BEAVER TOWNSHIP — Youngstown State President Bill Johnson cannot hide his smile when boasting about the accomplishments of his athletics department.

The state of YSU athletics, especially its student-athletes, is drawing high praise from the school’s top boss.

“I couldn’t ask for things to be any better with our athletics department,” Johnson told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s weekly meeting at Avion Banquet Center. “We just found out last week that for the second semester in a row, we have the highest cumulative grade point average of any Division I school in the state and that includes Ohio State, Cincinnati and all the other big schools. That says a lot about the kind of culture that we are building here for student success. Our student athletes not only perform well in the arena, on the court, field or in the water, but they are also scholars in the classroom so I am really proud of what they have done.

“Quarterback Beau Brungard was selected as recipient of the FSC Walter Payton Award, we made it to the football playoffs and I contend that had we won that Yale game, we would probably have been in the national championship game, but that’s just me. There’s always next year. Our basketball teams are doing well, track and field is doing well, tennis is doing well and lacrosse is on the rise. I cannot think of a program that is not doing well.”

With the ever changing NCAA landscape presenting its share of challenges to mid-major schools the size of Youngstown State, President Johnson is rallying his troops so that their voices will be heard.

“The overarching thing that I would want people to know was when the House settlement came down, roughly $400,000 to $450,000 a year cut of our distribution from the NCAA over 10 years is going to cost us $4.5 to $5 million dollars,” Johnson said. “I got really frustrated with that because the NCAA was passing off the lion’s share of the burden of that settlement to mid-major schools like ours when over 90 percent of the plaintiffs in that case came from big Power Four schools, so I started a coalition.

“I’ve worked with a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. as I happen to know the people that work at that firm from my previous life. We’ve now got a coalition of 10 conferences, 100 schools and it is amazing. Congress and the Senate, the House and the Senate are now becoming aware that there are far more members of Congress that represent mid-major schools like Youngstown State than Power Four schools and they need to pay attention to what the NCAA is doing to the other guys, to the rest of us.”

Colon v. NCAA, a class-action antitrust lawsuit filed in 2023 by former Division I volunteer coaches against the NCAA, has also had a far reaching effect on schools and their athletic budgets.

“They just passed another settlement burden to schools like us in the Colon case, about volunteer coaches that is going to cost us somewhere between $100,000 to $200,000 a year for three years,” Johson said. “The NCAA needs to wake up and realize that there are 365 Division I schools in the NCAA, only 65 of them are Power Four schools while the other 300 schools are like Youngstown State so they need to start paying attention to the rest of us.”

The 35th Annual Penguin Club Ring-Scholarship Banquet is set for February 23 at Mr. Anthony’s in Boardman with Bob Hendricks of Niles Manufacturing and Finishing set to be honored as its ‘Man of the Year.’

“The Ring-Scholarship dinner will draw between 900-1,000 people as we recognize Bob Hendricks as this year’s Penguin of the Year,” Johnson said. “To have all the folks that contribute and support our athletic programs there in one room is a really big deal and opportunity. I won’t speak very long, but I will give a quick update on some of the things going on at the University that are really important, like how our Steubenville program launch is going, a project we have with Norfolk Southern Railway System in East Palestine and expansion of our health and human services programs.

“I’ll also talk about enrollment and how it is going so I will be giving an update on a lot of things, including athletics.”

Next week, YSU quarterback Beau Brungard, recipient of the FCS Walter Payton Award this past season, will serve as guest speaker.

The luncheon will begin 15 minutes earlier than normal since Brungard has a class at 1 p.m. that he must attend.