The Town Crier

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Penguins Land First Recruit
By Steve Porter

The Youngstown State University Athletic Department reported that the Penguins basketball team has received a verbal acceptance of a scholarship offer from their first recruit of this season. C Morris Phelan, a senior at Westside High School in Gary, Indiana will be heading to YSU next year. Phelan is 6’9” tall and as a junior last year, he averaged 15.2 ppg and 9.4 rpg. He’s presently the 96th highest ranked recruit in the nation. The Penguins still have 3 more scholarships to fill this year.

Brandon Warren the Penguins’ new 1st Assistant Coach who is responsible for recruiting said, “It’s really been a battle getting recruits to visit our campus this year so that’s hampered our ability to attract them to our program. We’ve been aiming high so we lost some of the talented recruits we were pursuing to higher prestige programs. But I’m really happy to have Morris coming our way next season. In the summer it didn’t appear we had a chance of getting him, but he was impressed when he finally visited our campus and then Coach Durst did a great job of working him and his parents during recent home visits. He’s a strong inside scorer, but more importantly he’s a rock-solid rebounder and a lock-down defender. With Aaron Tice graduating after this season, it’s important to get another tenacious defender inside and I think Morris can be that person. His coach has told us how hard a worker Morris is and that he’s had no injury problems so that’s good news.”

An unnamed source has said that the remaining Penguins’ recruiting budget is low and could impede efforts to go after recruits and that Coach Durst is concerned they may not fill scholarships that will be opening this season. Calls to the Athletic Department and basketball coaches to follow up on this were unreturned. Prior discussions with Coach Durst have revealed that his attempts over the past three years to increase the recruiting budget have been thwarted.

[PointGuard]

Tension in the Penguin Colony
By Steve Porter

Rumors about some rough practices and animosity between players on the Penguins basketball team surfaced this first week of November. When asked about them, 2nd Assistant Coach A.D. Kenna responded, “We really amped up the intensity of our practices this week. Coach Durant thought our practices had been good, but that the players were settling into too much of a routine. So we put some pressure on them and it resulted in a little pushing and shoving and a lot of trash talk and one-upmanship. But I think we needed that to increase the competition for playing time and starting roles. There’s just a little over a week before we start playing other teams. We still have a cohesive team that will pull together once we get our season rolling.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Ready for Season’s Start
By Steve Porter

“We get that question before every season”, said Coach KD Durst. “’Who are your starters going to be?’ And like every season, I can only truthfully respond that it’s an evolution. As players develop and as the team coalesces, the starters may change and players may move from one position to another so who starts in the first game of the season is often rather immaterial. We’re still trying things out. A guy who starts in the first game may turn out to be a heckuva 6th man…a guy who can come in after 5 or 6 minutes into the gamd and light a fire for us. If that’s the case, even though he may be a good starter, his true value will be as a game-changing substitute.

“But to satisfy you all, here’s the starters against George Mason…

“At the point will be sophomore transfer Pat White. Pat’s 6-5 and not only did he have a good freshman year, averaging 11.6 ppg and 3.1 apg for the Oregon Ducks, but he’s been productive and a leader in our practices the past month. 5’7” senior Linehan Murphy who started two-thirds of our games the past 2 seasons continues to perform well and will get a lot of court time, but I’m liking the 10 inch height advantage that Pat brings.

“At the two will be B.J. Dennis. But it’s really be a toss up as to whether he or William Swan will start so I suspect both will not only get a lot of minutes but also be starters throughout the season and we’ll just see how it all plays out. They’re both 6 foot juniors. Freshman Noel Manley, who is 6’5”, could be a future star for us so we’ll try to give him as much experience as we can so he can develop.

“Colin Chambliss will again start for us at the small forward position to begin the season. But we’re loaded at that position with talented freshman James Asbury joining the team this year and senior William Worley and sophomore Lee Pauly returning. James, William and Lee are all big (6-7 or 6-8), so if they develop to the point of being strong starters, it’s possible we may move Chambliss to shooting guard. Even though Colin is just 6’3”, he’s a rock solid rebounder so that would really beef up our team rebounding capabilities. He’s also got some very good ball handling and passing skills.

