Written by Tom Mieskoski

---

Cleveland State senior guard D’Aundray Brown is out for eight weeks after tearing a ligament in his finger on his shooting hand in practice last week, CSU head coach Gary Waters made the announcement at his media gathering on Tuesday.

According to Waters, Brown had surgery on Tuesday.

“The doctors told me this is a common injury in football,” said Waters. “You can tape the two (fingers together) and play, but the problem is if you don’t operate now you lose the mobility in that finger and it will be like that for the rest (of the season).”

Junior guard Jeremy Montgomery moves into the starting lineup in place of Brown.

“What’s going to help our team in the long run is some other players have to step up and play early,” Waters said.

When asked by a reporter who needs to step up, Waters said: “Anthony Wells, Josh McCoy and Charlie Woods.”

Douglas update: Waters said that freshmen point guard Sebastian Douglas, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during a charity basketball game this summer, is healing faster then expected.

Despite Brown’s injury and pressure from the assistant coaches to play Douglas this season, Waters still plans on redshirting him.

“You want to make sure he’s completely healed,” said Waters. “He has a bright future (at Cleveland State) and I don’t want to screw with that at all.”

Two surprise: Waters said the two biggest surprises so far in practice have been junior center Aaron Pogue and junior guard Trevon Harmon.

“The thing that has surprised me about Aaron is how offensive minded he has become. He is really trying to score. Last year, I had to beat him to score. Now he wants the ball,” said Waters. “The two things Trey is doing very well is passing the ball better and he’s rebounding the basketball.”

Vikes add another: Ike Nwamu of Westchester Country Day (NC) became the fifth recruit in CSU’s class of 2011 when he verbally committed to the Vikings last Friday.

“That was the first school that offered me,” Nwamu told ESPN.com. “I really felt like I was their guy. Some other schools fell off me, but I trusted Cleveland State and they never fell off.”

Nwamu, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound shooting guard, is rated a two-star prospect by both Scout.com and ESPN.com. He chose the Vikings over Mercer, according to Inside Prep Sports.

He joins Charles Lee, Anton Grady, Tre’ Brown and Marlin Mason in CSU’s class of 2011.

The early signing period is from Nov. 10-17.

Jackson update: Cedric Jackson, who was cut by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 13, is back with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League.

The former Cleveland State star has been invited to Erie’s training camp which begins on Nov. 6.

“The NBA is my passion and I feel like I’m right there,” Jackson told the Erie Times-News. “I feel like if I go overseas my chances of coming back here might be a little more slim.

“That’s just my opinion. I feel like I have a great opportunity to stick in the NBA so I’m just going to ride this for another year and hopefully it works out for me.”

Jackson averaged 16.4 points and 7.4 assists in 34 games as a rookie with Erie last season. He also appeared in 12 NBA games with the Cavs, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards last season, averaging 1.7 points and 1.2 assists in 6.3 minutes per game.

Bullock update: J’Nathan Bullock, who helped the St Laurence Geelong SuperCats win the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) Championship this summer, is currently playing professionally in Belgium for Optima Gent.

Bullock is averaging 15.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in three games with Optima Gent.

Klein update: Kailey Klein, the all-time leading scorer in CSU women’s basketball history, is currently playing professionally in Romania for CSM Satu Mare.

Klein is leading CSM Satu Mare in scoring through three games, averaging 18 points per game.

News and Notes: Sophomore Tim Kamczyc, who has put on 15-20-pounds of muscle during the summer, has already locked down the starting power forward position, according to Waters.... Waters wants freshmen center Devon Long to lose about 25-pounds by the end of the season. Long is listed at 6-foot-7, 270 pounds, but has slimmed down to 260.