The 2025-26 season proved to be a sophomore slump for head coach Ethan Faulkner in his second go-around as the head coach for YSU, going from a solid 21-13 record in 2024-25 to a tough 15-17 record last year. It was a surprise to many fans and critics alike since the Penguins had a group full of seniors and grad students on the squad, but Faulkner wants his group to turn things around as he enters his third season as the man in charge at Youngstown.
However, one good thing from last season was YSU’s stifling defense, which allowed them to be second in the Horizon League behind Robert Morris in opponent points per game (73.1).
“Our daily goal is improvement,” he said. “We want to attack each day with a growth mindset and get better every day. We believe that will give us the best chance to reach our potential and compete for championships. We want our overall identity rooted in making it about the team and each other. Offensively, we want to be an up-tempo team that creates early advantages and then understand how to keep those advantages. Defensively for us, it starts by having an incredibly competitive mindset and taking a lot of pride in getting stops.”
14 of YSU’s 15 players from last year’s group have either graduated or entered the portal. That includes their top scorer and rebounder in Cris Carroll (17.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg), the Horizon League’s leading shot blocker in Imanuel Zorgvol (1.9 bpg), the team’s second and third leading scorers in Bryson Dawkins (12.6 ppg) and Rich Rolf (9.1 ppg) respectively, sixth man Vlad Salaridze, Tae Blackshear, Jason Nelson, Drew King and Cam Polak.
“I think comparing our team this year to last year is hard to do with 13 new players,” Faulkner stated regarding the platoon swap of players and a much younger team. “I think you’ll see a different style offensively than last year, particularly with our pace / tempo along with a more free flowing half court offense.”
YSU’s lone returning player from last season is sophomore Jaiden Haynes, who averaged 4.9 points per game in 21 games (two starts) as a freshman and had three of his five double-digit outputs come in conference play.
“Really excited about our lone returner in Jaiden Haynes,” Faulkner said about Haynes. “He’s had a great summer. He’s going to be a very important piece to our team.”
As the only guy back from last year’s squad, Haynes explained how challenging that was. “Just showing guys around, where the training room is,” he said in Monday’s press conference. “Some people may forget the codes to get in for the balls or get where the shooting machine is, just showing guys around because I am the guy that came back.”
The Penguins’ new-look team has eight of their 14 players coming from the transfer portal, with six of those eight transfers discussed on the HoriZone Roundtable men’s writer’s forum: Kelvin Amoako, Jermaine Coleman, Linus Holmstrom, Japhet Moupadele, Jeff Nwankwo, and Jayden Tyler. Rounding out the transfers are Dom Aekins and Jamar Livingston.
Youngstown State also added four true freshmen in Kaelin Destin, Elijah Summers-Livingston, Jacob Spurlock and Andrew Adcock-Vidouria, as well as a fifth freshman from Ukraine in 6-9 Luka Lokhmanchuk.
The frontcourt is headlined by Amoako and Moupadele, and Faulkner is really excited about both of them. “I am excited about our transfer forwards, Kelvin Amoako and Japhet Moupadele,” Faulkner stated. “Both are good players and will be important for our team. Something physical we have, unlike years past, are Amoako and Moupadele. We have brought physicality and defensive rebounding. I’m excited about both those guys, different and offensively skilled unlike past bigs. Kelvin’s motor is extremely high, while J.P. [Moupadele] is a shot maker and really good in the ball screen and decision-making. He has an I.Q. of what’s stereotypical for international players.”
The backcourt – along with Haynes – is led by a group of shooters like Holmstrom, Nwankwo, Spurlock, and Tyler. After all, YSU is known for having shooters on their team since they ranked 35th in the nation with 9.9 three-pointers made last season.
“In our offense we play four guards essentially the whole game,” Faulkner said of the guards. “Our system requires four players on the floor who can dribble, pass, and shoot.”
Incoming Players
5-10 sophomore point guard Dom Aekins played in 14 games at Duquesne as a freshman and scored a career-high 12 points off the bench in a win against Queens (NC).
6-11 center Kelvin Amoako spent the last two seasons at UIndy, averaging 10 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting a consistent 61.1 percent from the field and recording five double-doubles.
6-7 senior forward Jermaine Coleman has Horizon League experience since he started out with Purdue Fort Wayne as a freshman, but he didn’t play in 2023-24. Coleman played his last two seasons at St. Thomas (MN), averaging 4.1 points and 1.6 boards a game while also making 35 triples as a junior.
6-3 guard Linus Holmstrom, a junior from Sweden, spent his first pair of seasons at VMI. Last season as a sophomore, he averaged 11.4 points and shot 39.4 percent from beyond the arc while also stealing the ball 33 times.
Another 6-3 guard in senior Jamar Livingston had two separate stints at JUCO school Walters State, averaging 11.7 points per game in 2023-24 and 12.8 points per game in 2025-26. In 2024-25, he played in just 11 games (two starts) as a sophomore at Western Carolina.
6-8 sophomore Frenchman Japhet Moupadele played at San Jose State last year, playing in 23 games (one start), averaging 2.7 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. He also has some international playing experience with the French national team.
6-6 fifth-year guard Jeff Nwankwo, an Oklahoma transfer, appeared in 24 games for the Sooners in 2025-26 after missing the 2024-25 season due to an injury. At Cowley College, Nwankwo ended up as the 2023-24 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) Player of the Year and a First Team National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I All-American. He led Cowley to an impressive 28-6 record and a trip to the NJCAA Division I Sweet Sixteen while averaging 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per contest. He also shot 48.9 percent (218-of-446) on field goals, 37.0 percent (68-of-184) on threes and 73.8 percent (127-of-172) at the charity stripe.
Another 5-10 guard, Jayden Tyler played in 25 games at Wofford as a freshman, averaging 5.4 points per contest and shooting 47.5 percent (28-of-59) on triples.
Andrew Adcock-Vidouria is a 6-2, 180-pound guard who averaged 16.4 points per game and shot 85 percent from the foul line as a senior on his way to being named first-team all-district at St. Mary Central Catholic in San Antonio.
Kaelen Destin is a 6-0, 160-pound combo guard from the Bronx. In his senior year at Our Savior Lutheran, he averaged 24.4 points, 4.5 boards, 4.1 dimes and 1.8 steals a night.
6-9, 207-pound Ukrainian Luka Lokhmanchuk – like Moupadele – brings some international experience as well. Lokhmanchuk has experience for his national team as well, playing in FIBA EuroBasket.
Jacob Spurlock is a 6-4, 215-pound athletic guard from Boyd County, KY, who was named all-state every year – which is a rarity for a high schooler. At Boyd County High School, he finished eighth in Kentucky High School Athletic Association history in points scored (3,580) and second all-time in KHSAA in three-pointers made (628).
Elijah Summers-Livingston is a 6-7, 215-pound athletic forward from Mesa, AZ who played one year at AZ Compass Prep. He began his high school career in Chandler, AZ at Basha High School, where he helped his team reach the Open Division Semi-Finals.
Projected Starting Lineup
C – Kelvin Amoako
G – Jeff Nwankwo
G – Jaiden Haynes
G – Linus Holmstrom
G – Jayden Tyler
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