Calhoun: Time is now to invest in YSU hoops | News, Sports, Jobs

Workers file photo / Greg Macafee
Youngstown State men’s basketball coach Jerrod Calhoun shouts out path to his players all through their road matchup against Cleveland State.

YOUNGSTOWN — Fresh off his most successful season thinking about that taking a lot more than Youngstown State men’s basketball, Jerrod Calhoun at the moment is turning to what’s subsequent.

The Penguins wrapped their season up Wednesday evening, finishing 24-ten all round and producing their debut in the NIT by way of a Horizon League typical season title.

But, Calhoun says, sustaining that outcomes and taking more actions will get in touch with for investment.

“I take into account there’s got to be a commitment,” Calhoun stated. “It starts right now — we do not have time to waste. We call for to upgrade this arena (the Beeghly Center) in the worst way. The portal is open. … We have to get players, we have to retain players. And I take into account the subsequent element is the NIL — name, image and likeness.”

To that finish, Calhoun stated he and his personnel have met with a handful of prospective newcomers at the moment, and a single element continues to lead the conversation.

“The incredibly 1st element they ask is, ‘Where’s your (NIL) collective money? Precisely exactly where do you guys stand in your league?’” Calhoun noted. “So we call for help. And the help from time to time is money, and that is the bottom line. So we’ll be 1 hundred miles an hour raising money for an arena, but the incredibly 1st element is we have to attack this portal, for the explanation that we did a heck of a job final year with it. So it can be achieved as soon as a lot more.”

That, of course, is the new age of collegiate athletics and recruiting. And no matter if or not fans like it or not, each and every the NIL and the transfer portal are correct right here to maintain.

As of Friday evening, 576 Division I players have entered the portal, according to VerbalCommits.com, a web site which tracks recruiting and transfer portal movement. That is a lot more than the course of a great deal significantly less than a week, as the portal opened Monday. YSU had not but lost any players to the portal, but has shown interest in lots of.

“Everybody says we’ll be in a rebuild, but I take into account all 11 teams (in the Horizon League) will be in a rebuild,” Calhoun stated. “We’ll see what happens a lot more than the subsequent two or three days with the portal. You will have players that you do not take into account will leave you, precise similar element with other teams. The whole landscape has changed.”

For the most aspect, Calhoun says YSU has lots to sell prospective student-athletes. The Penguins have constructed a winning technique, had the third-most successful attendance mark in the Horizon League this season and played an thrilling, larger-scoring style.

“There’s a lot of products involved in the recruitment of student-athletes,” he stated. “Here, we can sell that we have the most successful fanbase in this place. We draw more than a lot of MAC schools, we draw more than (a majority) of the Horizon. So if I’m a player, why would I not want to come correct right here? It is entirely no cost-flowing — we score 82 points a game. We treat these guys great. The coaches and the administration are top notch.

“We fundraise, and we run this element as close to a larger vital as we can, so I do not know why you wouldn’t want to come to Youngstown, Ohio, right now.”

But, of course, facility upgrades and steady NIL money by no suggests hurt, either, in what’s turn out to be an arms race across collegiate athletics.

As far as NIL funds go, a new collective named The Penguin Collective has formed to assistance in these efforts. Youngstown State also is conducting an NIL townhall six-7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the DeBartolo Stadium Club inside Stambaugh Stadium to help spread awareness and information about how the NIL landscape can be constructed at YSU.

“Somebody’s got to commit financially, no matter if or not that is a donor or whoever, to help us get to specifically exactly where we call for to go,” Calhoun stated. “Whether that is through a new arena, no matter if or not that is through the NIL money, that is what it is, for the explanation that we have each small issue we call for correct right here. We’ve got to see if we can get it achieved.”

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