CSU to Retire Jersey Numbers of Vikings Basketball Stars Norris Cole and Kailey Klein
The jersey numbers of former Vikings basketball standouts Norris Cole and Kailey Klein will be retired when the 精东传媒 University men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball teams host Oakland for a hoops doubleheader Saturday, February 6, at the Wolstein Center.
Tip-off for the men鈥檚 game is 1 p.m. Cole, who wore No. 30 for the Vikings, will be honored during a pre-game ceremony. (Doors open at 11:30 a.m.) Klein, who wore No. 23 for the Vikings, will be honored at halftime of the men鈥檚 game. Tip-off for the women鈥檚 game is 3 p.m.
Cole and Klein will be in attendance. The first 1,500 fans will receive a Cole bobblehead. During the women鈥檚 game, 250 Klein replica jerseys will be tossed out to lucky fans.
Tickets can be purchased at the Wolstein Center Box Office and the Quicken Loans Arena Box Office, by phone at 216.420.2970 or online at .
During his Vikings career (2007-2011), Dayton, Ohio, native Cole set a number of records. The seven-time Horizon League Player of the Week is the CSU men鈥檚 basketball all-time leader in games played (140), consecutive games played (140) and minutes played (4,114). He ranks third in points scored (1,978), free throws made (485) and free throw percentage (.826); fourth in assists (455) and seventh in steals (207).
Cole graduated from CSU in 2011 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in health sciences. A first-round draft pick in the 2011 NBA draft, he won NBA championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013. Now a member of the NBA New Orleans Pelicans, Cole will head off after the CSU ceremony to Quicken Loans Arena, where the Pelicans will play the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m.
Klein, a native of Cherry, Ill., led the Vikings to two NCAA Championship appearances during her CSU career (2006-2010). A nine-time Horizon League Player of the Week, she is the all-time leading scorer in the history of CSU women鈥檚 basketball, with 2,140 points scored and 605 free throws made. She ranks third in free throw percentage (.794) and offensive rebounds (279), and eighth in rebounds (733).
Klein graduated cum laude from CSU in 2010 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in finance. She is a compliance officer with the Chicago brokerage firm Rosenthal Collins Group.