Jerrod Calhoun enters his eighth season as Head Coach of the Youngstown State University men’s basketball program after being named to the position on March 27, 2017. Calhoun is the 13th head coach in program history.
Calhoun, who owns a 12-year career record of 242-144, has elevated the Penguins’ basketball program to unprecedented success. He has 118 wins at Youngstown State and owns a 98-62 record over the last five seasons, .
Most recently, Calhoun guided the Penguins to their second consecutive 20-win with an overall record of 22-10 in 2023-24. It marked the first time in YSU’s Division I history with back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
He has led the Penguins to five straight winning seasons for the first time in YSU's Division I era (since 1981-82) after posting a 22-10 mark in 2023-24. Over the last three years, the Penguins have also won a Horizon League-best 41 conference games and a league-high 65 games overall.
Calhoun has re-ignited the city of Youngstown's passion for the men's basketball program, and has made the Beeghly Center tough place for opponents to play. Over the last three seasons, the Penguins have won 41 games at Beeghly Center, and have won a Division I record 14 home games in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.
During the 2023-24 campaign, Calhoun guided the Penguins to a 14-6 Horizon League record and a second-place league finish. Youngstown State scored 2,598 points on the year for an average of 81.2 points per game, which ranked second in the league. The Penguins also ranked second in the league in scoring defense allowing just 70.9 points per contest. The Penguins’ 282 3-pointers in 2023-24 also ranked second in school history.
Calhoun, who owns a 118-106 record at Youngstown State, has also guided 12 All-Horizon League selections in seven seasons, including eight in the last three years.
Calhoun guided three players to All-Horizon League postseason awards in 2023-24. Ziggy Reid and DJ Burns were named to the all-league second team while Brett Thompson was named to the third team. Gabe Dynes was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Reid led the Penguins in scoring with 14.5 points per game overall and 16 points per game in Horizon League play. He also scored in double figures 25 times and had six 20-point games.
Burns set the YSU Division I single-season rebounding record with 353 and averaged a double-double with 13.1 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He also averaged 14 points and 11.8 rebounds per game against Horizon League foes. Burns, who has also named to the all-defensive team, set the YSU record for most double-doubles in a single season with 22 and finished the season with 14 straight.
Thompson led the team with 132 assists and averaged 12.6 points per game. In league play, he averaged 14.7 points per game and dished out 90 assists.
Dynes set the YSU freshman record and led the Horizon League with 61 blocked shots. An all-defensive team selection, he averaged 2.7 blocks per game, which led the league.
Calhoun was the first coach in program history to lead the Penguins to a regular-season conference championship after guiding the Penguins to an overall record of 24-10 and a 15-5 league mark en route to the Horizon League Championship in 2022-23. The 24 wins tied the program record for most wins in a season and the 15 Horizon League victories also set the record for most conference wins.
For his efforts, he was named the 2023 Horizon League Men's Basketball Coach of the Year and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 12 Coach of the Year.
He is the first coach in YSU’s Division I history to take the program to multiple postseason appearances in the 2023 National Invitation Tournament, the 2022 The Basketball Classic, and the 2020 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, which was canceled due to Covid-19.
The Penguins' 24 wins were the most victories since 1963-64, and YSU set the Division I record of most home wins with 14 and owned a home record of 14-3.
Last season, senior Dwayne Cohill was named All-Horizon League First-Team, Horizon League All-Academic Team, College Sports Communicators Academic All-District First-Team, and NABC All-District 12 First-Team. He led the Penguins in scoring and assists with 18 points and 4.8 assists per game. He also became the first player in program history to score at least 600 points with 150 assists with 611 points and 164 assists in 2022-23.
Adrian Nelson and Brandon Rush were named All-Horizon League Third Team and John Lovelace, Jr., was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.
YSU's 19 wins in 2021-22 were the most since 2000-01 and set a then-school record for most wins as members of the Horizon League. The Penguins also set a school record for most conference wins with 12.
In 2021-22, Youngstown State tied the then-Division I record for most home wins with 13 and secured the program’s second postseason berth in three years with an appearance in the inaugural The Basketball Classic. The Penguins also won its second postseason game with a 70-65 victory over Morgan State.
