Posts Tagged ‘Bob Boldon’

With a hot start to the Youngstown State men’s and women’s basketball seasons, now is the perfect time for those who waited to purchase season tickets. The men have road wins at Georgia and George Washington while the women defeated Pittsburgh in their opener to start the season.

Both teams make their home debuts this weekend at the Beeghly Center. On Friday night, the men’s program plays host to Saint Francis (Pa.). Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. The women are in action on Sunday against Bryant in a special noon start time.

Tickets are available at the YSU Athletic Ticket Office by calling (330) 941-1978. Ticket office hours this week are extended from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The YSU football team is also in action at home this Saturday playing host to Indiana State. Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m.

Tickets for all men’s and women’s games are available for $175 as part of the “Penguin Package”. Men’s game only ticket packages are $155 while women’s only packages are also $155. A general admission package for the entire year is $115.

The men have 14 home games this year while the women will be in action 13 times.

After Friday’s game against Saint Francis (Pa.), the men are next in action at the Beeghly Center against Kent State on Nov. 28.

Single-game tickets are $14 for reserved and $10 for general admission in advance, but increase to $16 and $12 on gameday. Youth pricing is available for children under 12. YSU students are admitted free.

By joining the Penguin Club’s Courtside Coaches group, fans get access to tickets, parking and admission to the Coaches Court Room in the Beeghly Center. For information on joining the Courtside Coaches group contact the Penguin Club at (330) 941-2351.

Youngstown State rallied to outscore Pitt, 43-17, in the second half to post a season-opening 64-50 win on the road.  The victory was the first over a Big East team since 1991 and also the first over a BCS Conference opponent since 1997.

Brandi Brown (above), playing in her last season for the Penguins, spearheaded a furious comeback after the Penguins trailed 33-21 at the half.  Brown scored 11 of her game-high 16 points in the second half.  She also collected 11 rebounds for Youngstown State.

Brown was joined by Monica Touvelle and Melissa Thompson in double figures for YSU.  Touvelle shot 4-10 from three-point land and Thompson, who finished with 13, played a well-rounded game for the Penguins.

Surprisingly, the undersized Lady Penguins held their own on the boards.  Pitt finished the game with a 34-32 edge in rebounds, but Bob Boldon‘s scrappy team is getting used to a disadvantage in size that they are able to compensate for with hustle and technique.

The opportunistic Penguins play at Buffalo on Tuesday at noon.

Youngstown State senior women’s basketball player Brandi Brown is one of five players voted Preseason All-Horizon League for the 2012-13 season, the conference office announced at its media day near Chicago on Monday.

Brown, a forward from Pomona, Calif., averaged 15.9 points and 9.3 rebounds last season for the Penguins as a second-team all-conference pick. She ranked seventh in the league in scoring and was sixth in rebounding while shooting 40.3 percent from the field. If she duplicates the numbers from her junior year, Brown will finish second in YSU history in career points and rebounds.

Brown was a Horizon League All-Newcomer Team selection as a freshman as she averaged 11.4 points and 10.6 rebounds. She was a second-team all-conference honoree as a sophomore when she led the Horizon League with 19.9 points per game and ranked fourth in rebounding with 9.2 per contest. That led to her being named the Preseason Horizon League Player of the Year prior to the 2011-12 campaign.

The four players joining Brown in earning preseason first-team all-league mentioning are preseason player of the year Kim Demmings (Wright State), Shareta Brown (Detroit), Shalonda Winton (Cleveland State) and Adrian Ritchie (Green Bay). Simone Law (Loyola) Lydia Bauer (Green Bay), Tabitha Gerardot (Valparaiso), Sami Tucker (Milwaukee) and Patrice King (Loyola) were named to the preseason second team.

In the preseason team poll, Youngstown State was picked to finish eighth. Green Bay received 25 of a possible 27 first-place votes and was picked to finish first with 241 total points. Detroit received two first-place votes and finished second in the poll with 210 total points. Wright State was a close third with 191 points, and a sizeable gap separated the Raiders from Loyola (152) and Cleveland State (123).

In the Winter of 2008, I had to have a hip replacement.  The down time I had to endure meant a lot of sitting around with nothing to do except watch reruns of Two And A Half Men and a bunch of game shows.

A friend of mine, Ethan Jaynes, who operated a blog called NESW sports, asked me to write a couple of posts.  When those stories did well, Jaynes hooked me up with the knowledge I would need to run my own site, Paneech.com.

In the time since, I have made a bunch of good friends and probably a few enemies too.

