the Hawks shooting to 36% and forced 20 turnovers. The refs called 49 fouls against both teams and the two teams paraded to the foul line a total of 67 times in the game.

Jamal Grady finished with 21 points in just 19 minutes of play, but it was a team effort otherwise with a total of 12 of the Penguins scoring and 12 grabbing rebounds.

Coach KD Durst said after the game, “With our front line decimated by fouls, we had to cobble together a host of different lineups. We stuck Colin Chambers inside at PF for much of the first half. He did an admirable job defending even though he was having to go up against much taller players. With all the fouls, our entire bench not only got into the game but played a high number of minutes. And…we got a great defensive effort by everyone on the team. Sure was nice to get a win in our first game of the season. One road game down and six more straight road games to go.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Defense Continues to Rock
By Steve Porter

The Charlotte 49ers lost their opener but they were playing away from home at Georgia Tech, a tough ACC team. The Penguins had to take on the 49ers on their own court.

Even though Youngstown State picked up 3 quick fouls, they jumped out to a 7-1 lead. The Penguins defense held the 49ers in check and with 8-1/2 minutes to go, Tim Lostetter dropped in a 3 to put YSU on top 21-6. The Penguins held Charlotte’s shooting to 25% in the first half and forced the 49ers to make 16 turnovers. YSU also controlled the boards 20-13. The result was a solid 35-17 halftime lead for the Penguins who were led offensively by PF Aaron Tice’s 9 points.

YSU scored the first 4 points of the 2nd half, but C Jamal Grady picked up his 3rd foul after just 1-1/2 minutes of the 2nd half. Charlotte went on a 16-3 run in the next 4 minutes. The Penguins then steadied their game. But Charlotte made another run late and with 4:30 remaining, trailed by just a 62-55 score. The Penguins then scored 12 unanswered points to lead by 19 with 1:22 on the clock. YSU went on to drub the 49ers 76-59. The Penguins hit 51% of their shots, held a 30-25 rebounding advantage and a 26-15 turnover advantage.

C Jamal Grady scored 17, PF Aaron Tice had 13, and C Kent Jones added 10. Freshman SG William Swan scored 9 points during the 12 minutes he was on the court. PG’s Levall Hart and Linehan Murphy combined to dish out 10 assists, score 10 points, and get 6 steals and 2 blocks.

“Other than a couple rough spots in the 2nd half, our guys played lock-down defense tonight,” said coach KD Durst. He added, “We played our entire bench again and everyone on the team made some type of positive contribution tonight.”

The Penguins next travel to Cedar City, Utah where they will take on the 1-1 Southern Utah Thunderbirds.