Cavs’ Anderson Varejao done for the year with torn Achilles
December 24, 2014Whole Lotto Love — WFNY’s Top 10 Cleveland Sports Stories of 2014: No. 3
December 24, 2014Editor’s note: The Cleveland Cavaliers visit the Miami Heat on Christmas Day, a game that will be rife with plenty of storylines. One which will go under discussed, however, is Heat point guard Norris Cole, a Cleveland State University alumnus, playing against his former teammate—and supporter—LeBron James. WFNY sits down with Cole, along with a few key Clevelanders in advance of the nationally televised match-up.
Norris Cole currently plays point guard for the NBA’s Miami Heat. Read that sentence again. For thousands of kids shooting hoops on the playgrounds and in the gyms across America and the world today, that sentence is a dream come true. In the eyes of every kid who believes the NBA is their destiny, Norris Cole may as well be hopscotching across the clouds. He made it.
But long before he was dropping dimes to Dwyane Wade or spotting up in the corner waiting for LeBron James to find him with a cross court laser, Norris Cole was an under-recruited – no make that unrecruited – and undersized point guard running the courts of Dayton Dunbar High School. It wasn’t until Gary Waters, the head coach for the Cleveland State University Vikings, took a chance and brought Norris to CSU that his destiny began to take shape.
I had a conversation with Norris, Coach Waters and CSU’s President Ronald Berkman — a huge basketball fan who can be found in the stands of every Viking home game — to talk about Norris’ road from Dayton to Cleveland to the first round of the NBA draft and eventually, almost unbelievable, playing alongside the world’s greatest player in the NBA Finals.
You grew up in Dayton. Before you arrived at Cleveland State, did you have any ties to the Cleveland area?
Norris Cole: Not really. Cleveland State was my first introduction so to speak to Cleveland. The city and the school go hand-in-hand, to me. CSU is in the middle of downtown. I wasn’t from Cleveland, but I identified right away with the blue collar, hard-working attitude.
President Berkman: Norris represents CSU and Cleveland quite well because he is a leader with an incredible work ethic. He is a role model for the University. We provide opportunities for students that other schools may pass over for whatever reason. So in that regard, Norris is emblematic of CSU’s philosophy.
Gary Waters: Norris wasn’t a heavily recruited athlete out of high school.
You were planning to attend Walsh University to play football and basketball. How did you end up at CSU?1
Cole: I actually saw them play at Ohio State, but I was there to watch Daequan (Cook), not CSU. CSU entered my college decision making process late. I was set to go to Walsh but was hoping for Division I.
Waters: Walsh really was his only legitimate offer at the time we expressed interest. Norris played at Dayton Dunbar and started for two years on a great team. He kind of went unseen because had a great team around him. We knew his coaches at Dunbar, and they called us to say, “Hey, we think have a Division I player here, not an NAIA player.” So I went to watch him play in the state tournament. He didn’t really play that well, to be honest, but I saw some potential.
Cole: CSU came very late to my recruiting process. I wanted to go to a Division I school but really had no offers. Coach Waters sat in my living room, told me I’d have a chance to play basketball but he made no guarantees about basketball. He did say he would make sure I graduated.2
Waters: I know he enjoyed his visit to CSU. I told him if he came to play for us, it would be a process. I would help develop him, but I told Norris, “You won’t start until your junior year, if at all.” See, I had Cedric Jackson as a point guard, and the difference between him and Norris at the beginning was night and day. Night and day.
You arrived on campus as a lightly recruited afterthought and certainly not as a superstar in waiting. And your maturation at CSU took the full four years, with incremental improvement every year until breaking out as a senior. Did you ever consider transferring?
Cole: Never. I never had a single doubt about CSU. I’m not a quitter. I’m a loyal guy. Once I go through wars with you and you with me, it’s a bond. That’s what happened at CSU, and it prepared me for success.
“Coach, he’s yours now. At the end of the year, you tell me if Norris has done his job. If not, I will chastise him.”
Berkman: What stood out with Norris right away was that he had a great family. His parents came to every single home game and supported him and the program.
Waters: Here’s the bottom line. Norris was team-oriented, which is why he fit our program. There was never a question about his commitment to me, his teammates or our program. He wasn’t caught up in AAU culture.
So you didn’t consider transferring, but how did you cope with playing a minimal role your freshman year?
Cole: I will say I was shell shocked during my first practice because it was the first time I realized I wasn’t one of the best players on the floor. I couldn’t impose my will on the guy guarding me, let alone my teammates. I sat back and thought, “I have a lot of work to do.” It was a rude awakening. But I went to work and never stopped.
Waters: Cedric (Jackson) beat Norris down so bad that first year. But Norris kept coming back for more, so I knew we might have something special. About 10 games left in the season, we decided Norris had earned a little more playing time. So over those final 10 games, we doubled Norris’s playing time, and he averaged about 10 points per game. I realized, “Maybe he’s got more ability than I thought?”
You improved each of your four years at CSU, little by little. Talk about that incremental ascension.
Cole: Everything doesn’t come at once. That’s what I learned: Patience; put in work, and the results will come. They may come later, and you may not always see your work pay off, but never stop trusting that hard work equals success.
Waters: Norris bought into our process and worked hard every single day. That was the key to his steady progression. And his willingness to play different roles ended up making him a complete player. His sophomore year, we started Norris at the two guard. Remember now, he wasn’t a big kid, maybe 6-1 and 175 pounds. But we went to Spain for a tournament that year, and we played a team with Ricky Rubio. Norris dominated him. He was the second leading scorer on the trip.
