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Vikings Return Home To Host John Carroll
Nov. 21, 2006
Contact: Brian McCann Complete Release in PDF Format
GAME 6 SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State returns home to close a season-opening stretch that has seen the Vikings play six games in 11 days when CSU host John Carroll on Wednesday, Nov. 22 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The Vikings (2-3) are coming off an emotional 78-67 win over Miami (Fla.), a team that won 18 games and went to the NIT a year ago, a victory that allowed CSU to finish third in the America's Youth Classic in Evansville, Ind. John Carroll is off to a 1-1 start, winning 82-68 at Albion on Nov. 19. PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: Just five games into the 2006-07 season, the Vikings are beginning to define the character that they are going to play with under first-year head coach Gary Waters. The senior quartet of guards Carlos English (6.2 ppg, 4.0 apg), Victor Morris (9.6 ppg, 2.4 apg) and Raheem Moss (9.6 ppg) and forward Patrick Tatham (4.0 ppg) are joined by sophomore forward J'Nathan Bullock (18.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg) to complete the starting lineup. Freshman guard Joe Davis (11.8 ppg) and junior forward Kevin Francis (8.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg) are the first two players off the bench, providing the Vikings with a spark at both ends of the court. CSU has been patient and efficient offensively, having assists on more than half of its baskets this year and having 10 or less turnovers in three of the five games. Although under-sized inside, CSU is blocking 4.0 shots a game and has been out-rebounded, 165-164. The aggressive Viking defense has made 49 steals with six players averaging at least one steal a game. HEAD COACH Gary Waters: A 32-year collegiate coaching veteran, Gary Waters took over as the head coach of the Vikings in the spring of 2006, bringing with him to Cleveland a head coaching history that included six trips to the postseason in his first 10 years as a head coach. 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. EASY AS A-C-C: Cleveland State's 78-67 win over Miami (Fla.) on Sunday marked only the second time in nine games that the Vikings won against a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference. CSU's only previous win was an 87-85 overtime decision over Florida State on Dec. 19, 2000 in the Wolstein Center. CSU is now 1-0 vs. Miami (Fla.), 1-2 vs. Florida State, 0-1 against both Clemson and Maryland and 0-3 vs. North Carolina. BULLOCK NAMED TO ALL-TOURNEY TEAM: After averaging 17.7 points in three tourney games, sophomore forward J'Nathan Bullock was named to the all-tournament team at the America's Youth Classic last weekend. Bullock was joined on the all-tourney team by Matt Webster (MVP) and Kyle Anslinger of Evansville, Yassin Idbihi from Buffalo and Miami's Jack McClinton. BULLOCK TAKES OVER SCORING ROLE: Forward J'Nathan Bullock has lived up to the preseason billing that made him a second team all-league choice on the Horizon League preseason team. He leads the Vikings and ranks second in the Horizon League in scoring (18.0), shooting an impressive .545 from the field (30-55) and .757 from the line (28-37). He scored 22 points -- on 10-for-14 shooting -- in the Nov. 11 opener against George Mason and added 24 points against Buffalo last week. . . . BULLOCK FINDS HIS MARK IN OTHER WAYS: One of the most impressive statistics about J'Nathan Bullock this year has nothing to do with shooting the basketball. In five games this year, Bullock has handed out 10 assists, including a career high three assists against both Notre Dame College and Miami (Fla.), to surpass the assist total that he compiled during his entire freshman season. Last year, Bullock had only nine assists in 28 games (and 707 minutes). A FREE THROW REVERSAL: Through the first five games of the season, Cleveland State has displayed a total reversal of fortunes at the free throw line. Last year, CSU was last in the Horizon League in free throw percentage, making just 355-of-547 attempts (.649). In the first two weeks this year, CSU ranks second in the league, shooting .747 from the line (74-99). Included in that total was a 23-for-28 effort (.821) in the win over Miami (Fla.) on Sunday. The Vikings have been even better when the game is on the line, making 28-of-35 free throws (.800) in the final five minutes of a game, including a 14-for-16 effort against Miami (.875). . . . AND BULLOCK LEADS THE CHARGE: J'Nathan Bullock is one of the main reasons for CSU's improvement at the foul line as the sophomore has exhibited a dramatic improvement at the line since a year ago. Bullock shot just .597 from the line as a freshman (83-139), including a dismal .511 in the first 22 games (47-92). He finished the year strong, shooting .766 over the last six games (36-47) and then carried that improvement over to this season as he has made 28 of his 37 attempts this year (.757). Bullock was 10-for-12 from the line against Miami (Fla.), including a five-for-six effort in the final four minutes. A LITTLE ENGLISH: After a slow start offensively, senior guard Carlos English has started to find his scoring touch, scoring in double figures in each of his last two games. English, who was held scoreless in the first two games this season, scored