Posts Tagged ‘Bob Boldon’

The same people who vote on where Youngstown State would finish in the Horizon League this season, also vote for who the best player in the conference is.  Brandi Brown was named the preseason Horizon League Player of The Year, but her team was picked, by the same people, to finish tenth out of ten teams.  Second year coach, Bob Boldon, enters this season optimistic that his team is better for the opening tip this season than they were a year ago.  Down the stretch, the Lady Penguins were hot, and nobody wanted to play them because they came around a corner few thought they could.  The strong finish included three home wins and a buzzer loss in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament.

This just in – Brandi Brown is really good.  The thing that the Penguins need is consistency from her supporting cast to be successful.  Brown became the first scoring leader in conference history to not be voted onto the league’s first team, thus the Penguins will enter this season with sizeable chips on their shoulders.  Is it a case of as Brown goes, so do the Penguins?

“Yes, that is true”, remarked Boldon. “Last year, Brandi shot the ball 150 to 200 times more than anybody else.  I don’t know if it will be that drastic this year, but she is going to shoot the ball more than anyone else is, Brandi is a really good player.  We need to more consistently provide her help.  It seems that last year when a couple of other players stepped up and had good games, we won.  Brandi is still going to take the last shot, everything will run through her. We still need to improve on scoring when she doesn’t have the ball. She will be a big part of everything until she graduates.”

“We all felt responsible for Brandi not being on the first team last year simply because we underachieved as a team,” Boldon said. “(Being picked to finish 10th) hurt some people’s feelings because they felt like they turned the corner a little bit,” Boldon said. “They thought we should have gotten some more respect from the voters. Whatever fuels us is good for me. There were some people who felt like we weren’t ‘that team’ anymore.”

The Penguins lost Boki Dimitrov to graduation.  Makala Gasparek and Maryum Jenkins will not be playing this year either.  Enter a new group of players, to be custom-molded by Boldon and tidy up a slick spread-motion system. Newcomers Kelsea Fickiesen and Ashley Lawson add some depth at the guard positions.  Junior transfer Devan Matkin further deepens the guard pool.  Second-year guard Melissa Thompson should see more time this season.

Familiar faces to continue the march forward include Kenya Middlebrooks and Liz Hornberger.  Middlebrooks, a senior, and Hornberger, a sophomore, both ranked in the league’s top-10 in three point shooting percentage.   Another sophomore, Monica Touvelle, returns with a wealth of experience, making appearances in all 30 games last season.  Heidi Schlegel could really be a big player for Boldon.  The redshirt freshman played in the first seven games before injuring her foot and missing the remainder of the 2010-11 campaign.

Tiera Jones and Macey Nortey, both seniors, round out Boldon’s active roster.  Jones really came on last year and was very productive when she could stay out of foul trouble.  Nortey is a ball of energy and a vocal presence with a do-what-it-takes attitude.  They should both play a role in the fortunes of this year’s campaign.

“We want to continue to improve on what we did last year”, said Boldon. “The new people we brought in are good shooters and we spent time this offseason working with the players who are returning, and as a result, they have become better shooters as well.  It is a collective movement.”

“There are still a multitude of things that we can teach the players”, said Boldon.  “However, it has been easier this season because the system base was already installed, so we are at a higher starting point.  Our returning players do not know it all, but the turnaround time with them will be quicker this season.  It is more about refreshing them than starting from scratch.”

Boldon’s team opens the season on Friday night at West Virginia.  They then travel to IPFW and Bucknell before returning home for the 2011 home opener against American University on November 21.  This team will not compete for an outright championship this season, however, I would be surprised if they did not win at least 13 games. This year will be more about being competitive and winning games they should win.  With the lack of respect shown by that grand voting panel of Horizon League Wizardry, that means they will finish about 2-28…  I say 14-16.  Hopefully better.

Boldon outlined his short and long-term goals.

