While introducing Bob Dunn as Cleveland State’s new women’s basketball coach on Wednesday, athletic director Kelsie Gory Harkey used the word “relationships” four times during her remarks, which lasted roughly eight minutes.
She only mentioned “winning” once, and “championship” twice.
That’s not to say that Dunn was hired solely because he’s a nice guy, or that he won’t be expected to win. His association with the Chris Kielsmeier era – the most successful eight-season stretch in program history – was integral to his candidacy. Dunn was an assistant coach for three of those years, including CSU’s 2023 Horizon League Tournament title. Without those lines on his resume, it’s far from certain that Dunn would have made it on to the list of “over 15” people that Gory Harkey spoke with, let alone been the last one standing.
At the same time, CSU interviewed a lot of winners. One reported candidate was Syracuse assistant head coach Khyreed Carter, who helped Felisha Legette-Jack build ascendant programs at both Buffalo and Syracuse. Another was Kate Peterson Abiad, Cleveland State’s all-time victories leader and the author of the Vikings’ first two NCAA Tournament appearances, who ultimately became Purdue Fort Wayne’s new coach. Lynn Bria, who led Stetson to four ASUN titles over her 18 years with the Hatters, was also in the mix.
“The interested candidate pool was very deep,” Gory Harkey said. “I was very pleased. We had several successful head coaches that I was able to speak with, as well as high major assistant coaches across the country. It was clear to me from the onset that women’s basketball here at Cleveland State is regarded as a nationally-respected program.”
Throughout the hiring process, however, it was Dunn’s commitment to student-athlete development and relationship building that set him apart.
“He spoke eloquently about that, sincerely about that, and he spoke about it in a way that impressed me, and I think it will impress all of you,” university president Laura Bloomberg said during her opening address. “He wants to win, but I believe he wants to win on the court and off the court.”
Those weren’t just platitudes. Dunn went into his interview ready to show off the practical side of his relationship-oriented approach, and how it could immediately help next year’s team.
“He took the extra time to go into the portal and to show me, ‘here’s ten people that I’ve had experiences with that I think would be a good fit for Cleveland State, that I’d be ready to go out and recruit day one when I get here,’” Gory Harkey remembered.
“Just hearing the way that he plans, and his vision for pouring into those student-athletes really stood out to me.”
As if to underscore the point, his press conference was attended by just about every available 2025-26 Vikings player, including several presently in the transfer portal. Though Dunn only directly coached three members of this past season’s squad, he played a role in recruiting most others before departing for a brief stop at Penn State, and that was enough to create a lasting connection.
“Our mission is to provide a transformational student-athlete experience,” Gory Harkey said. “And that is what I look for when I speak to every single person who is looking to come to Cleveland State and have a job, is are they bought into that? How do they build those relationships with those student-athletes, or impact the student-athlete experience in whatever role they have?”
Even those with no particular stake in the immediate future of the new regime, like alumnae Nadia Dumas and Amele Ngwafang, and soon-to-be alumna Colbi Maples, showed up to support a coach who played a prominent role in their careers.
Dunn addressed that latter group individually, and didn’t mention any of the extra gym work he logged with each of them – though he certainly could have.
“Nadia, that nursing degree wasn’t easy, was it? No. Colbi, engineering wasn’t easy, was it? No,” he asked and answered rhetorically. “Nurses, engineers, professional basketball players, future lawyers, [like] Mele. The sky’s the limit here at Cleveland State, and I’m really proud of all y’all.”
Others demonstrated their support from afar. Among the first to offer congratulatory comments on the team’s Instagram post announcing Dunn’s hiring were a trio of players who left the program before their eligibility expired: Destiny Leo, Jannah Eissa, and Isabella Geraci.
Geraci, who played basketball at CSU between 2018 and 2022, but has since risen to larger stardom as a member of the U.S. National Flag Football Team, has rarely made a secret of her feelings about her time as a Viking.
“Basketball was one of those things she was just naturally great at,” her mother, Tammy Geraci, told Yahoo! Sports last year. “But when she went to college, it was a totally different game. She just felt like she was getting kicked down. You could see her little flame was getting smaller and smaller.”
Yet there she was – alongside her mom – lining up to offer a few kind words on social media. Clearly, Dunn was a bright spot during an otherwise dim experience.
Whether they stayed or left, won or lost, were voted all-conference or rode the bench, just about every player who has overlapped with Dunn during his several coaching stops counts themselves in his corner. It’s a rare glimpse of sincere loyalty in what’s become regarded as a cynical and transactional sport, and one CSU is trusting for a payoff, both on and off the court.
“Great places attract great people,” Gory Harkey said. “I think we’ve just been really fortunate in both of our basketball programs to have had great people who have come here, shown who they are, and their basketball skill, but then gone off and been able to grow in different ways, and then want to come back because they know that Cleveland State is a place where they can personally excel, where they can grow and challenge themselves and make their mark on a program.”
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