YSUsports.com - Slocum Summer Q and A

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August 13, 2008

Coach Slocum Summer Q and A

Youngstown State men's basketball Head Coach Jerry Slocum recently sat down with YSUsports.com and reflected on the 2007-08 season and discussed the upcoming 2008-09 campaign.

Slocum, who is entering is fourth season at Youngstown State, is one of 16 active college coaches with at least 600 career victories and ranks sixth among active Division I head coaches with 610 wins.

How would you sum up your third season at Youngstown State?

Well, I think that the year was disappointing in the fact that we didn't accomplish what we wanted to accomplish. I think it was good in the fact that we are growing and taking steps forward.

What will the loss of John Barber and Byron Davis affect this year’s team?

Obviously those are two guys that we really relied on offensively. We are brining in a total of eight new players and we feel that we brought in players that will bring in offensive leadership that we need - players that can put the ball in the basket.

Does this year's team have more balance or depth?

I think it is too early, at this point, to tell. My hope is that all those things are factors. I think we'll have more offensive balance. I think clearly we'll have more depth. I think we'll be more athletic and better rebounding team. I really believe that we had a lot of needs heading into this recruiting year and I think we addressed those needs with the group of players we are bringing in.

What are your concerns entering this season?

I think when you bring in the amount of new guys you are concerned about how quickly they pick up the new system and how quickly they will gel together. Obviously you are concerned about the fact that you want to build a chemistry with this team and you want to do it quickly. Those are the things when you are bringing in the numbers of new players that you have, that is a concern.

How much did Vytas Sulskis improve since he arrived a year ago?

I think the fact the Vytas made the all-newcomer team in our conference spoke a lot to his improvement over the course of the year. In a large way we kind of went the way Vytas went offensively. He really got better daily. A lot of people saw it from game-to-game, but as a coaching staff we saw it from day-to-day. he really had a solid, improving year.

With only six players returning from last year, what are your expectations of those returning players?

I think a couple things. Obviously you want them to set a work ethic tone for the guys right from day one. We want them to embrace our new guys. They need to show leadership and welcome the new guys as part of our YSU basketball family, they are not outsiders, that they are a part of where we are going.

Will the influx of newcomers and more depth on the roster affect the style of play on the court?

We ran the ball. We offensively play fast. What I think that will do for us is to be able to play that kind of up-tempo that we want and play more guys and stay fresher and even force the tempo a little bit more. With the depth it gives us a chance to get up the floor more defensively. We will look to be better in all areas with this new group.

How do you see the Horizon League shaping up this season?

I think there are three teams that are going to be at the top - Cleveland State, Wright State and Green Bay. They're the teams that have the most talent back in terms of returning players. I think next you have Butler, with their tradition and recruiting base is always going to be at the top of the league. It will be interesting how it transpires how those new set of kids play at that high of a level. After that, I think the conference is going to be a toss up. Anywhere from four to 10 or five to 10 is going to be very interesting how it plays out.