There’s optimism at the corner of E 22nd and Prospect Ave as the 2010-11 Vikings are deep and experienced. It tells a lot about how far Gary Waters and his staff have brought the Vikes that a .500 team that won ten games in the tough Horizon League was a disappointment last year, but that’s what two straight post-seasons and an upset in the NCAA tournament will do to expectations.
CSU returns five players with starting experience and nine letter-winners from last year’s 16-17 team. Gone from last year is the disappointing trio of Juco transfers that never lived up to expectations and a brutal schedule that featured five contests against high-major teams. Even with the underperforming transfers and the injuries of a year ago, Waters believes the team could have won 20-games for the third straight year simply by leaving a few power conference schools off the schedule.
That leads us to this year. The Vikings have replaced last year’s failed recruiting class with the most highly-rated group of freshman in the Waters era, while the schedule features only West Virginia and South Florida from the high-majors – instead offering the Vikings a chance to test themselves against a stable of solid mid-major programs.
Waters begins his fifth season as the head coach of Vikings this weekend as the CSU host the World Vision Classic.
The Vikings will play four games in four days to start the season for the first time in school history. The tournament field features Bryant, Iona, Kent State and Division II Urbana.
The season tips off Friday at 7:30 against Bryant. The showcase game against Kent is Sunday at 6 p.m., just in time for all you Browns fans to stagger your way from Cleveland Browns Stadium down to the Wolstein Center after the Browns take on the Jets.
Junior guard Trevon Harmon and sophomore point guard Anthony Wells are the latest Cleveland State Vikings to be sidelined with injuries.
