Chris Kielsmeier had a quick reply to what should have been a tough question: who does he need to step into a much bigger role during the upcoming season?
Such a query has no shortage of possible options. The Cleveland State coach lost three star players (and six others) to the transfer portal in the spring, along with starter Sara Guerreiro and second-wave staple Grace Ellis to graduation. As a result, the Vikings have 11 newcomers this year, all of whom are expected to play various to-be-determined roles in maintaining CSU’s recent run of success.
Even the three returners aren’t an entirely known quantity. After all, the headliner of the group is point guard Colbi Maples, who is returning to action following an ACL tear. Maples’ ability to reclaim most, or all, of her 2023-24 form will go a long way towards determining what sort of season the Vikings have.
Nevertheless, Kielsmeier didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“We have two bigs in Laurel Rockwood and Izzi Zingaro that really fit the Cleveland State culture around the basket,” he said. “They’ve got tremendous size, they’re extremely physical, and they’re learning things about the game that they probably haven’t been able to do up to this point in time in their careers, because of how their systems have allowed them to play.”
Of the departures that battered CSU’s roster in the spring, it’s reasonable to argue that Jordana Reisma, now at Missouri, was the most impactful. The second team All-Horizon League selection was the consensus best center in the conference last year, including conversion on a national-best 67.7 percent of her field goals. Overall, Reisma averaged 14.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
Can a rotation of Rockwood and Zingaro replace her? There’s evidence to suggest that it’s not only possible, but likely.
After all, the program has constantly rostered an All-HL center during its rise to contention. Often, the players involved have been lightly regarded beforehand, including undersized Nadia Dumas and Radford transfer Amele Ngwafang. Even Reisma, though solidly-rated while at Brown Deer (WI) High School, was not recruited by Green Bay, a school notorious for inhaling just about any player it wants with a Wisconsin address.
There’s a method to it, according to Kielsmeier.
“We really feel like if the player wants to embrace the physicality that we want them to play with, then we can really coach them to a level that they’ve probably never been able to play at,” he said. “And then obviously they’ve got to have some skill.”
“I really believe that we can help fix and grow the finishing product of it. So for me, it’s less about your ability to score and finish and more about your size, your physicality, and your ability to learn, because we feel like we can teach all those other things.”
If there’s a weakness to the operation, it’s been depth. Ngwafang and Reisma were a fantastic tandem for the 2022-23 Horizon League championship team, but in the two seasons since then, Brooklynn Fort-Davis and Mya Moore didn’t earn a ton of minutes as the ostensible second options. Nor did Paulina Hernandez, the third-stringer who transferred to Youngstown State after two years of sparing usage.
Meanwhile, Reisma was on the floor for just about every meaningful moment during her junior season and blossomed into a bonafide star, a double-edged sword that also facilitated her exit.
The solution, to paraphrase Brad Pitt’s portrayal of Billy Beane in the 2011 film Moneyball, might be to re-create Reisma in the aggregate.
Zingaro and Rockwood combined for 10.5 points and 8.1 rebounds in 2024-25 at their previous stops, Montana and UC Santa Barbara, respectively. Neither has ever averaged more than 20 minutes per game, a number Reisma topped in every single contest by the end of her CSU run. But, in tandem, it’s not crazy to suggest that they could match, or even exceed, the Vikings’ recent production from the position.
Don’t just take Kielsmeier’s word for it, watch his actions. He recruited Zingaro at every available opportunity, going back to the beginning of the 6-4 Canadian’s career at Iowa State. Rockwood said that he was the first coach to reach out when she became available in the portal this spring, and the graduate student liked what he said enough to show up in Ohio, after spending most of her life in Las Vegas and Southern California.
“The winning program, the culture here, the coaches, all of it was amazing when I came on my visit,” she said. “I love Cleveland. I wanted a little switch up in location, weather for sure. But yeah, [it was] definitely the coaching staff and the winning program and the culture they had here. I really want to go postseason.”
If Rockwood is to reach her goal of playing basketball deep into March, the complementary nature of the post rotation’s abilities will probably be a massive part of it.
As billed, Zingaro is a great finisher around the rim, including a 57.6 field goal percentage last year, 58th-best nationally. Rockwood’s 11.8 rebounds per 40 minutes (4.8 of those on the offensive end) also placed her among elite company.
“I’m going to run. I love to run,” Rockwood elaborated. “I’m going to be up and down the floor. I want to play fast. Izzi’s going to beat people up. I’m also going to beat people up, don’t get me wrong. But yeah, I’m going to rebound. I don’t want to speak for Izzi, but she’s going to finish everything. They can try and double her. She’s going to finish.”
Throw in Kielsmeier’s ability to recruit for system fit, not to mention what’s quickly become a healthy position battle between the duo, and the potential certainly exists for Cleveland State’s twin towers to close their respective careers with their best seasons.
“We’re probably the toughest competitors in practice,” Rockwood said of her clashes with Zingaro. “It’s like we’re playing a game every day against each other, but we’re just pushing each other to be better.”
“Everybody knows that we’re going to get the ball in the paint, and we’re going to go inside,” Kielsmeier added. “Those are two players who have really established themselves as back-to-the-basket players that I think can have really good years for us.”
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