From today’s Tribune/Vindy on YSU MBB upcoming season :
YSU’s Calhoun optimistic about 2022-23 season
LOCAL SPORTS
OCT 18, 2022
GREG GULAS
Correspondent
sports@tribtoday.com
BEAVER TOWNSHIP — For the first time since his arrival on the Youngstown State campus, Penguins’ head basketball coach Jerrod Calhoun feels like his team has finally caught the eye of national pundits.
The 2022-23 campaign marks the sixth for Calhoun at YSU and preseason basketball publications have his team ranked as high as No.2 in the Horizon League, as low as No. 6 with all agreeing that this year’s team is poised to make a run, not at just a first ever conference title but a first ever NCAA tournament appearance.
“As far as the Horizon League, I think this year it is a very deep, talented league with seven or eight teams fighting for the championship,” Calhoun told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s meeting at Avion Banquet Center. “Fort Wayne and Northern Kentucky are going to be picked at the top while Oakland, Detroit, Wright State and Robert Morris are teams vastly improved so the league is just getting better and better.
“The conference retained a lot of talented players from last season but teams in the league also took advantage of the transfer portal, adding multiple good players as well. I certainly think we have the depth and I think we have the talent to make a run but can we develop that chemistry, can we develop that identity on the defensive side? The next 20 days or so are going to be important to this group but I have a lot of faith in this team. I really feel good about this year’s group.”
YSU is coming off a 19-win campaign, its third straight winning season – it is the first time they have done that since the 1982-83 through 1984-85 seasons – while its 12 conference wins are the most since joining the Horizon League in 2001.
Calhoun said their offseason was very productive.
“We had a good offseason,” he added. “First, it starts with retaining the guys on your current roster and I feel great about the eight guys that have come back. They played a lot of minutes for us last year and were part of a really successful season, plus some have been a part of history with the three winning seasons in a row so these guys have been around it, they know what it looks like.
“Then, going out and recruiting which is an area really important to your program. I thought our staff did an excellent job of identifying our needs. We needed front court help and were certainly able to find that in Adrian Nelson, Malek Green and some other exceptionally good guards in Brandon Rush and Bryce McBride. Then, a really talented freshman, who I think is the most talented player I have ever recruited to YSU in John Lovelace so retaining and recruiting players, and certainly summer workouts leading into the season are really important to set your foundation, your culture and what you are trying to build.”
Returnees this season include Dwayne Cohill (team leader who averaged 14.9 points per game), Shemar Rathan-Mayes (8.1 ppg), Will Dunn (5.6 ppg), Myles Hunter (5.5 ppg), Chris Shelton (4.2 ppg), Jacori Owens (2.2. ppg), Garrett Covington (10.2 ppg in three games before a knee injury ended his season) and red-shirt freshman Josh Irwin.
Rush is a transfer from Fairleigh Dickinson, Nelson from league foe Northern Kentucky, Green from Canisius and McBride from Eastern Michigan while Lovelace is a true freshman.
“Garrett has been around, he put himself in the portal then decided to come back,” Calhoun stated.
“He was part of our first recruiting class five years ago so he understands the goals we have in place for the regular season and trying to get to the NCAA tournament so we were really happy when he came back, along with all the guys that are returning.”
With their success the past three years, scheduling has become a challenge for Calhoun.
“Scheduling gets harder when you have a little success,” he noted. “People start to look at you a little bit differently so scheduling home games is a much taller task than usual. What we have tried to do is get a good balance. We certainly want to challenge ourselves but I also think that you need to give kids confidence.
“I am a big believer in playing like-opponents, teams from the MAC, Ohio Valley Conference and the Summit League because confidence comes in the non-league if you can have a good showing and I think that’s everything.
“We are certainly excited about it, there are tons of Notre Dame fans in the Youngstown-area so we expect a nice contingent to make that trip on November 13. Plus, Ohio University will be a big draw at Beeghly Center on December 11 as well.”
The Penguins open their season at Canisius on November 7 with their home opener set for November 9 when they host the University of Tennessee-Martin.
Next week, John Barnes, YSU head women’s basketball coach will serve as guest speaker.