Cole: As a freshman, I just worked. As a sophomore, I kept working. As a junior, I worked some more. My senior year was the culmination of all that work. It wasn’t any one practice, it wasn’t an overnight sensation. It was three straight years of buying into Coach Waters’ system and his lessons. I had a special senior year3, and that wasn’t an accident.
Waters: I’ve got a few examples of Norris’ maturation during his time with us, especially over the final two years of his career. After his junior year, I knew he was ready to go as a dynamic point guard. So I sent him to LeBron’s camp, Chris Paul’s camp and he matched up with guys like Kemba Walker.
But when I knew his senior year would be something special had nothing to do with anything on the court. During the summer, he came to me and said, “Coach, I need something from you. I need you to keep the guys around during the second summer session.” See, I kept all the kids on campus during the first summer session because it kept them on pace to graduate, but I always let them go home during the second summer session. But Norris says to me, “Coach, I need the team to stay here. I want to win a championship and I need them here.” I said, “Norris, I can’t force them to stay and I won’t be here anyway, I’m out recruiting.” He looked at me and said, “Coach, don’t worry, I got it. I will make sure they’re up at 6:30 for weight training, then skill development sessions and then playing at night. I’ll make sure they’re eating right and getting rest, and I’ll report to you every day.”
You tell me what kid does that? Norris was the ultimate leader.
What specific memories or experiences at CSU do you still carry with you?
“It was a rude awakening. But I went to work and never stopped.”
Berkman: Norris came back earlier this year for a 50th anniversary homecoming weekend and was the keynote speaker at a luncheon. He talked more about his schooling here than he did basketball. And he told the athletes in attendance to make sure they valued the opportunity they had at CSU, as student athletes.
Cole: CSU was like a family to me. So many teachers and tutors and administrators who cared about me as a student, that helped me when I needed extra help with my studies. When I went back for the 50th anniversary, I absolutely told the athletes who attended to take full advantage of what CSU provides them as students. I can still call or e-mail my teachers and administrators today because the relationships were genuine and not based on basketball. That probably says it all.
You entered the NBA as a rookie for the Miami Heat. How did your time at CSU prepare you for your rookie year in the NBA, as a Miami Heat teammate of LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh?
Cole: Honestly, my transition to the NBA was smooth, in large part because of CSU. I was already into good habits and discipline as far as attending study halls, getting my rest, keeping up with my nutrition. Those habits carried over to the NBA and made me feel comfortable from day one.
Waters: Norris is a humble human being. He got to the Heat and already understood the concept of “team” because that’s what he was a part of at CSU for four years. He was able to accept his role with the Heat.
Cole: I was a sponge at CSU, and I kept that same mindset in Miami as a rookie. I listened to everything LeBron, D Wade and Chris (Bosh) and Ray (Allen) said. I watched and learned. Look, some people think it would be intimidating to enter the league with the most high profile team in the world, the most talented team in the world full of 10-year vets, All-Pros and max contracts. But to me, it was the best situation ever. I viewed it as a tutorial because that’s how I was trained at CSU. It just so happened at Miami I was learning from the best ever, even beyond LeBron and Dwyane and Chris. Shane Battier is one of the best defenders ever. Juwan Howard. Udonis Haslam is the most prolific rebounder in Miami Heat history. I was surrounded by the best, and I loved it.
Waters: I will say this, if the Heat let Norris get away after this year4, they’re making a mistake. He’s a leader in the locker room, and you don’t let that go because it’s rare. At CSU, we committed to Norris the person, the student and the player. We were all-in. And he did the same. Miami could be missing the boat if they don’t commit.
Berkman: I have a story that encapsulates Norris well, and it comes from Dwyane Wade. My son is a writer and had the opportunity to do a one-on-one interview with Wade. When the formal interview was over, my son told D Wade that his dad was the President of Cleveland State, Norris Cole’s alma mater. Wade told my son, “Every kid that is drafted into the NBA has exceptional skills, but what set Norris apart right away was character. That differentiates him.” I’d like to think Coach Waters and CSU helped nurture that part of Norris.
What is your relationship like now with Coach Waters?
Cole: He’s still “coach” to me. He’s a mentor, too. That’s what he does — he mentors young men. When I need to hear the truth, I trust him to give it to me honestly. Our bond is strong, and he knows I’m strong enough to take the truth.
Waters: It is a mentorship. He calls to talk, ask questions. He asks for advice and we talk. He knows I’m going to give him tough answers because he’s not afraid to hear the tough answer.
Cole: In terms of basketball, I remember the hard practices very well. The conditioning was something I still think about because it got my body ready for NBA level competition. I also remember Coach Waters stressed defense, so I established myself as a good defender right away. I was shocked at first by the physicality of college basketball, but it served me well in the long run.
- Walsh University in Canton. At the time, it was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) but has since transitioned to an NCAA DII athletic program. [↩]
- Cole would graduate with a degree in health sciences. [↩]
- Cole won the Horizon League’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2011. [↩]
- Cole will be a restricted free agent at the end of the 2014-15 season. [↩]
2 Comments
Really interesting piece. Very impressive.
Great read, thanks for sharing this. Fully enjoyed what he had to say about CS & Gary Waters. I’m a Kent State grad, Waters was the coach early in my tenure there, he was a great and molded some outstanding talent.