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YOUNGSTOWN -- The time showed 4 minutes on the scoreboard inside the Beeghly Center, keeping track of the perpetual motion of the returning Youngstown State men's basketball players.
They were learning coach Jerrod Calhoun's new up-tempo system during an hourlong practice Wednesday. The workout was limited to one hour to follow NCAA rules concerning out-of-season sessions.
Calhoun and his top assistant, Paul Molinari, along with former YSU assistant Kevin Bruinsma and administrative assistant Danny Reese, who was operating the clock, were instructing and quickly shuttling players from station to station.
YSU is working currently with nine players and added graduating senior Jorden Kaufman to help the learning process.
The Penguins have five scholarships available for the 2017-18 season, and also must fill vacancies on the coaching staff. No assistant coaching positions have been announced, although Molinari was confirmed by Calhoun to be on staff when he was hired on March 28.
"What's amazing is when you get a new head coaching position, you get a lot of new friends," he said. "In all seriousness, I've heard from every coach in the country, which is really neat, which speaks volumes for the opportunity we have here at Youngstown State."
Calhoun and Molinari headed to the Final Four last weekend to interview potential candidates for the two assistant coaches roles. Calhoun said prior to Wednesday afternoon's practice his staff will be in place within 48 hours.
"I think it's going to be a unified staff," Calhoun said. "I think it's going to be dynamic. The biggest thing is you have to have a staff that is together, that has one mission in front of them."
He added the assistants they hire will reach different areas like Washington, D.C., North Carolina and Virginia, to name a few. But Ohio is YSU's top priority.
"Obviously that's got to be your bread and butter," Calhoun said.
Molinari's knowledge and experience at Cleveland State with Rollie Massimino and at Winthrop with Gregg Marshall, who is now at Wichita State, is essential.
"Coaching is not that complicated," Calhoun said. "You have your own method to the madness, but you're trying to steal different ideas from different people. Paul brings a lot of that."
The other two assistant positions have experienced coaches who knows the landscape of mid-major basketball.
He and Molinari interviewed 16 prospective coaches in two days, calling it a "humbling experience." They found plenty of qualified coaches and talked about their personal experiences.
"You're not just recruiting that individual," Calhoun said. "You're recruiting their family. That's what I tried to do. I was very thorough with it. I didn't rush into things."
He's looked for a director of basketball operations and administrative assistant as well. Calhoun said he wanted to expand the Penguins' staff. Calhoun was a director of basketball operations at West Virginia. He has looked for driven individuals who are loyal and organized.
"It's a non-basketball coaching job, but it's very important to the organization to make things flow," he said.
None of these decisions were made without consulting those he knows best.
"Any decision I've ever made has been run by my high school coach Tedd Kwasniak (Villa Angela-St. Joseph), (West Virginia) coach (Bob) Huggins and the people I rely on," Calhoun said.