YSU basketball begins drills

By Pete Mollica

Both the men’s and women’s teams get underway this weekend.

YOUNGSTOWN — This weekend the Youngstown State men’s and women’s basketball teams will officially begin preparations for the upcoming season.

For both programs this season marks a new beginning as both teams have a lot of new faces as they get ready to take on the difficult Horizon League.

For fourth-year men’s coach Jerry Slocum there will be eight new faces on the roster to go with three returning starters from a year ago when the Penguins struggled through a 9-21 season, including a 5-13 mark in the Horizon League.

“This is the first time since I’ve been here that I feel the talent level is where it should be,” Slocum said.

The YSU women’s team begins a new era under the direction of first-year coach Cindy Martin.

Martin, who took over the reigns in the spring after Tisha Hill’s contract was not renewed, spent three seasons as coach at Indiana (Pa.) University where she compiled a 70-23 record and won at least 19 games each season.

Martin has six returning seniors from last year’s team which posted a 14-17 record, including 8-10 in the Horizon League.

“Since school began we’ve been working on nothing but mental toughness, conditioning and fundamentals,” Martin said. “Now we’re ready to get down to preparing for the season.”

The three returning starters for the men’s team include seniors Jack Liles (6-foot-7 forward), sophomore Vance Cooksey (6-0 point guard) and sophomore Vytas Sulskis (6-7 guard).

Also returning this year are senior guard Mikko Niemi (6-2), sophomore Dan Boudler (6-8) and senior Zack Rebillot (6-6).

The rest of the roster will be new faces, with the exception of redshirt freshman Blair Rozenblad (6-3 guard) who sat out last season with injuries.

In the offseason Slocum shored up the post position by signing a trio of gifted newcomers. Junior college transfers Dallas Blocker (6-9) and Silester Martin (6-7) along with touted freshman Eddie D’Haiti (6-8) are all expected to see playing time.

Liles, who has started 62 games in his career, is expected to be a force inside this season. He’s averaged 9.7 points a game for his career.

“I’ve lost 20 pounds over the summer and I’m really moving around so much better inside,” he said. “I’m looking forward to my senior season.”

Cooksey and Niemi shared the point guard duties last year, while Cooksey led the team with 88 assists. They’ll be joined by Sulskis, who averaged 10.7 points a game and made the Horizon League’s all-newcomer team.

Slocum is looking forward to see what Rozenblad can do this year. He was an all-state performer at Kennedy Catholic.

Newcomers Kelvin Bright, DeAndre Mays and Tom Parks are all junior college transfers, while true freshman Ashen Ward was the Division III player of the year and first team All-Ohio at Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph.

The Penguins also have 6-2 freshman Ben Umbel from Poland on the roster. Umbel set the state’s single season record with 176 steals last year and was a first-team All-Ohio selection.

Martin’s six returning seniors are 6-0 forward Tiara Scott, a second-team All-Horizon selection; 5-8 guard Kelsey Gurganus; 5-7 guard Velissa Vaughn; 5-8 guard Monique Godfrey; 6-1 forward Ashley Pendleton, and 6-2 center Nikita LaFleur.

The only other returning player is 5-8 junior guard Kaitlyn March.

The Penguins also have 6-3 junior forward Rachel Manuel, a transfer from Southern Mississippi, who sat out last season because of the NCAA transfer rules.

The newcomers are all guards, including transfer Jaquetta Westley (5-7 junior), while the other three are freshmen — Kenya Middlebrooks (5-7), Macey Nortey (5-3) and Camisha Alexander (5-5).

“You’re not going to see just one star on this team, but you’ll see some old-fashioned basketball with solid man-to-man defense and an up-tempo offense and there should be no loose ball on the floor that we shouldn’t get or at least have a chance to get it,” Martin said.

Both teams will open their season Nov. 15. The men will be play host to Buffalo in a 7:05 tip off at Beeghly Center, while the women open at Kent State at 2 p.m.

mollica@vindy.com