Feb. 10, 2010
Tradition-Challenged in the Windy City
by John Stansberry
This feature also appeared on
FoxSports.com
As college basketball programs go, Chicago State is
somewhat, well, "tradition challenged," for lack of
a better term.
The school has only had a men's program since the
1966-67 season, and it wasn't until 1984-85 that it
made the jump to Division I. The Cougars' record
since then has been an underwhelming 202-502.
Last season Chicago State didn't get a postseason
bid despite posting a 19-13 record. In fact, the
school has NEVER made a postseason appearance.
The closest CSU ever came was its last season as a
member of the Mid-Continent back in 2005-06. The
Cougars advanced all the way to the Mid-Con Tourney
final as a sixth seed before falling to top seeded
Oral Roberts by an 85-72 count.
Since then, life as an independent wasn't taking the
program anywhere it wanted to go, so that's why
joining the Great West Conference this season was so
important. In hoops, there's definitely strength in
numbers.
While an NCAA Tournament bid isn't available to the
league just yet, there's still a postseason brass
ring. The of this year's Great West tourney will get
an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com
Tournament.
For a school like CSU, such a bid would mark a new
era for the program. However, year one in the Great
West hasn't been a smooth ride for head coach Benjy
Taylor's team.
Coming into this campaign, the Cougars returned only
one starter (forward Carl Montgomery) off of a team
that set school records for points scored (2,869)
and total rebounds (1,289).
That inexperience was a big factor in the nine-game
losing streak that the Cougars endured from late
December into January. The last four of those losses
were the team's first four Great West games, all of
which happened to be on the road.
But CSU appears to have righted the ship in the last
week by getting into the positive columin in league
play with wins over Utah Valley and Texas-Pan
American.
Although the Cougars are currently in the conference
cellar, Taylor's team appears to have weathered the
storm and created some positive momentum.
Leading the resurgence has been Montgomery, who
posted two double-doubles last week en route to
being named Great West Player of the Week. He's
arguably playing the best basketball in the league
right now.
Also heating up in recent weeks has been combo
threat Kabangu Tshinga Kasamba. The 6-5 tweener has
posted four consecutive double digit scoring efforts
after averaging 3.2 points in the six games before
that.
Due to the quirkiness of the inaugurial Great West
schedule, CSU has two upcoming games against first
place South Dakota. That'll tell us a lot about this
team's prospects headed into the conference tourney.
But regardless of how things shake out this season,
this program now seems poised to break into the
postseason in the very near future.
A big reason for that is Taylor's ability to recruit
the talent-rich area right around the school. There
are 10 players on the current roster who hail from
Chicagoland, eight of whom cut their teeth as preps
in the tough Chicago Public League.
It seems that after 25 years in Division I, Chicago
State is finally ready to start building some
tradition. And it'll have a distinctly local flavor.
John Stansberry is in his thirteenth season as
a senior writer for collegeinsider.com. Check out
John's blog
LonelyTailgater.com.
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