“Long term, you start to think about the Horizon League Tournament.  You want to try to get yourself into a favorable position, out of that seven, eight, nine, or ten slot.  We would love to be in a position to host a home game in the tournament.  Short term, we failed to build off of our successes when we had them last year.  We had a little success and got so happy with ourselves that we did not get better.”

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Youngstown State men’s and women’s basketball season are on sale now through Monday, Nov. 14, the YSU Athletics Ticket Office announced.

Fans can purchase reserved-seat season tickets through Penguin Club Membership at $140 or through the Penguin Package of $160, which includes all men’s and women’s games.  The ticket office also announced individual game tickets will go on sale Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Prices for individual reserved seats are $12 prior to game day and $14 on game day. General admission individual ticket prices are $8 prior to game day and $10 on game day.

Groups of 20 or more can purchase general admission tickets for $4 for men’s basketball and $3 for women’s basketball.

Faculty and staff may purchase regular-season game tickets at half price with a valid Youngstown State University Faculty/Staff ID card. Discounted tickets must be purchased prior to game day.

YSU students can obtain a complimentary ticket with a valid YSU student ID.

The Youngstown State women’s basketball team was recently picked to finish last in their conference.  In an oxymoron-type move, Brandi Brown was voted Horizon League Preseason Player of The Year.  Do the people that vote fail to realize that the best player, of their choosing, is on the team they picked to finish last?

If I were Bob Boldon, second year head coach, I would relish being picked last.  It opens the door for a lot of putting the stick in the mud at season’s end.  Granted, this years women’s team may not be cutting down any nets, but they will win at least 12 games.  Even if they only win ten and my prediction is wrong, it is marked improvement from where the program was when Boldon and staff came to town.

Warning Horizon League readers outside of the Youngstown area… Take this team lightly and you will lose to them this year.  Boki Dimitrov is gone, but all of the others are back, and then some.  I will do a full women’s basketball preview piece this weekend, but for now, write my fearless prediction of 12 wins down somewhere, if you lose it, I will remind you in February.

Fresh off its Sweet 16 run last season, Green Bay was chosen as the preseason favorite in the team poll. The Phoenix received 29 out of 30 first-place votes for 299 points, and Cleveland State was a distant second with 238 points. Wright State, Butler, UIC and Milwaukee all finished within 35 points for the third through sixth spots. Detroit was picked to finish seventh by a sizeable margin, and Loyola, Valparaiso and Youngstown State rounded out the bottom three. The Penguins defeated Valpo in both meetings last season and came within a bucket of forcing overtime at Loyola in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament.

Head coaches, sports information directors and select media members voted in the poll.

The last Penguin to earn conference player-of-the-year honors was Brianne Kenneally in 1999-2000 while YSU was competing in the Mid-Continent Conference. YSU’s last first-team all-league performer was Jen Perugini in 2004-05.

Youngstown State begins the 2011-12 season at West Virginia on Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m.

2011-12 Preseason Poll

(First Place Votes)

1. Green Bay (29) – 299
2. Cleveland State – 238
3. Wright State – 212
4. Butler – 197
5. UIC – 186
6. Milwaukee – 177
7. Detroit (1) – 141
8. Loyola – 88
9. Valparaiso – 64
10. Youngstown State – 48

Player of the Year: Brandi Brown, Youngstown State

All-League Team

First Team
Brandi Brown, F, Youngstown State
Julie Wojta, G/F, Green Bay
Molly Fox, F, Wright State
Shalonda Winton, F, Cleveland State
Jasmine Bailey, G/F, UIC

Second Team

Angela Rodriguez, G, Milwaukee
Yar Shayok, F, Detroit
Shamiea Green, G, UIC
Monica Albano, G, Loyola
Betsy Adams, G, Valparaiso

Youngstown State junior forward Brandi Brown has been selected as the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year in the conferences 2011-12 preseason poll that was released Wednesday.

