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WHEELING -- A week after losing West Liberty's Jim Crutchfield to Nova Southeastern University, the Mountain East Conference is bracing for another big-name defection in its men's basketball ranks. A source confirmed to The Intelligencer that Jerrod Calhoun, coach of NCAA Division-II runnerup Fairmont State, will be named the new leader at Youngstown State, a fledgling D-I program that competes in the Horizon League.
The source said Calhoun informed his Falcons players just hours after they fell, 71-61, to Northwest Missouri State in Saturday's national title game in Sioux Falls, S.D. Though neither Fairmont or YSU officials are commenting publicly at this time, an announcement is expected this week, perhaps as soon as today.
Fairmont's arrival home Sunday was met with a celebration of its achievements on campus at Joe Retton Arena.
In leading Fairmont to a 34-3 record that included a regular-season MEC championship, a tournament runnerup finish and an Atlantic Region title, Calhoun garnered conference, region and national (Basketball Times) coach of the year honors. In five years on the Falcons bench, Calhoun led the Falcons to an overall record of 124-38.
Calhoun replaces Jerry Slocum, who won a total of 142 games in 12 seasons with YSU. The Penguins recently advanced to the Horizon League semifinals -- their first such appearance since 1998-99 as a member of the Mid-Continent Conference -- before falling to Northern Kentucky.
A native of Cleveland who attended and played basketball first for Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School and later for the legendary Rollie Massimino at Cleveland State, Calhoun is a relentless recruiter with a solid reputation as a winner.
Calhoun was said to be an obvious candidate for the open Cleveland State head coaching position, but that was filled late last week by former Georgia coach Dennis Felton.
Plucked out of Cleveland State after two seasons to be an assistant for current West Virginia University coach Bob Huggins, Calhoun has never severed his ties to Northeast Ohio, as this season's Fairmont team proved. The Falcons were led by first team All-American Matt Bingaya, a Southern Miss transfer who played high school ball in Delaware. Thomas Wimbush, a second first team All-MEC performer for FSU, is from Lorain.
That recruiting, as well the trapping, frenetic pace with which is teams play, should make Calhoun a natural fit for the Penguins, who finished 16-15 this season for their first back-to-back winning seasons in nearly 30 years.
The source also confirmed that Fairmont will turn its attention to Joe Mazzulla. A former standout at WVU and an ex-Fairmont assistant, he is on staff an with the Boston Celtics' National Basketball Association Development League (NBDL), the Maine Red Claws.