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YOUNGSTOWN -- Cameron Morse isn't a stranger to this situation.
A few years ago, the Flint, Mich., native and his teammates waited for a new coach during the offseason prior to his senior year at Carman-Ainsworth High School.
Some names were tossed around as replacements -- quick as the basketball being whipped around the perimeter. Jay Witham eventually was dubbed the Cavaliers new coach.
Now, Morse finds himself in the same situation heading into his senior season at Youngstown State University.
Arguably the best shooting guard the Penguins have had in the past 20 years, Morse put up first-team Horizon League numbers for the YSU men's basketball team with 23 points per game -- including four 40-plus performances.
Morse has an idea what to expect from this situation with names of possible coaches fluttering about like Canada geese on a warm, spring day. He and YSU point guard, Francisco Santiago, also an incoming senior, are taking a welcoming approach to the Penguins new coach.
"Coming into your senior year, having a new coach, it's kind of tough," Morse said. "You've got to deal with it. I feel whoever they bring in there, I can build a great relationship with them, me and Cisco.
"I feel like it should be all good once the season comes."
Santiago doesn't want to forget last season. It was a 13-21 campaign, but unlike other sub-par seasons. There were glimpses of greatness during the regular season, which came together quicker than Super Glue in the Horizon League Tournament. YSU upset top-seeded Oakland in a quarterfinal matchup and advanced to the semifinals for the first time since the 1998-99 season. That year, the Penguins were in the Mid-Continent Conference.
Santiago said the Penguins had big wins like Wright State and Green Bay, but lost twice to UIC and at league bottom-feeders Milwaukee and Cleveland State.
The postseason focus was something YSU lacked during the regular season. Santiago saw his team helping on defense and sharing the ball -- a good start for the 2017-18 season.
It's hard not to think YSU won't be competitive with Morse, the odds-on favorite for Horizon League Player of the Year, returning. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 25 points in three tournament games, including 34 in the upset over Oakland.
"I felt it showed in the tournament that Cam was the best player in the league, hands down," Santiago said.
Morse and Santiago saw Northern Kentucky, which beat YSU in the Horizon League semifinal round, win the tournament and play Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. The Penguins are the only Horizon League team never to advance to the round of 68.
Santiago said he lamented how the Penguins should've been the Horizon League representative. The two guards rooted for the 14th-seeded Norse against third-seeded Kentucky, but remembered their angst -- a feeling they want to spread like wildfire through the returning YSU players.
"What we're trying to do is make sure our teammates have the same feeling in their chest every day until we get to that point again," Santiago said. "That should be what feeds our hunger every day. When we get tired, we can think about how we felt after we lost. When you don't want to go no more, we should think about how we lost. That should be something we feed off of going into next year."
Santiago said YSU Director of Basketball Operations Matt Lynch and Administrative Assistant Danny Reese, a Cardinal Mooney High School graduate and former YSU player, are guiding the returning players until a new coach is in place.
The Penguins players are running open gyms with the supervision of men's basketball athletic trainer Todd Burkey, Morse said. The players started individual workouts and weightlifting as well this past week.
Morse and Santiago are telling their teammates to remain focused as YSU searches for its new coach, who replaces Jerry Slocum. The former Penguin coach retired after 12 seasons -- a day after YSU lost in the Horizon League semifinals.
Morse's high school experience has him ready for a new coach.
During his senior campaign, Morse averaged 23.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 steals en route to being The Flint Journal's selection for the Flint-area boys basketball player of the year and leading the Cavaliers to a Class A District title.
This upcoming season, he'll lead a YSU team as the Penguins returning players enter the 2017-18 season with a new coach.
"I tell them to just keep working hard," Morse said. "At the end of the day, everything is going to pay off. If you're working hard, let the chips fall where they may. Whatever decision the coach makes, go with his decision and have his back with it."
Interestingly enough, Witham was named Flint-area coach of the year in Morse's senior season.