Fast forward to September of 2012.  I am working a 40-hour-a-week job, and still trying to keep up with this website.  Sometimes the posts seem scant, but that is because of the time constraints I have to deal with.

On of the biggest events I was lucky enough to cover was the dedication of Dave Grohl Boulevard in Warren.  I was interviewing Jen Campbell, the organizer of the event, in a side building as warm-up bands were wailing away outside.

Suddenly, on the third question of the interview, the door opens, and it is Dave Grohl.  He looks at us, the only two people in the room, and asks, “Am I early?”

Campbell had to run and gather some folks which left me solo with Grohl, who offered me a Budweiser.  We talked about everything from the steel industry to Wedgewood Pizza, to Kurt Cobain, to how often he sneaks back to this area to visit family.

It was the biggest, ‘right place at the right time’, moment in my life.

I have caught some good breaks to gain access.  My first real coverage was of the Youngstown Thunder Arena Football team.  Those games were a lot of fun and I was able to develop my first player profile interviews while I was there.  Thanks to Anthony Farris for a chance.

The next break to fall into my lap was the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.  Marc Means and Dave Smith, the GM at the time, were instrumental in getting me the trial year of credentials.  The Scrappers, now functioning on the watch of Jordan Taylor, are fun because of the themes, the wrestling, the fireworks, and the personalities you meet who deal with baseball as a way of life every day.

Youngstown State University is something I never thought I would want to cover.  Too much stuff going on.  I wanted to give football a shot, so for the 2009 season, Jon Heacocks’s last,  Trevor Parks gave me that chance.  Call it good timing because nobody but WFMJ and Pete Mollica cared about the football program which seemed to be spiraling negatively.

I took a real liking to the way that the YSU people do things.  There were not too many media people who bet Jerry Slocum would still be around.  I got to know Slocum a little better than some and am glad he has found his niche here.

Covering Cindy Martin was tough because when a team goes 0-30, it is hard to ask many questions with positive answers.  Bob Boldon and his staff have picked up the slack in a big way and made that program fun.

When Ron Strollo hired Eric Wolford for the 2010 season, he made the best possible choice for the university to rekindle a program known for its strong tradition.  Strollo has been fantastic and has seemed to make all of the right moves in the past couple of years.

Wolford is destined for bigger things.  I do not know how long he will be here, hopefully until he retires, but he makes no bones about being an SEC guy and by getting all of the good experience as a head coach here, Wolford will make a jump to a D-I school within the next few years.

Kelly Pavlik was getting recognition for beating Jermain Taylor a couple of times when I got to sit with him and chat.  Still active and back on the rise, The Ghost has provided some huge moments for this site.  Everything from title defenses to a bitter separation with Jack Loew, and no mention of foul play or substance abuse here.  No reason to.

Jake Giuriceo seems to be the next thing to emerge as a televised boxer from Youngstown.  This kid is so laid back, so spiritual, and so focused, that anyone who talks with him would be hard-pressed not to root for him.

As the website continues to progress, I remain focused on trying to be entertaining and informative without the demise factor.  There is enough positive in the Youngstown area to avoid all of the negative.

So to Larry Holmes, the Youngstown Phantoms, 38 Special, Ron Stevens, and Pete Rose.  Thanks for the roles you have played here at Paneech.com!

Both the YSU men’s and women’s basketball teams will be offering Summer camps in June.  The camps both feature great instruction and drills to make the attendees better all-around players.

Jerry Slocum oversees the Youngtown State 2012 Summer Boys’ Basketball Camps in June.  The Full-Court Camp is set for June 11-14 while the Half-Court Camp is slated for June 18-21.

The Full-Court Camp is for kids in grades six through 12 (as of the Fall 2012), runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and costs $140.  The Half-Court Camp, which is for kids entering second through ninth grade, runs from 8:30 a.m. to Noon and costs $95.

For more information on the camps, please call Director of Basketball Operations Jason Pacanowski at (330) 941-3004 or email at jfpacanowski@ysu.edu.

The women’s basketball staff, led by third-year head coach Bob Boldon, will host two individual camps. The Half-Day Individual Camp will go from June 25-28 and will focus on improving the all-around game. Open to players entering fourth through ninth grade, participants will work on all fundamentals with ball-handling, passing, shooting, defensive and rebounding drills. The camp will go from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. all four days, and the fee is $85.