Brown, a second-team all-conference pick last season as the league’s top scorer, edged Green Bay senior Julie Wojta by one point for the preseason player-of-the-year nod. Brown finished with 260 points, and Wojta and Wright State’s Molly Fox were the only other two players to finish with at least 140 points. All five First-Team All-Horizon League members last season were seniors.

Brown (Pomona, Calif.) scored 597 points in 30 games last year for a league-leading 19.9 points per game. She ranked fourth in rebounding with 9.2 per game and tied for the league lead with 13 double-doubles. Additionally, her .472 field-goal percentage ranked seventh. Brown was even better in league play, averaging 22.6 points and 9.6 rebounds while shooting 51.4 percent from the field.

On the national level, Brown ranked 15th in scoring and 49th in rebounding. She was one of only 10 players in the country to rank in the top 50 in both categories.

Brown, Wojta and Fox were joined by Cleveland State’s Shalonda Winton and UIC’s Jasmine Bailey on the first team. Second-team members were Angela Rodriguez (Milwaukee), Yar Shayok (Detroit), Shamiea Green (UIC), Monica Albano (Loyola), and Betsy Adams (Valparaiso).

Brown was snubbed for Horizon League Newcomer of The Year two seasons ago when Detroit’s Shayok, a good player, and second team preseason pick this season, was handed the hardware.  Last season, Brown led the conference in almost every statistic but was somehow kept off of the First-Team in another bad vote or however their procedure works.

Congratulations Brandi!

The Youngstown State women’s basketball team opened practice in preparation for the 2011-12 season on Sunday evening in its first of 30 scheduled sessions prior to the season opener at West Virginia on Nov. 11.

Individual and small group sessions had been held for several weeks, but Sunday’s practice at Beeghly Center was the first session of considerable length with the entire team.

“We’re a lot further along this year than we were last year,” head coach Bob Boldon said. “We’re trying to get as much offensive movement and development in as we can, and defense will come in a couple of weeks.”

Boldon, who is in his second year with the program, has especially noticed an increase an intensity from a year ago.

“Our effort has been fantastic. Your biggest concern [at this time of year] is that your kids are working hard and that they’re learning. We’re doing both of those, and I’m happy from that standpoint.”

Boldon is welcoming newcomers Kelsea Fickiesen,  Ashley Lawson,  Devan Matkin and Melanie Poorman to the program, and he’ll also have the use of redshirt-freshman forward Heidi Schlegel, who missed the final 22 games of 2010-11 with a foot injury. Those five join seniors Tiera Jones, Kenya Middlebrooks, and Macey Nortey (above); junior all-league candidate Brandi Brown; and sophomores Liz Hornberger, Melissa Thompson, and Monica Touvelle.

Boldon inherited a program that had gone 0-30 the year prior to his arrival, and the Penguins improved well beyond their six-win increase. Most indicative was closing the scoring margin by 15.2 points from 2009-10 to 2010-11.  That was the second-best improvement in the country.  The Penguins finished last season by winning three of their final seven contests, and they had shots in the final 20 seconds in three of those losses that would have tied the game.

“They know what it takes to win games, and there’s an expectation of what’s to be done at practice to prepare to win games,” Boldon said. “They’re taking that preparation more seriously than they were a year ago.”

Boldon said the weight room report from the preseason lifting program came back with pleasing results, thanks in large part to a large portion of the team lifting on campus during the summer.

The Youngstown State women’s basketball team will play 13 games against opponents who won at least 20 games last season and participate in a Thanksgiving tournament in Los Angeles during the 2011-12 season, YSU head coach Bob Boldon announced on Tuesday.

The Penguins will have a challenging start with five of the first eight contests against teams who won 20-plus games a year ago. They’ll also play five of their first six contests away from Beeghly Center.

Boldon’s second season will start at West Virginia on Friday, Nov. 11, and the Penguins will remain on the road to play at IPFW (Nov. 13) and at Bucknell (Nov. 16). YSU’s home opener will be against American on Nov. 21, and the Guins’ league opener will be versus Cleveland State on Dec. 31. YSU has just 12 home contests on the 29-game docket.

