Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball is the men's

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

team that represents

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923 ...

. Prior to rebranding from Fenn College, they were known as the Fenn College Foxes. Cleveland State has been in Division I since 1972. They are a member of the

Horizon League The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Mi ...

(1994–present) Cleveland State was formerly in the

Mid-Continent Conference The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

(1982–1994). Prior to 1982, Cleveland State was an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

program.

History

The 1985–86 season is arguably the most memorable in Vikings history, as they achieved the improbable in becoming the first ever 14th seeded team to make it to the Sweet Sixteen of the 1986 NCAA tournament. Coach Kevin Mackey's squad, led by Ken 'Mouse' McFadden and Eric Mudd, upset

Bobby Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all- ...

's 3rd seeded

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Ath ...

, by a final of 83-79. Following a 75-69 second round win against 6th seeded St.Joseph's, the Vikings would ultimately lose to

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

71-70 on a clutch basket in the waning seconds by future Hall of Famer,

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

. Cleveland State would qualify for the NIT Tournament the following two seasons, but went 23 seasons until returning to the NCAA Tournament. On Monday, December 15, 2008, Cleveland State had their biggest regular season victory in school history, upsetting the #11

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference. The school's mascot is Ott ...

, 72-69, on a last-second, three-quarter court shot from senior guard Cedric Jackson. It was CSU's third-ever win over a Top 25 ranked opponent, and first ever on the road. They would pick up their fourth and fifth wins over Top 25 opponents later that same season when they won at #17 Butler in the championship game of the Horizon League Tournament 57-54, and then in the first round of the

2009 NCAA tournament The 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament in which 65 schools competed to determine the national champion of the men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2008–09 basketball ...

when, as the 13th seeded team in the Midwest bracket, they routed 4th seeded and #12 Wake Forest by a final score of 84-69.

Records

Record versus Horizon League

Records vs. Horizon League schools as of the end of the 2020–2021 school year.

Record versus Ohio schools

Records vs. Ohio schools as of the end of the 2015–2016 school year.

Individual career records

Cleveland State wins vs. the AP Top 25

Awards

AMCU/Mid Continent Player of the Year *

Ken McFadden Ken "Mouse" McFadden is a former basketball player. He attended Seward Park High School in New York. He played at Cleveland State University from 1985–1989. He helped lead Cleveland State to three postseason appearances and a trip to the Sweet ...

– 1988 AMCU/Mid Continent Coach of the Year * Kevin Mackey - 1985, 1986 * Mike Boyd - 1993 AMCU/Mid Continent Newcomer of the Year * Clinton Smith - 1985 * Sam Mitchell, 1993 Horizon League Player of the Year *

Norris Cole Norris Gene Cole II (born October 13, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League. A 6' 2" point guard, he is a two-time NBA champion, winning back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 with the Miami ...

- 2011 Horizon League Newcomer of the Year * Damon Stringer - 2000 * Bryn Forbes - 2013 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year *

Cedric Jackson Cedric Lamar Jackson (born March 5, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player. He played two years of college basketball for Cleveland State University, where he made a notable game-winning full-court shot against Syracuse and hel ...

- 2009 * Norris Cole - 2011 * Tre Gomillion - 2021 * D'Moi Hodge - 2022 Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year * Jon Harris - 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year * Gary Waters - 2008 *

Dennis Gates Dennis Gates (born January 14, 1980) is an American college basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Missouri Tigers men's basketball team. Playing career Gates played college basketball at California, where he was a two-ti ...

- 2020, 2021 HoopDirt.com Division I Coach of the Year * Dennis Gates - 2021

Attendance

Year-by-year

Largest Crowds

= Wolstein Center

= Woodling Gym

= Public Auditorium

NBA draft history

*8 total NBA draft picks. Regular Draft

Record by year

Conference tournaments

AMCU

*1988, No tournament held *1989, Ineligible for tournament *1990, Ineligible for tournament

Horizon League

*1996, Did not qualify as 9th overall in the conference. *2019, Did not qualify as 9th overall in the conference.

Postseason history

NCAA Division I Tournament history

Cleveland State has made three appearances in the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams fro ...

, having a record of 3–3.

NIT results

Cleveland State has appeared in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York Cit ...

six times, with the Vikings having a record of 3–6.

CIT results

Cleveland State has appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament twice, having a combined record of 1–2.

Retired numbers

Cleveland State has retired four numbers in program history.

Head Coaching History

Championships

Cleveland State has won six regular season championships (1985, 1986, 1993, 2011, 2021, 2022) and three conference tournaments (1986, 2009, 2021). {, border="0" style="width:100%;" , - , valign="top" , {, cellpadding="1" border="1" cellspacing="0" style="width:50%; text-align:center" , - , - style="text-align:center;" , 1985, ,

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, , Conference tournament, , 26–11 (12–6) , - style="text-align:center;" , 2011, ,

, , Regular season, , 27–9 (13–5) , - style="text-align:center;" , 2021, ,

, , Regular season
Conference tournament, , 19–8 (16–4) , - style="text-align:center;" , 2022, ,

, , Regular season, , 20–11 (15–6)

Alumni in the National Basketball Association

Seven Cleveland State alumni have played in the NBA, including: *

Franklin Edwards Franklin Delano Edwards (born February 2, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round (22nd pick overall) of the 1981 NBA draft. A 6'1" point guard from Cleveland State U ...

* Bryn Forbes *

* Jim Les * Clinton Smith *

Darren Tillis Darren Tillis (born February 23, 1960) is an American retired professional basketball player who was selected by the Boston Celtics in the first round (23rd pick overall) of the 1982 NBA draft. A 6'11" center born in Dallas, Texas Tillis spent h ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveland State Vikings Men's Basketball Basketball teams established in 1929