There will also be an overnight elite camp designed for players getting ready to play at the collegiate level. There will be intense workouts that focus on shooting, ball-handling, passing, post moves and defense. The camp will have competitive games as well as speed and agility drills, and it will be run very similar to a college practice. The camp will be broken into two sessions. The first session will be June 28 from 5-9 p.m., and the second will go from 9 a.m. to noon on June 29. Campers will stay overnight in campus housing, and the cost is $50.

The annual Team Shootout will be on June 2. The camp is a good chance to start the bonding process, and teams are guaranteed four games with certified high school officials. The camp will go from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is available for both varsity and junior varsity teams. The cost is $200 per team.

For more information, call Director of Operations John Cullen at (330) 986-6265 or visit the women’s basketball page at YSUsports.com.

The 2011-12 Youngstown State women’s basketball program recently had their season-ending annual awards banquet at the Chestnut Room of YSU’s Kilcawley Center.

• Women’s Basketball Head Coach Bob Boldon presented junior Brandi Brown with the Ed DiGregorio Award recognizing the team’s most valuable player. Brown, the 17th player in school history to score 1,000 career points, was voted Second-Team All-Horizon League for the second consecutive season. Brown averaged 15.9 points and 9.3 rebounds during the season, and she upped her scoring to 17 points per game during Horizon League play. Brown finished sixth in the postseason voting, one spot out of making it onto the first team.

• Boldon was recognized for his early days in college basketball as both a student-athlete and a coach at Walsh University.  On Feb. 25, Boldon’s accomplishments as a star point guard at Walsh were celebrated as he was selected as one of the program’s top 50 players in its 50-year history. Boldon was a four-year starter for the Cavaliers and led the squad to the NAIA Final Four in 1996.

• On May 19, Boldon will be recognized as part of Walsh’s 1998 NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship team as it is inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame. Boldon was an assistant coach on that squad, which became the first unseeded team to win an NAIA National Championship.

The Youngstown State women’s basketball team has a long-standing tradition of being active in the surrounding community, and the Penguins have maintained that practice throughout the 2011-12 academic year.

Highlighting the list of many projects was YSU’s reading program at area elementary schools. Members of the women’s basketball team read to a total of about 3,500 second through fifth graders at 11 different elementary schools throughout the Youngstown area.

Among other projects the team participated in, they served at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Spaghetti dinner twice during the year. The Penguins also walked in a non-violence parade and participated in the Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting ceremony in downtown Youngstown.

Additionally, seniors Macey Nortey and Kenya Middlebrooks spearheaded two community service projects. Nortey organized a large donation campaign to a homeless shelter where members of the team donated soap and shampoo. Middlebrooks organized a canned-food drive where struggling families in the Mahoning Valley received baskets.

Congratulations Lady Penguins on a great year!

Over the past few years, the facilities have improved, some coaching changes have been made, and school spirit is as high as it has been in about twenty years.  Ron Strollo (above) is finally getting to see the benefits of his hard work.  The athletic director at Youngstown State had come under fire three years ago.  When Jon Heacock was failing, both basketball programs were declining, and all the other sports we had to have for scholarship and conference alignment purposes, no one was sure if Strollo could survive.

Not only has he survived, he has prospered.  The whole athletic community has prospered.

Ask Eric Wolford.  Wolford was appointed to be the savior of a football program that seemed to cater to individuals instead of team.  All Wolford has done in two years is put a program in place, recruited like it is his last day on Earth, surrounded himself with good coaches, and worked on good character and life skills tirelessly for his players.  The expectation on Wolford’s 2012 Penguins is to win.  With a victory over FCS Champion North Dakota State last season, expectations on the coming season are very high.

Perhaps no coach is more misunderstood than Jerry Slocum.  Recently completing his seventh season at the helm, the reserved, but opinionated, coach proved he can win. Strollo rewarded Slocum with a contract extension, and Slocum paid back when he put the best product of his tenure on the court last season.  Slocum is in the Top-10 list for wins of active coaches and knows the game of basketball.  People are sometimes critical of his personality, but no one should ever question his ability to coach.  Strollo made the right decision in rewarding Slocum a few more years as the program continues to move forward.

Bob Boldon probably couldn’t get the pen out of his pocket soon enough to sign a contract to coach women’s basketball at YSU.  It is a nice place to start, following a departed coach who went 0-30 the year before.  Boldon has had good success in installing a three-point shooting offense and is always preaching defense, he is a good choice, another feather in Strollo’s cap.