“This is a very exciting and challenging schedule for us as we continue to build our program,” Boldon said. “We have a very demanding non-conference slate that will definitely prepare us for the Horizon League, and we’re adding New York City and Los Angeles to our list of attractive travel destinations.”

November 

 Fri	11	at West Virginia			TBA 

Sun	13	at IPFW			2:00 PM 

 Wed	16	at Bucknell			7:00 PM 

 Mon	21	AMERICAN			7:05 PM 

 Fri	25	at Loyola Marymount			4:00 PM 

 Sat	26	vs. TBA			TBA

Wed	30	WESTERN MICHIGAN			7:05 PM 

December 

 Tue	6	BOWLING GREEN			5:15 PM 

 Fri	9	at Ohio			7:00 PM

Sun	18	at Akron			2:00 PM 

 Tue	27	at Stony Brook			7:00 PM 

 Sat	31	CLEVELAND STATE *			2:05 PM 

January 

 Thu	5	at Butler *			7:00 PM 

 Sat	7	at Valparaiso *			2:35 PM 

 Thu	12	LOYOLA *			7:05 PM 

 Sat	14	UIC *			2:05 PM 

Thu	19	at Green Bay *			8:00 PM 

 Sat	21	at Milwaukee *			3:00 PM 

 Thu	26	DETROIT *			7:05 PM 

 Sat	28	WRIGHT STATE *			4:35 PM 

February 

 Thu	2	VALPARAISO *			7:05 PM 

 Sat	4	BUTLER *			2:05 PM 

 Thu	9	at UIC *			8:00 PM 

 Sat	11	at Loyola *			TBA 

 Thu	16	MILWAUKEE *			7:05 PM 

 Sat	18	GREEN BAY *			2:05 PM 

 Thu	23	at Wright State *			7:00 PM 

 Sat	25	at Detroit *			2:00 PM 

March 

 Sat	3	at Cleveland State *			TBA 

  (home games in red)

The Youngstown State Women’s Basketball Team will hold a golf outing on August 27.  The event will be held at Knoll Run Golf Course in Coitsville and you can sign a team up for the four-person scramble.  The event is guaranteed fun with Bob Boldon and staff participating.  They are a top notch group of people and are really working hard to turn the basketball team into a winner.

The $75 entry fee (per person) will cover breakfast, 18 holes of golf, riding cart, refreshments, lunch, dinner, and prizes.  There will also be a Chinese auction with many chances to win some great prizes.  Raffle tickets will be sold throughout the day with winners announced for those prizes during the dinner.  Paying $15 for just the dinner is an option for those who dislike the links.

(Above photo courtesy of YSUSports.com)

You can sponsor a hole for $100.  If you are interested in more information about anything pertaining to the outing, contact John Cullen, Director of Women’s Basketball Operations at (330) 986-6265 or e-mail jlcullen@ysu.edu.

The event registration starts at 7:30 a.m. the day of the scramble with a shotgun start to follow at 9 a.m.

Coach Bob Boldon and staff are conducting a series of women’s basketball camps in June.  The camps are open to the public and are a terrific resource  for refining fundamentals or learning new skills.  The camps are broken down into three categories: Team Camp, Half-Day Individual Camp, and Overnight Elite Camp.  Coach Boldon, and his outstanding staff will supervise all aspects of the camps.

Team Camp will be split into two separate sessions.  Session I is on June 10 and Session II will be held on June 12.  The cost of the Team Camp is $200 per team, per session.  Each team is guaranteed four games per session.  The coaches will try to match teams of equal ability to play on the games which will be officiated by certified high school referees.  The focus of the team camp is geared toward coaches and players developing winning programs and finding ways to stay on top of the game.

Registration will be at 7 a.m. on both days for the team camp and the games will be played from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.  The camp is uniquely offered to JV and Varsity level players.

