| Chojnacki picks Youngstown State |
| Thursday, April 15 2010 |
| Courtesy of: TOM REISENWEBER of goerie.com |
| Josh Chojnacki's basketball recruiting process started with Youngstown State University.It ended with the Penguins, too. YSU was the first school to call the Mercyhurst Prep senior during the recruiting period, and Wednesday the 6-foot 9-inch senior forward signed a letter of intent to play for former Gannon coach Jerry Slocum. Youngstown State, an NCAA Division I program, competes in the Horizon League, a conference that boasts national runner-up Butler as a member. The Penguins finished 8-22 this past season. "I love the conference Youngstown State plays in. Playing a national title contender every year is going to be great and I'm looking forward to the competition," Chojnacki said. "Some schools were hard to turn down, but I'm happy with my decision," Chojnacki said. "My family can come down and watch every game and I'm looking forward to it." A long list of schools interested in Chojnacki included Princeton, Cornell, Lafayette, Quinnipiac, New Hampshire and most of the local PSAC programs. He narrowed his list to Youngstown State, Edinboro and Army, but in the end Chojnacki decided to play for Slocum. Chojnacki has had an accolade-filled career at Mercyhurst Prep. He was a two-time Region 4 player of the year, and also was named to the all-district team twice as well as being a two-time first-team all-region selection. This past winter, Chojnacki grabbed 342 rebounds -- a school record -- and scored 627 points, which was one point short of the school record set by Khyl Horton. Chojnacki finished with 775 rebounds to become the all-time leading rebounder in Laker history and was second all-time in scoring with 1,321 points. The highest accolades came in recent weeks when Chojnacki was named to the all-state first team and was picked as the Erie Times-News District 10 Player of the Year. "It feels great to make a decision. This was a long process ever since last year," Chojnacki said. "I did like the recruiting process. Those first couple of calls came and I started bragging to my friends about it. It was a really cool time, but at the end it became repetitive and to wrap it up feels good." It's hard not to notice Chojnacki on the court with his 6-foot 9-inch frame, but he started getting interest after several impressive AAU seasons. Chojnacki spent the past two summers playing for a team coached by former Cleveland Cavaliers forward Donyell Marshall. The team traveled to Las Vegas and Virginia for national tournaments where Chojnacki not only received attention from colleges, he learned about the recruiting process and what he needed to work on to improve his game. "Those national tournaments really helped me. There are some big-time players there and some players you don't see around here. I mean I was going up against 6-9 and 6-10 kids every day, which really helped me," Chojnacki said. "Coach Marshall was a lot of fun to play for. I got to stay at his house a few times and he is a very nice guy." As for recruiting, Marshall's advice to Chojnacki was short and simple. "He just said 'Keep your head and stay calm. Everything will work out,' and it did," Chojnacki said. "I'm really looking forward to playing next year." TOM REISENWEBER can be reached at 870-1707 or by e-mail. Check out the Varsity blog at GoErie.com/blogs/Varsity. |
| Four players to leave team |
| Saturday, April 3 2010 |
| Courtesy of: JOE SCALZO Vindicator sports staff |
| YOUNGSTOWN Graduation isn’t the only thing taking a toll on the YSU men’s basketball roster. Juniors Vance Cooksey and Tom Parks and freshmen Eddie D’Haiti and Lamar McKnight told the Penguins’ coaches this week that they plan to leave the program, further weakening a roster that will already lose five seniors. Penguins coach Jerry Slocum is in Indianapolis this week for the Final Four and did not respond to an interview request. Of the four, Cooksey and D’Haiti are the biggest losses. Cooksey, a Chicago native, appeared in all 30 games at point guard, starting 10, and averaged five points and two rebounds in 19 minutes per game. D’Haiti, an Orlando native, appeared in 28 games, starting five, and averaged 2.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Parks, who hails from Cheyenne, Wyo., played in just 11 games before breaking his foot in December. McKnight, a Bedford Chanel High graduate, redshirted this past season. The departures leave just six players on the roster from a team that went 8-22 this winter, including 2-16 in the Horizon League. Two of those players, forward Damian Eargle and point guard Sheldon Brogdon, both of Warren Harding, didn’t see any action. Brogdon was redshirted as he rehabbed from an ACL tear his senior year of high school and Eargle sat out the season after transferring after one season from UNC-Greensboro. Another of the six, McDonald High graduate Andy Timko, is a walk-on who appeared in three games this winter. That leaves seniors-to-be Vytas Sulskis and Dan Boudler and junior-to-be Ashen Ward as the Penguins’ only returning players with experience. The Penguins have already signed two incoming recruits — forward Fletcher Larson of Jamestown, N.Y., and point guard Kendrick Perry of Edgewater, Fla. |