Penguins pick up 2 more Valley players
Boardman senior Nick Buonavolonta
Harding offensive lineman Ian Folmar II
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown State football team secured two more verbal commitments in the last two days.
One is a big name among area football fans.
The other’s just plain big.
One of the area’s best running backs last season, Boardman senior Nick Buonavolonta, committed to the Penguins on Wednesday afternoon, while Warren Harding offensive lineman Ian Folmar II committed late Tuesday night.
Folmar (6-foot-5, 330 pounds) is the third Raider to commit to YSU, joining WR/CB Jimmy May, who chose the Penguins earlier this week, and running back Demond Hymes.
It’s possible there could soon be a fourth, as former Harding linebacker Davion Rogers took a campus visit last weekend, May said. Rogers, a 2010 graduate, originally committed to Michigan but left the team in September after failing to qualify academically.
“Having those guys there is just a bonus,” May said. “I liked YSU and I was gonna go to YSU even if my teammates weren’t there. But it’s a bonus to be with guys I’ve played with and know and hung out with.”
Buonavalonta (5-9, 175) played running back and cornerback for the Spartans last fall, rushing for 973 yards to earn honorable mention all-district and second team All-Federal League honors despite missing two games with a high ankle sprain.
“It has everything you could ask for,” Buonavolonta said of YSU. “Great competition, good facilities, and it’s home.”
Buonavolonta attended a YSU football camp last summer and kept in touch with the staff through the year. Although he has good quickness and athleticism, his size turned off recruiters from bigger schools. YSU views him as a defensive back who will also play special teams, he said.
“Going Division I was always my goal,” said Buonavolonta, who plans to major in accounting. “It didn’t become a reality until they [YSU’s coaches] started talking to me.”
Buonavolonta will be the fifth former Spartan on the YSU’s roster next fall, joining cornerback Matt Romeo, long snapper Bryan Whitaker, linebacker Dan Fernback and defensive end Kevin Johnson.
Only one former Raider played for the Penguins last fall — wide receiver Pat White, who will be a senior this year — but YSU coach Eric Wolford has targeted Harding due to its reputation for developing Division I players.
Folmar received honorable mention all-district last fall after helping the Raiders go 8-3 with a berth in the Division I playoffs. May was a starting corner last year and played both ways last fall.
Although he grew up in the Valley, May said he underestimated YSU until he visited last week.
“Truthfully, before, I didn’t really think it was a big school,” said May, who said he could major in sports management or go into coaching. “I didn’t think they had the facilities they had and the education they had. It’s a really good school.”
The Penguins were the only Division I-level school to offer May (6-2, 170), who said he could start out as a corner and then shift to safety. Wide receiver is also an option.
“YSU was the best school to offer me and it’s where I want to be,” he said. “And it’s close to home, so my parents can see me play.”
YSU has 18 commitments for the 2011 class, including seven area players. Signing day is Feb. 2.
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