All-Time vs. Kent State: 23-34

Last Meeting: 11/23/24 68-52 L

Tickets: greenbriertipoff.com

Radio: Sports Radio 99.1 FM

Play-By-Play: Al Pawlowski

TV: Pass The Ball Live

Play-By-Play: TBA

SETTING THE SCENE

The Cleveland State Men's Basketball team is headed to West Virginia to compete in the 2025 Skechers Greenbrier Tip-Off. The Vikings will play two games at the historic Greenbrier Resort located in White Sulphur Springs. Cleveland State will take on Kent State on Saturday and Radford on Sunday in the River Division of the tournament. The Golden Flashes are 2-1 on the season and are playing their first game away from home. Kent State fell to Troy in its season opener but rebounded with wins over Cornell and UNC Wilmington. 

THE CLEVELAND STATE/KENT STATE SERIES

The series between Cleveland State and Kent State dates back to 1933. Saturday's game is the 58th all-time meeting between the two schools and the first on a neutral court since the 2016-17 season. The Golden Flashes hold a 34-23 lead in the all-time series and have won the last eight meetings. The last Cleveland State victory came in 2013-14, a 78-70 win at Kent State. This is the fourth consecutive year that the two teams have squared off, with Kent State winning the most recent meeting last season, a 68-52 decision at the Wolstein Center. 

CLEVELAND STATE CLAIMS FIRST VICTORY OVER CAPITAL

Cleveland State opened the home slate at the Wolstein Center with a victory over Capital University on Thursday night. The Vikings prevailed 71-70 and the win marked the first for head coach Rob Summers in his Cleveland State career. Cleveland State shot 44 percent from the field and 39 percent from three-point range in the win. The Vikings had three in double figures with Tre Beard leading the way with 13 points. Dayan Nessah added 11 and Chevalier Emery finished with 10. Cleveland State led for over 32 total minutes in the game and held on after a last-second Capital three-point attempt missed. 

VIKINGS FALL IN NAIL BITER AT LOYOLA

Cleveland State went on the road to start the 2025-26 season and gave host Loyola all it could handle in taking the Ramblers to the final buzzer in a thrilling season opener in Chicago. Loyola prevailed 91-88 thanks to a last second three-point shot on the game's final possession. The game went back and forth with 20 lead changes and nine ties as both teams had chances in the final minute to emerge with the victory. Dayan Nessah led the way for the Vikings with 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead all scorers and notch his first collegiate double-double. Josiah Harris finished with 20 points, Tre Beard chipped in 13 and Kamari Jones made it four in double figures as he finished with 12 points. 
 

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN FLASHES

Kent State is 2-1 on the season with all three games coming at home. The Flashes have won two in a row coming into this weekend's action. Kent State has five players averaging in double figures this season led by Morgan Safford who is averaging 21 points and five rebounds per contest. The Golden Flashes are led by Rob Senderoff who is in his 15th season as head coach. Senderoff has over 250 career victories at Kent State. 
 

ROB SUMMERS BEGINS FIRST SEASON AS HEAD COACH

This season marks the first for Rob Summers as Cleveland State head coach. Summers was named the 18th head coach in program history in April. Summers is a familiar face to Cleveland State after serving as an assistant coach under Dennis Gates from 2019-22. During that time the Vikings won two Horizon League regular season titles and one tournament title, making postseason appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and the NIT in 2022. Following his three-year stint in Cleveland Summers spent two seasons as an assistant at Miami(OH) and then reunited with Gates as an assistant at Missouri this past season. Summers is a Columbus, Ohio native and played collegiately at Penn State and West Virginia, helping the Mountaineers advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2006. 

SUMMERS ADDS FIVE TO COACHING STAFF

Rob Summers has added an experienced group of five assistant coaches to his first Cleveland State staff. Associate head coach Frank Young comes to Cleveland after six seasons at Appalachian State. Young and Summers were teammates at West Virginia for their final two collegiate seasons. Veteran assistant Louis Rowe brings almost two decades of coaching experience and most recently was an assistant at Oregon. Rowe and Summers coached together at James Madison where Rowe was the head coach for four seasons. Assistant coach Michael Hunter comes to Cleveland after two successful seasons of head coaching experience at Shawnee State University. Hunter coached under Summers at Urbana University. Assistant coach Casey Perrin brings almost a decade of experience at three Division I programs. Perrin most recently was an assistant at Louisiana for the past three seasons. Dalon King returns to his alma mater as an assistant coach. King was on staff with Summers for all three seasons of his first stint at Cleveland State and went on to Missouri where the two worked together again last season.  

FRESH FACES

Cleveland State features a brand new roster this season. The Vikings added 15 new players this offseason who will be suiting up in the green and white for the first time. Cleveland State is one of six teams in Division I with all new players. The Vikings are one of ten teams in the country with zero returning points and one of eight teams with zero returning scholarship players. 

ROSTER BREAKDOWN

Cleveland State's roster features 14 transfer student-athletes and one incoming freshman. Among the transfers, 11 of them are upperclassmen. The roster includes five seniors and six juniors, along with three sophomores and one freshman. Among the transfers, seven of them have Division I playing experience. 
 

LOCAL FLAVOR

Among the Cleveland State newcomers are some familiar names who have had success in the high school and college ranks in the Northeast Ohio region. Junior Josiah Harris comes from Akron where he played in six games last season before suffering a season-ending injury. Harris played his high school basketball at Richmond Heights, located on Cleveland's east side. Harris was a Northeast Lakes Division All-District IV first team selection. Manny Hill is another local product who is a familiar face as he follows in his older brother's footsteps. Yahel Hill played four years for the Vikings and graduated in 2023. Manny has made stops at Notre Dame College, Cuyahoga Community College and most recently Heidelberg University. Hill will play his final season of college basketball at Cleveland State. 
 

SAME COLORS, NEW TEAM

Foster Wonders is another familiar name to Horizon League fans as he comes to Cleveland after two seasons at Green Bay. Wonders began his career at Southen Illinois before transferring to Green Bay for his sophomore and junior seasons. At Green Bay he played in 57 career games and averaged just under seven points per game. The Iron Mountain, Michigan native was one of the top scorers in Michigan Upper Peninsula basketball history finishing with over 2,200 points in his high school career. 

CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AWAITS

Rob Summers has assembled a difficult non-conference slate in his first season in charge of the CSU program. The Vikings will match up with Loyola and Northwestern in the season's first week. Later in November, Summers will reunite with his mentor, former Cleveland State head coach Dennis Gates, as the two will square off when the Vikings visit Missouri. A trip to the historic Greenbrier Resort as well as a matchup with UAB are also on the schedule. Cleveland State will take on five teams that won 20 or more games last season and four who made postseason appearances in either the NCAA Tournament or NIT.  

 

CLEVELAND STATE TABBED EIGHTH IN HORIZON LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL

The Horizon League released its preaseason poll which is voted on annually by coaches, media members and Sports Information Directors from each of the league's 11 institutions. Cleveland State was picked eighth in the rankings. Cleveland State received 217 total points, just shy of Wright State who is seventh with 221. Milwaukee has been picked as the preseason favorite finishing with 24 first place votes.

UP NEXT

Cleveland State continues its trip at the Greenbrier Tip-Off with a matchup against Radford on Sunday afternoon. The game tips off at 2:30 p.m.