six points against Buffalo before scoring 10 points against Evansville and 15 vs. Miami (Fla.). Over the last two games, he is averaging 12.5 points, shooting .500 from the field (7-14) and .500 from three-point (5-10). MORRIS STARTS SENIOR YEAR OUT RIGHT: Victor Morris has started his senior season by playing some of the best basketball of his Viking career. He is third on the team in scoring (9.6), including a 14-point effort against George Mason and 17 points vs. Miami (Fla.), shooting .486 from the field (17-35), .533 from three-point (8-15) and .857 from the line (6-7) with a team-high eight steals. Morris was never better than in the first half against Miami (Fla.) when he made all five of his field goal attempts, including a pair of three-pointers, on his way to scoring 12 first half points against the Hurricanes. THE MICROWAVE: It took freshman guard Joe Davis less than two weeks to pick up his first collegiate nickname as his explosiveness and ability to score quickly have earned him the moniker "Microwave". Originally given to Detroit Pistons standout Vinnie Johnson because of his ability to,"heat things up quickly," Davis has similarly earned it because of his penchant for scoring points in bunches. So far this season, he has connected on back-to-back treys 40 seconds apart in a first half scoring run against George Mason, scored six straight points -- four coming on free throws -- during a second half comeback against Buffalo and tallied five of CSU's first seven points of the game against both Evansville and Miami (Fla.). JOE D GOES FOR THREE: Joe Davis made his Viking debut a memorable one against George Mason on Nov. 11, coming off the bench to score 19 points. The 6-0 freshman connected on seven of his nine field goals and tied a CSU freshman record by making five three-point field goals, going five-for-seven from behind the arc. The 19 points was the third-highest scoring total by a freshman in their first game at CSU, trailing the school-record 36 points by Don Ross vs. Hiram, (12/1/66) and Frank Mignoli's 21 points vs. Western Reserve (12/1/55). He enters the tourney ranking second on the team with a 13.0 scoring average. . . AND DAVIS LIKES HIS NEW ROLE: Joe Davis is no stranger to the Wolstein Center, though he appreciates the role he is playing in the building this year. In both the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons, Davis served as a ball boy at Viking home men's basketball games. . . . MOSS MOVES UP THREE-POINT CHART: Moss continues to make his mark as one of the most prolific three-point shooters in Viking history. He enters the week ranking seventh on the CSU charts in three-point field goals attempted (332) and ninth in three-pointers made (126). Moss needs four treys to catch Percell Coles (2000-04) for eighth place in three-pointers made and 20 attempts to reach fifth-place William Stanley (1987-90). THE VIKING BASKETBALL REPORT: A new addition to the television lineup this year is The Viking Basketball Report, a weekly half-hour show that includes game recaps, highlights and features on players and other elements featuring information about the CSU program. The show, which is hosted by Mike Cairns with commentary from head coach Gary Waters, airs every Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. and Thursday at 10:00 p.m. on SportsTime Ohio. THE BAKERY IS CLOSED: One of the goals that Gary Waters elaborated on during the preseason was the team's desire to take better care of the ball, knowing that the Vikings needed to make the most of every possession. CSU has taken Waters' words to heart, committing 11 or fewer turnovers in three of the five games this year. CSU, which averaged 16.1 turnovers a game last year, made 10 turnovers in the season opener against George Mason and 11 vs. Evansville over the weekend. The Vikings saved their best for Miami (Fla.), making just nine turnovers in the contest, the fewest since having eight turnovers against Butler on Feb. 10, 2001, 151 games ago. TEACHING SUCCESS: Gary Waters taught the Vikings what it takes to achieve success by turning professor for a weekly "Success" class during the summer and preseason. The class, which uses legendary UCLA head coach John Wooden's book which outlined the Pyramid of Success, was held twice each week during the first summer school session and every Wednesday afternoon once school resumed in late August. The class has been a success as the Viking players have used Wooden's pyramid principles to define the items that they need for success, using them to build their own pyramid. MENTORING PROGRAM BENEFITS VIKINGS: As part of Gary Waters' emphasis on education, the Viking coaching staff has organized a mentoring program that pairs each of the 16 players with a professional from the Cleveland area who is working within each players' field of study. For example, Munch Bishop, who does the morning sports reports on WMMS, is mentoring George Tandy, a junior communication major. "THE COMMITTEE": When Gary Waters took over as head coach last spring, he called upon the four Viking seniors -- Patrick Tatham Victor Morris, Raheem Moss & Carlos English -- to take over as the leaders on the squad. Waters would call "The Committee" together whenever he either needed a sounding board among the players or wanted to pass along information to them. The quartet worked so well together that Waters has decided to not name team