“At power forward 6’6” senior Aaron Tice should be even more of a force scoring, on the boards, and I’m sure will continue to be our foremost defender. He’ll be backed up by 6-8 redshirt freshman LeRoy Delea and we’ll also probably have Lee Pauly moving inside to back up Tice.

“6’8” freshman Will O’Neil has come on strong during practice and will start at center. But 6-7 senior Kent Jones could also start for us at that position. While Jamal Grady left some big shoes to fill, I think Will is going to eventually be one helluva player and we already know that Kent Jones is a solid force inside.

We’re also got two new walk-on players, 6-4 sophomore Blake Elleby who is a point guard and 6-8 junior Mike Watson who is a power forward as backups at those positions.

“We’ve gone from having 100% of our players coming from Ohio to a point where now over half our scholarship players are from out of state. I think that shows how dynamic our recruiting program has become.”

When asked how he thought his squad would do this season, Durst replied, “It’s normally my nature to play down our chances, but to be honest, I’m feeling good about how we will do this season. I think we can compete with any of the teams on our schedule this year. I can’t predict how many games we’ll win and lose, but I think we will win our share of games and again compete for the top of the Horizon League. Our goal is to get back to the NCAA Tournament and do some damage there. But we know that after winning both the Horizon League regular season standings and the conference tournament plus winning a game in the NCAA Tourney other teams will be gunning for us. So we’re gonna need to play consistently at the top of our game.”

Backing up Durst’s optimism, the Horizon Sportswriters Group has unanimously picked the Penguins to come out atop the Horizon League standings this season. The Sportswriters Group predicts that Valparaiso, Detroit, Wisconsin-Green Bay, and Wright State will follow Youngstown State in the top half of the league standings.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Shaky in Opener
By Steve Porter

The Youngstown State Penguins had their season opener at home last night. They were matched up against the visiting George Mason Patriots.

The Penguins shot horribly and were completely manhandled on the boards early and fell behind 24-8 with 11 minutes to play in the first half. YSU slowly whittled away at the lead and by the end of the half trailed by just 6 points, 34-28. Even though they began to him some shots late in the half, the Penguins only knocked down 25% of their FG attempts in the first half. Freshman C Will O’Neil tallied 8 points to lead their scoring.

Youngstown State came out of the locker room breathing fire and tied the game at 36-36 with 18:27 to play. The Penguins took their first lead with 17:41 left at 38-36. Even though the Patriots could not regain the lead, they kept the game close. With 6 seconds to play, Pat White sunk 2 free throws to ice the game for the Penguins who pulled out a squeaker, 72-68. YSU improved their shooting for the entire game to 37%, but the primary difference in the game was their 22-10 advantage in turnovers.

C Will O’Neil scored 16 and grabbed 6 boards, PG Pat White finished with 15 points and 6 assists, and SF Colin Chambliss hit for 12 while pulling down 8 rebounds.

“I’m hoping this was opening game jitters,” said Coach KD Durst. “Our shooting was abysmal in the first 12-14 minutes of the game and while it got better thereafter, it never really was good. Fortunately our defense, while not rock solid, was good enough to keep them from completely running away from us. We were able to control the pace and game flow in the 2nd half, so that was a positive. Our two new guys, Will O’Neil and Pat White, showed a lot of Thpromise. I’m glad we were able to pull out a win, but we really need to step it up, particularly since our next 4 games are on the road.”

PG Pat White said, “It was really good to be able to play in a game again. Sitting out last year due to the transfer was tough. We have a good bunch of guys on this team. We had a lot of trouble getting loose tonight, but that’s behind us now.”

