| Babul Joins Penguin Coaching Staff |
| Saturday, July 10 2004 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Youngstown -- Youngstown State men's basketball coach John Robic announced on Friday that Mike Babul, formerly an administrative assistant at Memphis, has joined the Penguins staff as an assistant coach. Babul, who spent the past year handling various duties for the Tigers under Head Coach John Calipari, was a member of two UMass teams while Robic was the associate head coach in 1996-97 and 1997-98. Robic took over the YSU program prior to the 1998-99 campaign. Babul (pronounced BAY-bull) began his coaching career in 2002 at Seekonk High School in Seekonk, Mass. In his lone season at the school, head coached his junior varsity team to a 15-5 record and assisted the varsity team in earning their first state tournament berth in more than 10 years. At UMass, he was part of the program from the 1996-97 season through the 1999-2000 campaign playing in 120 games and starting 100 contests. As a senior in 1999-2000, he was a team captain for the Minutemen. He earned Atlantic 10 All-Defensive team honors, as well as Atlantic 10 All-Academic accolades his final three years. During his time at UMass, the program participated in two NCAA Tournaments and one NIT. Babul joins Dolph Carroll and Winston Smith, a former UMass teammate of his, on the Penguins coaching staff. |
| Penguins Sign Juco Guard, Prep Forward |
| Thursday, July 1 2004 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Youngstown -- The Youngstown State men's basketball program has signed junior college guard Zach Silverman and high school forward Alex Sanchez to national letters of intent, Head Coach John Robic announced on Tuesday. Silverman, a native of Fairfield, Iowa, spent the past two seasons at Indian Hills Community College while Sanchez, a native of Tenerife, Canary Islands, prepped at St. John's at Prospect Hall in Frederick, Md. Silverman, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound guard, was a first-team All-Region XI selection last season averaging 10.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest. He was the Warriors' second-leading scorer, appearing in all 31 games in 2003-04. Indian Hills posted a 22-9 overall mark losing to Iowa Western in the first round of the Region XI Tournament. As a sophomore, he set the school record for best single-season free-throw percentage making 86.3 percent (63-of-73) of his attempts. He also set the school career mark, converting 81.5 percent from the line his two campaigns. He also had success from behind the 3-point line drilling 40.4 percent of his attempts. On the year, he made 55-of-136 3-point attempts. He is one of four Indian Hills student-athletes to sign with Division I programs for the upcoming season. In high school, Silverman prepped at Maharishi School in Fairfield. Sanchez, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward, prepped at St. John's at Prospect Hall where he played two years ago. During his junior season, he averaged just under 10 points per contest helping lead the team to the conference championship. He was not able to play his senior year because as an international high-school player he turned 19 before Sept. 1. He will have four years of eligibility at Youngstown State. |