Correspondent file photo / Robert Hayes YSU returning senior guard Haley Thierry (right) dribbles while being defended by freshman guard Hayden Barrier during a practice this summer at Stambaugh Stadium.

YOUNGSTOWN — Melissa Jackson has five core values for building a program — family, passion, toughness, commitment and gratitude.

Since arriving at Youngstown State in March, the first-year head coach has spent the offseason instilling those values in the players — both new and returning, as Jackson believes establishing that culture and that foundation is important to long-term success.

So while YSU has goals in Jackson’s first season to get to Indianapolis to chase the program’s first Horizon League tournament title, she wants to make sure they’re doing it “the right way,” as the Penguins get set to open the 2024-2025 season on Monday.

“We haven’t been shy talking about that,” Jackson said of the team’s goals for Indy. “I think that is definitely an attainable goal for this group. But before we even talk about that goal, we’ve talked about getting better every single day. In order to get to Indy, we gotta continue to be process-driven, compete every day and get better every day.

“I think building our program the right way — not skipping steps in a world that everybody wants instant gratification and wins and championships, and I really believe that’s going to come — I just want to make sure we do it the right way and really trust in our process.”

With a number of new players in a new system, Jackson reiterates, however, that after two preseason scrimmages and a month of practice, the Penguins remain a “work in progress” heading into the first week of the season.

“They’re all 15 freshmen out there because it is a new system,” Jackson said. “It’s great that some of our players have game experience and they’ve played college basketball before, but this is a vastly different system. It’s a much more up-tempo, different style of offense. It’s been different for some of them. Some of them have not been exposed to all these different coverage that we have and different things from a philosophy standpoint that we’ve thrown at them, so there’s a lot of ‘new’ out there.”

YSU returns six players from last year’s team that went 14-18 overall and 9-11 in the Horizon League under interim head coach John Nicolais.

Graduate student Malia Magestro (10.0 ppg) and senior Haley Thierry (5.9 ppg) lead that group of returners, which also includes junior Abby Liber (3.4 ppg), redshirt sophomore Mackenzie Hurd (1.0 ppg) and true sophomores Bella Samz (0.4 ppgs) and Abbie Davidson (0.5 ppg).

The group that Magestro and Thierry came up through the program with the past few years graduated and moved on last season, and now, it’s their turn to lead the way for the Penguins.

“I was always one of the younger ones on the team because I had a lot of those same teammates my past 4-5 years here,” Magestro said. “Now it’s my turn to be the oldest on the team, and I’m really trying to just lead and help grow this program in the right direction for Coach Jackson. I think she’s really doing a lot of good things, and I’m excited for this season.”

YSU’s four transfers also help bring additional experience into the program.

Junior Zoe Rosalez joined the Penguins from Seward County Community College in Kansas, where she averaged 9.8 points per game. Redshirt freshman Dacia Lewandowski is a former recruit of Jackson’s from her time at Akron, but missed last season with an injury.

Local product and redshirt junior Faith Burch is no stranger to the Horizon League after transferring from rival Cleveland State, where she averaged 3.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last season. And finally, senior Jewel Watkins figures to be a major addition this season after previous stops at Coppin State and Charlotte.

“It’s a big reason why they’re here,” Jackson said of the experience the transfers bring. “When you look at the makeup of our team, I knew how young we were with all the freshmen coming in, so it was important in the portal to bring in some experience, game experience, Horizon League experience.”

The class of six freshmen, consisting of Danielle Cameron, Erica King, Hayden Barrier, Sophia Gregory, Ashlynn Van Tassell and Sarah Baker, have all shown growth during practice so far, according to Jackson.

With the exception of Van Tassell, who will miss the season with a leg injury, Jackson expects each of them to contribute in various ways throughout the upcoming season.

“They’re all very much a big part of our program,” Jackson said. “Each and every one of them have shown why they are here and have done a really good job in the time that they’ve been here in the summer and they continue to impress. I think they’re all very unique in their skill sets, they complement each other really well and they complement our team.”

The Penguins open the 2024-2025 season on Monday at 5:30 p.m. against North Dakota in the newly renovated Zidian Family Arena at the Beeghly Center, which begins a stretch of four straight home games to begin the year.

“I’m excited for our fans and our supporters,” Jackson said. “I’ve been on the opposing side of this, and I’ve heard how ruckus this crowd is. I’m really excited that they’re going to be cheering for me and for our team, so I’m looking forward to experiencing that. I’m also looking forward to our new players to experience that. … The support for women’s basketball is like no other here at Youngstown State, so I’m very excited to have a full, packed house here on Monday night.”