Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes A group of Youngstown State students cheer on the Penguins during Friday night's game against Oakland.

YOUNGSTOWN — Ahead of Youngstown State’s games against Oakland and Detroit Mercy, the Beeghly Center was shown a highlight video that began with Jerrod Calhoun’s introductory press conference.

Among the statements Calhoun made that day that were shown in the video, perhaps none sticks out more than, “The Valley is dying to have a basketball team it can be proud of.”

The Penguins certainly are making the Valley proud right now, and in return, fans have come out in droves lately — and not just for the men. Three of the weekend’s four games welcomed more than 3,000 fans, one of which was the women’s game against Northern Kentucky.

Friday night’s ESPN2 game against Oakland saw a crowd of 3,801, Saturday’s NKU game welcomed 3,098 and Sunday’s matinee against Detroit Mercy had 4,187 fans on hand, according to Youngstown State’s postgame statistics.

Truth be told, this weekend’s crowds were the most involved and energetic since I began covering the teams ahead of last season.

What’s more, the season-long statistics point to high fan interest since the start. On the men’s side, YSU is sitting at third in the Horizon League at 2,589 fans per game, behind Wright State (3,647) and Northern Kentucky (3,168).

Meanwhile, the women are second at 1,533, behind only Green Bay’s 1,797 fans per game.

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes
A crowd of nearly 4,000 takes in Friday night’s game between Youngstown State and Oakland.

Both Calhoun and women’s coach John Barnes have taken notice.

“Great atmosphere. I cannot thank the fans of Youngstown enough,” Calhoun said after the Oakland game. “It’s been six years trying to build this program. Day by day, a lot of work has been put in, not just by Coach Calhoun — I think head coaches get way too much credit — but the players laid the foundation, the managers, administration, it’s a team effort. To see it come to light on this national stage was pretty neat.”

Unprovoked, Barnes concluded his Saturday postgame press conference with the same sentiment.

“I thought the crowd was unbelievable,” he said. “For the crowd to be like it was (Friday) night for the men’s game, just a sellout, and then today come back and support us, it was electric in there. So thank you to the community. It’s just outstanding to be in the basketball programs right now.”

To their credit, a big part of that can be attributed to the programs themselves. Both the men and women find themselves right in the thick of the Horizon League race. The men are one of four teams tied for first alongside NKU, Milwaukee and Cleveland State, while the women are tied for first with Cleveland State, with whom they have a rematch looming Saturday.

They’ve also made it worthwhile for YSU fans to show up. The men are 9-2 at home this season, while the women are 10-2 — a combined 19-4 between the two programs.

Maintaining that home-court advantage will be critical down the stretch for both programs, and neither program has been shy about expressing how critical fans are to that effort.

Take it from point guard Dena Jarrells, a transfer from Chattanooga.

“This community, I did not expect when I came here to have that big of a crowd,” she said during a midweek presser last week. “It’s exciting to play in such a small atmosphere, it just gets so loud, and I think it really brings us more confidence as we’re playing. The enthusiasm and energy just help us out a lot.”

The women are headed on the road this week for a critical two-game swing against Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State, and then return home next week for a four-game home stand against Oakland, Detroit Mercy, Milwaukee and Green Bay. That’s a span that certainly will determine the league’s postseason seeding.

The men are home this week against Wright State and Northern Kentucky, setting up an opportunity for YSU to knock off one of the teams with which it is tied for first.

And as the calendar turns to the final month of the regular season, Calhoun wants to see the attendance continue as the games magnify in importance.

“Get behind the team,” Calhoun said after Sunday’s win over Detroit Mercy. “There are five home games left, and we need 4,000 at every game. Let’s lead the league in attendance. Youngstown wanted a winner, and these guys are winning. They’re doing it the right way. They’re fun, and Thursday and Saturday could be huge. I don’t see any reason not to get a bigger crowd than we had here (Friday) just because it was ESPN. We have five left.”

jwhetzel@tribtoday.com