NIT still an opportunity for Penguins
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YOUNGSTOWN -- It wasn't the ending for which Youngstown State had hoped.
Not after the preseason excitement. Not after taking Power 5 program Notre Dame to the wire. And certainly not after months of some of the best basketball in program history, capped by a regular season Horizon League crown.
In the end, however, things didn't break YSU's way, as the Penguins (24-9) were knocked out of the Horizon League semifinals Monday by Northern Kentucky, which went on to win its fourth Horizon League Tournament title in the last seven years.
Since moving the semifinals and championship round to a neutral site in 2016 (first Detroit, now Indianapolis), the Horizon League has only seen one No. 1 seed win the league tournament (Cleveland State, 2021).
The season isn't over, though. By virtue of winning the regular season title, the Penguins will represent to Horizon League in this year's NIT -- another stage YSU hasn't reached before.
"Certainly with the season we've had -- winning the regular season title and having the most wins in the league and then losing in the semis -- it's tough," YSU coach Jerrod Calhoun said after the game. "So we'll take a few days off and then get back to work, and hopefully make the league proud."
The Penguins will learn their opponent and game site Sunday afternoon. Calhoun says it's unlikely YSU will host, and instead the Penguins will hit the road to take on a Power 5 opponent.
The NIT fields a 32-team tournament, and will announce its field not terribly long after the NCAA Tournament field is set. All regular season champions that don't win their league tournaments or conference's autobid are invited, and then at-larges are awarded from there.
The tournament committee seeds the top 16 teams, and then matchups are assigned to make as much regional sense as possible. YSU almost certainly won't fall into the top 16.
Among the Midwest power conference teams that could be in the NIT field and host YSU: Michigan, Penn State (though the Nittany Lions may have played their way into the NCAA Tournament by beating Maryland last week), Cincinnati, Pittsburgh (similar to Penn State, likely has played its way into the dance), and to a less-proximate extent, Wisconsin.
Another thing to keep an eye on: the MAC Tournament. Toledo earned the league's autobid to the NIT, but if the Rockets win the tournament, they won't play in the NIT. That could send YSU to a place like Michigan, since the regional pairing would make sense.
If YSU guard Dwanye Cohill's reaction was anything to look into, the Penguins are still eager to make noise and continue to change the narrative of Youngstown State basketball.
"That was our goal. When I got here, Coach (Calhoun and I) talked about trying to get to that tournament, trying to change the narrative of what Youngstown basketball is," Cohill said. "Last year, I think we were 19-14 or something like that (it was actually 19-15), and then this summer, we said we have to build, we have to get some pieces. Bringing in the transfers -- Adrian (Nelson), Bryce (McBride), Brandon (Rush), Malek (Green) -- I think getting those extra guys, some older (players) and experience helped us a lot. ... So hopefully we can build a culture here. We started to build a culture, and we're going to try to keep it going."
Though it isn't what their end-goal was, the Penguins' program debut in the NIT presents many, many opportunities to continue that culture change. YSU's Division I wins record already has fallen to this year's team, but the Penguins can set the program's all-time wins record with one more win. And a victory over a power conference opponent in a postseason tournament certainly would be among the program's biggest.
The NIT begins Tuesday.
jwhetzel@tribtoday.com