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Rams Use 2 Runs to Butt Penguins
By Steve Porter

The Penguins visited the Rhode Island Rams last night. The two teams exchanged baskets up to the point it was tied 16-16, but then the Rams went on a 18-2 run. Rhode Island then kept the Penguins from making an offsetting run and went on to take a 45-30 halftime advantage. C Will O’Neil hit 8 of 9 shots to score 16 points in the half.

Midway through the 2nd half, the Penguins began cutting into the Rams’ lead and with 7:11 to go had reduced the deficit to 58-52. Rhode Island re-established a 10 point lead but YSU fought back and when PF Aaron Tice took his man to the basket and layed it in, he made the score 69-65 with 1:44 remaining. The Rams missed a shot and Tice drove to the hoop for another bucket to cut the lead to just 2 points with 1:22 left. A full court press by the Penguins forced a turnover. But the Rams then stole a pass and drove for a lay-in to make it 71-67. C Will O’Neil then cut across the key to drop in a shot to again pull the Penguins within 2 points with 46 seconds on the clock. Instead of fouling, YSU let the Rams work the clock down. SF Colin Chambliss stepped in front of a pass and stole the ball and then flipped it up court to streaking SG William Swan who scored on the break to tie the game with 18 seconds remaining. Rhode Island hit a 3 from the corner with at the 0:04 mark. PG Pat White took the inbounds pass and drove quickly upcourt and lofted a desperation shot from beyond the half court line that miraculously found the silks to tie the game at the buzzer at 74-74.

Rhode Island buried three 3’s early in the O.T. and took an 85-78 lead with 2 minutes left. The Penguins had no more late game magic in them and fell 86-78. Rhode Island hit 14 of 29 three-pointers in the game, but the real difference in the game was that the Rams scored 15 more points than the Penguins at the free throw line.

C Will O’Neil dropped in 24 points while getting 7 rebounds. PF Aaron Tice had a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards and he also had a steal and 3 blocks. PG Pat White scored 10 and had 9 assists. Fpr Rhode Island PG Williams Bowie scored 21 points and hit 5 of 7 of his 3 points shots.

Coach KD Durst said, “I can’t say enough about how our guys fought back in the latter part of the 2nd half to send the game into overtime. But you have to give credit to Rhode Island for how they caught fire in the O.T. So tonight for us, a good try but no cigar.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Freshman Wins Award
By Steve Porter

The Horizon League named C Will O’Neil as the league’s Freshman of the Week. In his first two collegiate games, O’Neil poured in 40 points, pulled down 13 rebounds, and blocked 6 shots.

“It was a great start for Will,” said Coach KD Durst. “He works hard in practice and is very focused during games.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Ride Roughshod Over Mustangs
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State travelled to Texas to take on the Southern Methodist Mustangs last night.

The refs called 5 fouls against the Penguins in the first 2-1/2 minutes and PF Aaron Tice was on the bench with 2 fouls after just a minute of play. But YSU was on fire from the field early and led 19-13 with 12 minutes to go in the half. Their lead expanded to 31-18 with 8 minutes remaining in the half. As the Penguins’ shooting cooled in the latter stages of the half their lead shrunk, but they went to the locker room with a solid 41-32 advantage. SF Chris Chambliss was their leading scorer with 10 points in the half.

The YSU offense continued to blister the nets in the 2nd half and their lead grew to 67-48 with 13 minutes to play. SMU cut into the lead which shrunk to as little as 9 points, but the Penguins held on to notch a comfortable 93-80 road win.

SG William Swan and C Will O’Neil both scored 16 points and SF Chris Chambliss added 15 while PG Pat White had 8 assists.

[PointGuard]

Zip Taken Out of Penguins
By Steve Porter

An hour’s bus ride took the Youngstown State Penguins to Akron to take on the Akron Zips last night. A sizeable rooting section for the Penguins followed.

