CLEVELAND (AP) -Carrying the glass Horizon Tournament trophy over his head, senior J’Nathan Bullock stepped off the charter bus onto a parking lot at Cleveland State.
His feet barely touched the ground.
As dozens of students, faculty members and fans alternated chants of “All The Way!” with “Final Four!” a beaming Bullock, coach Gary Waters and his team returned from a road trip to Indiana they’ll never forget to begin preparing for another journey – an unexpected one some never thought possible.
After 23 long years, the Vikings are headed back to the NCAA tournament.
“Last night it really didn’t hit me,” said Bullock, the forward who came close to leaving the school. “But today it’s kind of sinking in because I still see the trophies around. I don’t think it’s really going to hit me until Selection Sunday and they call out our name. It’s really unbelievable.”
r games five years ago, earned its first NCAA berth since 1986 on Tuesday night in Indianapolis with a 57-54 win over No. 16 Butler. The Vikings (25-10), who twice lost to the top-seeded Bulldogs during the regular season, stunned the league’s perennial powerhouse in its historic home, Hinkle Fieldhouse.
With its end-line balconies and 1950s-era charm, Hinkle is where the climactic scenes of the film “Hoosiers” were shot, and Cleveland State’s win was yet another special moment in a season that has screenplay possibilities.
When the final horn sounded, Waters, who in three years has revived a program once in complete disarray, punched both fists into the air and was overcome with emotion. As his players darted around the floor in celebration, Waters wept with joy.
“Those emotions were for J’Nathan and all the people who were part of all the negative things here,” Waters said. “They helped me change this program.”
Cleveland State has danced deep into March before. Back in ’86, coach Kevin Mackey’s “Run and Stun” squad featuring guard Ken “Mouse” McFadden, shocked Indiana and Saint Joseph’s as a No. 14 seed before losing to David Robinson and Navy 71-70 in the East regional final. The Vikings’ success was fleeting.
tions and Mackey resigned in 1990 after he pleaded guilty following an arrest on drug charges. Mike Boyd (six years), Rollie Massimino (seven) and Mike Garland (three) produced just four winning seasons before Waters’ arrival.
The 57-year-old Waters wasn’t sure what he was getting into when he took over the Vikings after five years at Rutgers. Primarily a commuter school, Cleveland State was called “Concrete State” by the locals because of its dreary downtown campus. The only green found at CSU was on the athletic jerseys. And although the gorgeous, 13,000-seat Wolstein Center was an attraction, it wasn’t enough to lure Division I recruits away from Ohio State or the Mid-American schools in the area.
“Nothing was here,” Waters said. “Everyone doubted this place. When I took this job, I had coaches from all around the country calling me and saying, ‘What the heck are you doing, Gary? You’re going to stunt your career.’ Well, the reason why I chose this place is because of the people.”
Three years ago, Bullock wanted out. Despite leading the Vikings in scoring as a freshman, the 6-foot-4, 250-pounder from Flint, Mich., was regretting his choice of Cleveland State. He could have gone elsewhere, even played Big Ten football. He flirted with the idea of transferring but decided to stay?
Why?
d. “I believed in him and what he could do.”
So did others.
Jackson, a transfer from St. John’s who had 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the win over Butler, followed Waters to Cleveland. He had met the coach during a summer camp at Rutgers, where Waters helped the high school sophomore work on his outside shot. Jackson, who earlier this season made a 60-foot, 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Syracuse, said Waters deserves all the credit for the Vikings’ turnaround.
“What coach Waters did with this team is nothing short of amazing,” he said. “I wish I would have played for him my freshman year. As soon as I left St. John’s, I knew I wanted to play for him. He’s a spiritual guy and I’m a spiritual guy.”
In Waters, Cleveland State fans feel their prayers have been answered.
As he waited for the team to get back from Indianapolis, Gary Hering of Broadview Heights recalled the losing seasons that never seemed to end.
“We’ve lived through a lot of lean years,” he said. “We were due.”
Waters came to Cleveland State with a four-year plan he showed to recruits and their parents. He was optimistic he would make it happen. One of five goals for the third year was an NCAA bid, an optimistic pipe dream that’s now a reality.
llock could see his past. He hopes that the Vikings’ return to the NCAA tourney can spark interest in his overlooked school, which has to fight for the city’s sporting attention against the Browns, Indians, Cavaliers, and of course, LeBron James.
“I really wish a strong fan base would get behind Cleveland State,” he said. “I just wish it was like other places. We go to schools in our league and they’ve got fans and we don’t.”
On Sunday, little Cleveland State will again be on equal footing with North Carolina, Connecticut, Kansas and the giants. And when the Vikings’ seed and opponent is announced on national TV, Bullock will have one thought.
“We’re back on the map,” he said.
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