YSU men display promise

The Youngstown State men’s and women’s basketball teams opened their seasons Saturday. Both lost, although one showed promise.

The YSU men suffered a 70-62 loss at home to Buffalo, but the Penguins were right in the thick of things until the very end.

This is a talented men’s team, but it is also one that has seven players who were not on the roster last year. Three are starters.

YSU coach Jerry Slocum did an outstanding job with this year’s recruiting class. He brought in players who can play right now, which is what he had to do.

They problem right now is getting all these new players to come together as a unit. Once that happens the Penguins are going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Slocum also is looking for a leader or two out on the floor, someone to take control and lead this group. There are a lot of possibilities, but as yet no one has really stepped up to take the lead.

Senior Jack Liles and sophomore Vytas Sulskis are both possibilities for that role. They were both starters a year ago. Sulskis is still young and makes those young player mistakes, but he’s probably the best shooter on the team, while Liles has the potential to be a force inside.

Of the newcomers, junior transfer Kevin Bright is another prospect to become a leader, although he hasn’t shot the ball like it was hoped he would. Saturday, he was just 5-of-19 from the field.

Of the newcomers, Bright, juniors DeAndre Mays and Dallas Blocker and sophomore Tom Parks are junior college transfers. True freshmen Sirlester Martin and Ashen Ward are both talented players and the Penguins still haven’t seen Eddie D’Haiti, who has been nursing a shoulder injury.

There is more athleticism on this team than for many years. One thing you can be certain about is that the Penguins will keep the game interesting. It’s also a pretty sure bet that they won’t finish anywhere near where the bottom of the Horizon League this year, where they were predicted.

This team has the talent to finish in the top five in the conference.

YSU will take on Maryland on Tuesday night. The Penguins aren’t expected to win, but you can be sure that they won’t back down against the Division I power.

The YSU women, on the other hand, have a whole lot of problems facing them this season and most showed up in Saturday’s opener at Kent State, a 95-58 defeat.

They can’t shoot, they turn the ball over too much and they aren’t playing very good defense.

First-year coach Cindy Martin inherited seven players from last year’s squad. Six are seniors and none started Saturday.

Martin brought in four players and all of them have seen a lot of action. YSU’s top returnee is senior Tiara Scott, who was being counted on to carry the offensive load. She scored one point against Kent State.

Junior guard Kaitlyn March scored nine points in her first two seasons with the Penguins and played 35 minutes all last season. She’s now a starter and scored 13 points in her first game as a regular Saturday.

Martin knows her team can’t shoot very well, so they have to play good defense and can’t turned the ball over. They had 29 turnovers against Kent State.

The Penguins play their home opener Wednesday against Buffalo in a 7:05 p.m. tipoff at Beeghly.

The YSU football season will come to a close Saturday when the Penguins travel to Western Illinois for a Missouri Valley Conference clash with the Leathernecks.

YSU (3-8) was idle this week and coach Jon Heacock said the Penguins had a good week of practice.

“We went full pads on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the kids really looked and felt great,” Heacock said.

Heacock also said that senior wide receiver Ferlando Williams, who has missed the team’s last two games with a staph infection, practiced this week and will probably play.

“He’s the only [injured player] who will probably be back,” Heacock said.

Western Illinois posted a 48-45 overtime win Saturday against Illinois State.

XPete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.