Youngstown State University

A native of Washington DC, Jeff Covington came to the Penguin campus in the fall of 1974 with a promise to head coach Dom Rosselli that during the next four years, he would give his heart and soul to the legendary head coach with the hopes that the Penguins would make it to the NCAA Division II play-offs. When the final gun sounded on his career in the winter of 1978, he became the all-time leading scorer in Penguin basketball history with 2,424 career points, and helped fulfill the promise that the Penguins would make it to the play-offs, qualifying not only when he was a freshman but as a junior as well. The Penguins posted a 74-34 overall mark during Covington's four-year stay at YSU with Covington earning four letters and three All-America Awards. He was named the Basketball Weekly "College Division Player of the Year" for 1977-78, Second Team All-America as a sophomore and First-Team All-America as both a junior and senior. As a freshman, he led the team with a 21.2 points per game scoring average and that started a string of four consecutive years of averaging 20+ points per game, a record that still stands today. His records are numerous, including most points in a career (2,424), most field goals in a career (956), most free throws in a season (215), most points during his junior campaign (679) and best four year scoring average (22.9 ppg). He earned his undergraduate degree from YSU, his graduate degree from Kent State, and is currently as assistant principal at nearby Woodrow Wilson High School.