Slocum excited about Penguins’ upcoming year

By Greg Gulas

The YSU men’s coach feels this is the most balanced team he’s had here.

BOARDMAN — For the first time in four seasons as YSU head basketball coach, Jerry Slocum cannot wait for the season to get underway.

Speaking to the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s weekly luncheon meeting at the Blue Wolf Banquet Center, Slocum admitted this year’s schedule will be challenging, but said he finally has some of the pieces in place to tackle those opponents head on.

“We needed to make some changes because we just weren’t happy with our level of play,” he said. “We’re more balanced offensively, but added three newcomers to the program who, in addition to being very good offensively, are excellent defenders as well.

“In my mind this is the most balanced squad that I have had while at YSU. There are seven or eight players that I feel can make significant contributions offensively during a game.”

With 610 overall wins in 34 seasons as a head coach, Slocum ranks sixth nationally on the list of 16 active coaches with 600 or more victories.

He was pleased with his team’s showing in the first of their two pre-season scrimmages, held this past Saturday in Erie, Pa., against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference foe, Canisius College.

He’s hoping they will continue that improvement in their final pre-season tune-up next Tuesday when they host Geneva College at the Beeghly Center.

“With seven new players in our program, that’s a major learning curve,” he said. “I was pleased with how we defended the ball as well as with our offensive play. We’re basically trying to just get the players to know each other; know where they will be on the court at all times.

“I also wanted to see how hard we would play. Its one thing to play against each other in practice, but it’s a different deal when you are going up against someone else.”

Slocum isn’t one to shy away from competition. His three previous teams have played three Big Ten foes, a Big East team, an ACC opponent and a Pac-10 squad last season that made it to the Final Four in UCLA.

“We want our players to experience playing the very best competition,” he said. “That will only make us a better team and also prepare us for our conference schedule.

“This year, we’re additionally excited in that we were able to work our schedule the way we would like it to be. We start out at home, play three of our first five games at home and over the next three years will play 15, 14 and 15 home games respectively.”

This year’s Penguin team is arguably the newest collection of talent ever assembled by Slocum and staff.

Exactly what kind of team then should fans expect to see?

“We’ll run, push the ball and play as fast as we can offensively because we are a more balanced unit,” he said. “However, we will need to find a level of confidence and competitiveness early, and it has to take place on every possession if we expect to be successful this season.”

The Penguins will honor former head coach Dom Rosselli by wearing a patch on their uniforms that will display either his initials, or the word COACH.

The legendary men’s coach, who won 589 games during a storied coaching career from 1940-82, passed away Oct. 7.

The Penguins open their season at home against the University of Buffalo on Nov. 15.

Next week, Bill Lawson, executive director of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, will serve as guest speaker.