Fifth-year senior Michael Akuchie turned in a career-best year averaging 13.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Akuchie was named All-Horizon League Second-Team and ranked third in the league in rebounding, fourth with an .826 free-throw percentage, and 14th in scoring. Akuchie finished his career with 1,252 career points and 840 career rebounds.
Cohill led the Penguins with 14.9 points per and a .835 free-throw percentage and was named to the All-Horizon League Third-Team. Cohill ranked third in the league in free-throw percentage and 10th in scoring. He scored in double figures 25 times and had eight games of 20-or-more points.
In 2020-21, Calhoun led the Penguins to its second straight winning season by posting a 15-12 overall record. It marked the first consecutive winnings season since the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
The Penguins continued its strong play at home by winning 10 games at the Beeghly Center. YSU averaged 76.6 points and 13.1 assists per game at home. Since Feb. 7, 2019, the Penguins own a home court record of 27-9.
Senior Naz Bohannon, a 2020-21 All-Horizon League Second-Team selection, led the Penguins with 16.5 points per game and second with 8.2 rebounds per game while shooting 52.6 percent from the field. He ranked fifth in the Horizon League in field-goal percentage, sixth in rebounding, eighth in scoring, and 15th with 3.2 assists per game. The Lorain, Ohio, native scored in double figures 20 times, had 10 20-point performances and five double-doubles. Bohannon became the 39th player in school history to score 1,000 career points and became the program's Division I all-time leading rebounder. He ranks 21st with 1,236 career points and fifth all-time with 990 career rebounds. He needs just 10 more rebounds to become the YSU player in the Division I era to record 1,000 career rebounds.
Shemar Rathan-Mayes, who started 22 games, was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team and averaged 10.4 points and 3.5 assists per game and shot 82.4 percent from the free-throw line last season. He ranked third in the league in free-throw percentage and 11th in assists per game. He scored in double figures 15 times.
Senior Garrett Covington became the 40th player to score 1,00th career points and ranks 26th all-time with 1,172 points. For the third consecutive season, Covington was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team. He also turned in his best offensive season averaging 12.5 points per game and shooting 49.8 percent from the field. Covington scored in double figures 19 times and scored a career-high 30 points against Oakland on March 2, 2021.
In 2019-20, Calhoun guided the Penguins to one the most historic seasons in the program's Division I history. YSU finished the season with an overall record of 18-15 and placed fourth in the Horizon League with a 10-8 league mark. The Penguins' 18 wins were the most since 2012-13 and ranked tied for the fourth most in YSU's Division I era. The 10 league wins tied a school record for most wins in Horizon League play. YSU's 17 regular season wins were the most since 2000-01 and the most since joining the Horizon League.
Youngstown State went 13-3 at the Beeghly Center and set a Division I mark for most wins at home. The Penguins averaged 76.9 points and 14.6 assists per game at Beeghly Center.
For just the second time in history the Penguins accepted a Division I postseason berth to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tournament was canceled.
Darius Quisenberry was named to the NABC All-District 12 Second-Team and the All-Horizon League First-Team. He averaged 16.6 points, 3.6 rebounds 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He also ranked fifth in the Horizon League in scoring and assists per game, fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5), sixth in field-goal percentage (.422), steals per game and free-throw percentage (.792), and 13th with 1.5 3-pointers made per game. He became the fourth YSU Division I player to score at least 40 points in a game and his career-high 41 points against Wright State on Feb. 20 rank as the sixth-highest single-game total. Quisenberry is the first player in school history to earn all-league honors in his first two seasons.
Bohannon posted a career-best 11.2 points per game and averaged 8.6 rebounds per game, which ranked third in the Horizon League. He shot 51.7 percent from the field and averaged 12.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game against Horizon League opponents. Bohannon's 284 rebounds were the third most in YSU's Division I history and the most since Jerome Sims had 327 in 1991-92. He also grabbed seven double-doubles on the year.
