2010-11 youngstown state women's basketball - ysupenguins.com

2010-11 YOUNGSTOWN STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
2010-11 TEAM INFORMATION | SEASON OUTLOOK
Program Looks for Fresh Start Under Boldon
Shortly after Bob Boldon told program
supporters and the news media that becoming
Youngstown State’s head women’s
basketball coach was a dream opportunity,
a reporter asked the fi rst-year head coach
how confi dent he was in his abilities to turn
the program around.
Boldon’s response was simple, direct
and convincing. “Very,” he said.
Boldon, a Northeast Ohio native, comes
to Youngstown with an outstanding resume
as a player and an impressive track record
as a collegiate coach for 13 seasons.
Boldon spent the 1990s as a two-time All-
American at point guard and leading Walsh
to the NAIA Final Four. That same decade,
Youngstown State boasted one of the top
mid-major programs in the country with
three NCAA Tournament appearances and
seven seasons with at least 19 wins.
Boldon has since established himself
as an up-and-comer in the coaching profession,
and he’s now charged with returning
the Penguins to their roots in his fi rst
Division I head coaching job, just 50 miles
northeast of his own roots in Louisville,
Ohio.
“I’m very proud of this opportunity,”
he said. “It’s something that comes with a
great responsibility to return this program
to the winning tradition that the people of
Youngstown are accustomed to, and it’s
something that I’m dedicated to doing.”
“We have to change our culture. We
have to develop and get better. Nobody
wants to win more than the team wants to
win. Nobody wants to win more than I want
to win.”
For the past 13 seasons, Boldon has
been learning and grooming himself for this
position. He has three years of head coaching
experience, and he’s been an assistant
with highly accomplished head coaches.
Two of those coaches – Jerry Scheve and
Karl Smesko – have been voted national
coaches of the year. Boldon spent last season
coaching with Smesko at Florida Gulf
Coast University, and he spent 2006-08 as
an assistant coach at Akron.
At the University of Arkansas at Monticello,
Boldon showed he can rebuild a
program as a head coach. He inherited a
team that went 1-15 in Gulf South Conference
play the year prior to his arrival, and
he immediately brought the Division II Cot-
ton Blossoms up to an 8-8 mark, which was
the school’s best conference record in fi ve
years. He also showed he can lead a powerhouse
as he directed Lambuth University
to 29 wins and a runner-up fi nish for the
NAIA national title in 2008-09. Boldon was
recognized as the Association of Independent
Institutions Coach of the Year after the
regular season and A.I.I. tournament for his
efforts.
“I’ve been a lot of places, but this is home
for me,” Boldon said. “This is where I like to
be. My family is here. My friends that I grew
up with are here. It’s exciting to be back and
to raise my family here in this area, which
I think really prides itself on hard work and
doing things the right way.”
From the fi rst day he was on the job,
Boldon has not tried to detract from the task
he’s been assigned - turning a team that
went 0-30 last year into a Horizon League
contender.
Boldon is an offensive-minded coach,
and he’s focused more attention on shooting
than any other facet of the game since
he arrived on campus. The Guins certainly
have room to improve with Boldon as they
posted league lows with a 30.6 shooting
percentage and an average of 48.6 points.
“We depend on the
3-point shot a lot more than
last year’s team did,” he said.
“That’s why the improvement
in shooting has been encouraging.
The offense will
be faster than last year with
fewer set plays and more motion.
We want to learn how to
read screens and get open.
We need to learn to take what
the defense gives us.”
“Defensively, we want to
be able to take certain things
away depending on the game
plan. That’s going to depend
on who we play and what
their strengths are.”
Boldon inherits a Penguins
team that will have, for
the most part, a roster rich
with unknowns for the 2010-
11 season. In addition to three
incoming freshmen – Liz
Hornberger, Heidi Schlegel
and Boardman High graduate
“Every basketball season
has a new identity. If you’re
coming off a 30-win season,
or a 30-loss season, none of
it matters this season.”
~ Head Coach Bob Boldon
Monica Touvelle - there are four studentathletes
on the squad who did not play at all
last season. Shea Johnson, Kaitlin Rohrs
and Melissa Thompson missed the year
with injuries, and Youngstown native Tieara
Jones sat out while meeting academic requirements
as a transfer. Those four were
all expected to make solid contributions
last year, and their unfortunate absences
played a big factor in last season’s struggles
as only eight players dressed.
Johnson and Rohrs are expected to miss
the year again with injuries, leaving Boldon
with 11 players at his disposal. However,
with fi ve new players and a bench deeper
than three players, those factors alone provide
hope for a quick improvement. It may
not lead to a huge leap in the win total, but
an increase in competitiveness will be big
progress in Boldon’s fi rst season.
Shooting guard Bojana Dimitrov is the lone
senior on this year’s squad.
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