Cleveland State point guard Colbi Maples was nearly unstoppable on either end of the court last season, as she ranked among the Horizon League’s top ten in scoring (16.6), assists (4.1) and steals (1.8).
That thorough, well-rounded dominance culminated with conference player of the year honors for the Arkansas native.
“Going on through practice, me and my coaches were like okay, this is something you can kind of strive for,” Maples said of winning the HL’s signature individual award. “When I took it seriously, I was like okay, this is something I really can accomplish. I knew it was going to be hard, especially with the talent that we have on the team, and then the talent in the conference. It’s just a blessing to be able to have this.”
Her unlikely running mate – quite literally, given the Vikings’ preferred tempo – was Mickayla Perdue. Perdue, a transfer from Division II Glenville State, sniped her way to the first all-conference team right alongside Maples. Her 83 made three-pointers ranked among the top 25 players nationally, but just as significantly, Perdue’s nearly-superhuman chemistry with Maples allowed several seemingly effortless transition buckets each game, where one player would create a high turnover or receive a pass after a rebound, then fire ahead to the other half of the duo for a finish.
Maples and Perdue. Or Perdue and Maples. Whichever direction the dynamo ran was irrelevant to it powering the first conference regular season title in program history.
Both are back for one more year, and they will attempt to lead CSU to even greater heights after tournament losses to Green Bay and Toledo clouded an otherwise-stellar 2023-24.
“Of course, [there’s] some unfinished business,” Maples said. “We came with a goal and unfortunately we didn’t get it [last] year, but we’re coming back strong with that on our chest, looking for a different outcome.”
Awkwardly though, the Maples-Perdue tandem only truly materialized after a season-ending knee injury to Cleveland State’s established superstar, Destiny Leo, last November. Maples always figured to be a significant part of the Vikings’ plans, given that the Grambling transfer started the first six games of the season alongside Leo, but Perdue essentially stepping into a vacated spot in the lineup and becoming one of the HL’s top players in her own right after light usage early in the season was less expected.
“I know I needed to, in a way, fill the void that was going to be left there, but I knew I wasn’t going to have to do it on my own,” Maples said. “I knew we had a team that was going to be able to step up and do what they needed to do as well to fill it.”
“We had to learn a lot about ourselves, sometimes hourly,” CSU head coach Chris Kielsmeier added. “You shape your identity and kind of set things one way, and overnight they change. But that just really shows a testament of our culture, and what our players come to Cleveland State women’s basketball and expect to do. We can overcome anything and everything.”
That they did; by any objective measure, the Vikings were just as good after the injury as they were at full availability. And, from all indications (backwards half-courters on social media among them), Leo is pretty much back to her old self.
“She’s had to go through a lot mentally and physically,” Kielsmeier said. “The challenge of an injury like that is that it’s just as hard on you, if not harder, emotionally and mentally than it is physically. But she’s doing really well, and she’s progressing.”
With the last two conference players of the year on their roster, including Leo, who won the award two years ago, and several other award winners surrounding them, the Vikings are a team with very few question marks as the 2024-25 preseason gets underway.
There is, however, one large exception, given that their now-three star guards that have typically played in just two different positions on the floor: How is this all going to work? How are CSU’s backcourt minutes going to be split?
Perdue and Maples seem unbothered by the issue.
“It hasn’t been a problem,” the pair shrugged and said in unison, demonstrating that their chemistry doesn’t end at the black lines.
“She fits right in, we fit right in with her,” Perdue elaborated. “When you have a group of girls that don’t care about individual [accomplishments] and care more about the team, all of this stuff doesn’t even really matter.”
Nobody outside of the Vikings’ locker room or the Wolstein Center practice gym is likely to see how Kielsmeier deploys Leo, Maples and Perdue prior to CSU’s exhibition game against Edinboro on November 1st or, given that the exhibition game likely won’t be broadcast, the regular season opener at Ohio State four days later. History, however, does offer one suggestion.
During Leo’s freshman season, 2020-21, the former Ohio Ms. Basketball finalist was second on the team in minutes, but nevertheless, primarily came off the bench for the Vikings’ WBI championship squad. CSU’s backcourt, at the time, was well staffed with leading scorer and Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year Mariah White off the ball, while point guard duties were often handled by Taylah Levy, now a successful professional player in her native Australia.
That meant finding creative ways to make room for Leo in the lineup, including on the wing. A similar arrangement might not be ideal for a player whose primary strengths include driving the middle of the floor and getting to the free throw line (where she’s perpetually among the nation’s best), but it does offer a measure of protection for someone returning from a major injury while leaving Maples and Perdue relatively unaffected. If nothing else, Leo certainly has the size, versatility, and basketball smarts to be successful in just about any position.
Could a plan to get all three players in the game simultaneously be in the works? For now, mum’s the word.
“Time will tell. Time will tell,” Perdue coyly offered in response to the suggestion.
“I think maybe, if you didn’t know them as people, you might be a little bit concerned about it from the outside, but those are three ballers that just want to win, that just want to improve,” Kielsmeier said. “That’s how they approach each and every day. They’re so close with each other, they understand what it takes to win, and they will always put the program above themselves, and it’s nothing I have to worry about.”