captains for the 2006-07 season, electing to allow "The Committee" to continue representing the team. A BUSY NOVEMBER: The Vikings will open the 2006-07 season by playing a school-record eight games during the month of November, a staggering total considering that they will be played over a 19-day period. The total shatters the previous school standard of five games in November set in both 2000-01 and 2002-03. By comparison, CSU will play eight games during the 31 days in January and seven in December. . . . AND A BUSY YEAR: The Vikings are assured of playing at least 31 games this year, a figure surpassed just three times in CSU basketball history. The school record for games played in a season is 33, which was set in both 1985-86 and 1986-87. Most recently, the Vikings played 32 games in 2000-01. CSU will play 30 regular season contests this year and at least one game in the Horizon League Championship. BULLOCK NAMED TO ALL-HORIZON SQUAD: Sophomore forward J'Nathan Bullock, who became just the fifth freshman in program history to lead the team in scoring, has been named to the 2006 Preseason All-Horizon League second team. Bullock, a 6-5, 240-pound forward from Flint, Mich., started 22 of the 28 games that he played in a year ago, averaging 11.3 points and 4.5 rebounds a game. He recorded 17 double-figure scoring games, including three double-doubles. Bullock set a CSU freshman record with 20 free throw attempts against Kent State. MCLENDON SCHOLARSHIP SERIES SET: The Cleveland State John McLendon Scholarship Series, an annual men's basketball game hosted by CSU in conjunction with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), will debut when the Vikings host Ohio State at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007. Proceeds from the event will help to endow an athletic scholarship in the name of John McLendon at Cleveland State, the Basketball Hall of Fame coach who was head coach at CSU from 1966-69. BULLOCK RECEIVES AVIS SCHOLARSHIP: Sophomore J'Nathan Bullock is the 2006-07 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. VIKINGS ON TV AT LEAST SEVEN TIMES IN 2006-07: At least seven Cleveland State games will be televised this year, five of which are part of a new broadcast partnership between CSU and first-year sports cable channel SportsTime Ohio, the television home of the Cleveland Indians. The CSU road games at Kansas State (Dec. 5) and Ohio State (Dec. 9) will be shown on Fox Sports Midwest and ESPN+, respectively. Additionally, the Feb. 17 Bracket Buster game could be televised on one of four ESPN channels and the semi-final and finals of the league championship will be broadcast nationally. COMMUNICATION STUDENTS ARE HANDS ON: When a student enrolls in classes in the CSU School of Communication, odds are that they will be involved in several projects that the school works with the athletic department on. After all, it was communication students who did the bulk of the work to make video streaming of men's and women's basketball home games possible last year. This year, they will help to produce The Vikings Basketball Report, a weekly 30-minute show on SportsTime Ohio that will include men's basketball highlights and features. In addition, one class in the school is doing features of student-athletes in all 17 CSU sport as part of a class project with those vignettes being made available to Viking fans online. VIKINGS ARE GETTING STRONGER: Shortly after taking over as head coach, Gary Waters told a media member that a successful program usually has 7-8 players capable of bench pressing 300 pounds or more, a figure that no Viking had accomplished during the spring period. Waters then challenged strength coach Shane Levenson and the Vikings to significantly improve their performance, giving each a target number to reach before the start of the regular season. The results were overwhelming as all 16 players hit their target by the start of preseason practice with six players hitting the 300-pound mark. J'Nathan Bullock leads the way with a 340-pound bench press, a 720-pound leg press and a 490-pound squat. The other Vikings to reach 300 pounds were Raheem Moss (320), Carlos English (300), Cedric Jackson (300), Victor Morris (300) and Patrick Tatham (300). WAITING IN THE WINGS: CSU fans may have to wait until next fall to see the true strength of the Viking recruiting class as three of the seven newcomers are transfers from other Division I schools and will have to sit out the 2006-07 season to meet NCAA transfer guidelines. The trio -- each of whom are juniors and will have two years of eligibility remaining -- includes guard Cedric Jackson and forwards Chris Moore and George Tandy. Jackson is the most experienced of the group, starting 35 games the last two years at Big East Conference member St. John's, while Tandy, a native of Indianapolis who played his senior year of high school at Cleveland's Lincoln West High, was named the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2004-05 while playing at Eastern Illinois. Moore, who lives in Lakewood and attended St. Edward High, returns home after playing two seasons at UC Santa Barbara. NEXT UP: CSU travels to Newark, Del. to take on Delaware on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 1:00 p.m. for a rematch of last year's BracketBuster Saturday contest, which was played at CSU.
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