YSU signs Kansas all-stater

Staff report

Youngstown

Youngstown State has added D.J. Cole, a third-team all-state selection from Kansas, to the men’s basketball team for next season.

Cole, a 6-foot point guard from Olathe, Kan., averaged 13 points, six assists and four steals per game and shot 63 percent from the field as a senior.

Cole joins Shawn Amiker, Jr. (Oak Park, Mich), Fletcher Larson (Lakewood, N.Y.) and Cale Zuiker (Marshfield, Wis.) as members of the 2011-12 recruiting class.

“With the addition of DJ, Cale, and our two redshirts in Shawn and Fletcher, this maybe one of our best recruiting classes since we have been at Youngstown State,” said Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum said.

A three-year letterwinner at Olathe South High School, Cole earned first-team all-conference honors and was also named the KC Prep Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.

“DJ is one of the best defensive players that I’ve seen in a long time, and he can change the game at both the defensive and offensive ends of the floor,” said Slocum.

Cole said he felt right at home when he visited Youngstown State.

“I liked the whole coaching staff the first time I met them,” Cole said. “ The campus really sold me on YSU and I really felt comfortable with the players on the team.”

He was also named first-team all-class 6A and garnered second-team class 6A all-state honors.

During his junior season, he was named third-team all-conference and Olathe South to a conference championship.

Cole said he intends on majoring in business management.