Cleveland State University continues to build toward the future, erecting buildings by the day. Helping provide a little more certainty on the road to come, the Division I program opted to extend men’s basketball coach Gary Waters for seven more years, keeping him with the Vikings through the 2018-19 season, the Associated Press reports.
With the season set to tip off on Friday, the Vikings will look to maintain their status as a prominent mid-major program. Waters has led the Vikings to the postseason in four of the past five seasons. Cleveland State has had four 20-plus-win seasons and won two Horizon League championships (2009, 2011) under Waters, named the league’s top coach in 2008. He took a Cleveland State program – led by guard Cedric Jackson and forward J’Nathan Bullock — to its second NCAA tournament in 2009, when they upset the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the first round.
Potentially even more telling: Per the AP, of the 19 seniors who have come through Cleveland State’s program with Waters in charge, all have graduated.
“I am excited about the commitment that Cleveland State has made to me and my family,” Waters said. “With this vote of confidence, it will allow me to basically finish out my career here at Cleveland State. I love Cleveland and I love Cleveland State University and it’s a marriage made in heaven. I look forward to the challenges and goals we will set to continue to make this a very successful program.”
[Related: While We’re Waiting…The New Look CSU Vikings]
Looking at OSU’s toughest road to a title: “Matchup nightmares. Pitt Panthers and UConn Huskies. Dixon’s group has plenty of big bodies to throw at Sullinger and a backcourt of Wannamaker and Gibbs have a quickness advantage to create offense. UConn has size to matchup as well, while Walker and Napier are much too quick for Buford or Diebler. Craft would have to play big minutes in this game and that would hurt the Bucks on the offensive end. One ace in the hole the Buckeyes have in this tilt would be they play a credible zone. Syracuse confounded UConn with their zone in Hartford so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Buckeyes use theirs against Calhoun’s squad. Still, UConn’s personnel would pose problems.” [
Yesterday, Rick wrote a piece examining the 
Not to belabor the point, but most of us here at WFNY do not get the opportunity to watch the CSU Vikings games. Certainly, they don’t get much coverage in the local press either. Now had the Vikings beaten Butler on Tuesday night, that would have changed. At least temporarily.
