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Rivers, Corbett are YSU's athletes of year
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By Charles Grove
boardman
Youngstown State honored their male and female athletes of the year Wednesday night at The Georgetown, honoring Derek Rivers from the football team and Jaynee Corbett from the track and field team.
Rivers, who is home with his family for this weekend’s NFL Draft, racked up 58 total tackles, 41 solo tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and 15 sacks the past season.
Photo Gallery: YSU Student Athlete Banquet
Overall he was a three-time first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection and broke the school record for sacks in just 28 games. He is expected to be selected in this year’s NFL Draft.
Corbett has won four Horizon League indoor titles and two outdoor titles since February 2016. This season, she ranks first in the shot put, first in the discus and second in the hammer throw in the Horizon League this outdoor season. She can add to that total when YSU hosts the outdoor conference championship from May 5-7.
Youngstown State head football coach Bo Pelini, who was an assistant coach in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers from 1994-2002, said he was able to speak to Rivers before he went home to North Carolina and give him some advice as draft day approaches.
“Whoever gets him will be getting a really good player,” Pelini said. “I’ve been around it and have a lot of experience with the draft in those rooms.
“I told him sometimes it goes according to plan and sometimes it doesn’t,” Pelini said. “It’s an inexact science. You don’t know where he’s going to go but I know he’s going to do well.”
CBSsports.com ranks Rivers as the 85th-best player in the draft, making him the ninth-best defensive end and expects him to go somewhere in the second or third round.
Pelini said he believes if Rivers stays consistent, he should have no issues succeeding in the NFL.
“He approaches things like a pro,” Pelini said. He has a great work ethic, he grounded and he has a great support network. I think he’ll do phenomenal and he’ll be playing for a long time.”
Former teammate Avery Moss is listed as the 23rd-best defensive end on CBSsports.com and is expected to go in either the seventh round or sign with a team as a free agent. Pelini said he believes Rivers and Moss will be drafted.
A text message and phone call to Rivers were not returned.
On the women’s side, it’s hard to find a better comeback story than Corbett. The redshirt junior has overcome two ACL tears in the same knee to become one of the dominant forces in Horizon League track and field.
It’s also the fourth consecutive year a member of the track and field team has won either the male or female Athlete-of-the-Year Award.
“I’m so proud of the kids because it’s not just one area of the program. It’s all areas,” YSU track coach Brian Gorby said. “She tore her ACL her first day back from break in [2015] and we just kept telling her, ‘You’ll be back. You’ll be back.’
“She’s probably the person you would say has been through more than most other athletes.”
Corbett said the award meant more than any of her other numerous awards.
“This is by far my greatest honor at Youngstown State,” Corbett said. “I’m more humbled than anything because there’s so many talented athletes for them to pick and it kind of blew me away.”
Corbett said during her emotional acceptance speech that she often doubted herself more than she liked to admit. And that journey was compounded during that second ACL tear.
“It’s bad enough when it happens the first time so when it happens the second time it’s kind of ‘I can’t believe it happened again.’ Especially when you’re in college and you only have a limited number of years to be successful.
Corbett was so emotional speaking about her journey, a patron at one of the front tables handed her tissues and the crowd gave her a standing ovation at the end.
“We’ve been to 28 of these and we’ve had maybe 16-18 track athletes get it,” Gorby said. “You see the emotion and you see the tears most years but you never see the standing ovation.”
Corbett still has three more conference championships to go and add to her accomplishments. She’s already qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary meet in the hammer throw this May after the conference championship.
“For conference I feel good,” Corbett said. “Everyone seems ready and we’re healthy. I’m excited for that and then next year I’ve got two more conference meets and then I’m done finally.”