Transfer portal hits hard for Oakland, Detroit Mercy hoops Tuesday--Detroit News
2021 NCAA Tournament upsets: Syracuse, Oregon State and Liberty look to break brackets in Midwest region--The Athletic
No. 2 Houston Cougars (-20) vs. No. 15 Cleveland State Vikings
Upset chance: 2%
Subjectively, we would really like to be able to say something positive about Cleveland State. We’ve long admired the 13-seed whose leadership cadre of Cedric Jackson, Norris Cole and J’Nathan Bullock harassed Wake Forest into 18 turnovers in a first-round NCAA upset 12 years ago. But holy smokes, the sadism of this matchup is enough to make you wonder if somebody on the tournament selection committee had a bad experience at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Vikings, who clock in at No. 200 in our basic power rankings, steer opponents into taking 42.5 percent of their shots from behind the arc, the 36th-highest rate in the country. And they are particularly vulnerable on the defensive glass, where they rank 303rd in the country in rebounding percentage. Well, Houston is the second-strongest offensive rebounding team in the country (behind North Carolina), and one of the few ordinarily high-risk elements of its play is its heavy reliance on threes (42.3 percent of attempts), which they’re good at making. Last month, Houston put up 112 points against Our Lady of the Lake, an NAIA team. After they get done with Cleveland State, our statistical model wonders if the lady will have the last laugh.
2021 NCAA Tournament bracket: Midwest Region analysis of top-seeded Illinois, Oklahoma State and more--The Athletic
15. Cleveland State Vikings
First-round opponent: No. 2 seed Houston (American champion)
When: 7:15 p.m. ET Friday, Assembly Hall (truTV)
Record: 19-7 (16-4 Horizon League)How they got here: After sharing the regular-season title with Wright State and needing triple overtime to escape Purdue Fort Wayne in the Horizon quarterfinals, the Vikings rolled through the semifinals and title game to earn the league’s auto-bid. It is the program’s third NCAA Tournament bid and first since 2009.
What you need to know: When assistant coach Dru Joyce III climbed a ladder to snip some net after the conference championship, he howled, “Cleveland! This is for you!” That was a nod to LeBron James, who first shouted those words after leading the Cavaliers to an NBA championship in 2016. Joyce was LeBron’s high school teammate at powerhouse St. Vincent-St. Mary and is now part of a terrific staff of rising stars at Cleveland State, led by 41-year-old Dennis Gates, the Horizon League Coach of the Year in both seasons there. Gates, a longtime Leonard Hamilton assistant at Florida State, has turned around a program that went 40-89 in the four years before he arrived. He’ll be a hot name for high-major openings and might even be the frontrunner at Penn State.
Spotlight on: While all-conference senior guard Torrey Patton (14.9 points, 8.0 rebounds) can fill it up, the Vikings are driven by defense. Gates borrowed a tradition from FSU, where Hamilton handed out a spear to his defensive player of the game, and introduced a shield at Cleveland State. Junior guard Tre Gomillion (10.5 points, 5.2 rebounds) essentially owns that battlefield replica after earning Horizon Defensive Player of the Year. But junior forward Deante Johnson (third in the league in blocks) and junior guard D’Moi Hodge (fourth in the league in steals) are no slouches either. In two years under Gates, CSU has jumped almost 200 spots in the national defensive efficiency rankings.
Dennis Gates reflects on driving Kelvin Sampson; Torrey Patton hopes Vikings showed resilience: The latest from Cleveland State basketball--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Being heavy underdogs in NCAA tourney doesnt faze Cleveland State--News-Herald
Transfer portal likely to be key in rebuilding program, balancing roster--Phear The Phoenix
2021 Women’s Basketball Season Wrap Up--Campus Citizen
Milwaukee Set for WNIT Matchup vs. Drake--mkepanthers.com
Dahomée Forgues becomes sixth Colonial transfer since beginning of 2020-21 season--Colonial Sports Network
Holly Forbes to grad-transfer from Robert Morris--Colonial Sports Network
Men’s Basketball Falls to Milwaukee, Looks Toward Selection Sunday--The Guardian
Jump Honored by Women's Basketball Coaches Association--wsuraiders.com
Davis Selected AP Honorable Mention All-American, NABC Division I All-District Team--The Horizon League
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