UPDATED: YSU women's basketball coach steps down

YOUNGSTOWN — Cindy Martin has decided to step down as head coach of the Youngstown State University women’s basketball team, YSU athletic director Ron Strollo announced.

The move will be officially announced at a press conference today, following another scheduled press conference with football coach Eric Wolford.

“I have decided to step down from my position because I feel in my heart it is what’s best for the program at this time,” Martin said in a news release. “I want to thank Youngstown State University and the athletic department for the wonderful opportunity.”

Martin has had limited success while at the helm of the Penguins. In her two years at the school, Martin accumulated only three wins and 57 losses while trying to rebuild the program.

“We were surprised at Coach Martin’s decision to resign at this time,” Strollo said in the release. “She accepted a difficult challenge in rebuilding the winning tradition of YSU women’s basketball, and she and her staff worked tirelessly the past two years toward that end. We understand the end results of this past season put their efforts to the test, but a full examination of the extenuating circumstances that led to this year’s outcomes makes those familiar with the situation supportive of the progress she made.”

Strollo added, “However, Coach Martin’s unselfish attitude has led her to decide that the perceptions are too difficult to overcome, and, in the best interest of the future of YSU women’s basketball, she needed to step down ... The integrity she has displayed in resigning only magnifies the reasons she was the right choice when we chose her as our head coach. We wish her nothing but the best in her future coaching endeavors.”

The YSU women’s team went 0-30 this season, and has lost 49 of the last 50 games.

A 1999 graduate of the University of Florida, Martin earned her bachelor of arts in exercise and sport science. She is a native of Jacksonville, Fla.