Photo courtesy of YSU Athletic Communications / Madison Chapman YSU sophomore forward Sophia Gregory goes through layup drills during the Penguins’ first full on-court practice of the summer on Wednesday at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.

YOUNGSTOWN — Coming into college, West Branch product Sophia Gregory never envisioned that she’d be able to contribute and produce right away for Youngstown State the way she did last season.

“I figured I’d be on the bench a little more, get a feel for it, watch others and grow into the role over the years,” Gregory said in March.

Yet, she ended up leading all Horizon League freshmen in points, rebounds, steals, blocks and field goal percentage, and by the end of the year, she was a shoo-in for the Horizon League Freshman of the Year award.

Now, Gregory is back for her sophomore campaign with the Penguins and is hoping to continue her growth and build off what she accomplished last year.

“The goal is just to expand my game even more,” Gregory said earlier this week. “Having a year under my belt is going to help — the experience is really going to help.”

It didn’t come easy at first for Gregory last season, however, and it took her time to get the hang of things.

YSU’s circumstances called her into action much sooner than expected as a result of all the team’s early season-ending injuries, particularly to fellow freshmen forwards Ashlynn Van Tassell and Sarah Baker.

“She was kind of thrown into that role and never looked back,” head coach Melissa Jackson said. “But it was like, okay, we need you now — you have to do this.”

Gregory had a slow start during the first month coming off the bench. But then she began showing flashes of what the coaching staff had seen bits and pieces of in practice.

“When we first got her on campus in the summertime, we saw this unbelievable athlete,” Jackson said. “She would just instinctively do things in practice that were just, ‘wow.'”

She had her first career double-double against Northern Kentucky in December, then scored a season-high 28 points against Point Park two weeks later.

By that point, Gregory was a mainstay in the starting lineup and by the middle of conference play, she was routinely putting together double-figure scoring nights.

She ended the regular season with four double-doubles in YSU’s last five games, including a 20-point, 11-rebound performance in the regular season finale against Cleveland State.

“Towards the end of the season, the game definitely slowed down a ton,” Gregory said. “It was so fast at the beginning. I feel like I had to think about 20 different things at one time. It was just speeding the game up in my head. But as the season went on, it got less complicated. I was able to play a little better with my teammates and just get a better understanding of what they were thinking and what I was thinking so that we could work better together.”

In order to simplify things for her, YSU played Gregory at the five spot (center) last year.

But going forward, with the Penguins having their full complement of forwards and post players, Jackson and the coaching staff feel Gregory is best suited for the four position (power forward).

“I think that’s probably more of her natural position,” Jackson said. “She’s got those guard-like skills that we can use and tap into, but they have to be refined for this level. But you saw moments late in the season. So those are things I’m really excited to unlock. … We’re really excited about her versatility. Now that she’s had a year under her belt of college basketball, I don’t think she’s going to be a kid that we just put in one position. I think she can probably play multiple positions within our system.”

Gregory and the rest of the returning Penguins hit the weight room after the season. After a break at the end of the spring semester, they’re all back on campus for summer workouts and practices as they begin preparation for the 2025-2026 season, which begins in November.

“Sophia has had an unbelievable offseason,” Jackson said. “We were able to get her in the gym, as well as a lot of our players, work on some skill development and really continue to grow their skills. I’m really excited about what she’s going to show some people next year.”