Staff file photo / Neel Madhavan. Ursuline sophomore guard Jaylen Gunther puts up a floater against VASJ during the regional playoffs last season.

YOUNGSTOWN — Ursuline is coming off its best season in almost 30 years.

Navigating a difficult schedule, the Fighting Irish went 24-4, won the program’s first regional championship since 1994 and made an appearance in the state semifinals for just the second time in program history.

It was a historic season for the program, and with a core of returners back and a handful of new additions joining the Irish this year, head coach Keith Gunther feels Ursuline is capable of making a return trip back to the state final four.

“I feel like we’ve made a jump as far as being prepared, as far as being more experienced with some of these younger guys,” Gunther said. “I think we felt like we left some things on the table that we didn’t get done last year, so the hunger is back.”

Gone are last year’s seniors Jaden Payne and Geno Lucente, but the Irish have plenty back.

Three of those returners — Jaylen Gunther, Noah Bell and Jace Riccardo — were just freshmen last year, but they each played considerable minutes and were a big part of the reason the Irish had the season they did.

Jaylen led the team in scoring, averaging 14.7 points and 6.1 assists per game. Meanwhile, Bell was a versatile presence on the floor for Ursuline, averaging eight points and seven rebounds per game, and Riccardo was a spark off the bench for the Irish, averaging 3.7 points per game.

Each of them are highly-touted prospects in the class of 2027. Now as sophomores, Gunther is looking at them to help carry the team.

“It’s scary to watch their progression,” Gunther said. “They had great summers, and now that they’re back here, I think they feel a lot more comfortable. No matter how well they played last year, everything was new for them. … Of course, they bought in and got it, and now I think they’re more comfortable with themselves. They don’t make the mistakes that they made last year. I think they’re just mentally better prepared than they were last year.”

This year’s seniors include DaShaun Will and Jared Klucinec.

“I just think those two guys gotta bring their camaraderie and their leadership,” Gunther said. “That senior leadership is going to be big.”

Will was Ursuline’s point guard last season and, as the team’s best defender, often drew the assignment of guarding the opposing team’s best guard. He averaged nine points and 8.8 assists per game last year.

“It’s going to take a little bit for DaShaun to come off the football field and get his basketball legs, but we feel like once he gets it going, it’s going to be tough for anybody to stop him,” Gunther said. “He’s a great defender, and he’s so fast getting the game up and down the floor.”

Klucinec is one of the players that Gunther thinks can take a significant step forward this year and be a greater contributor after averaging 3.4 points per game off the bench last season.

“Jared, he’s had an extremely good fall,” Gunther said. “He’s shooting the heck out of the ball and playing extremely well. Struggled a little bit defensively the first two scrimmages, but last scrimmage, I was overly impressed with him. His shooting, his defending, his rebounding the ball — it’s starting to click for him.

Like Will, once football season ends, Devonte Taylor and Rashad Harris are both expected to join the team. Neither played basketball last year, so both are newcomers. However, Taylor played significant minutes as a freshman when he was at Warren JFK.

Juniors Nick Markulin and Alex Simon will also contribute this season for Ursuline, according to Gunther. They were part of the varsity roster last year, but played primarily with the JV team in the past.

“Those two guys have come in, and it’s been really good for them with some of those guys playing football because now they get some game reps,” Gunther said. “They’ve got game reps all fall, they got game reps in our scrimmages. So I feel like those two are going to be major keys for us. Nick’s shooting the ball well and he’s getting better defensively, while Simon’s a great defender and he’s gotten better on the offensive end.”

With the new additions, Gunther believes the Irish are deeper this year. Last season, Ursuline’s primary rotation consisted of eight players, but this year Gunther says the Irish are capable of going nine or 10 deep.

Ursuline opens up the season Nov. 30 at the Great Lakes Classic in Cleveland where it will play Lutheran West. The Irish also have teams like Struthers, Canfield, St. Vincent-St. Mary, NDCL, Archbishop Hoban and Massillon on the schedule.

“It’s going to be a challenge. We wanted to beef it up purposely,” Gunther said. “We wanted to play some teams with some size in case we were fortunate enough to get back to Dayton and we’re not like a deer in headlights like last year. You prep your schedule according to what you feel like you’re possibly going to face in the tournament. We made sure we added everything we might see in our district, what we could possibly see at the regional and if we’re fortunate to get back to Dayton again.”