By Marissa Masano / The Jambar
Second-year Head Coach Ethan Faulkner enters the 2025-26 season with four returners and 11 newcomers, as the Youngstown State University men’s basketball program looks to build on last year’s success.
In his season debut, Faulkner guided the Penguins to the program’s first-ever Horizon League Championship appearance, finishing with a 21-13 overall record and a 13-7 mark in conference play.
Youngstown State was picked to finish third in the 2025-26 Under Armour Horizon League preseason poll and received two first-place votes.
The Penguins graduated key offensive contributors EJ Farmer, Ty Harper and Siem Uijtendaal, while also losing several players to the transfer portal — including 7-foot-5 center Gabe Dynes, who ranked third nationally in blocks last season before transferring to the University of Southern California.
Faulkner was active in the transfer portal, as he brought in eight new players to bolster the roster.
Senior Bryson Dawkins joins the Penguins from Houston Christian University, where he earned Southland All-Conference honors in 2024-25. He scored a career-high 41 points in one game last season and posted seven performances with 20 or more points.
Shortly after, redshirt junior Rich Rolf transferred from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The forward appeared in 30 games for the 49ers, averaging 3.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest.
Another major addition is sixth-year forward Vlad Salaridze from the University of Tennessee at Martin. Salaridze was the only NCAA Division I men’s basketball player last season to record at least 300 points, 250 rebounds, 75 assists, 60 steals and 30 made 3-pointers. He also led the Ohio Valley Conference in offensive rebounds and ranked second in both total rebounds and steals.
Junior Tae Blackshear joins from McLennan Community College, where he averaged 12.2 points per game, while redshirt junior Drew King arrives from Elon University after leading the Phoenix with 111 assists last season.
The team added championship experience with sixth-year Tyler Robinett, who transferred from the College of Idaho. Robinett helped lead the Yotes to a 2024 Final Four appearance, was a three-time Continental Christian Conference regular-season champion from 2022–24 and captured a national title in 2023, earning All-Tournament honors that same year.
Rounding out the transfer class is sixth-year Cam Polak from California University of Pennsylvania. Polak earned All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West First Team honors last season and ranked eighth nationally in free-throw percentage in Division II.
Three true freshmen, Jaiden Haynes, Markus Navarra and Connor Swider, also joined the Penguins.
Faulkner said the team’s recruiting approach has been wide-ranging and intentional.
“We have again attacked recruiting from every angle, adding players from high school, junior college, [National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics], Division II and Division I. All are proven, productive players whose resumes range from first-team all-conference to national champion,” Faulkner said.
Returning contributors include senior Cris Carroll, who scored in double figures 16 times last season, recorded three double-doubles and notched three 20-point games. Carroll was named to the Preseason All-Horizon League First Team.
Also returning is senior Imanuel Zorgvol, a 7-foot center who missed last season due to injury. He will anchor the frontcourt following the departure of Dynes and is the tallest player on Youngstown State’s roster.
Senior Jason Nelson returns after playing a key role in setting up his teammates last season, ranking second on the team with 87 assists.
This new era of Penguins will debut tonight inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center in an exhibition matchup against the University of Akron. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Youngstown State officially opens the 2025-26 campaign at the University of Pittsburgh on Nov. 4. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., with streaming available on ACCNX.