Youngstown State University Men's Basketball

Danny Reese, a former men's basketball player at Youngstown State from 2011-13, is in his ninth season with the program and his third as an assistant coach. He spent the previous six years as Special Assistant to the Head Coach. He was an integral part of the program’s first regular-season conference championship, first berth to the National Invitation Tournament, winning 119 games over the last six seasons, and three consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in program history. Reese played a key role in guiding the Penguins to six straight winning seasons for the first time in YSU's Division I era (since 1981-82). Over the last four years, the Penguins have won a Horizon League-best 54 conference games and a league-high 86 games overall. During that time, YSU has also won 51 games at Beeghly Center, and won a Division I record 14 home games in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. Reese helped the Penguins to their third straight 20-win season with an overall record of 21-13 and a 13-7 mark in Horizon League play. Youngstown State, who won a Division I record of eight straight games, also advanced to the Horizon League Championship game for the first time in program history. The Penguins made 299 3-pointers on the season, which ranked second on the single-season list, and scored 2,599 points for an average of 76.4 points per game. Three players earned Horizon League postseason recognition in 2024-25. EJ Farmer led the Penguins with 15.1 points per game while Nico Galette posted 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, and both were named to the All-Horizon League Third Team. Gabe Dynes led the nation with 104 blocks and ranked second with 3.06 blocks per game, and he was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team. In 2023-24, Reese helped the Penguins to their second consecutive 20-win campaign 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. In 2022-23 he was effective in helping the Penguins to a school record-tying 24 wins and an overall record of 24-10. During the 2023-24 campaign, Reese helped 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. Three players garnered 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. In his first year, Reese served as an administrative assistant in in the men's basketball office. Reese's administrative duties with the Penguins included video operations, ass sting in academic support, community outreach, camps, and basketball operations. Reese was a member of the Penguins first postseason tournament team in 2012-13 when YSU advanced to the second round of the College Invitational Tournament (CIT). During his two seasons with YSU, the Penguins produced a two-year record of 34-31. Reese graduated from The College of Wooster, where he played baseball for two seasons, in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in history. He went on to earn a master's degree in management in 2016 from the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife, Michelle, have four children, Danny, Eloise, Jack and Luke.

Mark Richmond is in his fourth season with the Youngstown State men’s basketball program and his second as an assistant coach. Richmond previously served as the Penguins’ director of basketball operations from 2017-19. In his return to the Penguins, Richmond helped the Penguins to their third straight 20-win season with an overall record of 21-13 and a 13-7 mark in Horizon League play. Youngstown State, who won a Division I record of eight straight games, also advanced to the Horizon League Championship game for the first time in program history. The Penguins made 299 3-pointers on the season, which ranked second on the single-season list, and scored 2,599 points for an average of 76.4 points per game. Three players earned Horizon League postseason recognition in 2024-25. EJ Farmer led the Penguins with 15.1 points per game while Nico Galette posted 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, and both were named to the All-Horizon League Third Team. Gabe Dynes led the nation with 104 blocks and ranked second with 3.06 blocks per game, and he was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team. Prior to rejoining the Penguins staff, Richmond spent five seasons as the head coach at Notre Dame College from 2019-24 where he posted 64 wins, including a 47-41 mark over the last three years. In 2023-24, Richmond led the Falcons to their third straight winning season with an overall record of 15-14. The Falcons also posted a 12-10 mark in Mountain East Conference play. In the 2022-23 season, the team's overall win percentage increased for the third consecutive season. The Falcons won 17 games and, for the second straight year, finished with a 12-10 Mountain East Conference record. Notre Dame started the season by defeating Cleveland State (72-68) in an exhibition. It was the second time NDC had beaten the Division I Vikings under Richmond, and first since 2019-20. Posted two separate winning streaks of five, or more games throughout the season. In the MEC Tournament, the Falcons were the four seed and upset five seed West Virginia State, 92-79. That was the first postseason win for the program since the 2018-19 campaign. The Falcons continued to improve under Richmond in 2021-22. The program added seven victories to their overall win total from the previous season and finished with a conference win percentage higher than .500 for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign. NDC's season was highlighted by defeating No. 7 ranked West Liberty (82-81) and No. 10 Fairmont State (78-73) during the regular season. In Richmond's second season, the team finished with an 8-8 record in conference play. The 2020-21 campaign was shortened due to COVID-19, however the Falcons won six of their eight home games, including a 96-85 victory over Fairmont State, the team that would go on to win the 2021 MEC Tournament. The team ranked 29th in NCAA Division II, and second in the MEC, in three-point percentage (38.6-percent), and ranked 46th in the country, and third in the MEC, in rebound margin (+3.6). Jordan Roland was named All-MEC Second Team. In his first season as head coach, the Falcons won eight games in the Murphy Gymnasium which was the second highest number of home wins for the program in the past four seasons. As the men's basketball director of operations at Youngstown State his responsibilities included the day-to-day operations, recruiting, skill development and academic performance of the team among many other duties. Prior to his time at YSU, he was the director of player development at Fordham University. At Fordham, Richmond’s responsibilities included assisting with the evaluation of video, development of practice and game schedules, and assisting the head coach in all facets of the program. Richmond arrived at Fordham after serving as an assistant coach and director of basketball operations at East Tennessee State University for head coach Murry Bartow from 2013-2015. Prior to his stint in Johnson City, Richmond was an assistant coach at the University of Charleston (W.Va.) for Mark Downey. He spent three seasons at UC, helping rejuvenate a program rich in tradition. While at Charleston, the Golden Eagles were consistently ranked in the national top 25 polls. UC defeated the No. 1 team in the country in January 2013. Richmond also spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Centenary College in Shreveport, La., for Greg Gary.  While at Centenary, Richmond assisted in all aspects of the program including recruiting, on-floor coaching, organizing summer camps, monitoring the team’s strength and conditioning program, and assisting with all the general day-to-day operations for the Gents, who competed in the Summit League. Prior to his time at Centenary, Richmond served as a student assistant for head coach Bob Huggins at West Virginia University. He also served as a practice player and manager during the John Beilein era at WVU and accompanied the Mountaineers to a pair of Sweet 16s (2006, 2008), an Elite Eight (2005), and an NIT Championship (2007). In addition to his five years of coaching experience at the Division I and II levels, Richmond has also worked summer camps at WVU, Maryland, Villanova, Virginia, Kentucky and Duquesne. He also served as Camp Director at the University of Charleston and Centenary. Richmond was a 2008 Cum Laude graduate from West Virginia University with a degree in Physical Education-Athletic Coaching Education.

Rocco Nolfi is in his third year with the Youngstown State athletics department and his second as Chief of Staff of the men’s basketball program. Nolfi originally joined Youngstown State as the Special Assistant to the Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics in 2023. He spearheaded the fund-raising campaign for the Beeghly Center seating project which led to the rebranding of the venue to the Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. He secured two of the largest gifts in the men’s basketball program’s history - $1,000,000 from the Zidian family, and $500,000 from the Moran family. Nolfi also had a stellar amateur boxing career, fought in the Ringside World tournament in 2006 and trained alongside three- time world champ Kelly Pavlik. He made professional boxing debut in 2019 fighting in the heavyweight division. Nolfi graduated from YSU in 2010 with a bachelor's in business administration He and his wife, Amy, reside in Poland, Ohio, with four children Lia, Rocco Jr, Marco and Liliana.