Correspondent file photo / Robert Hayes. Senior Jaylen Bates, who transferred to YSU during the offseason, dunks the ball during a Penguins practice this summer on July 7.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown State men’s basketball team will look different this year, much different.

Gone are 11 players from last season’s Horizon League regular season championship roster — either by way of graduation, transfer or exhausted eligibility.

In their stead, head coach Jerrod Calhoun hit the transfer portal and high school ranks hard this past season to bring in 12 newcomers to the Penguins’ program. The 12 new players consist of seven portal arrivals, one junior college transfer and four true freshmen.

“People ask that question a lot. To me, it’s not difficult at all,” Calhoun said of rebuilding the team’s roster every year in the portal era. “I think basketball is basketball, and these kids have been playing it their whole life.”

In the backcourt, YSU welcomed junior EJ Farmer, who averaged 6.0 points per game in two seasons at Toledo, fifth-year Bryson Langdon, who averaged 6.3 points and 3.9 assists per game in three seasons at Northern Kentucky, and fifth-year Brett Thompson, who scored 12.3 points per game at Tennessee Tech.

On the wings and in the front court, the Penguins added senior Jaylen Bates, who averaged 9.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in 28 games for Florida A&M, fifth-year DJ Burns, who averaged 8.8 points per game and was a key piece for two seasons at Murray State, fifth-year Ziggy Reid, who spent four years at Merrimack and averaged 14.2 points per game last season and was named NEC tournament MVP, and sophomore Imanuel Zorgvol, who arrived at YSU after two seasons at Northern Kentucky.

“Bryson Langdon is a point guard that has played a ton of basketball — he’s been our best leader, quite frankly. Ziggy Reid has been one of our most consistent players,” Calhoun said. “Brett Thompson can do a number of things with the basketball. Jaylen Bates is very versatile. DJ Burns is a multi-dimensional player. So we have a really good variety, from the point guard position to the forward position of different guys. It makes practice very competitive.”

Sophomore David Wilkerson arrives from the JUCO ranks, while Anthony Breland, Dante DePante, Gabe Dynes and Christian Kirkland comprise the four freshmen newcomers.

Even with all the new faces, YSU will still lean on its three returners from last year’s group, including fifth-year senior Brandon Rush, who averaged 13.9 points per game last season, and sophomore John Lovelace, Jr., who was a Horizon League All-Freshman Team pick last season and averaged 4.3 points per game. Sophomore walk-on Tommy Fryda, who appeared in four games last year, also returns for the Penguins.

“The guys we do have back, Brandon and Johnny, those guys do a great job of setting the example of how we do things here,” Calhoun said. “They’ve done a pretty good job of that.”

As a Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team selection this year and an All-Horizon League Third-Team pick last year, Rush is a key piece to help provide continuity and a bridge from last year’s group to this year’s team. Rush said the transition has been seamless so far.

“Playing with each other has really been easy for us,” Rush said. “It hasn’t been hard trying to figure out how to play with other players because we are all experienced and we’ve all been good players on good teams. If you add all that together, it’s really made for something special.”

YSU has done a variety of things to build and foster chemistry with its new roster.

The summer trip to Spain was a start because it offered the Penguins extra practices, three games and the opportunity to do things together off the court and explore the sights in a new country. But YSU also does a team retreat every year.

“We do it every year. We do about a day and a half,” Calhoun said. “We all spend the night together at a lakehouse and do a lot of team-building activities. I love spending time with my players, so I get to know these guys on a personal level. So (the chemistry) happens organically.”

Rush, Lovelace and Fryda have also done their part to help ingratiate the new pieces to the Youngstown community.

“For me, John and Tommy, everybody knows who we are,” Rush said. “Those new guys are coming into the community — yeah, we had a lot of good players last year, but now we have even more good players here, so you want to show the new guys around.”

The Penguins open the season on the road at Louisiana on Nov. 6 at 8:30 p.m.

nmadhavan@tribtoday.com