A new head coach ascends, but the plan remains the same
It was only a matter of time before Jerrod Calhoun would receive an offer he couldn’t refuse to leave the head coaching job at Youngstown State. As it turned out, that opportunity came in the form of Utah State, and just like that, the Penguins were in need of someone new to take the reins.
The good news, though, is that Youngstown State didn’t have to look very far or long, for that matter. Within 48 hours, Ethan Faulkner, who has been with YSU since 2019, most recently serving as associate head coach, was offered a promotion. And just like that, the Penguins were back to business.
Youngstown State’s business model, under Calhoun, primarily consisted of identifying pieces in the transfer portal that would serve as the best fit. And with back-to-back 20-win seasons, that model worked…with a few tweaks to it last season (i.e. freshman big man Gabe Dynes).
For Faulker, he has determined, ultimately, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
“I think especially in today’s era of college basketball, continuity is extremely important,” Faulker said at Horizon League Media Day. “And I’ve kind of seen the blueprint; been a part of it over the last five years and seen what it takes to win, and I feel like we’ve got a path in place here that we’re going to continue to attack and take this to another level.
While many of last season’s crew have departed, primarily due to graduation (with the exception of John Lovelace, Jr., who headed home to Milwaukee, the YSU strategy of finding the best pieces to keep its success going have remained the same.
Lineup
EJ Farmer – The senior from Cleveland Heights, who spent the bulk of last season as a primary rotational player, will now get the opportunity to shine in a starting role, eager to continue the path laid out for him by the likes of, among others, Brett Thompson and Brandon Rush. He’s all but assured to increase his scoring, which was 7.4 points per game last year. More importantly, though, he will, by all accounts, be the team’s leader.
“EJ can really score the ball, and we’re going to give him a little bit more freedom to do that,” Faulkner said. “I think he’s going to have a really big year for us.
Gabe Dynes – Even before last season began, Calhoun touted the impact Dynes would make, even as a freshman. Did he ever. In the 27 games he played, he was good for four rebounds per game, but more impressively, he averaged over two blocks per game and gave every Horizon League team headaches, and that was with him only averaging 13.6 minutes a contest. If it was even possible, Dynes appears to have bulked up in the off-season, and he’ll be poised to be an even bigger terror in the middle this season.
Immanuel Zorgvol – Horizon League teams, by and large, don’t get the benefit of having a pair of seven-footers at their disposal. YSU, for the second year in a row, will, and Zorgvol made good use of his 8.4 minutes per game last year, still grabbing 2.8 boards and blocking just under one shot per contest. Zorgvol will likely be one of the first players off the bench and provide the Penguins with a nasty 1-2 punch in the middle.
Nico Galette – Youngstown State has been rather successful in bringing strong NEC players into the mix. Last year, the Penguins had Ziggy Reid. This year, that ex-NEC guy is Galette, who was a monster for Sacred Heart last season, averaging 13.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Blue Ribbon already tabbed him as a preseason all-Horizon League favorite, so there’s plenty of upside for Galette as he moves into his new role.
Jason Nelson – Much of the Richmond native’s college career has been spent in his home state of Virginia, first with the hometown Spiders, then across town at VCU. Now, Nelson has made the move out of state to Youngstown, where he’ll be looking to improve on his 6.4-point career average, and become a key producer in the backcourt.
“I think he really fits our style of play in terms of what he can do in transition, dictating our tempo in terms of what he can do on the ball screen,” Faulkner said of Nelson. “(He’s) just a throwback old-school point guard, pass-first guy.”
Ty Harper – For the first three seasons of his collegiate career, he was a rotational player, first with Louisiana and later with Eastern Washington. After that, he moved to the ranks of the NAIA and the Master’s University. There, he became a major offensive weapon, dropping 21.4 points per game. As YSU tends to do, Harper appears to be one of those diamonds in the rough that has the potential to come out of seemingly nowhere and power the Penguins to success.
Siem Uijtendaal – Like the NEC, Youngstown State has had some good luck with Canisius transfers. Malek Green is a good example of that. Uijtendaal can keep that winning streak going, having something to prove after an injury cut his 2023-24 campaign short. Before going down, he was good for 13.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals per contest. He’s also an extremely good three-point shooter, draining 38.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Cris Carroll – In addition to hitting the transfer portal, Faulkner found a few potential gems in the junior college ranks. One of them is Carroll, who is fresh off a season at Coffeyville Community College. There, he averaged 18.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, along with making 69 treys last season. He has the firepower to provide some further depth to the Youngstown State rotation.
Juwan Maxey – Maxey’s specialty at Macomb Community College was three-pointers. In fact, in his two seasons there, he hit 178 of them. He’s no slouch in other key skills, either, grabbing 5.8 boards and 3.3 assists per contest last season. He’s likely to be one of those guys Faulkner looks to when a shot from distance needs to be made.
David Wilkerson – Many expected to see the juco transfer from Spartanburg Methodist to contribute last year, but an injury prevented that from happening. Now that he’s back healthy, the 6-4 guard out of Lansing will be looked to as a veteran presence and should certainly be able to make up for lost time with a spot in the backcourt rotation.
Outlook
Like the previous seasons under Calhoun, the Penguins’ success will be dictated by how quickly the roster will come together. And while there’s an extra wrinkle this season due to the coaching change, it is expected that the transition to Faulkner’s tutelage will be a seamless one, particularly when compared to some of the other coaching changes within the Horizon League. What Faulkner’s inaugural season will look like in terms of the conference standings, though, will remain to be seen, as the top half of the league will be as competitive as ever.
“I don’t know if we’re going to have the Dwayne Cohill, the Adrian Nelson, the guy who really stands out as a clear-cut guy in terms of production on our team,” Faulkner said. “But I feel like we have a lot of balance 1 through 10 on our roster.”