Rich Pasquale will endure some growing pains with his 2012 YSU baseball squad. Pasquale has a very young team with only two seniors and is another tireless recruiter.  Don’t be surprised to see this team in the hunt next season as they get their bearings and learn to play together.  Coach Campbell is at that point now with the Lady Penguins softball team.  These girls can flat out play.  He has pitching, he has hitting, and he is proving very proficient at managing both.

Recently, the Penguins hosted the Horizon League Indoor Track Meet.  The WATTS proved to be a terrific venue for the event and Strollo reflected on the feedback.

“The feedback has been positive.  Obviously there are a few things, as we will go through growing pains, that need fixed.  We will address those minor issues. Fortunately, we ran college and high school meets a month and a half prior to tune up for that event.”

The weekend of the Horizon Meet, there were also basketball home games and the swimming home finale.

“There is no question we don’t mind being busy if that is what it takes.”

Strollo has surrounded himself with outstanding personnel.  This department has evolved into a prototype of how a collegiate athletic department should be run.  The marketing and sports information departments have exemplified consistency, which can be tough with subpar products.  Fortunately, the products are ‘new and improved’ and will continue to draw bigger crowds.  Keep up the good work Ron Strollo, and thanks for what you have done so far.

Youngstown State women’s basketball player Brandi Brown has been named Second-Team All-Horizon League for the second straight season, the league office announced on Monday.

Brown, a junior forward from Pomona, Calif., averaged 16.3 points and 9.1 rebounds this season as the Penguins’ leader in both categories. She earned the sixth-most votes in the field, making her the first member of the second team. The Horizon League’s coaches, women’s basketball sports information directors and a member of each of the conference’s media markets voted on the postseason awards.

Brown ranked sixth in the Horizon League in both scoring and rebounding, and she also ranked sixth in defensive rebounding, eighth in offensive rebounding, 10th in free-throw percentage and 15th in 3-point percentage.

Brown averaged 17 points and 8.4 rebounds, and she shot 38.7 percent from 3-point range in conference games. In league games, she ranked seventh in the conference in scoring, eighth in rebounding, second in 3-point percentage, seventh in offensive rebounding, eighth in defensive rebounding, 12th in free-throw percentage and 13th in 3-pointers per game.

Brown scored at least 20 points on 12 occasions, and she registered nine double-doubles. She reached double figures in scoring 25 times in 29 games. She scored a season-high 26 points against Loyola on Jan. 12, and she matched her career high with 19 rebounds against Green Bay on Feb. 18.

Green Bay senior Julie Wojta was named the Horizon League’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Detroit’s Shareta Brown and Wright State’s Kim Demmings were named Co-Newcomers of the Year, and Detroit’s Yar Shayok was voted the Sixth Player of the Year. Green Bay’s Matt Bollant was voted the Horizon League Coach of the Year.

The Youngstown State Lady Penguins fought back after putting themselves in an early hole, but ultimately came up short, falling to Cleveland State.  Over the final seven-and-a-half minutes, the Vikings outscored the Penguins 20-9 and walked away with a 79-69 victory.  YSU committed 28 turnovers, matching a season high, and attempted a season-low 14 3-pointers in the loss.

The loss shook things up for the Horizon League Women’s Tournament.  Had the Penguins (10-19, 4-14) been able to nab the road win, they would have hosted a game Monday night in the first round.  Because of the way it ended, the Lady Penguins will head straight back to the Wolstein Center for a do-over with their local rivals.

The Penguins trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, but were was able to chip away and pulled themselves into the lead midway through the second half.  The Penguins outscored the Vikings 15-7 in the first five minutes of the second half to cut the margin to three, and they took their first lead of the contest when two Macey Nortey free throws at the 9:47 mark made the score 58-57. Cleveland State made two free throws to re-claim the lead, and a Kenya Middlebrooks bucket put YSU up 60-59 with 7:34 left. The Vikings made six of their next seven shots, and YSU missed six free throws in the final 6:37.

Cleveland State shot 63.3 percent in the first half and 50 percent for the game. The Vikings scored 22 of their 33 points in the second half in the final 8:30. YSU shot 40.7 percent and posted a season-high 16 steals.  Cleveland State made 10 of its first 13 shots and ended the first half on a 9-3 run to take a 46-35 lead at halftime. The Vikings led by as many as 14 in the period, and their 9-3 run to end the period came immediately after YSU had cut the deficit to five.

Heidi Schlegel registered her second career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Kelsea Fickiesen added a career-best 14 points.  For Cleveland State, Shalonda Winton finished with 25 points, and Takima Keane and Cori Coleman both had 14 points.

The Penguins will enter tournament play as the #10 seed, while Cleveland State will host as the #7 seed.

