The Bluejays opened the season Friday night against North Carolina A&T as a part of the Dale Howard Classic multi-team event. On Sunday, the Bluejays return to the court for the second game in the series against Chicago State.
The Cougars are part of the Great West Conference that is full of schools that were either independent at one time or have just transitioned to Division I basketball. Other than that, what else do you know about Chicago State? If you are like me, then probably not too much.
To get a little more information we enlisted Chris Burrows who now heads up HorizonLeagueHoops.com that focuses on the Horizon League. Before that, however, he was a writer for Chicago College Basketball that covered the D-I teams that play in Chicago. He knows a lot about the Cougars.
White & Blue Review: Can you give us a little background on Chicago State and their basketball history?
Chris Burrows: Beginning with their first season of Division-I basketball in 1984-1985, the Cougars went through nine head coaches before shedding their independence and joining the Great West Conference for the 2008-2009 season under then-head coach Benjy Taylor. That was also CSU’s last winning season — they went 19-13 that year, and none of that team’s roster remains.
Former University of Illinois-Chicago heir-apparent and JUCO recruiting magic-maker Tracy Dildy left the UIC program to take over Taylor’s CSU team before last season, and led the Cougars to a 6-26 record as first-year head coach.
WBR: The Cougars appear to have found a home in the Great West Conference. What are CSU’s long term goals for their future in Division I basketball?
CB: When the GWC added basketball in 2008 they attracted a collection of misfit toys from all over the country a la Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. But it looks like a good home for improving low-major teams like CSU that are increasingly competitive. The Cougars went 3-9 in conference play and finished the season fifth among the seven teams of the GWC last season.
New conferences have shown that it can take a few seasons for teams and coaches to learn the ins and outs of their conference opponents, and I think CSU is content to stay on that road. Unfortunately for the Cougars, a third straight year of too-low APR scores meant they became one of five D-I teams banned from postseason play. If the trend continues, harsher restrictions could be in CSU’s future.
WBR: What is the Chicago State fanbase like? With schools in the general vicinity such as DePaul, Northwestern and even Loyola, what challenges does the school face regarding building up the fans?
CB: Despite the tight-knit community at Chicago State, home games at the 7,000-seat Emil & Jones Convocation Center aren’t well attended. In fact, CSU finished fourth in basketball home game attendance last season among the four Chicago D-I schools with 1,179 seats filled per game on average.
But Dildy, like a lot of college coaches, is hopeful that the NBA lockout could bring the fans out. He told Scott Powers of ESPN, “You got some fans out there who just need to be in an arena this time of year, so they’re going to find some college arenas. While it’s not good for the NBA, it’s good for college basketball at this time.”
Regardless, I doubt there are many, if any, CSU fans in Omaha.
WBR: Chicago State won their two exhibition games, which were played at home, but start their season with 12 of their first 15 games on the road. What kind of toll does that traveling take on the team? Is it all for guarantee money?
CB: Chicago State has a history of taking on insanely challenging schedules — last season they played teams like Notre Dame, Brigham Young, Iowa State, DePaul and Saint Mary’s. Little doubt they’re exchanging a lot of guarantee money in return for some really demoralizing losses (nine 40+ point losses last season).
WBR: What kind of players do the Cougars have on their roster this season? Will the new transfers make a big impact?
CB: Dildy built his recruiting career at UIC on bringing in quality JUCO transfers, and it’s more of the same at CSU. Unfortunately that also means a lot of turnover when a lot of players have one year or less of eligibility.
The Cougars lose all five of last year’s starters, 90.6 percent of last season’s scoring and 91.6 percent of last season’s rebounds. CSU is starting fresh with eight newcomers including two graduate students and four JUCO transfers. Those latter six are all contending for starting spots in the revamped lineup.
WBR: Whom from the Cougars will Creighton fans want to take special note of on Sunday afternoon?
CB: Lee Fisher, one of Dildy’s two new graduate players, is a 6-5 forward who played four seasons at D-I Northern Illinois as part-time starter and sixth man. He posted a double-double (19 pts, 16 rebs) in CSU’s exhibition win over D-II St. Ambrose.
D’Jari Nelson is the other graduate student — he played four years at D-II Miles College, and competed in the Men’s High Jump there. The 6-7 forward will provide the starting post-presence for the Cougars. He had five blocks to go with five points and four boards against St. Ambrose.
The biggest threat in the backcourt is scrappy senior point guard Ardarius Simmons (one of three returning players). Simmons struggled with turnovers off the bench last season, but he’s the go-to guy running things this year. Simmons had nine points, four assists and a steal against St. Ambrose.
WBR: If there is a weakness the Bluejays could exploit, what would that be?
CB: No one has yet proven whether Chicago State even played defense last season, since the Cougars allowed an obnoxious 1.2 points per possession (345th) last year. Nelson is part of Dildy’s solution, but the backcourt and perimeter defense has not been shored up in the same way.
WBR: What is your final prediction? What would it take for Chicago State to walk out of CenturyLink with a win?
CB: It would take a lot for the Cougars to surprise Creighton on Sunday. Ken Pomeroy puts their chances at an optimistic 1 percent.
The pieces just aren’t there yet. CSU will win some battles in the post, but Creighton will win everywhere else. Creighton wins by 30 points.
