Nov. 5, 2009

Penguins Strive for Big Improvement in Martin's Second Year

Prior to last season, Youngstown State head women’s basketball coach Cindy Martin had never been part of a team that finished with more losses than wins in her entire coaching and playing career. She describes herself as the most competitive person someone will ever meet, so you can imagine how determined and excited the Penguins’ second-year head coach is to show a big improvement in 2009-10.

Martin’s club went through some growing pains during the 2008-09 season. Playing with three new starters and five student-athletes who had never suited up for a Division I game, nagging injuries forced Martin to start freshmen often and hold back on her preferred full-court pressure defense.

However, Martin saw the squad show a big improvement as the season progressed. That was epitomized by YSU’s 54-38 win over Valparaiso in the regular-season finale, a team the Penguins lost to 86-43 two months earlier.

Now, Martin is hoping the experience her younger players gained last season combined with the addition of seven new Penguins will bring a big improvement in the win column.

Despite being a sophomore, co-captain Macey Nortey is the active career leader in points, rebounds and assists.

"I think we definitely continued to improve," Martin said of the first season of her rebuilding effort. "Our goal in year one was to improve every day. We had a heck of a turnaround, and that’s something we’re talking about a lot this year.

"We’re still in a rebuilding phase, and we have to continue to get better every day. If we work hard every day, we’re hoping that the preseason is our time to develop and grow this year so we’re ready to go for the start of the conference schedule."

The Penguins will be among the youngest teams in the county with only six players on the roster having Division I experience. One of those, transfer Tieara Jones, will redshirt as she fulfills her NCAA requirements. The top five scorers from last season are all gone, as is 74.4 percent of the scoring, 75.3 percent of the rebounding and 62.9 percent of the minutes played. Furthermore, sophomore point guard Macey Nortey is the active career scoring leader with 169 points.

Martin, though, is hoping that those five players that do return benefitted from a lot of playing time in the first season of her regime.

"We had a lot of youth on the floor for the duration of most games, and I think that game experience will pay off at critical times this year," she said. "People like Kenya Middlebrooks, for example, that really got thrown into the starting line-up on a consistent basis out of position last year, really grew from that. Confidence is the thing that I’m seeing the biggest improvement in with the five returners."

Rachael Manuel and Kaitlyn March will carry the leadership torch as the Guins’ two seniors and only two players who have been at YSU longer than Martin. Manuel has played in 85 games in her career, 57 of which came in her first two collegiate seasons at Southern Miss, but she’s never been counted on to start and score as she’s likely to be this year. March had played in 14 games combined her first two seasons before appearing in 23 as a junior.

"Kaitlyn and Rachael have done a great job communicating with all of the underclassmen about how to be on time for things, and about campus, classes and my expectations on and off the court," Martin said. "They may not have as much experience on the court as some seniors, but they have just as much experience off the court. I think both of them are excited about this year, and I’m expecting big years for both of them. I think this is going to be their best years. That’s the way they can leave Youngstown feeling like they started a tradition."

Three sophomores – Makala Gasparek, Middlebrooks and Nortey – are the only other returning players on the squad, but they’re an experienced group with 88 games combined under their belts. Three junior college transfers and four freshmen in Martin’s first full recruiting class will be charged in improving an offense that was held to 50.2 points per game last season and adding athleticism and speed on the defensive side. Based on precedent, the Penguins have no clear-cut "go-to superstar" on the offensive end.

"I’m actually excited about that," Martin said. "I think I’m a very motivational coach, and I do well coaching the underdog because I’ve been part of rebuilding programs for the last 12 years. I like walking into a gym and having people wonder who’s going to score big. I challenge our ladies to ‘let that be you.’

"We’re going to have to win with team ball, and we don’t need anyone to be a superstar. We need everyone to do their jobs. If you’re a rebounder, that means rebound. If you’re a scorer, that means score. If you’re good a setting screens, you set the best screen you can set. As long as everyone does their job, you can beat anyone on a given night."

Backcourt

Four of the five returning student-athletes and five of the newcomers are guards, so depth in the backcourt should definitely be a strength.

Nortey was the only true point guard on the team last year, and she got the clichéd "baptism by fire." Nortey, a quick guard whose leaping ability allows her to play taller than her 5-foot-3 frame, started at point guard in 25 games last season and played in all 30 in her first collegiate season. Her 26.8 minutes per game ranked second on the team, and she showed the ability to be an all-around player by averaging 5.6 points, 2.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds.

