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LOCATION: Cleveland, OH
CONFERENCE: Midwestern Collegiate
LAST SEASON: 14-14 (.500)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 6-8 (5th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Vikings
COLORS: Forest Green & White
HOMECOURT: Henry J. Goodman Arena (13,610)
COACH: Rollie Massimino (Vermont '56)
record at school 35-48 (3 years)
career record 462-326 (26 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Mitch Buonaguro (Boston Coll. '77)
Frank "Happy" Dobbs (Villanova '84)
Paul Molinari (Villanova '90)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 10-5-9-12-14
RPI (last 5 years) 259-273-233-127-169
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference semifinal.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Rollie Massimino arrived in Cleveland three years ago with a well-conceived game plan. Or so he thought. The sideline artist formerly known as "Daddy Mass" was old enough to be "Grand Daddy Mass," but he was going to use his celebrity status and 1985 NCAA championship ring to recruit in-state talent. He would supplement those homegrown Ohio kids with transfers from high D-I schools, plus maybe hit up the old stomping grounds that served him so well at Villanova (namely the Northeastern corridor, especially the Philadelphia area). And he would toughen his players up by liberally sprinkling a number of "name" opponents (i.e Georgetown, Temple) into CSU's nonconference schedule. Massimino has followed his master plan to the letter. Now, we'll have to see if it will actually work. Last season, the Vikings were a respectable 14-14, including wins over Rhode Island and South Florida and a close loss to Providence. Massimino's 1999-2000 CSU roster has a heavy local flavor with seven players from Northeast Ohio, plus two Philly area kids (actually four, but 6-6 junior Andre Williams is sitting out this season as a transfer from Monmouth, and backup point Jermaine Robinson, a 6-2 freshman, is a partial academic qualifier). And Cleveland State's schedule is RPI-rich, beginning with a date against Cincinnati in the late-November City Bank/Aloha Airlines Big Island Invitation Tournament (whose stellar field also includes Arkansas, Santa Clara, Rhode Island, Washington and Iowa State). In addition, the highly-ranked Temple Owls, coached by Rollie's old friend John Chaney, visit Drew Carey's favorite city two days after Christmas, as does fellow A-10 team Dayton. CSU travels to South Florida and St. Bonaventure, among other places. "We've positioned ourselves to have the ability to compete on a higher level with the addition of this new group," Massimino said. "And the returnees have been in the program and have now matured and learned the system." Massimino is right. His roster now contains a nice blend of old and new. The perfect illustration of this will be in the backcourt, where James Madison, Theo Dixon, Jamaal Harris and Sonny Johnson will be joined by high-profile Division I transfers Damon Stringer (from Ohio State) and Doc Taylor (from DePaul) to give CSU arguably the deepest reservoir of guards in the conference.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT B BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT C INTANGIBLES B
Rollie Massimino arrived in Cleveland more than three years ago, promising that he would turn Cleveland State basketball around. It's taken some time and recruiting classes to get the players necessary to compete with MCC's elite. But now we, and Massimino, believe the Vikings are ready to make some noise. Three starters, including second-team All-MCC guard James Madison and Theo Dixon, are back for Cleveland State. Throw in talented transfers Damon Stringer (Ohio State) and Doc Taylor (DePaul) and Massimino has as many athletes on the perimeter as any team in the conference. The problem? Massimino needs more consistent play in the paint, either from 6-8 returnee Ricardo Crumble, a DePaul transfer, or 6-8 JUCO import Kevin Ross. Call it third place fror the Vikings, just behind Detroit and Butler. But this figures to be a dangerous team come MCC Tournament time. |
