Busting Brackets
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Cleveland State Basketball: Evaluating Vikings heading into Houston matchup

By Ryan Kay

Cleveland State bench players wear masks during the second half of Sunday's NCAA Division I basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena in Columbus, Oh. on December 13, 2020. Ohio State won the game 67-61.Osu Mens Bbk 12 13
Cleveland State bench players wear masks during the second half of Sunday's NCAA Division I basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena in Columbus, Oh. on December 13, 2020. Ohio State won the game 67-61.Osu Mens Bbk 12 13 /
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Cleveland State Basketball Houston Tre Gomillion Barbara J. Perenic-USA TODAY NETWORK
Cleveland State Basketball Houston Tre Gomillion Barbara J. Perenic-USA TODAY NETWORK /

Did you know that Cleveland State was called Fenn College until 1965?  Probably not but before we look into this year’s Cleveland State Basketball team and their opportunities to advance in the NCAA tournament let’s take a look at the Viking’s basketball program history.

The program’s most famous former head coach is the late John McLendon who is a member of the National Basketball Hall of Fame and is considered to be the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly European-American university.

Their best player in program history was Ken McFadden who was named conference player of the year for the 1987-88 season, four-time All-American, and he holds the record as the Viking all-time leading scorer. Cleveland State has had some other former players who have achieved much success as well.

Cleveland State has three numbers retired, including McFadden’s No. 10 as well as Franklin Edwards No. 14, and the most recent retired jersey is Norris Cole’s No. 30. The Viking’s led primarily by McFadden had one amazing stretch of play in the early to mid-’80s.

Three Cleveland State players have been picked in the 1st round of the NBA draft. Franklin Edwards was chosen by the Philidelphia 76ers as the 22nd overall pick in the 81 NBA draft, Darren Tillis was drafted as the 23rd overall pick by the Boston Celtics, and finally, Cole was chosen by the Chicago Bulls with the 28th pick of the 2011 NBA draft. Aside from individual achievements, as a team, Cleveland State had a period of time where they had much success.

The glory years of Cleveland State basketball occurred from 1984 to 1988 where the Viking had a combined record of 97-28 with their best season occurring during the 1985-86 season when they went 29-4.

During this stretch, they won their conference tournament in 86 and the conference regular-season titles back to back in 85 and 86. The furthest that Cleveland State advanced in the NCAA Tournament took place during the 1986 tournament when they defeated Indiana and then Saint Joseph’s before losing to Navy by one point in the Sweet Sixteen.

In more recent memory, the Vikings captured their conference regular-season crown in 2011, and this season they shared the regular-season title with Wright State. They won the conference tournament title in 2009 and again this season.

In the 09 NCAA tournament, Cleveland State upset No. 4 seed Wake Forest and defeated them by 15 points before losing to Arizona in the second round. Their last postseason tournament appearance occurred in 2012 when they lost to Stanford in the NIT tournament. The Vikings hope to pull an upset in this NCAA tournament by defeating No. 2 seed Houston.

Fun and Somewhat Interesting information Information about Cleveland State

The nickname for the university and their athletic teams was at one time the Foxes. However, when the university changed its name to Cleveland State, the nickname of the athletic teams was the Vikings. The university colors are forest green and white but the school mascot for many years was, believe it or not, the comic strip character Hägar the Horrible who appeared in American comic strips beginning in 1973.  A new mascot name Vike was introduced in the year 1997.

Famous alums include Tim Russert who was an NBC Washington bureau chief and moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press, Frank Lausche, former Governor of the state of Ohio, and U.S. Senator, and award-winning American novelist J. Everett Prewitt.

Highlights from their Season

*After a 0-3 start to the season, the Viking won their next nine games and Cleveland State went on to win 14 of their next 16 games after going winless in non-conference play.

*They have scored 80 or more points nine times this season and they have limited opposing teams’ offenses to only 65 or fewer points ten times this season.

*After sharing the regular-season conference title with Wright State, Cleveland State won three straight games in the Horizon League tournament defeating Oakland in the championship game to capture their first conference tournament title since 2009.