For the second straight year, junior Garrett Covington was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team. He is just the third YSU player to earn consecutive all-defensive team honors. He also averaged 8.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in 2019-20.
In 2018-19, Calhoun guided the Penguins to a four-win improvement from his inaugural season and posted the second-most wins in Horizon league play since joining the conference in 2001-02. The Penguins also set the school record for most 3-pointers made in a season with 303 and scored at least 2,000 points for the 10th straight season. The Penguins scored 2,415 points in 2018-19, which ranks fifth in program history.
For the first time in 20 years, the Penguins won six straight games, which set a YSU record for consecutive wins in the Horizon League, from Jan. 31 to Feb. 16.
Quisenberry became the first Youngstown State freshman to earn all-conference honors when he was selected to the All-Horizon League Second-Team. He was also named to the Horizon League All-Freshmen Team. Quisenberry led the Penguins with 13.8 points per game and had 120 assists. He became the first YSU freshman to score at least 400 points since 1978-79 and set the school record 3-point record with 51 made 3s.
Bohannon reached a milestone by grabbing the 500th rebound of his career and finishing with 8.3 rebounds per game, which ranked second in the Horizon League.
During the 2017-18 season, the Penguins set a school record with 266 steals, breaking the 27-year-old record of 255 set in 1990-91. Youngstown State also scored 2,410 points, which rank sixth on the single-season scoring list and is just the fifth time in school history a YSU team has scored more than 2,400 points in a season.
Calhoun also guided the Penguins to their first 3-0 start in Horizon League play since the Penguins joined the league in 2001-02.
Cameron Morse, who averaged 15.4 points per game, became just the second YSU player to earn All-Horizon League honors in three consecutive seasons after being named to the all-league second-team in 2017-18. Morse ended his career with 1,913 career points, which ranked sixth all-time, and tied the school record for career 3-pointers made with 232.
Bohannon was named to the Horizon League All-Freshmen after averaging 7.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Bohannon's 259 rebounds were the most by a YSU player since Jerome Sims' 327 in 1991-92 and were the most by a YSU freshman since Jeff Covington's 311 in 1974-75.
Prior to coming to Youngstown State, Calhoun, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, spent five seasons as the head coach at Fairmont State and accumulated an overall record of 124-38. He guided FSU to the NCAA Division II Tournament in each of his last three years and four times overall. The Falcons won at least 20 games in each of his five seasons and won nearly 80 percent of their conference games.
The 2017 Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year, Calhoun directed the Fighting Falcons to an overall record of 34-3 and the program’s first national runner-up finish in 2016-17. Fairmont State won its first conference championship in 21 years with a mark of 21-1 and received its first NCAA Division II No. 1 ranking since 1976. The program also won 30-or-more games for the first time since 1974-75.
Calhoun was a successful assistant coach at Walsh and most recently at West Virginia under Bob Huggins. He spent four years at WVU as the director of basketball operations before serving as an assistant coach in 2011-12.
The Mountaineers went 19-14 during Calhoun’s last season there and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. During his five years in Morgantown, W.Va., the Mountaineers posted an overall record of 120-36 with five NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2010 Final Four and the 2008 Sweet 16.
At Walsh, the Cavaliers posted an 82-21 record during his three seasons in North Canton, Ohio. Walsh won the 2005 NAIA national championship while advancing to the Elite Eight in 2006 and the Sweet 16 in 2007.
Calhoun, a 2004 graduate of the University of Cincinnati, began his coaching career at Cincinnati in 2003-04, where he served as a student assistant under Huggins. That year, the Bearcats were 25-7 overall and advanced to the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
Calhoun played two years of college basketball at Cleveland State for Rollie Massimino and was a member of the Dean’s List as well as the Student-Athlete Advisory Board.
He earned four letters at Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School in Cleveland and averaged 19.0 points per game his senior year. He graduated as the school-record holder for free-throw percentage and was tabbed Lake County News Herald Player of the Year.
Calhoun earned his bachelor’s degree from Cincinnati, majoring in criminal justice and minoring in communications.
He is married to the former Sarah McKenna and has a son, Jordan, and three daughters, Kennedy, Kendall, and Quinn.
