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BEAVER TOWNSHIP - It might be the heart of football season, but the buzz around the Youngstown State University campus is the renovation of their basketball arena and the upcoming men's and women's basketball seasons.
Ron Strollo, who is in his 24th season as YSU's executive director of intercollegiate athletics, has guided the Penguins' 21 men's and women's programs to multiple successes both on and off the field of play, 10 straight top-five finishes in the Horizon League's yearly McCafferty Trophy standings while overseeing the opening of new and refurbishing of existing facilities.
He said things are progressing and on schedule with the renovation of its basketball facility, Beeghly Center.
“The first thing is that it is going to give our players and media more space and more safety," Strollo told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday's meeting at Avion Banquet Center. "In the past, our fans could come out of the stands and right onto the court so there will be more security around our student-athletes with more space now on the bench.
"It will also provide more of an arena-type feel in the sense that the first row seats will now be elevated with a handrail in front of them. We will lose about 1,500 seats, and normally when you say you are going to lose something, it sounds bad but this is really helping us out. The Beeghly Center will feel a little bit smaller and confined, which I think will be great for our fans and good for our athletes.
"It will present well on television, so while we have lost some seats and had to rearrange some ticket-holders' seating, all seats now are wider, there’s more leg room with cup holders in the lower bowl and chair back seats that extend all the way up on both sides. We don’t have wooden bleachers anymore, there are actual seats with backs up there so it will be more comfortable, all seats are reserved and it will be a much better situation for our fans.”
Season ticket holders will still have the opportunity to secure their seating area.
"We have already identified through our seating company that everyone’s seat is going to change a little bit," Strollo said. "They have been placed in new seats and received a letter from us as to where their seats are now located. Instead of calling everyone, which would have been next to impossible, it was easier for us to send everyone a letter informing them of their new seating arrangement while giving them the option of changing or renewing.
"The other important thing regarding the arena, and there will be a more formal announcement at an upcoming football game, is that the Zidian Family, owners and distributors of Gia Russa Italian foods and products, have made a generous donation for naming rights so it will now become the Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.”
The arena will feature other multiple upgrades, too.
"We will have a new video board, new sound system and have done some other renovations with lighting in the hallways and lobby areas," Strollo said. "We are hoping to replace the external doors, which should be done before the start of the basketball season and are making plans for next year, also in Beeghly, for a new booster room at the north end of the arena.
"Also, we are in the process of renovating the men’s locker room and just renovated the women’s basketball locker room last year. In the WATTS, we have replaced the entire turf and are adding two simulators for our golf programs, which should be up and going this fall.”
Overall, YSU's fall sports teams have had a positive start to their seasons.
"We have had a nice start to the fall semester," he said. "Obviously, we would like to be off to a better start in football but we have a new volleyball coach in Riley Jarrett, and she has her team off and running. When you talk about Beeghly, our basketball teams and volleyball squad will now begin practicing there as the lower bowl is completed, the court is opened back up to them and volleyball will have their first home competition on Friday when they play host to Kent State. In addition to that, soccer is off to a nice start under head coach Brian Shrum and they will start their league competition this week."
Two new basketball coaches are anxious to christen the renovated arena starting in November.
"We have two new basketball coaches in Ethan Faulkner for the men and Melissa Jackson for the women. We are anxiously looking forward to the winter competition," Strollo said. "We had a basketball fundraiser last week featuring former Boston Celtics standouts Robert Parrish and Cedric Maxwell, plus, our swimming and diving teams continue to compete at a high level."
Academically, the department's 500-plus student-athletes, which ranks second in participation in the state to only Ohio State, continues to excel in the classroom.
"Last year, our athletes earned a 3.48 cumulative grade point average but the cool thing for us is that our women’s basketball team ended up with the highest GPA of any team in the country. That is quite an accomplishment," Strollo said. "Our softball team was third in the nation, bowling - after advancing to the Final Four - finished sixth, women's golf was seventh and men's swimming 10th. That truly is quite impressive.”
Next Monday, Dana Balash, sports director at WFMJ-TV, Channel 21 will serve as guest speaker.