YSU AD begins job with NCAA

Youngstown State athletic director Ron Strollo will be in California this week as he gets his first taste of being a member of the NCAA Championship/Competition Cabinet.
Strollo was selected to the four-year post and will represent the Horizon League.
"Basically this is my first meeting and I won't have a vote. I'll be sitting in the back of the room taking everything in," Strollo said. "I'm excited, this is good for the university and the conference."
Basically, the NCAA is run by a board of directors made up of university presidents. Then under the board are two cabinets, the Academic Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet and the Championships/Competition Cabinet.
"If you remember, former YSU assistant athletic director Pauline Saternow served on the academic cabinet for us," Strollo said.
Strollo's meetings take place in La Jolla, Calif., and each NCAA Division I conference has a seat.
"Some of the things that this group will handle will be the championship brackets, tournament formats, certification of bowl games, squad sizes, playing and practicing times and the number of contests permitted to play each season," he said.
Strollo, who also chairs the Horizon League's television committee, says that he hopes this opportunity will help him to get more Horizon League people involved in NCAA committees.
Still seeking assistant
Youngstown State men's basketball coach John Robic is still looking for a third assistant coach. The vacancy occurred when Bill Pope accepted an assistant coaching position at Louisiana-Lafayette.
The fact that Pope's new boss, Glynn Cyprien, was just hired and received a four year contract, was probably a big factor in the move, since Robic is entering the final year of his contract at YSU, with a win-or-out situation staring him in the face.
Robic still has Dolph Carroll and Winston Smith on his staff.
Hill fills staff
Second-year women's basketball coach Tisha Hill recently filled out her coaching staff with the addition of Alvis Rogers and Stacy Krueger. Second-year coach Kara Wile was the only holdover.
Both Rogers and Krueger bring experience and knowledge to the staff. Krueger is also very familiar with the Horizon League since she was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter at UW-Green Bay.
Rogers was a standout at Wake Forest, earning freshman All-American honors as well as helping the Demon Deacons to two NCAA tournament appearances. He was drafted by the NBA's Kansas City Kings (now Sacramento) in 1983. He also played professionally in Europe.
Krueger's first assignment for the Penguins will be helping Hill to organize a golf outing.
The four-person scramble event is Aug. 10 at Reserve Run Golf Course. It will include a 7:30 a.m. registration and a shotgun start.
The cost is $300 for a foursome or $75 for an individual and includes green fees, cart, prizes and lunch. Hole sponsorships are also available for $100.
For more information contact Krueger are (330) 941-3116.
Other coaches added
Two other coaching vacancies were filled in the YSU athletic family recently.
First-year women's soccer coach Anthony James added Greg Mitchell to his staff. Mitchell, who serves as camp director for the YSU youth soccer camp, spent the last four seasons as women's coach at Davis & amp; Elkins (W. Va.) College.
The last coaching addition came last week when softball coach Christy Cameron added former YSU standout Zetta Dumkrieger to her staff.
Dumkrieger, who played two seasons with the Penguins after transferring from Coastal Carolina University, played a key role on the 2003 team which posted a school-best 36-17-1 record.
Detroit drops baseball
Horizon League member Detroit-Mercy recently announced the baseball program would be eliminated as a cost-cutting measure.
The Titans are still looking into ways to keep the program in operation for the 2005 season, but that would be the final one regardless.
XPete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.