Junior Bojana "Boki" Dimitrov was brought in to compliment Nortey as an accomplished point guard, but the Paracin, Serbia, native will be asked to play a big role on the wing as well. Last season at Carl Albert State College, Dimitrov averaged 10 points and 4.5 assists as a sophomore, and her 5.9 assists as a freshman ranked 18th nationally in the NJCAA Division I. She was ranked 68th out of 205 junior college prospects across the country by the All Star Girls Report.

Gasparek joined the team early last fall as a walk-on and earned a scholarship because of her work-ethic and potential. She played in 28 games last season and has been on campus throughout the summer working to improve.

"I’m excited about the point guard spot because I think we’re going to have depth and versatility there," Martin said. "Macey gained valuable game and conference experience last year, and she has really learned what I expect with our offensive system.

"Boki is just a natural leader who is tough and tenacious. We knew that when we recruited her. Now that she’s in the mix of things, she’s everything we thought she’d be and a little more. We’re excited that she’s going to be able to score more [as an off-guard].

"Makala is the hardest working player on this team, and her 3-point shot looks great."

March displayed a huge improvement when she was healthy at the early part of last season, and she’ll be looked upon to provide leadership and scoring from the wing. After playing in 14 games combined her first two seasons, March played in 23 contests last season and set career highs in nearly every statistical category. She scored at least eight points in three of the first five games, and nine of her 14 3-pointers came in the first seven contests. She, along with Dimitrov and Gasparek, will be counted on to be YSU’s primary 3-point threats.

Middlebrooks is a stalwart defender who played in all 30 games and started nine a year ago. She led the squad with 37 steals last season and averaged 23.8 minutes. She’ll play the majority of her time at the No. 3 position this year after ranging from the two to four in her freshman season.

Freshman Maryum Jenkins was a four-year starter as both a shooting guard and point guard at Monrovia High in California, and she’ll play mostly on the wing in 2009-10. She averaged 15 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals as a senior in leading her team to the league title. She was ranked 290th out of 1,725 high school prospects across the country by the All Star Girls Basketball Report.

Shea Johnson joined the Penguins in July after a solid career at Midland (Texas) College, one of the top JUCO programs in the nation. She averaged 8.3 points and played in all 32 games for the Chaparrals last season, who finished 30-2 and ranked fifth in the final national poll.

Melissa Thompson was a Third-Team Northeast Lakes District selection as a senior in what was her first season at Solon High. Prior to leading Solon to a district title, she averaged 12.1 points and 9.2 rebounds as a junior at Bedford High.

"I think we’ll have some versatility on the wing because we’ll have people out there who can also play point guard," Martin said. "Kenya, Maryum, Shea and Melissa are all good jump shooters who can ‘stop and pop’ or get to the rim. I’m really excited about Kenya this year because she’s back in her natural position, and her confidence is definitely up. Kaitlyn has worked on driving so she can become a dual-threat, and Maryum is just a baller who knows how to play. Shea averaged 26 points in high school, so we’re hoping to help her become a consistent scorer. Melissa scores very well from the free-throw line in and can be a nice combo player at the No. 3 and 4 positions."

Frontcourt

Although there are only three true posts on the roster, Martin is pleased with the group’s versatility to play inside and out.

"I’m excited about the posts’ versatility this year. I’m excited that we can set an on-ball screen and not always roll. We can teach them this year to read it. They can pop out and shoot the 3 if their man drops."

Manuel is the only returning post player from last year’s squad that saw forwards Nikita LaFleur and Tiara Scott lead the team in scoring. Manuel will look to follow in their footsteps with an increased role on the floor and as a mentor to two incoming freshmen.

Senior Rachael Manuel is by far the most-experienced player on the squad with 85 career games played.

Manuel is by far the most-veteran player on the squad with her 85 career games, and she averaged 1.9 points and 2.1 rebounds over 27 games as a substitute for LaFleur and Scott last year. She’ll look for a breakout campaign similar to LaFleur’s last season in which she more-than-doubled her scoring and rebounding averages.

Freshman Kaitlin Rohrs averaged 14 points and eight rebounds as both a sophomore and junior at Liberty Center High to earn first-team all-district honors both seasons. She went on to earn honorable mention All-Ohio honors as a senior when she averaged 11.8 points and 7.7 rebounds.

Fellow freshman Brandi Brown comes to Youngstown as a highly-accomplished player out of Claremont High in California. She averaged 24 points and 19.6 rebounds as a senior and retired as the school’s all-time leader in points and rebounds. She earned Second-Team All-CIF Southern Section honors as a senior.

"I’d love to have two true posts on the floor at all times, but we’re prepared to go in this year with a four-out, one-in mentality," Martin said. "That is the style of half-court offense we want to get to. We want to have one post inside and one on the perimeter somewhere. We have good range with our posts and have nice touch. It will be nice to adjust what we want to do based on what we think will work for each game."