April 16, 2008
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The first dividends of a 21-win season and NIT appearance came on Wednesday (April 16) to the Viking basketball team as CSU signed a pair of high school standouts to national letters of intent to attend CSU and play basketball starting in the fall of 2008. CSU head coach Gary Waters made the announcement on Wednesday, the first day that high school student-athletes are permitted to sign a letter of intent this spring.
Signing with Cleveland State are Jeremy Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Lincoln Park) and Charlie Woods (Lansing, MI/East Lansing). Both will be freshman and have four seasons of eligibility.
"The addition of Charlie and Jeremy is a great start to our recruiting," CSU head coach Gary Water said. "These are two great players for the future of our program. They will not only help to make us better next year, but will be in the lineup for the next four years."
Montgomery, a 6-2, 170-pound guard, was a third team all-state choice as a senior after averaging 21.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game, shooting .610 from the field, .872 from the line and .414 from three-point, making more than 75 treys during the year.
A three-year starter, he was a first team all-area choice by the Chicago Sun Times and a first team All-Chicago Public League selection as a senior
A two-time all-league choice, he averaged 16.1 points as a junior, scoring over 1,000 career points.
A three-star prospect by Rivals.com, his older brother, Jon, just completed his freshman season at Northern Iowa.
"I first saw Jeremy when we were looking at his brother last year and I was impressed with his basketball mind," Waters said. "He is a combo-guard who can do it all on the basketball court, especially score from the perimeter. I expect that he'll add something to the team this year."
Woods, a 6-7 forward, was a first team all-state selection by the Detroit Free Press this year after averaging 17.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game, shooting 78-percent from the line and 43-percent from three-point, making 53 treys.
With Woods out of the lineup due to illness midway through the year, East Lansing dropped five of seven games. Woods returned to average 25 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks over the last 10 contests to help the Trojans to an 8-2 mark, advancing to the semi-finals of the state tournament for the first time since 1958.
Named the league player of the year by the Lansing State Journal, Woods was a second team all-state choice by the Detroit News and a special mention selection by the Associated Press. He was named to the Class A All-State Tournament team by MichiganLive.com.
A two-year starter, he was a first team all-league choice as a junior after helping East Lansing to win its first league title since 1996.
Woods was ranked the third best wing player in Michigan this year by PrepSpotlight.com.
"Charlie has the most potential that I have seen in a long time," Waters said. "He's grown four inches in the last two years and I think that he is going to keep growing. He's 17 years old and wears a size 15 shoe.
"He's very long and athletic, can run the floor and is a good three-point shooter. He also has great timing which helps him to be a great shot blocker."
Cleveland State had a breakthrough season on the basketball court in 2007-08, going 21-13 and receiving a post-season bid for only the fourth time in school history (and first since 1987-88). The Vikings finished second in the Horizon League, winning a school-record 12 league contests, posting only the sixth 20-win season in school history and first since 1992-93.
