YOUNGSTOWN — In college basketball, reasons for entering the transfer portal often range anywhere from wanting more playing time, experiencing a coaching change or a desire for more NIL money.

In Mia Kalich’s case, her reasons for transferring from Division II school Seton Hill weren’t necessarily basketball-based, but academic instead. As an engineering and mathematics major, Seton Hill didn’t have the particular engineering degree she wanted to pursue, so she sought out a school that did.

That led her to Youngstown State and its Master’s program in mechanical engineering. On the court, it also helped that the Penguins had some familiar faces and play a similar style to the one she was used to with the Griffins.

“I really only looked into schools that had engineering degrees,” Kalich said. “So when Coach [Melissa] Jackson first called me up, one of the biggest things about basketball was that they play a very similar system to Seton Hill. They play very fast, which is what I’m used to. … So, I met with the academic advisor, and it was just the best program for me. Everything worked out, so it was really cool.”

With the Penguins, Kalich reunites with her former high school teammate, Danielle Cameron. Kalich, a senior forward, and Cameron, a redshirt-sophomore guard, played three years together at northeast Ohio power Olmsted Falls and were on the same AAU team together with SMAC Basketball.

“They come from an unbelievable high school program, who have done a great job preparing them for college, as well as a great AAU program in SMAC,” Jackson said. “They know each other really well, so I think that’s been cool to see their connection both on and off the court.

“You can just tell, because of the experience that they had playing in such good programs, they pick up on things really quickly. They’re both very cerebral basketball players, so they fit our system. Obviously Dani fits really well, as we saw [last year], and then Mia has really been a seamless transition.”

During Kalich’s recruitment in the portal, Cameron said she texted Kalich to playfully nudge her along to YSU. Cameron was also present on Kalich’s official visit to Youngstown.

“It was her decision, I didn’t want to put myself into it [too much],” Cameron said with a laugh. “But it’s just really cool. Our parents were talking to each other and everybody from our hometown is talking about it too. … It’s been awhile since I saw her and got to play with her, so it’s fun to be able to play with her again.”

With her long-time recruiting ties in northeast Ohio, Jackson was already pretty familiar with Kalich having crossed paths with her on the recruiting trail when she was coaching at Akron.

Jackson said that even when Kalich was at Seton Hill, she kept a close eye on her from afar. Now she finally gets the opportunity to coach her.

“With the new landscape and the portal, I wasn’t sure what she was going to do. But when that name went in the portal, we definitely jumped on her really, really early,” Jackson said. “Had some great conversations, brought her to campus, and I think she really liked our style of play and our connection that we had. It’s been a really good fit so far.”

At Olmsted Falls, Kalich and Cameron won more than 20 games in two of their three seasons playing together. In 2021-22, the Bulldogs made the regional semifinal, before finishing as state runner-up in 2022-23, Kalich’s last season in high school before moving on to college.

Cameron then helped lead Olmsted Falls back to the state final in her senior season the next year, when the Bulldogs captured the program’s first state championship.

The duo hope they can translate their prior championship pedigree to help YSU continue to find success in the Horizon League.

“I think coming from a very accomplished high school program, we know what it takes to get far, and that’s exactly what we want to do here,” Cameron said. “We want to make the championship, and we want to win the championship. So we have that experience on the high school level, but also Mia was part of a very successful program at her last school. So I think we all know what it takes to get to that level, and that’s the goal.”