Nov. 9, 2008

Contact: Brian McCann

Complete Release in PDF Format

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State (21-13 in 2007-08) will play its only exhibition game of the preseason when John Carroll visits the Wolstein Center on Monday, Nov. 10 for a 7:00 p.m. contest. The Vikings, who have been picked to win the Horizon League in all but one of the eight preseason polls, return four starters and eight lettermen from the 2007-08 squad that became just the sixth team in school history to win 20 games in a season.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: After last year becoming one of at least 16 teams in NCAA history to go from losing 20 games in one season to winning 20 the next, the Vikings enter the 2008-09 season with many of the pieces to the puzzle already in place but a few questions that need to be answered. The lineup will be centered around the group of seven returning players who keyed the success last year, including the duo of forward J'Nathan Bullock (14.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and point guard Cedric Jackson (13.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 4.9 apg), both of whom were named to the five-player Preseason All-Horizon League first team this year. Earning spots in the starting lineup are the sophomore duo of off-guard Norris Cole (4.9, 1.4) and small forward D'Aundray Brown (4.9, 3.7). Senior Chris Moore (4.9, 2.7) is the leading candidate to start at center with seniors George Tandy (4.2, 4.2) and Renard Fields (2.1, 1.5) each factoring significantly into the playing rotation. The final three spots in the rotation will come from the group consisting of sophomore guard Eric Schiele, freshmen guards Josh McCoy, Jeremey Montgomery and Trevon Harmon and freshman forward Charlie Woods.

HEAD COACH Gary Waters: The reigning Horizon League Co-Coach of the Year, Gary Waters has needed just two seasons to convert Cleveland State into one of the top programs in the Horizon League. A 34-year collegiate coaching veteran, he owns a 202-169 record in 13 seasons as a head coach and a 31-34 mark in three seasons at CSU, taking seven of his first 12 squads to post-season play. He posted a 92-60 record in five seasons at Kent State, making NCAA appearances in both 1998-99 and 2000-01 and becoming the third coach in Mid-American Conference history to be named league coach of the year in successive years. Waters moved to Rutgers in 2001-02, compiling a 79-75 mark in five seasons, including three trips to the NIT. Waters, who led the Vikings to a 21-13 mark last year, earned his 200th career win on Feb. 23, 2008 when the Vikings defeated Marist.

DUO NAMED TO ALL-HORIZON LEAGUE SQUAD: The senior tandem of J'Nathan Bullock and Cedric Jackson have each been named to the 2008-09 Horizon League Preseason first team. The selection, which was made in a balloting of the league head coaches, sports information directors and select media, marks the first time in program history that the Vikings put two players on the preseason first team. Bullock, a 6'5" 240-pound forward from Flint, Mich., was a first team all-league choice last year after leading the team in scoring (14.8) and rebounding (6.6). Jackson, a 6'3" guard was second on the team in scoring (13.9) while leading the team in both assists (168) and steals (88).

COLE RECEIVES AVIS SCHOLARSHIP: Sophomore guard Norris Cole is the 2008-09 recipient of the Danferd C. Avis Endowed Basketball Scholarship, the first fully endowed scholarship for basketball at CSU. The scholarship is named in honor of Dan Avis, a member of the men's basketball team from 1947-50, who has been involved in Viking athletics for more than 50 years. A captain on the Fenn College teams in each of his last three years, Avis was inducted in the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980 and remains active with the Varsity "C" Club.

BUILDING A HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: When Gary Waters took over as head coach in the spring of 2006, he made note of the team's 5-10 home record the year before and indicated that for the program to succeed, the Wolstein Center would have to become a much more difficult place to play. The Vikings accomplished that goal in 2007-08 when CSU set a school record for wins in a season by going 12-2 in games played in the Wolstein Center. CSU was also 8-1 in league games, falling just short of the perfect 9-0 home league record in 1992-93.

. . . AND CSU IN THE WOLSTEIN CENTER: Cleveland State is starting its 18th season playing in Henry Goodman Arena in the Bert L. and Iris S. Wolstein Center. The Vikings own a 126-100 (.557) record during that span, including winning records in seven of the last 11 seasons.

