A brief interview with CSU Assistant Coach Larry DeSimpelare

Cleveland State Assistant Coach Larry DeSimpelare was kind of enough to take a few minutes of his time to answer a couple of my questions regarding his CSU Vikings as well as our Valparaiso Crusaders.  Coach DeSimpelare has been coaching at the collegiate level for 20 years and has been working with current CSU head coach Gary Waters for the past 14 years.  According to DeSimpelare's bio he works hard with the guards, defense, is responsible for helping with game preparation, and is the primary person in charge of scouting and recruiting.  Again, a big thank you to Coach DeSimpelare for taking a few minutes to briefly answer my questions!

Aaron Pogue

The first thing DeSimpelare mentioned, before answering any of the questions, was about the great respect he has for Coach Drew, his staff, and the Crusader team.  The first question I asked had to do with CSU losing the Horizon League Player of the Year in Norris Cole to graduation and which returning players would be expected to fill the void.  DeSimpelare mentioned three guys: Aaron Pogue, D'Aundray Brown, and Trey Harmon.  All three of these guys are upperclassmen.  Brown and Harmon are both guards and Pogue is a forward.  Brown, who is listed as a senior, must have taken a medical redshirt last season.  Harmon and Pogue both played significant roles for the Vikings last season averaging a combined 21ppg and 10rpg. 

The next few questions didn't reveal a whole lot.  Those questions dealt with where he focuses his recruiting efforts and whether he thought CSU would be competing for the top spots in the HL next season.  I also asked him if CSU has any incoming freshmen the rest of the league should be worried about and got a pretty funny response:  "Hopefully.  Freshman only look good on paper." 

"Great offensive team"

Finally we got to the couple questions about our Crusaders.  As we all know, Valpo lost quite a bit of fire power in the graduations of Cory Johnson, Howard Little, and Michael Rogers.  These graduations plus the possibility of losing Brandon Wood to the NBA or transfer have me, and other Crusader fans, a bit nervous about the upcoming season.  Coach had some encouraging words, "Valpo is always a good team and one of the best offensive teams in the league.  They have a lot of really good players coming back...they will be fine."  Finally, as a key member of an opposing coaching staff who's job it is to help get his guys prepared for the games, I asked what they focus on when preparing to take on a Homer Drew coached Crusader team.  DeSimpelare's response, "Guys that can shoot the ball.  Great offensive team."

Hopefully, we'll have a few more of these brief interviews with the opponents throughout the Summer.  Thanks again Coach DeSimpelare and good luck to you and the CSU Vikings whenever you aren't playing our Crusaders!