Cleveland State men's basketball drew fewer fans in an entire year than the Cavs draw for one home game, which is sad, because despite CSU's recent struggles, it's a helluva fun and cheap outing. (To say nothing of the dynamite hoopy hour deals.) Anyway.
The Viking men's squad drew 18,195 fans in 2017, a 36.5% decrease from the 28,669 fans it drew in 2016, which itself was a 30% drop from the 2015 attendance total. 2017's numbers are the lowest for the program since 1983. They'd been in continuous decline since the late 1990s, with the exception of a 60,000 mark with 20 home games in 2011, but Gary Waters' final season at the helm of the team was undoubtedly a low point, and not just at the box office.
CSU went 9-22 in 2016-2017 on the heels of an almost identically dismal 9-23 campaign the year prior. This year's squad is actually faring worse. The Vikes stand at 8-22 and finish the regular season this Saturday at Youngstown State.
The program had recently dealt with transfers that saw three promising players, all part of the 20-win 2013 team, depart for bigger programs — Bryn Forbes to Michigan State, Trey Lewis to Louisville, and Anton Grad to Wichita State.
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