Half-Day Individual Camp is a fundamentals camp to enhance the skill set of all attending cagers.  The Half-Day Camp registration will be on June 27 at 8 a. m. and the camp itself will be held on four days, starting Monday, June 27 through Thursday, June 30.  The cost of the four-day package is $85 per player and each attendant will receive a t-shirt and other prizes.   The areas of concentration will be ball-handling, passing, shooting, defensive, and rebounding drills.  This camp is open to players entering grades 4-9 in the 2011-12 school year.

Overnight Elite Camp is just what it sounds like, the chance for the players hoping to advance to the college level to push their abilities to a new dimension.  This is the most intense of the three offered camps with areas of skill development such as shooting, passing, post moves, ball handling, and defense.  The first half of this camp is Thursday, June 30, from 5-9 p.m. and the second session starts at 9 the next morning until noon.  The cost of the Overnight Elite Camp is $50 per player.  For anyone seriously wanting to advance their game, this will be a college-level practice environment with speed and agility drills, as well as, game action.

If there are further questions, contact the YSU Women’s Basketball Office at (330) 941-3004.

These three camps, all very different in skill level, are a great resource for a wide array of ages! Sign up!

You will not meet a more personable group than the Youngstown State University Women’s Basketball Coaching Staff. They are all very genuine, real, and fun people to talk with.  John Vogel, who handles the women’s basketball program from a sports information director position was gracious enough to tape the roundtable interview I got to conduct.  Topics discussed are the recruiting process, Brandi Brown being overlooked on postseason awards, and a fun segment where the coaches have to pinpoint what their peers like and dislike.

Big thanks to Mr. Vogel for not only creating this opportunity, but for also being very helpful with my requests.  Also, a million thanks to Coach Bob Boldon for being a guy who is always candid and approachable.  This was my first real conversation of any kind with the assistants.  Pictured above are John Cullen, Kate Schrader, and Tavares Jackson.  Not pictured but included in the video is Jen Theissen.

Just before this interview was conducted, these coaches were working with a few of the players on the last day of workouts until August.  To watch how they coach as a group was fun.  Coach Boldon is kind of an overseer and delegates authority for an assistant to watch a defender and another coach to monitor an offensive player.  The other assistants usually encourage the players working in the various drills.  The dedication of this staff is going to put bodies in seats over the next couple of years.

Also, a new piece of equipment was in use at practice.  As a player shoots a three-point shot, a three foot high box announces the arc, or highest point, that the ball hits on its way to the basket.  Coach Theissen explained that the machine would register different numbers based on factors such as a players size.  For example, Macey Nortey and  Tieara Jones are about a foot different in stature meaning their arc would be different.  Very nice piece of equipment!

Thanks again to all who participated!

Saturday Bojana “Boki” Dimitrov played her last home game as a Youngstown State Penguin.  The ending was bittersweet for the fiery Serbian because she rolled her ankle, only logged five minutes, and did not score a point in the Penguins victory over Loyola–not quite the way it was planned. Before the game during the shoot around, Dimitrov made her way over to the media table and thanked everyone, just a fraction of the class this kid has.

Penguin Coach Bob Boldon talked about losing his lone senior.  “She provided a lot of character and perspective.  She lived through a war, an actual war.  So as we complain about gas prices going up and all of our problems, someone who lived through a war keeps things in perspective for us. She genuinely loves to play basketball.  She always played hard and that just carried over because she always practiced hard too which is great for the younger kids to learn from.”

Brittney Zemko (above) also participated in her last game as a YSU Cheerleader.  Zemko was the lone senior honored of a great cheering squad that is appreciated but seldom written about.  Give credit to these young ladies and men for the hard work and preparation that goes into all of the backflips, pyramids, and chants we often, as fans, take for granted.

Congratulations also go to Vytas Sulskis and Dan Boudler who played in their last games as Penguins.  Sulskis had a fantastic career and did his home country, Lithuania, very proud.  Boudler was a quieter and more reserved guy who did a lot of the dirty work inside during his playing career.  They will both be missed.

Congratulations to all of the seniors on a job well done!