The leader of that pack is 6-3 senior Madison, a legitimate MCC Player-of-the-Year candidate. Madison (15.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 68 assists, 46 steals) enters this season as CSU's career leader in three-point field goals (195). A second-team all-conference performer, Madison can take over a game with his on-the-money outside shooting. What's more, Madison has greatly improved his on-the-ball defense over the course of the last three years (1.54 spg, seventh in MCC). The 6-6 Dixon (11.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 83 assists, 17 blocks, 60 steals), a junior, is equally comfortable operating inside or outside. Dixon was 12th in the MCC in scoring and sixth in rebounding last year. The Vikings appear to have so much backcourt firepower that Dixon might become more of a small forward. Harris, a 6-1 junior point guard, gained valuable experience as a backup to Melvin McKey last year. Harris (5.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 49 assists, 32 steals) saw action in 26 games, including four starts. Harris figures to stay a backup at the point, where his former high school teammate, Stringer, should get the starting nod. Stringer, also a former teammate of Dixon's at Cleveland Heights High School, will step back on to the court for the first time in more than two years after sitting last season to fulfill NCAA transfer rules and missing 1997-98 while recovering from an injury. In two years at Ohio State, Stringer, a 5-11 junior, started 52 of 54 games. As a sophomore, Stringer was selected third-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and was the only player to rank among the league leaders in six statistical categories. Stringer averaged 15.1 points and 4.4 assists that season. If he's anywhere near his old form, Stringer should take home the 1999-2000 MCC Newcomer of the Year Award. Taylor, another Cleveland prep product, should be an impact transfer, too. The 6-3 junior averaged just 5.4 points as a sophomore in 1997-98 at DePaul after leading all Conference USA freshmen in scoring the year before (10.3 ppg). Rounding out the guard line will be Johnson, who showed flashes of brilliance mixed in equally with freshman mistakes last season. The 6-5 Johnson (8.5 ppg, 3.5 apg, 12 assists, 19 steals) enters his sophomore season on a high note. Over the last 10 games of the 1998-99 season, Johnson averaged 11.9 points and 23.6 minutes. Massimino's two freshman backcourt signees, 6-2 Jermaine Robinson from Philly prep power Simon Gratz High School and 6-5 Bill Guess from one of the best programs in the suburbs of Philadelphia (Plymouth Whitemarsh HS/Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), both probably won't play this season. Robinson averaged 17.2 points for Gratz, but was unable to qualify academically. Guess will probably redshirt this season, in order to create separation between himself and other upperclass wing players such as Madison, Dixon and Johnson. The frontcourt outrebounded its opponents in 18 of 28 games last year, but its overall play was up and down, at best. Because of that fact, Massimino has brought in two junior college transfers and a promising freshman to push the three returnees. At center, 6-8 junior Ricardo Crumble returns but will need to be more consistent in order to hold off talented JUCO import Kevin Ross. Crumble, who sat out the first seven games of last season after transferring in from DePaul, came out of the gate like a man possessed. Crumble (7.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg) scored in double figures in six of the first seven games, but then reached double figures only twice after that. His late-season swoon forced Massimino to enlist some immediate help in the 6-8 Ross, who's from Monroe (N.Y.) Community College. Anthony Jackson (3.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 14 assists, 14 blocks), a 6-7 junior, saw action in every game last season, but he's expected to be more of a force this season. The reason? He was as much pf a fixture as the Stairmaster and mirrors in Cleveland State's weight room this off-season, bulking up to 225 pounds. David Barrett, a 6-8 senior, also worked hard to make himself more of a factor. Barrett (1.8 ppg, 1.0 rpg) was slowed by a knee injury last season, his first at Cleveland State after a promising JUCO career at Snead State (Ala.) Community College. Speaking of JUCO imports, Massimino welcomes another one into the fold in 6-6, 220-pound Joe Lofton. Lofton averaged 11.0 points and 5.0 rebounds last season at Brown Mackie (Kan.) College, the 1999 NJCAA Division II national champs last year. Another new frontcourt type is 6-6 freshman Tahric Gosley, who split his high school career between perennial Philadelphia prep power Simon Gratz (the same school that has produced current NBA players Rasheed Wallace and Aaron McKie) and Williamsport (Pa.) High, 180 miles northwest of Philadelphia. He spent his freshman and senior seasons at Gratz, the other two at Williamsport. Last year, Gosley averaged 10.8 points and 9.4 boards for the always-balanced Gratz team.
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