Photos courtesy of YSU Athletic Communications / Madison Chapman. YSU redshirt senior forward Faith Burch (left) puts up a jump shot, while sixth-year senior guard Casey Santoro (right) brings the ball up the floor during a drill during a team practice on July 9 at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.

YOUNGSTOWN — No one on Youngstown State’s roster has played more college basketball than redshirt senior forward Faith Burch and sixth-year senior guard Casey Santoro.

In her three years at Cleveland State, plus last season with the Penguins, Burch has played in 88 games. Meanwhile, across five years at Kent State and Florida Gulf Coast, Santoro has played in 120 games.

“We’ve been around the game for a minute, and we’ve been to different programs,” Burch said. “I feel like we can give that type of edge, that type of education to the ones that are coming up.”

After the graduation of Jewel Watkins, Malia Magestro and Haley Thierry, YSU needs Burch and Santoro to fill that leadership void as the team’s most experienced players.

Plus with a roster filled with largely redshirt freshmen and sophomores, Burch and Santoro’s experience is valuable, even though most of those young players picked up a ton of experience last year.

“We’re still young, right?” head coach Melissa Jackson said. “That’s why it was so important to bring the experienced transfers in.”

Those young players were thrown into the fire last year. YSU dealt with a handful of season-ending injuries, and out of necessity, the Penguins played their young group significant minutes throughout the season.

But the experience they gained last year was important, and with a full offseason with Jackson and the coaching staff, YSU moved at a much quicker pace because everyone knows what to expect and how things work.

“This will be their second year. They had a lot of playing time last year, so that’s going to be really good for us this year,” Burch said. “So nothing’s really going to be new for them. It’s just giving them a little bit more push to really exceed the expectations of who they want to be.”

Burch is known for being vocal and outgoing on the floor with her teammates, characteristics that she’s grown into and developed since her time playing in high school at Warren G. Harding.

During her time with the Raiders, Burch always engaged with her team, but she tended to be more reserved than she is now.

“Faith is definitely a very vocal leader and I think that’s good, but we also lead differently,” Santoro said. “I think it’s good to have multiple leaders on the team that lead in different ways.”

Burch has also played for Jackson longer than anyone else on the team, having played for her with the Penguins last season and again the year before when Jackson was an assistant coach at Cleveland State.

“I’m a granny now,” Burch said with a laugh. “But I’m just excited. This is my last year, so I’m ready to just put it all on the floor. I’m excited to play with this team. We’re going to be really good this year. (Last year), we showed a little glimpse to the whole Horizon League of what we can be. Now we have everybody back and even a little bit more people, so I’m excited.”

Like she said, Santoro, however, is a little bit different in her leadership approach compared to Burch.

“Casey has been a silent leader out there right now. But I think as she gets more comfortable and accustomed to everything, her voice is going to really come out,” Jackson said. “She has picked up on things really quickly, and I’m not surprised.”

As one of the team’s newcomers, Santoro is using the team’s workouts and practices this summer to acclimate herself to the program and learn YSU’s system.

“We’ve just been trying to get accustomed to our offense, and honestly, each other,” Santoro said. “I think that’s the biggest point we’re trying to make right now is getting used to working with new teammates and running the system right. I think it’s going really well and we’ve been making great progress.”

As a point guard, Santoro’s responsibilities are unique. As Jackson’s floor general on the court, Santoro has to constantly communicate with the bench and the players on the floor so that she can relay and facilitate play calls.

Jackson also said she wants to play faster this season, particularly on offense in transition. That responsibility will fall on Santoro’s shoulders as she facilitates the Penguins up and down the court.

She also has to know and be in-tuned with each of her teammates’ tendencies so that she can get them the ball in different positions around the floor.

“It takes time, but I’m just sitting back and observing and learning my teammates,” Santoro said. “I’m a point guard, so I have to know all my teammates and how to play with them and get along with them and lead them. This is my second time doing it, so I’m used to getting to know people. (I’m) just being open-minded to anything honestly and willing to get to know new people.”