Harding spices Penguins’ hopes for a rebound

Photo by: Robert K. Yosay

Photo

After watching last season from the bench, former Warren Harding High teammates Damian Eargle, left, and Sheldon Brogdon will be counted on to contribute to Youngstown State this winter.

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Just before the end of Thursday’s media day press conference, YSU basketball coach Jerry Slocum was asked about the health of freshman guard Sheldon Brogdon, who missed last season recovering from an ACL injury.

Slocum turned around, spotted Brogdon and said, “Well, Shel, how you feeling? Feeling pretty good today? You all right? Get a good lunch and breakfast?”

After Brogdon nodded and smiled, Slocum turned back around said, “I think Shel’s OK.”

It was a nice moment for a team coming off a season full of bad ones. After coming into 2009-10 with an experienced roster and high expectations, the Penguins went 8-22 and finished last in the Horizon League with a 2-16 record.

Five seniors graduated and five others left the team, leaving just three players with YSU experience on this year’s roster: senior forwards Vytas Sulskis and Dan Boudler and junior guard Ashen Ward.

Enduring it all were forward Damian Eargle and Brogdon, Warren Harding High graduates who watched last year’s team from the bench and will (hopefully) supply the two things YSU needs this season: a solid foundation and a few more fans.

“Those guys are two important parts of where we’re going,” Slocum said.

Eargle, who stands 6-foot-7 and has the wingspan of an octopus, sat out last season after transferring from UNC-Greensboro, where he averaged 9.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and a league-high 1.97 blocks per game in 29 contests (20 starts).

After making the Southern Conference’s all-freshman team, he decided to come home and his pairing with Brogdon has YSU fans excited.

“It’s a big deal,” Eargle said. “We can’t even walk to our classes without somebody bringing it up. They’re expecting us to do big things.

“It’s a positive pressure. They expect us to do it, so we’ll do it. We’ll try our hardest to do whatever we can.”

While Slocum believes Eargle is capable of leading the conference in blocks and rebounds — “I don’t set that as a goal; if it happens, it happens,” Eargle said — Brogdon is more of an uncertainty.

Since injuring his knee against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in February of his senior year, Brogdon has struggled with both the physical and mental aspects of his recovery.

He said he’s “about 90-some percent,” adding that it will probably take a few years to get to 100.

“It’s more mental than physical,” said Brogdon, who stands just 6-feet but can dunk with ease when healthy. “Sometimes you just have to forget you have the injury but at the same time, it’s hard to forget about it.”

At their best, Eargle gives Slocum a longer, more athletic post presence than he’s had in his six seasons, and Brogdon gives him a sweet-shooting guard with sneaky athleticism and the uncanny ability to score in the flow of the game.

“It’s exciting just to play with Damian,” said Brogdon. “It feels like I’m back at high school again, so I’ll be real comfortable with him on the court.”

That chemistry will come in handy for a team that might as well be wearing “Hello: My name is” stickers.

But Eargle said their anonymity has been an asset in some ways.

“There’s no egos on this team,” he said. “We grew together real quick. We all do what we have to do and that’s what makes us a real good team.

“It’s just about winning this year.”

Home sweet home: YSU plays four of its first five games at home, including the first two: Samford (Nov. 12) and Buffalo (Nov. 16). After playing at Akron, the Penguins return home to play Toledo and Saint Francis. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve never had home games in November,” said YSU coach Jerry Slocum, who is 49-100 in five seasons at YSU. “For us to have a bunch of home games, I think that was done intentionally, I think it helps us with a newer group.”

Stats in sight: Senior forward Vytas Sulskis is 81 points shy of becoming the 32nd player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. The last to reach that milestone was John Barber in 2008. He’s also tied for sixth on the school’s all-time 3-point list with 126 and needs 10 more to pass Doug Underwood (2001-04). At his current pace of 42 3-pointers per season, he’ll finish with 168, which would be second all-time. Craig Haese (1997-2001) is first with 198.

Better than advertised: Although YSU finished last in the Horizon League with a 2-16 record last season, the Penguins were more competitive than they appeared. Twelve losses were by 10 points or fewer, including one two-week stretch in February in which YSU lost four straight league games by three points or fewer. “I think we’re close,” Slocum said. “Everybody might see that a little differently than I see it. We came here with a vision of having a program that’s competitive and being in the top half of this league, year in and year out. You give us seven or eight different possessions [last year] and all the sudden you’re fourth or fifth and where you want to be.”

Tough to watch: Sophomore Damian Eargle, who sat out last season after transferring from UNC-Greensboro, said the close losses were frustrating to watch, especially since he felt he could have made a difference in some of those games. “Sometimes you do feel like that, but the thing is, you’re not [eligible],” he said. “You just have to wish for the best.”

Joe Scalzo