YSU BASKETBALL Penguins screening applicants

Youngstown State hopes to have a new men's coach on board by early April.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ron Strollo is a busy man.
As Youngstown State athletic director, Strollo will be sorting through about 50 resumes in the next couple of weeks trying to find a new men's basketball coach for the Penguins.
John Robic was fired at the end of the season -- his fourth straight with at least 20 losses -- and the search for a new coach was begun almost immediately.
"We've got just over 40 applications in right now and you have to remember that our season ended rather early," Strollo said. "There are a lot of teams who have been playing right up until this past weekend."
Committee in place
Strollo said that he should have a search committee in place this week and expects to have them going over applications no later than early next week.
"We'll be holding our first meeting this week," Strollo said, "and then start going over the search results. We've done a lot of research on our own of the candidates involved and we will be sharing those results with the committee in the next couple of weeks.
Strollo said that he has received applications from all levels of the basketball profession, including high school, junior college, Division II and Division I coaches.
"The quantity is there and we also feel that the quality is there also," he said.
One of the criteria set forth by the university when the search began was for an applicant to have at least 8-to-10 years of college coaching experience.
"We hope to spend the next week or so going over the applications and then in a couple of weeks bring in the top candidates for interviews. We are hoping to have a new coach to announce sometime in early April," said Strollo.
Milwaukee's success
Strollo, who attended the first- and second-rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Cleveland over the weekend, was excited about the success of the Horizon League's representative, Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The Panthers won two games over the weekend and have advanced to the tournament's "Sweet 16."
"Each win is worth about $1 million to the Horizon League," Strollo said.
The league doesn't divide all that money among its member schools.
"The money is used to run the league office," Strollo said. "The league uses it to play travel expenses for its members to championship events.
"If there is a surplus, then that money will be divided among the members," he added. "We'll get a little bit."