Slocum: YSU has four starters in place

YSU’s men’s basketball coach spoke at Monday’s meeting of Curbstone Coaches.

By Greg Gulas

BOARDMAN — With all but two letter-winners returning from last year’s team, Youngstown State University basketball coach Jerry Slocum is excited about the upcoming season.

That four starters are set to reclaim their place in the lineup and five newcomers are fighting for playing time are bonuses.

Speaking to the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s weekly luncheon meeting at the Blue Wolf Banquet Center, Slocum noted that the experience everyone gained last season was invaluable.

But he cautioned that a tough early schedule remains a challenge.

“We need to keep improving each and every game,” Slocum said. “A tough schedule early will allow us to grow; however, we cannot lose focus of what we want to be and where we want to go.

“Remaining positive while working on the little things that win games will be a key to our success,” Slocum said.

The Penguins will open Slocum’s fifth season at Xavier on Nov. 13. They will return home for two games but then will play six of their next seven contests on the road. Three of those will be against Horizon League opponents.

“When you look at the early portion of our schedule, Xavier will be a tough opener; Kent State is extremely tough; we go to Pitt and will have played seven of our first 10 games on the road.

“The upside is that we will have more home games during the second semester,” Slocum said.

The starters are DeAndre Mays, Kelvin Bright, Sirlester Martin and Dallas Blocker. Vytas Sulskis and Tommy Parks are battling for the fifth starting assignment.

Pleased with his team’s senior leadership, Slocum noted that the aforementioned group had a great spring. They followed that up with an excellent summer and have continued being the leaders that he had hoped.

“That senior group has set the bar with both a positive attitude and work ethic,” Slocum said. “They’ve made the commitment as to how hard we have to play; both in practice and during a game.”

Slocum said an area of concern is in their rebounding game, where they aren’t particularly big or physical.

The Horizon League, in Slocum’s eyes, has two teams that distinguish themselves simply because of the success that they have enjoyed over the past several years.

“Butler and Wright State are the two teams to watch, but you have to remember that the strength of our league is that it is incredibly balanced,” Slocum said. “The next four or five sports are a fight between Milwaukee, Green Bay, Cleveland State and of course, us.

“Our hope is to always get two teams into the NCAA Tournament,” Slocum said. “However, since Butler is such a high-profile team, had they not lost in the conference tournament then we might not have gotten two representatives into the postseason the past two years.”

Next week, local football official John Vicarel will be the guest speaker.