Award-winning college basketball writrer and former USA Today columnist Mike Lopresti covered the Horizon League throughout the conference's media day. In a series of dispatches, Lopresti will share features with HorizonLeague.com. Today, Lopresti covers Cleveland State.
Atonement. The Cleveland State Vikings think it, talk it, want it. That 14-18 record last season just won’t do.
Not for the players. “It gives me a bigger chip on my shoulder,’’ said Anton Grady, the Vikings’ leading scorer who is back from knee surgery that cost him most of last season.
And not for the coach, who in his eighth year is accustomed to better. “I’m excited because they have a chance to redeem themselves,’’ Gary Waters said. “I think they felt what occurred last year was not Cleveland State. Anton, who was sitting on the bench and couldn’t do a thing, said, `That’s not us.’ He constantly said that.
“Our kids are excited. They come to practice every day to get the work done. I expect some very special things to happen this year.”
Why not? Four starters are back from one of the nation’s youngest lineups. Grady is healthy. Bryn Forbes comes off a stellar freshman season. Grady and Forbes were picked on the second unit of the preseason all-Horizon team. The Vikings were voted third as a team. Two transfers – guard Trey Lewis from Penn State and forward Jon Harris from Miami (Ohio) – should be of immediate help. Maybe last season’s school of hard knocks pays off now.
“That was something I know our guys weren’t used to,” Waters said. “But you have to go through that sometimes, especially when you’re young.”
Hand Waters the final 2012-13 Horizon League statistics, and he knows just where to look to find a big reason for the trouble. The opponents’ field goal percentage. Was that a grimace that just crossed his face?
The number is a reliable measure of defense, and there Cleveland State was, eighth in the league, allowing 46.2 shooting. For a coach who likes nose-to-nose defense, it’s one of the most unsightly reminders of an unsatisfying season.
“We’ve looked at that number a great deal,’’ Waters said at the Horizon League media day. “We know in order for us to be a better team, we’ve got to get that number down. We’ve got to take at least five points off that number. The positive thing about that is, it’s visible. Often, it’s why are we losing? Why is this happening? That’s pretty visible.”
So he wants more missed shots by the other team, and more steals by his own. He feels he has the added talent and depth to do it. One other thing has Waters feeling optimistic, too. How he spent his summer vacation.
Sure, who wouldn’t like a trip to Europe? But the Vikings did more than sightsee and sample the cuisine in a tour of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. They went 5-0, and began to put the pieces back together, with old faces and new. Forbes averaged 22.8 points. The transfers bonded with the holdovers.
“We had a chance to see them, they had a chance to show us, and they had a chance to relate to their teammates,” Waters said. “I’m really excited. I’ve taken six teams overseas, and this is the first one I’ve taken that went undefeated. You’re playing against pros. They went over and enjoyed competing together. One of the things we did over there was we started a new lineup every single game. The kids weren’t too concerned about that. They just played.”
It was especially valuable for Grady, who is working through both the psychological and physical rehab of returning from knee surgery.
“It’s always going to be that way when you have an injury,” Grady said. “But as coach always tells me, ‘You’re whole.’ I think that helps sometimes, when you might catch yourself not going as hard or playing gently.
“On the overseas trip, I felt like I was playing whole.”
It was not easy for Grady last year, his promising sophomore season ruined, with nothing to do but sit and watch too many games go wrong. Moral support was the best he could offer.
“I had to find out what my purpose was in getting injured,” he said. “What do I need to do to help others around me?”
Now he’s back. At media day, Waters mentioned “Our guys are chomping at the bit.” He seemed to mean it.
