Feb. 9, 2001
By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) - As the shot went through the basket, 66-year-old Rollie Massimino went wild. He jumped, spun and raised his arms over his head, missed grabbing the eyeglass case that popped out of his sport coat, and almost threw himself to the floor.
Massimino, one of college basketball's most colorful coaches, is having fun again.
He's pacing, prancing and posturing up and down the sidelines at Cleveland State, his home for nearly five seasons and the school he just might put back in the NCAA tournament.
"It would be something that people never thought could happen," Massimino said Thursday before the Vikings won their seventh straight, 77-60 over Wright State. "It's been a long, hard struggle."
It's been 16 years since Massimino guided Villanova, a No. 8 seed, to a stunning national title. Now, he's again pulling surprises.
Picked in the preseason to finish fifth in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, first-place Cleveland State (17-9, 8-2 MCC) will take a 1 1/2-game lead into Saturday's showdown against second-place Butler.
Barring a late-season collapse, the Vikings, who haven't made the NCAA tournament since the 1986 team's improbable run to the Sweet 16 under coach Kevin Mackey, should at least make the NIT.
But Massimino has Cleveland State's players believing March could bring bigger things.
"Sure we're thinking about the NCAA tournament," said guard Theo Dixon, the Vikings' best player and one of the local players Massimino has built the program around. "We've still got some big games left, but our goal is to prove to everyone we're a good team. The rest will take care of itself."
The win over Wright State avenged an earlier loss and gave Massimino his most victories in a season since coming to Cleveland State following two forgettable years at UNLV.
Massimino inherited a program coming off a 5-21 season and searching for an identity in a city dominated by its major sports teams.
Cleveland State went 9-19 in Massimino's first year, but has steadily improved with 12-15, 14-14 and 16-14 records before this season.
"We're only one of eight programs in the country to improve each of the past five years," Massimino said.
At first, there were baby steps. Playing in a midlevel major conference, Massimino knew there would have to be initial sacrifices for payoffs down the road.
He scheduled Big 10 powers Michigan and Michigan State in each of the first two seasons to challenge his players and teach them not to fear anyone. He took the Vikings on road trips to Oregon, Providence and last year to Hawaii, exposing them to hostile crowds and giving them a chance to see the country.
This season, the Vikings played 10 of their first 13 games away from home. Massimino figured it would toughen them for the stretch run, and it has.
"It takes time to develop and teach," he said. "I told the kids sometimes you add by subtraction, and you have to understand it takes a mindset, it doesn't take talent.
"It can't happen right away. The first couple years the kids worked hard. But we played so many tough teams. I didn't start the program with the idea of playing some of the teams we played in the past. We wanted to make it a major program."
Some major talent has helped.
Dixon and guards Jamaal Harris and Doc Taylor are all from Cleveland who decided to stay home. Massimino used his Philadelphia ties to bring in Tahric Gosley and Jermaine Robinson, teammates at Philadelphia high school powerhouse Simon Gratz.
Massimino has 493 career victories. If the Vikings win their final four regular-season games and the three it would take to win the MCC tournament title, Cleveland State would qualify for the NCAA tournament on Massimino's 500th win.
"The kids told me that," he said. "Wouldn't that be something?"
