Setting the Scene
Cleveland State returns home for consecutive games, starting with Green Bay on Thursday, January 15, at 7 p.m. The Vikings are coming off a tough road stretch, dropping all three games to start 2026, with the most recent to Detroit on Sunday, 94-84.
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Welcome Back Home
The Vikings play their first home game of the 2026 calendar year after opening the new year on the road with three straight games. In their last home game on December 29, Coach Summers recorded his first league win against IU Indy, 99-86.
Last Game Out
Cleveland State fell to Detroit Mercy on the road Sunday, 94-84, despite
Jaidon Lipscomb scoring a career-high and game-high 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Of his ten made field goals, nine were from behind the arc.
Chevalier Emery added 19 points and a team-best six assists, while
Dayan Nessah rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points. Nessah also picked up his second double-double of the year with a game-high ten rebounds.
A Win on Thursday Would...
Give the Vikings their first win in 2026…Be the second straight home victory…Extend the winning streak against the Phoenix to three straight.
ABOUT GREEN BAY
The Phoenix are on a four-game winning streak and are currently in second place in the Horizon League standings. Green Bay is 10-8 overall and 5-2 in the league but has struggled on the road with a 2-6 mark. This past week was a busy one for the Phoenix with three games inside the Kress Center. Last game out, GB edged Northern Kentucky, 80-78, knocking down ten three-pointers in the game.
Green Bay Leaders
The Phoenix have four players averaging double-digit points, led by Marcus Hall with 13.3 points per game. CJ O'Hara is the top rebounder with 85, including 21 offensive boards, and Preston Ruedinger has dished out 89 assists. On the defensive end, CJ O'Hara has a team-best 17 steals, and Ramel Bethea has 15 blocked shots.
Leading the Way for the Vikings
Cleveland State has four double-digit scorers, led by
Dayan Nessah with 13.8 points per game on 54.4 shooting.
Tre Beard is close behind with 13.1 points, followed by
Chevalier Emery at 12.6 points and
Jaidon Lipscomb with 10.8 points per game. Nessah has pulled down 103 total boards to top the squad, while
Preist Ryan has grabbed 39 offensive boards. Lipscomb is top in assists with 52. On the defensive side, Lipscomb has 18 steals, and
Holden Pierre-Louis has 20 blocks.
Beard is Big From Distance
Tre Beard is 24th in the nation and third in the Horizon League in three-point shooting percentage at 43.8. The senior averages 2.80 made three-pointers, ranking second in the league. In addition, he is 17th in the league in scoring at 13.13 points per game and 12th in assists per game at 3.13.
From Distance for the Vikes
The Vikings rank second in the Horizon League in three-point field goal percentage at 36.8 percent, just behind Wright State, which is shooting 36.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Nessah In the League
Dayan Nessah's 13.82 points per game rank him 14th in the league. The sophomore has reached double digits in 13 contests and has reached the 20-point plateau in four games. He is also tied for sixth in the league with 6.06 rebounds per game and has reached double digits twice.
Rob Summers Begins First Season as Head Coach
This season marks the first for Rob Summers as the Cleveland State head coach after being named the 18th head coach in program history in April. Summers is a familiar face to the Vikings, 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 championship. The teams made postseason appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and the NIT in 2022. Following his three-year stint with the Green and White, Summers spent two seasons as an assistant at Miami (OH) before reuniting with coach Gates as an assistant at Missouri this past season. Summers is a Columbus, Ohio, native and played at Penn State and West Virginia, helping the Mountaineers advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2006.
Get to the Know the 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. Â
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.Â
Roster Breakdown
Cleveland State's roster features 14 transfer student-athletes and one incoming freshman. Among the transfers, 11 are upperclassmen. The roster includes five seniors and six juniors, along with three sophomores and one freshman. Among the transfers, seven 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.