Even though Coach Durst was forced to play a very deep bench in the first half as his starters got into foul trouble, the Penguins kept close to the Zips until late in the half. Akron pulled away to sport a 43-35 halftime advantage by hitting 57% of their FG attempts. SF Colin Chambliss led YSU offensively with 14 points in the half. But Akron’s PG Hayward Taylor hit 4 of 5 three-point shots and matched Chambliss’ 14 points.

The Penguins chipped away at the lead and got within a single point at 56-55 with 10:18 remaining. While YSU stayed close they couldn’t capture the lead, but with 1:49 on the clock, PG Linehan Murphy was fouled shooting and sunk both free throws to tie the game at 68-68. Akron hit a 3 and then on then stole the ball on the Penguins next two possessions and converted driving layups to open a 7 point lead with 45 seconds remaining. Two more turnovers sealed the Penguins fate and they fell 75-70 dropping their season record to 2-2.

SF Colin Chambliss and C Will O’Neil both scored 22 points for Youngstown State. Akron’s Hayward Taylor finished with 20 points,

“Turning the ball over 19 times, including 4 in the last 90 seconds, makes it difficult to win games,” said Coach KD Durst. “We had our chances and I was hoping momentum had swung our way in the waning minutes of the game. But you’ve gotta give the Zips credit though. After they pulled away late in the first half, they simply refused to yield the lead. Chris (Chambliss) played well throughout the game and even though Will (O’Neil) had severely limited playing time due to foul problems, he poured in a lot of points when he was on the court. Tonight though, we needed a little more back up support from the rest of the team.”

[PointGuard]

O’Neil Wins Second Weekly Award
By Steve Porter

The second weekly Freshman of the Week Award was again presented to Youngstown State’s C Will O’Neil. In the two games played by the Penguins this past week, O’Neil scored 38 points while collecting 12 rebounds.

O’Neil said, “Its an honor to get these awards. They’re really the result of the outstanding support provided by my teammates though. As much as I appreciate getting the personal awards, winning games is the most important thing and for that I’m just a cog in the coach’s wheel.”

[PointGuard]

Colonials End Up In Penguins Colony
By Steve Porter

With three starters averaging over 15 ppg, Youngstown State’s opponents of last night, the 2-1 George Washington Colonials, presented a unique challenge. “I’ll guess we’ll just see who has the hot hand and try to clamp down on that player,” said Coach KD Durst before the game.

Attacking inside the Penguins took an 10-5 lead in the first 5 minutes of play. They then sunk three 3-pointers to go ahead 19-9. YSU maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the half and went to the locker room ahead 37-25. The Penguins’ defense limited the Colonials to 35% shooting and forced 10 turnovers. C Will O’Neil led Youngstown State’s offense with 10 points. The Penguins limited the 3 staring perimeter players for Duquesne to a total of 27 points, well below their average, and a good portion of those 27 points came during the Dukes’ run in the middle of the 2nd half when YSU had 5 subs on the floor.

Even though George Washington made a couple runs, the Penguins were able to hold them at arms’ length and even expanded their lead to as much as 20 points. YSU then coasted to an easy 71-59 road victory due to a defense that held the FG shooting by the Colonials to just 33%. The win improved their record to 3-2.

C Will O’Neil topped Youngstown State’s scoring with 17 points. PF Aaron Tice recorded a double-double scoring 15 while hauling in 12 boards. SF Colin Chambliss added 10 points while PG Pat White dished out 8 assists and grabbed 7 rebounds. For George Washington, PG Derek Rohwer scored 16 but the Penguins’ held the Colonials’ top scorer, SF Barry Claxton, to just 6 points as he hit just 2 of 13 shots from the field.

“That’s the 4th straight game for us on the road, so it will be good to get back home for out next game against Duquesne,” said Coach Durst. He added, “The team played solidly on both ends of the court today and we got production from both starters and reserves tonight.”

After the Penguins first 5 games, Will O’Neil is their leading scorer averaging 19.0 ppg, Aaron Tice is their top rebounder with 8.4 rpg, and Pat White has the most assists with 7.0 apg.