June 23, 2010

Contact: Brian McCann

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland State senior Norris Cole, who was a first team All-Horizon League selection last year, will get a chance to compete against some of the nation's best this weekend (June 24-26) when he travels to Chicago, Ill. to take part in the second annual Deron Williams Skills Academy.

Cole is one of 10 collegiate point guards who will take part in the camp, which is by invitation only. The camp will also feature between 15-20 of the top high school point guards as well.

"Norris is very deserving of receiving the opportunity to attend this camp," CSU head coach Gary Waters said. "He has worked really hard to elevate his level of play and over these three days, he will get a great opportunity to play against and learn from some of the best point guards in the country and be able to judge his ability.

"This invitation shows the respect that Norris has earned from around the country because of his play and the level that the Viking basketball program has reached," Waters added.

Cole, a 6-2, 175-pound guard from Dayton Ohio, had a breakout season with the Vikings in 2009-10, ranking second in the Horizon League with a 16.3 scoring average. He was also third in assists (4.4) and steals (1.8), fifth in asssist-to-turnover ratio (1.6) and ninth in free throw percentage (.799). He is one of 14 players in school history to score 500 points in a single season, recording eleven 20-point games as a junior.

Cole, who has played in all 104 games during his career, ranks 14th in school history with 1,198 career points. He will enter his senior season having starting 70 consecutive games, the seventh-longest streak ever at CSU.

The academy is named after Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams, who after competing at the collegiate level at Illinois has gone on to play five seasons in the NBA, earning a gold medal on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team at the Beijing games and being named to the 2010 NBA All-Star game.