YSU’s Hain out with injury

December 30, 2015 at 12:14a.m.

By Steve wilaj

youngstown

After exiting Youngstown State’s Dec. 21 matchup at Notre Dame following just three minutes of action, the severity of starting senior forward Bobby Hain’s foot injury is still uncertain.

At Tuesday’s press conference, head coach Jerry Slocum said that Hain underwent examinations over the holidays in his home state of Florida. Reports are that the injury may cause him to miss anywhere from 4-8 weeks — or possibly more — although YSU is waiting to put an official label and time frame on the injury until Hain returns to the team and is examined by team doctors.

“We’ve had different people out of our area tell us what it is and I’m sure that they’re right and their time frame is correct,” Slocum said. “But Dr. [John] Stefancin is awfully good at what he does for us and we really want [Hain] to be looked at by our guy.”

Slocum didn’t specify when Hain will rejoin the team, although YSU (5-8) plays next on Saturday at Detroit to open Horizon League play.

The 6-foot-10, 240-pounder is a third-year starter, as well as the Penguins’ third-leading scorer (12.4 points per game) and top rebounder (6.3 rebounds). His injury occurred on a non-contact play in YSU’s 87-78 loss to the Fighting Irish.

“He was just running down the floor, planted and you see that stuff all the time where he felt a pop in the foot,” Slocum said. “Then the fracture showed.

“Obviously, it was an emotional time for all of us with Bobby. There’s not a kid I’ve enjoyed coaching more in my career than Bobby Hain. He’s a happy kid that came in every day wanting to be part of YSU basketball and enjoyed being in the gym.”

Now, YSU is forced to retool its offense, as a majority of its sets ran through Hain.

Slocum said he isn’t yet sure who will replace the senior in the starting lineup, although obvious options are freshman power forward Bryce Nickels and junior center Jorden Kaufman. The Penguins can also go small by inserting backup guards Cameron Morse (YSU’s leading scorer) or Jordan Andrews (freshman).

“Going into conference play, you’d like to have all your answers,” Slocum said. “What this has done, unfortunately, is given us some questions that we’re gonna have to learn on the fly.

“Do I think that our young big guys are capable? I do. Are they ready? That’s another story that we’ll find out. I wish we had a couple home games in there where we weren’t seven out of 10 [road games to begin conference play] so those young kids wouldn’t be so strapped on the road. But it is what it is.”

After traveling to Detroit on Saturday, YSU heads to Oakland on Monday (7 p.m.) before hosting Milwaukee on Jan. 7. All three are top contenders to win the Horizon League.

Still — in terms of difficulty — it doesn’t top the conclusion of the Penguins’ non-conference schedule, which featured games at Purdue and Michigan, in addition to Notre Dame (all losses).

“I think coach [Mike] Brey from Notre Dame said it best when he shook my hand before the game and said, ‘What the heck are you guys doing? Nobody plays that kind of schedule,’” Slocum said. “I thought we played well at Notre Dame. Guys came back refreshed and ready to go.

“For the the first time since I’ve been here, we don’t have a game before conference. So it’s given us a chance to work our way back into shape a little bit slower than we normally do and giving us a chance to prepare.”

The holiday layoff has also been YSU’s second this season in practicing without Hain, as he missed seven weeks during the preseason with a hand injury. So while the Penguins certainly aren’t better off without their leading big man, they’re not exactly in uncharted waters.

“We have had a little time with that,” Slocum said. “But you’re gonna find out the answers when I find them out.”