Cleveland State showed some signs of improvement last season, the second year of the Mike Garland era. The Vikes finished eighth in the conference avoiding the cellar by going 6-10 in conference play. The Vikings did show some signs of life though, ripping off five conference wins in six games over a 19-day span in late January into early February. Gone from last season’s squad is hot headed scoring/rebounding machine Omari Westley. Though, talented Cleveland State may be better off. Garland also brought in a recruiting class that fits his tough style. However, it will still be struggle this season for the Vikings in the Horizon League.
The Vikings leading returning scorer, junior guard Raheem Moss, was also named to the Horizon League pre-season second team. Moss was the Vikings top three-point shooter a season ago, hitting nearly 40% while knocking down 63 treys and averaging nearly 13 points a contest. Fellow junior Victor Morris started 13 games last season and averaged over 20 minutes a contest. Junior college transfer Carlos English is expected to assume the point guard duties. At 5’8” and 157 pounds English has been called lightning fast with very good passing skills. Sophomore Steve Gansey provides a nice change of pace for the Vikings. He was second on the club in three pointers made despite seeing just 13 minutes per game.
Junior forward Patrick Tatham is Vikings leading returning rebounder. He averaged nearly nine points a game last season and five rebounds. Those numbers should improve if he finally plays a full season for the Vikings. Tatham is as solid a defender as there is in the Horizon League and can move quickly up and dwon the court for his size. Senior Frashon McGee saw action in 22 games last season averaging more than five points and three rebounds per contest. The only other senior on the squad is Justin Henderson. The large 6’8” 260 pound center started 6 games last season and averaged just over four points and two rebounds per game.
Henderson was the only Viking to appear in all 26 games for the Vikings last season. Coach Garland feels that if the Vikings can avoid the injury bug they have an opportunity to compete. “Injuries have sapped the team of its depth over the last two years and consequently, limited the amount of time that we were able to play our style of basketball,” says Garland.
A handful of newcomers join the Cleveland State frontcourt for Garland this season. J’Nathan Bullock is an undersized forward from Michigan who was described by one recruiting service as being “tough as nails.” The 6’4” 246 pounder gets by with superior strength and determination and is the kind of player Garland has been looking for. He’s joined by the lanky Terry Walker who at 6’9” is expected to provide some defensive presence for an undersized CSU squad. Fellow freshman Renard Fields comes from a great prep school, Hargrave Military Academy, that produced three other Division I players besides himself. Sophomore Luke Murphy has a decent shot and ball handling skills for a 6’9” forward and should creat some mismatches for Viking’s opponents.
Purdue transfer Ije Nwankwo becomes eligible in the second semester. He is a hulk at 6’7” and 270 pounds and was a top 100 recruit coming out of high school. Garland is high on Nwankwo’s potential. “He has a wing span of almost seven feet and those long arms combined with his wide body make him a very difficult player to defend.”
Garland feels that all five of the newcomers have the ability to battle for minutes from the get-go, which would give the Vikings some much needed depth. “Our system is predicated on alternating 10-12 players to keep them fresh,” says Garland. He feels that with so many options the Vikings will be able to give opponents several different looks. “We have so many players who are capable of playing two or three different positions that you may see us at times with four guards on the floor or four posts.”
The Vikings showed potential at times last season and with a recruiting class so much to the liking of Garland the Vikings will look to improve greatly on their 6-10 league mark from a season ago. The Vikings will probably struggle at the beginning of the season as Garland looks to settle on a rotation that will include so many new faces. Once that is settled the Vikings won’t be a team that Horizon League opponents will want to face. They have gotten bigger, stronger and tougher and finally appear to have the attitude that Garland has been trying to instill over the past two seasons.
--this article reprinted with permission of the author
--for more Horizon League information, visit www.ramblermania.com
