Cleveland State: More Visibility on the Way?
It has been a long time since a Cleveland State men's basketball team has had this successful a season. The Vikings broke through in a big way last year, winning 27 games and tying Butler and Wisconsin-Milwaukee for the regular-season title in an increasingly competitive Horizon League. Cleveland State's 76-68 loss to Butler in the Horizon tournament semifinals prevented the Vikings from moving on to the NCAA tourney, so they settled for a second-round loss in the NIT.
Still, it was Cleveland State's most successful season in terms of wins since the Kevin Mackey-coached 1985-86 squad went 29-4 on the way to a Sweet Sixteen appearance.
Is Cleveland State on the verge of breaking through the bubble into the top level of Horizon schools? The success of Butler in the past two seasons has raised the overall visibility of this league, but only Butler reached the NCAA tournament this year. Cleveland State's 2011-12 schedule is not loaded with tough opponents to start. The Vikings have a date with Vanderbilt in the Ticket City Legends Classic in November, followed by games against Rio Grande, St. Bonaventure, Kent State, Boston University, Hofstra and Rhode Island. To Cleveland State's defense, it is taking part in the annual February ritual known as Bracket Busters, with an opponent yet to be determined. The Vikings do not see one of the Horizon's defending champions until a Jan. 13 game at Butler; in February, Cleveland State plays Butler (11th) and Milwaukee (14th) back to back.
There are five freshmen on the young roster, including guards Sebastian Douglas (6-4), Charles Lee (5-9) and Ike Nwamu (6-3) and forwards Anton Grady (6-8) and Marlin Mason (6-6). The roster also includes four seniors, a junior and two sophomores. One of the seniors, 6-2 guard Jeremy Montgomery, earned some extra visibility when he played seven games in Belgium with the Global Sports Academy team, and that should help bolster his confidence a bit.
In the end, only Cleveland State knows how much farther it can go. If a young squad can win 25 or more games again that would be an accomplishment. But it might take a win over Butler to convince the NCAA tournament faithful that basketball can be “Hot in Cleveland” once again.
Read the in-depth men's basketball preview for this team
