If history is any indication, we are getting very close to a few announcements, even as non-conference schedules slowly start coming out (IU-Indy and Green Bay have already released). The conference schedule, which was revamped last year to accommodate academics and travel concerns, posted on August 22nd of last year, so conventional wisdom would tell you that we’ll be seeing the release of this year’s slate very soon.
Which means we’ll be nearing the end of the road of the Starting Five pieces. And the features (which we may still have a couple headed your way). So, I guess I better make these count.
Lewis Takes the Marauder Helm
Before he took the Missouri job, then-Cleveland State head coach Dennis Gates said that he saw multiple head coaches on his staff. Since, then, he’s been pretty spot-on, with Dicky Nutt taking a head coaching role before re-joining Gates in Columbia. There’s also Dru Joyce III, who succeeded Keith Dambrot as the coach of Duquense.
So, it should come as no surprise that another former Gates assistant made his way to the top job. This time, it’s Travis Lewis, who was Gates’ video coordinator during the 2021-22 season and was retained by Daniyal Robinson when he as hired at CSU head coach, serving as an assistant the past two seasons and has been an integral part of the Vikings’ back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
Lewis’ new destination? Central State, the Division II program located in Wilberforce, OH.
Lewis, who had also served as head coach at DeSales High School in Toledo and associate head coach at Owens Community College, has wasted no time in filling his roster. One of those players should be familiar to Cleveland State fans: Ramar Pryor. The sophomore guard had previously committed to Minnesota State-Moorhead before reconsidering and reuniting with his former Vikings coach.
Given Gates’ previous comments about his staff at Cleveland State and how the Vikings have performed over the past two campaigns with Lewis’ contributions, we are confident that he will continue to be successful in his new role with the Marauders.
Lampman’s a Spartan
It was a forgone conclusion that the next move for Blake Lampman would be a graduate role of some sort. And Griffin Beers (who, if you’re not following him on Twitter for Oakland scoops, you really need to!) confirmed what was the likely next move, which is a graduate assistant spot with Tom Izzo and Michigan State.
As Griffin mentioned, Lampman holds the Golden Grizzly record for more career games played. And his final campaign saw him rewarded handsomely, not only with an NCAA Tourney berth but also being named as an all-Horizon League second-teamer. Oakland fans won’t have to wait long to see Lampman again, as the Golden Grizzlies will face the Spartans in their annual non-conference match-up this upcoming season.
Tchikou Returns???
Teams releasing rosters and player numbers is pretty standard operating procedures these days, and that’s typically not all that newsworthy. But when Detroit Mercy posted its roster and jersey numbers, we noticed something that we didn’t think we’d see.
It would appear that listed among the players that will be one on board for the Titans during the 2024-25 season is Alex Tchikou, the big man from France.
His journey last season was a truly harrowing one that ever we didn’t know the full extent of. While we initially believed that Tchikou not playing was the result of not getting a transfer waiver by the NCAA (a hurdle that was eliminated courtesy of an injunction), his issues were apparently far deeper. As he detailed in a piece for UDM’s student newspaper, the Varsity News, Tchikou discovered that his visa had been terminated and that he’d have to go through the entire process of obtaining a new one, which required him to return home.
Tchikou’s absence on the court was one of the many series of unfortunate events that led to Detroit Mercy’s 1-31 record and Mike Davis’ ultimate departure as head coach. But it looks as if he’ll be on the roster for new head coach Mark Montgomery and available to play.
Cleveland State’s Oldest Tradition: Sticking With the Wolstein Center
It’s amazing how much talk and how little action has been centered around the Wolstein Center, Cleveland State’s home area, forever. One of the first things I wrote about for More Than a Fan: Cleveland when I got back into writing was this very subject…in June 2014. That’s so long ago MTAF: Cleveland doesn’t exist anymore and I ended up archiving the story at Medium.
While it’s been pretty clear nobody, including CSU, wants to be there, nobody in a leadership position has made a real push to move forward. Sure, there have been plenty of plans (like the one Rock Entertainment, Oak View and Geis sent to Cleveland State at the end of 2023), but it’s not going anywhere.
That news was confirmed this week, as interim CSU CFO Kelly Thompkins announced that the Wolstein Center will remain intact, at least for the immediate future.
To be fair, while the Wolstein Center is everyone’s favorite structural punching bag, Cleveland State has way bigger issues on the building front, announcing recently that they were forced to mothball Fenn Tower, which was converted to dorms, for the upcoming academic year.
CSU’s situation is something I have a lot more to say about in the near future, and none of it is probably going to be nice to anyone. But I’m still working on it, so this nugget will have to do for now.
Green Bay Greats Return Home
Since there are so many coach’s camps and, with the arrival of NIL, player’s camps being held during the off-season, we tend to not mention those in the same vein as we tend not to cover roster reveals. But like the Detroit Mercy roster announcement, one camp did catch our attention, because it involves three legends of Green Bay basketball.
Keifer Sykes, Carrington Love and Alfonzo McKinnie have teamed up with basketball influencer Tristan Jass to announce a two-day youth camp that will also feature drills from notable trainers Harry Boyce and Luke Meier.
Sykes spent last season in the NBA G League, playing for the Windy City Bulls and recently had joined the Detroit Pistons during the the NBA Summer League. Love’s pro career most recently landed in the British Basketball League with the Leicester Riders. And McKinnie, who spent five seasons in the NBA, wrapped up his 2023-24 overseas with the Kobe Storks in Japan.
