Paul Molinari, Jason Slay, and Mark Richmond have been added to Jerrod Calhoun’s staff at Youngstown State.
Paul Molinari
Molinari, a 27-year coaching veteran at the Division I and Division II levels, has been named an assistant coach on the Youngstown State University men’s basketball staff, Head Coach Jerrod Calhoun announced on Tuesday.
He joined YSU after five seasons as associate head coach on Calhoun’s staff at Fairmont State from 2012-17. During his time at Fairmont State, Molinari helped the Falcons to a five-year record of 124-38, four NCAA Tournament appearances and at least 20 wins each season.
“Paul brings a lot to the table with more than 25 years of coaching,” Calhoun said. “He’s worked with Coach (Rollie) Massimino and Gregg Marshall. He was a huge key to our success at Fairmont State. He’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades. Not only is he great in recruiting, but in preparation, scouting and on-the-floor coaching.”
Last season, he helped Fairmont State to the NCAA Division II National Championship game, a school-best record of 34-3, 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. Senior Matt Bingaya was named NABC Division II First-Team All-American and earned All-Mountain East Conference First-Team honors.
In 2015-16, the Falcons had two post players earn Mountain East Conference postseason honors and FSU ended the season with a 25-5 overall record, earning a bid to their third NCAA Tournament in four seasons. The Falcons recorded four-straight 20-win seasons since Calhoun and Molinari took over the program back in 2012.
A native of Oneonta, N.Y., Molinari spent nine seasons at Winthrop from 2003-12. Molinari was a part of Marshall’s staff for five seasons, and as an assistant for Randy Peele the last four years. In his nine years with the program, Winthrop won the conference tournament title five times earning bids to the NCAA Tournament in each of those seasons. In 2006-2007, the Eagles finished 29-5, were ranked 22nd in the nation, and upset Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Molinari spent seven seasons (1996-2003) as an assistant at Cleveland State. In 2000-01, the Vikings went 19-13, their best mark in a 14-year span.
From 1994-96, Molinari was an assistant coach on Scott Thompson’s staff at Wichita State. The Shockers won 13 games in his first season, which marked the school’s second-most wins during a seven-year run, and included a 10-4 record at home at Koch Arena.
He obtained a bachelor’s degree from Villanova in 1990 majoring in business administration and a master’s degree from Kent State in 1991 majoring in sports administration.
Jason Slay
Prior to joining YSU, Slay spent two seasons at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) from 2015-17. In 2016-17, he mentored QJ Peterson, a 2017 All-Southern Conference First-Team selection by the media and a coaches’ second-team all-conference pick.
“Jason Slay is one of the up and coming guys in the business,” Calhoun said. “The thing about Jason is that he started at the bottom and has worked his way up at the Division II level, the prep school level and various Division I coaching stops.
“Jason will get us into parts of the country – North Carolina, Virginia – that I think are attractive to Youngstown State. He is very well-rounded.”
Slay spent the 2014-15 season at East Tennessee State, and served as an assistant coach at Tennessee State University in 2013-14. He was the Director of Basketball Operations at Georgia Southern 2012-13.
Prior to working in the college ranks, Slay was the top assistant coach at Hargrave Military Academy where he coached 10 players that signed national letters of intent to Division I programs. He also served as the team’s director of individual development and summer training and the Tigers finished with a 38-8 record and made the National Prep Showcase Elite 8 in 2012-13.
Slay also coached four years (2008-2012) at West Virginia State serving as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, and was a part of two West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships.
As a college player at West Virginia State, Slay was a four-time captain and two-year starter and helped guide his team to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 in 2004, 2006, and 2007.
Slay’s family has deep basketball ties. His older brother Tamar played at Marshall and in the NBA for the New Jersey Nets after being drafted in the second round. His cousin, Ron, also played for Tennessee and made a trip to the Sweet 16 as a freshman in 2000.
He received his undergraduate degree in General Education from West Virginia State in 2008.
Mark Richmond
Richmond has been named Director of Basketball Operations. He comes to YSU after two years as the men’s basketball director of player development at Fordam from 2015-2017.
At Fordam, 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.
A 2008 Cum Laude graduate from West Virginia University with a degree in Physical Education-Athletic Coaching Education, Richmond is also a 2004 graduate of Martinsburg (W.Va.) High School, where he was a standout athlete in basketball, baseball and football for the Bulldogs.
