The 2025–26 Youngstown State Penguins men's basketball team represented Youngstown State University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Penguins, led by second-year head coach Ethan Faulkner, played their home games at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio as members of the Horizon League.
Previous season The Penguins finished the 2024–25 season 21–13, 13–7 in Horizon League play, to finish in fourth place. They were defeated by Robert Morris in the championship game of the Horizon League tournament.
Offseason Departures Youngstown State departures Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Reason for departure Ty Harper 1 G 6' 3" Fifth-year Senior Norcross, GA Transferred to Oral Roberts Christian Kirkland 2 F 6' 9" RS Freshman Philadelphia, PA Transferred to Palm Beach Atlantic (DII) EJ Farmer 3 G 6' 5" Senior Cleveland, OH GraduatedSigned to SAM Basket Massagno Elijah Guillory 4 G 6' 5" Freshman Moon Township, PA Transferred to Tallahassee State College (NJCAA) Siem Uijtendaal 5 G 6' 6" Fifth-year Senior Haarlem, Netherlands GraduatedSigned with Den Helder Suns Nik Hendrix 8 G 6' 1" Sophomore Hubbard, OH Left program Juwan Maxey 11 G 6' 1" Junior Detroit, MI Transferred to Ball State David Wilkerson 13 G 6' 4" RS Sophomore Lansing, MI Transferred to Grand Valley State (DII) Dante DePante 14 G 6' 4" RS Freshman Pittsburgh, PA Transferred to Palm Beach Atlantic (DII) Kevin Hamilton 25 G 6' 7" Sophomore Akron, OH Transferred to Mount Union (DIII) Nico Galette 44 G 6' 6" Fifth-year Senior Rahway, NJ GraduatedSigned with CB Menorca Gabe Dynes 45 C 7' 3" Sophomore Independence, KY Transferred to USC
Incoming transfers Youngstown State incoming transfersNameNo.Pos.Ht.Wt.YearHometownPrevious school Cam Polak 1 G 6' 2" 185 Sixth-year senior West Homestead, PA PennWest California Rich Wolf 2 F 6' 7" 210 RS Junior Centerville, OH Charlotte Derrick Anderson 3 G 6' 1" 180 Fifth-year senior Boardman, OH Lake Erie Tyler Robinett 4 F 6' 8" 215 Sixth-year senior Middleton, ID College of Idaho Drew King 6 G 6' 3" 190 RS Junior Phoenix, AZ Elon Vlad Salaridze 7 F 6' 7" 230 Sixth-year senior Tbilisi, Georgia UT Martin Bryson Dawkins 9 G 6' 2" 200 Senior Dothan, AL Houston Christian Tae Blackshear 77 G 6' 6" 180 Junior Atlanta, GA McLennan CC
2025 recruiting class
Preseason On October 8, 2025, the Horizon League released their preseason poll. Youngstown State was picked to finish third in the conference, while receiving two first-place votes. One player was named to the preseason All-Horizon League First Team.
Preseason rankings + Horizon League Preseason Coaches Poll Rank Team Points 1 428 (24) 2 384 (7) 3 364 (2) 4 345 (8) 5 287 (1) 6 274 7 221 8 217 (2) 9 176 10 115 11 93
Preseason All-Horizon League Teams Preseason All-Horizon League TeamsTeamPlayerPositionYear First Cris Carroll Forward Senior
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=""| Regular season
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Sources:
References