The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

I see where all the assistant coaches have been removed with only the name of the new coach. I saw where Krista Beechy was hired as an assistant coach at Furman. Any other news on new coaches?

Starkey announced what seems to be his top assistant on Friday.

He's Pat Mashuda, who had been head coach at Division II Chowan University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and someone Starkey has known for 20 years, according to a story from Mashuda's hometown newspaper.

The KSU announcement is at http://www.kentstatesports.com/news/2016...huda.aspx.

The Tennessee story is at http://www.roanoke-chowannewsherald.com/...g-chowan/.

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Danny O'Banion landed back at the job she came from -- associate head coach at Memphis. She had worked with the coach there since her time at Minnesota.

Geoff Lanier, O'Banion's top assistant, was hired as an assistant coach at Cincinnati.

As you said, Krista Beechy, director of basketball operations, has become an assistant at Furman.

I don't think Kylene Spiegel and Keith Gwynn, O'Banion's other assistants, have landed anywhere yet.

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I hope to have lunch with Starkey in the next few weeks and will post updates if possible.

A little more detail is on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

Looks like 3 of the 4 assistants have been hired by Starkey. The roster has been updated as well.

Here is a link to the updated coaching staff: http://kentstatesports.com/coaches.aspx?...ath=wbball

Here is a link to the updated roster:
http://www.kentstatesports.com/roster.aspx?path=wbball

The transfer becomes eligible and the backcourt gets a local freshman.

KSU Men's and KSU Women's Basketball are playing in the same tournament in Florida. Here is the link to that as well: http://kentstatesports.com/news/2016/6/1...wcase.aspx

The new assistants are both women who were assistants at Southern universities.

A note on them, the roster, the tournament and a new job for a former assistant are on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

(06-12-2016 10:01 PM)cschierh Wrote:  The new assistants are both women who were assistants at Southern universities.

A note on them, the roster, the tournament and a new job for a former assistant are on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

GOOD LORD. BAYLOR WILL BEAT US SENSELESS. LITERALLY BY 40+ POINTS.

40, I'm afraid, is conservative. That's crazy competition -- not just Baylor but all of the other teams. That's four losses unless he has this team playing three levels above last year.

I suppose you can learn something from playing this kind of teams -- but you can also be beaten down terribly. I don't think, though, it's like football when players can actually be hurt in such games.

(06-13-2016 11:24 AM)cschierh Wrote:  40, I'm afraid, is conservative. That's crazy competition -- not just Baylor but all of the other teams. That's four losses unless he has this team playing three levels above last year.

I suppose you can learn something from playing this kind of teams -- but you can also be beaten down terribly. I don't think, though, it's like football when players can actually be hurt in such games.

I understand. I just didn't really want to post that I thought we could lose by 60.

The first of several posts from an interview with new coach Todd Starkey is up on the blog at http://wbblashes.com.

His coaching staff is complete with the hiring of a former Florida State graduate assistant (and starting point guard there and at Auburn).

His other assistants (previously announced) are a former head coach at Division II school in North Carolina, the recruiting coordinator from Division I Radford University in Virginia, and an assistant Starkey originally hired when he was a head coach at Lenoir-Ryne University in North Carolina.

A look at new coach Todd Starkey's recruiting strategy (build with high school players and "strategic and efficient" use of transfers and junior college players) is on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

Also, an on-campus visit from a prospective 2017 point guard who averaged 20 points a game as a junior.

Starkey offers some early thoughts on his roster:

He likes forward Jordan Korinek a lot but may somehow use her differently.

Larissa needs a system to get her three-point shot percentage higher (and a separate note on a record she set that went unnoticed).

15 of 16 players are on campus (one is home sick).

And a discussion of how much "elite talent" KSU has.

It's all on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

Kent State's non-conference schedule for 2016-17 may be, as new coach Todd Starkey has said, the toughest in school history.

The Flashes will play teams that -- at the worst -- had a 242-151 record last season. (Opponents past the first round of a holiday tournament are to be decided, but they're all very good.)

Last year's non-conference opponents had an overall record of 121-158.

KSU will play at least four non-conference teams whose RPI was in the top 60. Two more were in the top 100.

The highest ranked non-conference team the Flashes played last season was No. 81 Minnesota, whom they'll play again this season on the road.

Top opponent this season is Baylor -- 36-2 and the second-best RPI in the nation last season, according to RealTimeRPI. That game will come at the Gulf Coast Showcase, a Thanksgiving tournament with KSU and seven teams that won more than 26 games last season.

Kent State was 6-23 last season, 3-8 in non-conference games. Its RPI was 318 of 349 Division I teams.

The schedule has five home games, four on the road, and three at the holiday tournament.

The Flashes open with home games against Bradley (9-22 last season), Eastern Kentucky (18-12) and Robert Morris (20-13), then travel to Detroit (15-15). Then comes the Gulf Coast Classic.

Then it's home against IPFW (7-23), at Wright State (24-11) and home against Youngstown State (21-13).

Final two non-conference games are road games against the Big Ten's Iowa (19-14) and Minnesota (20-12).

The Flashes' most winnable games look to Bradley (an RPI of 299 last season) and IPFW (RPI of 315). KSU lost to both of them on the road last season. Like Kent State, both have new coaches.

The Gulf Coast Showcase, which had been announced earlier, will easily be the toughest tournament in Kent State history. It includes Baylor, NCAA runner-up Syracuse (30-8), Western Kentucky (27-7), DePaul (27-9), Ohio State (26-8), George Washington (26-7) and host Florida Gulf Coast (33-6), which was WNIT runner-up.

KSU opens with Baylor, then plays Western Kentucky or DePaul, then the best or worst team from the other four.

For the first time in a number of years, there is no Division II or Division III team on the KSU schedule.

More details and notes on the roster, recruiting and a new basketball strength coach are on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.