Emotional. That would be the best way to describe the effort put forth by Youngstown State University on Saturday afternoon as they faced the best team in the Horizon League, #11 Green Bay.  Last season the Penguins lost by 59 points to the same team,this game went to overtime – the program has improved, drastically.  Unfortunately, Green Bay fought back from a seven point deficit to tie the game and force extra time, and pulled out a dramatic 77-72 win.

For Kenya Middlebrooks, Macey Nortey, and Tierra Jones, it marked the end of ‘home games’ and they were honored before the start of the game.  A defeat two days earlier that the Penguins should have won, Senior Day, #11, last home game, etc. were all whipped together in a mixing bowl by Coach Bob Boldon and staff to create the perfect storm, and it almost worked.

“Our kids showed a lot of composure today”, said Boldon.  “There were breakdowns, we made poor decisions, they made some tough shots.  They made all of their free throws in overtime and we didn’t – they capitalized on every mistake that we made.”

In the first half, the Penguins came out blazing.  Middlebrooks shot 4-6 from three-point range, Brandi Brown had eight rebounds and six points, freshman Kelsea Fickiesen contributed eight points which added up to a 34-32 halftime lead for the home team.  More impressively on the stat sheet at the half was that YSU held Julie Wojta to just seven points.  The Phoenix’ Wojta rates at the top of just about every offensive category in the Horizon.

The Penguins kept the ball rolling for a bit in the second half before Green Bay locked in and went a run to claim a 47-44 lead with 11:12 left in the game.  Brown snared a rebound with just over ten minutes to play to notch a double-double, her ninth of the season.  Jones hit a 15-footer on the baseline to make it a one point game with Green Bay ahead 47-46.

The Penguins took a 49-47 led with 7:21 left in the game when Brown drilled a three with a hand in her face.  Adrian Ritchie returned the favor giving Green Bay a 50-49 lead with a three of her own.  Melissa Thompson nailed a three on YSU’s next possession and the Penguins were all-in.  The Penguins took a 54-52 lead on a pair of free throws by Fickiesen, but Green Bay reclaimed the lead at 55-54 when Megan Lukan was fouled while making a layup.

Brown hit a three from the corner by the YSU bench to give YSU a 57-55 lead with just over two minutes to play.  Middlebrooks then drilled a three with 1:33 left to give YSU a 60-55 lead.  After a stop, Middlebrooks was fouled and calmly hit a pair of charity tosses to expand the led to 62-55.  Another stop and Middlebrooks was fouled again.  Middlebrooks calmly nailed both again to increase the lead to 64-55.

Watching the lead go away quick, the Penguins were ahead 65-63 when Fickiesen was fouled.  She missed the first but made the second with 28 seconds left.  Ritchie was then fouled while shooting a three, so she got three shots.  She hit all three, tie game, 68-68.  No one else would score and the game was headed to overtime.

In the overtime, Tierra Jones picked up her fifth foul with 3:24 left.  Four of the fouls that Jones was whistled for were petty.  Fine me. Green Bay hit four free throws to hold a 70-66 lead and the ball with 2:33 to play.  Nortey connected on a free throw to make it 70-67.  The Penguins had a shot to tie it, but Middlebrooks could not connect from three.  The Phoenix held a 72-67 lead  when Lydia Bauer buried  three right when the shot clock expired.

Youngstown State (10-16, 4-11) got good effort out of Brown.  The junior finished the contest with 18 points and 17 rebounds, to record her 36th career double-double.  Middlebrooks had 22 points, Fickiesen played perhaps her best game as a collegiate in collecting 12 points, as did Thompson for the Penguins.  Despite losing, give this team a gold star for playing their butts off.

“The good thing was that we played hard the whole game”, commented Middlebrooks.  A year ago, two years ago, we would have folded and gotten blown out.  So it is a positive measure of progress, but we feel like we should have won the game.”

Green Bay got 18 points and 15 rebounds from Wojta and 26 more from Ritchie.  The Phoenix improved to 23-1 and 13-1 with the win, but more importantly, survived a scare from a hungry YSU team.

“Youngstown played their butts off”, said Wojta.  “There is a lot of progress here and the girls and coaches should be extremely proud of how far they have come.  We play with a will to win and we never give up, we needed to be that way to pull this out today.

Boldon talked about how a close loss to the best team in the conference can help YSU entering the tournament in a couple of weeks.  “I would like to think it will help us.  We played close with each of the top four teams in the conference and in a one game format, I feel like our kids will have the confidence to compete.”