Rob Summers enters his second year as head coach and fifth overall season with the Cleveland State men’s basketball team.
Summers was tasked with bringing in an entire new team in his first season, leading the Vikings to an 11-22 overall record and a 6-14 mark in Horizon League games. Summers aided in three players receiving Horizon League honors with two special awards; Chevalier Emery (Sixth Man of the Year) and Tre Beard (Sportsmanship Award). Dayan Nessah was named to the All-League Third Team.
In year one, the team set season records in three-pointers made (357), three-pointers attempted (953), and free throw percentage (.753). The Vikings also finished with the fourth most points in a season (2,633) and on the fourth most field goals made (965) and attempted (2,136). Shooting from beyond the arc was a big factor, tying the game record (16) on four occasions before breaking it with 17 against Oakland inside Woodling Gymnasium.
Off the court, the Green and White had the highest GPA in the department for men’s sports with a 3.62 GPA. Ten players were named to the Dean’s List while the entire team had a GPA above a 3.00.
Prior to returning to Cleveland State, Summers spent one season as an assistant coach at Missouri with Coach Gates, serving as the offensive coordinator and working with the post players. The Tigers were ranked ninth nationally in offense, advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Summers was instrumental in Mark Mitchell receiving Third Team All-SEC honors.
After departing the Vikings, Summers spent two seasons at Miami University as the associate head coach, helping the program to its top placement in the MAC in 13 years, mentoring Anderson Mirambeaux to all-conference accolades in both of his seasons on campus.
Summers and Coach Gates first worked together during a successful three seasons at Cleveland State as an assistant coach and team’s offensive coordinator. He helped the Vikings increase their scoring average by more than 10 points per game as CSU collected two regular-season Horizon League titles and one tournament championship.
Summers joined the Vikings after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at James Madison. He also enjoyed coaching stops as the head coach at Division II Urbana (Ohio) from 2014 to 2017, one season as James Madison's director of operations and two years at Glenville State as associate head coach and compliance coordinator.
Summers played two seasons at Penn State before transferring to West Virginia, where he helped WVU reach the sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament as a junior and an NIT Championship as a senior.
Summers was a three-time Big East Academic All-Star at WVU, where he received his bachelor's degree in sports management in 2007 before earning his master's in athletic coaching education in 2012. Summers was selected in the 2007 NBA Development League Draft, ultimately deciding to compete overseas. He played professionally in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America.