"CLEVELAND" STATE: Keeping a promise that he made when he took over as head coach a year ago, Gary Waters has quickly turned the Viking roster into one that is representative of the region. Inheriting a team with just one player from a high school in the greater Cleveland area (walk-on Greg Vlosich), Waters increased that number to nine student-athletes from Ohio this year with five being from northeast Ohio. Daitwan Eppinger (Garfield Heights), Tim Kamczyz (Strongsville), Joe Latas (North Olmsted), Chris Moore (Madison) and Eric Schiele (Atwater)each call the greater Cleveland area home.

VIKINGS HAVE THE BRACKET BUSTED: Cleveland State didn't have much success when the Vikings first took part in the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters, losing the inaugural game to Eastern Michigan in 2003-04 and to Central Michigan the following year. The tide has turned however as the Vikings enter the 2008-09 season having won three straight games in the event. It started with a 52-40 win over Delaware in 2005-06 and was followed by a cross-country journey in 2006-07 that resulted in an 85-76 win at Cal State Northridge. Last year, Marist visited the Wolstein Center with CSU winning, 59-44, in a game televised nationally on ESPNU.

SUCCESS 301: The third edition of Success Class under Gary Waters is utilizing the book Quiet Strength by Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy as the course text. Instituted at CSU in the summer of 2006, Waters used Success Class to teach the Viking players the finer points of what it takes to succeed. Success Class 101 used John Wooden's book, The Pyramid of Success while last year, Waters relied on John Maxwell's book Talent Is Never Enough to instruct the Vikings. The non-credited class is taught weekly by Waters to the Viking players over the summer and preseason months.

BULLOCK GOING FOR A 4TH SCORING CROWN: Senior J'Nathan Bullock will attempt to become only the third player in CSU history to lead the team in scoring in four straight seasons. He started the streak as a freshman in 2005-06 when he was one of three Vikings in double figures for the year, averaging 11.3 points a game, the lowest average ever by a player who led the team. Bullock improved his average to 13.5 points in 2006-07 and trailed Cedric Jackson for most of last season until exploding for 39 points against Green Bay to take over the scoring lead for good. Bullock would join Franklin Edwards (1977-81) and Weldon Kytle (1961-65) as the only four-time scoring leaders.

WATERS ON THE RADIO: CSU fans will be able to get the inside scoop on the Vikings this year by listening to The Gary Waters Show each week on WTAM, 1100 AM. The one-hour call-in show, which will be hosted again by Andre Knott, will air weekly beginning on Nov. 12. At least 14 episodes of the show are planned, most coming on Monday night's. A complete schedule is available on CSUVikings.com.

. . . AND ON TELEVISION: The Viking Basketball Report, with Head Coach Gary Waters returns for a third season on SportsTime Ohio. The half-hour weekly show includes game recaps, highlights and features on players and other elements of the program. The show will be hosted by Mike Cairns with commentary from Waters. It will air multiple times every week, usually debuting on Tuesday evening.

"FLIP THE SCRIPT": One of the Viking battle cries this season, which had remained amongst the team until the end of the regular season was "Flip The Script" which references CSU's desire to put last year's 10-21 record behind them by flipping it around, to 21-10 this year. Although CSU fell just short of achieving that goal directly by going 20-11 in the regular season, the Vikings did achieve the 21-win goal by defeating Valparaiso in the Horizon League semi-final.

A 20-20 VISION: The win at Youngstown State on March 1 allowed the Vikings to achieve the rare distinction of going from 20 losses in one season to 20 wins in the next. Although the NCAA Basketball record book doesn't track exactly how many times this has been accomplished, it does list 15 teams (each of whom improved by 13 or more wins from one season to the next) with a small window existing for several other teams to accomplish it as well. Xavier is the only Horizon League team to earn the honor, going from 8-20 in 1981-82 to 22-8 the following year.

WATERS NAMED HORIZON LEAGUE CO-COACH OF THE YEAR: Third year Viking head coach Gary Waters was rewarded for his work in turning the CSU basketball program around as he was named the Horizon League Co-Coach of the Year in balloting of the leagues head coaches, SID's and select media members. With the Vikings picked to finish ninth in the 10-team league last year, Waters guided CSU to wins in each of its first seven league games en route to a 12-6 record and second place finish. It is the third time in 12 years as a head coach that Waters has received coach of the year honors. He previously was honored as the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year in both 1999 and 2000.