July 12, 2001
CLEVELAND - Get out the Palm Pilots, Franklin Planners, desk calendars or whatever your schedules are kept on and block off the Saturdays in December for the hometown team.
Every Saturday in that festive month will feature the Cleveland State men's basketball team in action in Cleveland against competition such as Cal and Kent State, both NCAA participants, as well as Siena. In all, the Vikings will play seven of their 14 home games on Saturdays.
"We're very pleased that our fans continue to have the opportunity to see great NIT and NCAA tournament-caliber teams right here in Cleveland," Viking Head Coach Rollie Massimino commented. "Once again, our schedule is as challenging as we've ever had as we take on three NCAA tournament teams in Cal, Kent State and Butler as well as two NIT teams in Detroit and St. Bonaventure.
"Our league will be extremely competitive again this year and will include another local rival with Youngstown State now a member of our league."
Although the Vikes open on the road at IUPUI on Friday, Nov.16, fans won't have to wait long to catch the Green & White in action at Goodman Arena. NIT participant St. Bonaventure revisits Cleveland on Tuesday, Nov. 20 for the Vikings' home opener in a rematch of one of last year's most exciting games.
CSU then travels to Massimino's alma mater, Vermont, on Saturday, Nov. 24 before starting the home Saturday swing. Siena opens the final month of the year by tipping-off with the Vikes on Dec. 1 and then California arrives at Goodman Arena on Dec. 8. Intra-state rival Akron heads up Interstate-77 on Dec. 15 before CSU rolls out the welcome mat for Prairie View A&M on Dec. 22.
After a year's hiatus from the Rock-N-Roll shootout at Gund Arena, CSU returns and will close out December on the 29th when the Vikings take another intra-state rival Kent State, the 2001 Mid-American tournament champion. Cincinnati and Akron will face off in the other game of the Shootout's doubleheader.
And before you put your scheduling device away, block off the first five days in March and let the "madness" start a little early. From March 1-5, Cleveland State will play host to the 2002 Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship at Goodman Arena. The tournament will get underway with a play-in game between the #8 and #9 seeds on Friday, March 1 and continue with quarterfinal action starting at noon on March 2. Semifinal games will be played on March 3. The title game will take place on Tuesday, March 5 and be aired live nationally on ESPN.
Schools from seven different conferences in addition to the Horizon League appear on the 27-game schedule. The Atlantic Coast, Atlantic-10, Mid-American, America East, Metro Atlantic Athletic, Southwestern Athletic and the Pac-10 conferences are represented this season.
Six letterwinners, including four starters - guard Jamaal Harris (15.3 ppg), swingman Theo Dixon (18.0 ppg/4.8 rpg), guard Jermaine Robinson (10.6 ppg/2.8 apg) and forward Andre' Williams (4.2 ppg/4.9 rpg)-, return for the 2001-2002 campaign. Cleveland State, which finished 19-13 last season, is one of just three Division I schools to improve its record each of the last five years.
