Correspondent file photo / Robert Hayes Youngstown State forward Cris Carroll (15) drives towards the basket against Wright State’s Brandon Noel during a game last season at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.

YOUNGSTOWN — At the end of last season, Youngstown State found itself right on the cusp of making history.

The Penguins came up short of an NCAA tournament bid by falling in the Horizon League championship game, but that only fueled YSU’s mission this offseason.

The coaching staff rebuilt the roster, and the Penguins have set their sights on one singular goal for the 2025-26 season — building off their past momentum to capture the conference crown and earn the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance.

“Certainly there’s championship aspirations with this team,” said head coach Ethan Faulkner, who is set to begin his second year leading the program. “The way we do that is we show up and go to work every day. … I think it takes an everyday mindset. We’ve gotta come in here to practice and really have a mindset to get better each and every day.”

Led by four returners from last year, in addition to 11 newcomers, everything YSU did this offseason was geared towards getting back to the Horizon League title game, but this time, coming out on the opposite end.

“We just want to be the team to make it back, and of course, win this time. Be the first team in Youngstown history that would do that,” redshirt senior guard Jason Nelson said.

The Penguins maintained a high level of consistency and success over the last few years. It started with former coach Jerrod Calhoun and was continued by Faulkner in his first season last year.

Over the last four seasons, YSU owns a Horizon League-best 86 total wins and 54 conference victories. After finishing 21-13 last year, the program has put together three straight 20-win seasons and is seeking its fourth.

With their success, the Penguins have built a reputation across the conference, which is reflected by YSU’s third-place projection in the Horizon League preseason poll.

“I think we’ve certainly earned some respect over the last few years,” Faulkner said. “You look at what we’ve done, more regular season wins than anybody in our league over the last three years, more conference wins than anybody in our league over the last three years. And I think we’ve got some guys coming back that have respect from the coaches in our league. Then I think if you look at our recruiting class, it stands out in terms of the quality of players that we brought into the program.”

Nelson, seniors Cris Carroll and Imanuel Zorgvol and redshirt freshman Shaheed Solebo make up YSU’s returners, while the Penguins added transfers Cam Polak, Rich Rolf, Derrick Anderson, Tyler Robinett, Drew King, Vlad Salaridze, Bryson Dawkins and Tae Blackshear. The freshman class consists of Jaiden Haynes, Connor Swider and Markus Navarra.

Among that group is a mix of scoring, ball-handling, shooting, length, size, athleticism and versatility.

“We’ve got a lot of depth and just that next-man-up mentality,” Dawkins said. “I feel like there’s not a dip in our bench at all. I feel like anybody can go out there and have a 20-to-25-point game. I feel like that’s what’s so special about our team. We got players that can pop off at any moment.”

The Penguins spent most of the offseason working on the offensive side in order to prevent the scoring and shooting woes that plagued the team over the first couple months last year.

“That was with our shooting, that was with our versatility from the forward position, that was with our IQ, and I certainly think we’ve done a good job of that,” Faulkner said. “We’re trying to shore up some of the things that we saw early in the year last year and really be able to win the game by being good on both sides of the ball and not having to be so reliant on our defense.”

But that doesn’t mean the team’s emphasis on defense is going anywhere anytime soon. The defense will just take a little bit of time to come together, according to Faulkner.

“Defense is about identity — developing an identity of toughness and connectedness,” Faulkner said. “Those things take time, just like they do offensively. … The defense will come along. We’ll continue to work on that and we’ll continue to get our group to become tougher and more disciplined on that side of the ball.”

YSU’s faithful get their first look at the 2025-26 version of the Penguins tonight when they host Akron in an exhibition at 6:30 p.m. at Zidian Family Arena. Then YSU begins the regular season on Monday night at Pitt.

“I think the whole point of this Akron game and this exhibition is hopefully something that we can do annually as a tip-off to our season, something both our fanbases can get excited about,” Faulkner said. “Obviously we’ve got great respect for Akron’s program, what Coach (John) Groce has done there, having one of the best teams in the MAC year-in and year-out. So the game is going to be really good for the development of our team.

“Regardless of the outcome, we’re going to be able to take things from that game and learn from them and make our team better.”