Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Youngstown State coach Jerrod Calhoun stands on the NIT logo at the Beeghly Center. Calhoun reportedly was given an extension through the 2027-28 season.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State and men’s basketball coach Jerrod Calhoun agreed to an extension through the 2027-28 season Wednesday, according to CBS college basketball insider Jon Rothstein.

Calhoun, the reigning Horizon League coach of the year, is 96-96 through six seasons at YSU. In 2022-23, the Penguins went 24-10, clinched the program’s first regular season Horizon League title, made it to the Horizon League Tournament semifinals for just the second time and earned an NIT berth, also the program’s first.

YSU and Calhoun had agreed to a contract extension through the 2026-27 season back in August.

Under Calhoun, Youngstown State has experienced a steady upward trajectory. After going 8-24 and 12-20 in Calhoun’s first and second years, respectively, the Penguins have ripped off four consecutive winning seasons, capped by the successes of 2022-23.

In recent seasons, that’s come by way of navigating the transfer portal. After losing Darius Quisenberry and Naz Bohannon to Fordham and Clemson, respectively, after the 2021 season, Calhoun and his staff managed to nab several contributors, including eventual All-Horizon League First Team selection Dwayne Cohill. Ahead of the most recent season, YSU nabbed Adrian Nelson, Malek Green, Brandon Rush and Bryce McBride, all of which joined Cohill in the starting five.

Also Wednesday, the Penguin Collective, an NIL group aimed at helping YSU student-athletes, received a $200,000 donation earmarked for the Men’s Basketball Fund courtesy of SERVPRO – Team Dobson.

NIL funding was something Calhoun emphasized at his end-of-season press conference following YSU’s home NIT game against Oklahoma State.

“I’ve called three or four kids already, and the first they they ask is, ‘Where’s your collective money? Where do you guys stand in your league?’ So we need support, and the support sometimes is money. That’s the bottom line. … We have to attack this portal, because we did a heck of a job last year with it, and it can be done again,” Calhoun said.

The Tribune Chronicle/Vindicator has reached out to Youngstown State for full contract details, and is awaiting a response.