On The Horizon: 2009-10 Cleveland St. Vikings Basketball Season Preview

Despite losing three starters, Head Coach Gary Waters will hope to build on last year's campaign which saw the Cleveland State Vikings win the Horizon League Tournament and beat Wake Forest in the NCAA tournament before bowing out to Arizona in the second round.

Key Losses
The Vikings lost four players off of last year's squad.  J'Nathan Bullock was the team's leading scorer, rebounder and was named all-Horizon League First Team last season.  Cedric Jackson was Second Team all-league and the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, leading the team and league in assists and steals.

Also departing Cleveland State was starting center Chris Moore, who led the Vikings in blocked shots last season.  The Vikings will also have to replace George Tandy, who started seven games last season and was the top bench player for Cleveland State.

Additions
The Vikings have a lot of new players, but they won't be inexperienced.  Waters has several transfers and redshirts to choose from to fill in the gaps.

Jared Cunningham is a 6'9" junior transfer from Division II Arkansas-Fort Smith.  Cunningham has some post-up game, but also has range well beyond the three-point line.  He averaged 10.7 points per game and shot 38.7 percent from downtown at UA-Fort Smith.

Aaron Pogue is a former Top 50 recruit who redshirted last season after transferring from Vincennes C.C.  He is a true post player with his 6'9", 275 lb. frame.  Hailing from Ohio power program Dayton Dunbar, where he was a teammate of Norris Cole, Pogue averaged 7.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in his one year at Vincennes.  Pogue has worked hard on his conditioning, cutting 35 pounds since his arrival at Cleveland State.

Kevin James is a scoring machine, transferring from Aiken Tech J.C. in South Carolina.  James was a Third Team Juco all-American, averaging 23.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 3.2 steals per game.  The 5'11" guard can also bomb from long range, making 48.8 percent of his three-point attempts last season.

Kevin Anderson is another Juco transfer from Technical Career Institute in New York.  Anderson is a lanky 6'10" center weighing only 215 lbs.  His main forte is shot blocking, leading TCI in blocked shots.  Anderson's offensive game is somewhat limited, but the Vikings' coaching staff believe he has tremendous upside.

Nigel Ajere is a 6'6", 225 lb. high-flyer, but hasn't played in 18 months since playing at Summit Prep in California.  Judging by video taken at Cleveland State's "Midvike Madness," the hops, measured out to a 40-inch vertical, haven't gone away.  At Summit Prep, Ajere was dominant, scoring 30.1 points per game along with 10.6 boards per game.

Charlie Woods was a redshirt by misfortune last season.  The 6'7" wing from Lansing, Mich. suffered a fracture around his eye socket chasing a loose ball in practice that required major reconstructive surgery.  Woods was 1st team all-state in Michigan his senior year, averaging 17.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game, while shooting 43-percent from three-point range.

Tim Kamczyc is a 6'6" walk-on who redshirted last season.  Kamczyc impressed Waters so much, he earned a scholarship for this season.  He is the typical energy and defense role player that coaches love to have around in practice.

Anthony Wells is the only true freshman coming into the Vikings program this season.  Wells, a 6'1" guard from Cleveland suburb Shaker Heights, Ohio, averaged 22.1 points per game as a senior.

Frontcourt 
The Vikings don't have a lot returning in the frontcourt.  D'Aundray Brown started 23 of the 24 games he played in last season, but missed 13 games with various injuries. The 6'4" junior wing is a high-energy player that averaged 7.4 points and 5.7 rebounds a game last season.

Joe Latas is a 6'11" sophomore who saw limited action in 16 games last season.  In those 16 games, Latas only scored 1.4 points per game.  Latas has lost weight in the off-season in hopes of running the court better and seeing more playing time.

Brown should start at SF, with Cunningham the likely starter at PF and Pogue in the center.

Backcourt
Norris Cole will be the undeniable leader of the Vikings this year.  Cole has been named as an all-Horizon League 1st Team preseason pick this season. Cole, a 6'2" junior, was the Vikings' second leading scorer last season, averaging 13.3 points a game last season. 

Cole took his game to another level down the stretch last season.  In the Horizon League Tournament, Cole scored 16.5 points a game in an effort worthy of making the all-tournament team.  In the NCAA tournament, Cole raised his game even further, leading the Vikings in scoring with 19.5 points per game.  His outside shot does need some work, as Cole only hit 40-131 (30.5 percent) from three-point range last season.

Trevon Harmon played in 26 games after becoming eligible in the second semester, including seven starts.  Harmon, a 6'1" soph., averaged 5.2 points per game in 17 minutes of action per game.  Harmon will be in contention for one of the starting guard spots.

Another contender for a starting spot is Jeremy Montgomery.  Montgomery is a 6'2" sophomore from Chicago.  Montgomery played in all 37 Cleveland State games last season, averaging four points and 14 minutes a game.

Josh McCoy is the final returning member from last year's backcourt.  McCoy played in 24 games last year, averaging nearly a point a game in limited action.  McCoy may see a few more minutes this season, but isn't a threat to crack the starting lineup.

Cole is a definite starter, with James, Harmon and Montgomery all fighting for the other starting spot.

Coaching
Gary Waters is entering his fourth season with Cleveland State.  After just ten wins in his first season, Waters has led the Vikings to back-to-back 20-win seasons.  The back-to-back winning seasons were the first for Cleveland State since the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons.

Waters isn't a stranger to winning in Northeast Ohio or at the mid-major level, previously coaching at Kent State for five years.  With the Golden Flashes, Waters posted a 92-60 record and led Kent State to its first two NCAA tournament appearances.

Last year, Cleveland State played a slower tempo game to make up for the lack of depth on the bench.  This year, Waters wants to get back to a "40 minutes of Hell" high tempo pace with all the options he has.  So those who do not start should still see a decent amount of minutes.

Outlook
The Vikings were picked to finish third in the Horizon League preseason poll.  There are a lot of pieces that need to jell with this team.  If they can jell, the Vikings can certainly push for second place behind Butler and a postseason berth.  However, if Cleveland State can't get all the parts to fit together, a middle of the pack spot in the Horizon League is possible.