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KSU basketball team loses Manny Cass

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By David Carducci
June 30, 2009

 

Kent State hoped to have a bonus addition to its men’s basketball roster during the 2009-10 season when Manny Cass decided to walk on with the Golden Flashes.

The 6-foot-7 UTEP transfer enrolled in school in December and spent the winter practicing with KSU. He appeared to be destined for a spot in the rotation at power forward the following year

Cass had the range that KSU coaches love at the four spot, and his long arms and quickness made him a candidate as a defensive stopper guarding forwards, centers and even some guards.

Unfortunately for the Flashes, Cass has decided to transfer again.

Cass has decided to play junior-college basketball this season because of family and financial reasons, and according to sources close to the KSU men’s basketball program, there are no hard feelings.

Because Cass would not become eligible until after the start of the 2009-10 season, Kent State could not put him on scholarship.

To play for the Flashes, he would have been forced to pay his own tuition. That may have been too demanding for a young father trying to provide for a new family. At a junior college, Cass can receive a scholarship immediately.

KSU head coach Geno Ford said he could not comment on Cass, but he does not appear to be too worried about the power forward position.

“Obviously we are excited to have Anthony Simpson back with a year in the system under his belt,” said Ford. “In his first year as a junior-college transfer, Anthony showed some signs and had some really good games. We are hoping he will find a level of consistency in his performance to where he can be good every night as a senior.”

Ford also expects more from sophomore Alex Grimsley and junior-college transfer Frank Henry-Ala in their second seasons.

“Grimsley will have another year under his belt, so he should be improved ... and Frank gave us some good minutes late last season,” said Ford. “He really played well the last three or four games of the year. If those returning guys have gotten better, that is going to be the big key for us.

“And then we also add (junior-college transfer) Greg Avila, who will add strength and athleticism to that position. He can be a real blue-collar four-man in the league.”

•••

HOOPS SCHEDULE — It probably won’t be officially released until next week, but the Golden Flashes have locked in their non-conference men’s basketball schedule for the 2009-10 campaign.

Here’s an advance look:

HOME — Nov. 13 vs. Samford, Nov. 14 vs. UAB, Nov. 15 vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay, Dec. 8 vs. Rochester College, Dec. 20 vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Jan. 4 vs. Norfolk State, Feb. 20 a TBA BracketBuster opponent.

AWAY — Nov. 18 at Youngstown State, Nov. 29 at Morehead State, Dec. 4 at Xavier, Dec. 12 at Pittsburgh, Dec. 22 at Robert Morris, Dec. 29 vs. Wofford at Santa Clara’s Cable Car Classic, Dec. 30 vs. Santa Clara or Northeastern at the Cable Car Classic.

•••

KSU TOPS MAC IN LEARFIELD CUP — Kent State finished with the top spot among Mid-American Conference programs in the final standings for the Division I Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup.

The cup, formerly called the Sears Cup, is presented annually to by the National Associated of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the best overall college athletic program in the country.

Stanford finished No. 1 for the 15th consecutive year.

Kent State 83rd among the nation’s 271 Division I schools. The University of Akron was the only other MAC school to crack the top 100, finishing 97th. Miami University was 107th. Eastern Michigan was the lowest ranked MAC school at No. 265.

Mount Union finished 35th out of the nation’s 310 Division III schools. Hiram College was No. 286 in the Division III standings.

•••

David Carducci can be reached at dcarducci@recordpub.com

 




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 6 Total Comments
6.
    Posted by starttyrant July 1, 2009
Sorry Alex G. i'm not picking on you, but I am. I do hope that your game grows and you prove me wrong.

5.
    Posted by starttyrant July 1, 2009
JUCO players are now pretty standard fare for mid major programs. Kent can't get top talent out of high school, no MAC team can on any sort of regular basis. So they are left doing reclamation projects.
I too would prefer the leadership and stability of a 4 year guy in the program. However, on game day i'll take Manny Cass over Alex Grimsley every time. It looks like we may have another non D1 game this year in Rochester College. Why? It's embarrassing. UAB is a great home game for us and a quality opponent.

4.
    Posted by JoseAEA June 30, 2009
I recant that. I only read through the home games. Xavier, Pitt, and Northeastern look like good away opponents. Especially since 2 of them are close to home. No CSU is disappointing and I get tired of seeng YSU on our schedule yearly. Of course, the Horizon is looking more competitive every year.

3.
    Posted by JoseAEA June 30, 2009
We go from a schedule that is too rigerous, to a schedule that looks too soft. I don't like it. I havn't liked much over the past year and a half. I suppose no one can be on top forever.

2.
    Posted by JimRoberts June 30, 2009
This program is becoming a JUCO haven. Why can't they get high school kids to stay 4 years and grow?

1.
    Posted by starttyrant June 30, 2009
The loss of Manny Cass is going to be a problem. Grimsley and Ala are liabilities when they are on the floor. Neither is ever going to be a reliable performer at KSU. Manny Cass would have been the second best player on the team and had been in practice since January. Losing an athlete with his kind of size, range and leaping ability puts the team a step back from elite mid major status. Hopefully, they can offer him a scholarship for next season and he can come in as a JUCO junior. Maybe Gino should have given Grimsley a year in JUCO and Cass his scholarship? Breaking a commitment like that would hurt future recruiting I suppose. However, Antonio Dimaria and that Brazilian kid both 'disappeared' after one season....

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