Sports briefs

Cheer tryouts set for Friday and Saturday

Portland State athletics is searching for students to boost spirit and promote fandom during Vikings sporting events at cheer tryouts Friday and Saturday.

Tryouts will be held at the Style Shock Gym, located at 11131 S.W. Greenburg Road in Tigard, Ore., from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Cheerleaders typically perform at Portland State football games and both men’s and women’s basketball games. This past season, the cheerleading squad accompanied the men’s basketball team to Omaha, Neb., for their NCAA Tournament matchup against Kansas.

The Vikings earned national praise from Yahoo Sports’ Jason King, who deemed the Portland State squad one of the winners of the tournament and on par with Oregon’s cheerleading squad.

Portland State cheer adviser Darlene Brady said the team has improved immensely over the past couple of years and she hopes to continue the progress with the squad in the coming seasons.

Beyond competing and performing, Brady said cheerleaders form a tight-knit group where great camaraderie is fostered among its members. She encourages anyone who is interested to try out.

For more information about tryouts and Portland State cheer, visit goviks.com.

Men’s basketball adds new recruit

Following the best season in school history and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, the Vikings are losing five seniors including Big Sky Tournament MVP forward Deonte Huff and conference defensive player of the year center Scott Morrison.

That means only one thing of Portland State: It is time to reload. Head coach Ken Bone took the first step toward bolstering his squad Wednesday, finalizing the recruitment of 6-foot-5 Paul Guede after coveting the guard for three years.

Suiting up for Tallahassee Community College this past season, Guede averaged 8.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. The London, England native shot .393 from the field, and .397 from the three-point line.

“He’s a nice player, one of those guys that’s multidimensional,” Bone said. “He takes a lot of pride in his defense.”

Bone said that Guede is capable of guarding three positions–point guard, shooting guard and small forward–which will be key for the Vikings because they are prone to switching defensive assignments.

Guede is also a solid offensive player, Bone said, who is unselfish but entirely capable of knocking down midrange jumpers and three-pointers with consistency.

Basketball stars Dominguez, Morrison reinstated

The Portland State Athletic Department removed the temporary suspensions on men’s basketball players Jeremiah Dominguez and Scott Morrison last Friday.

Morrison and Dominguez were suspended 17 days earlier on April 2, for their alleged involvement in an altercation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico that left a 23-year-old Michigan man with a shattered jaw.

The victim, Kyle Meagher, claimed Morrison punched him after he attempted to mediate an argument between the Portland State basketball players and a member of Meagher’s internship group.

Both basketball players denied any involvement but were arrested and placed in a Mexican jail.

Athletic director Torre Chisholm said the suspensions were lifted because evidence the athletic department had gathered through interviews with the players and others on the trip led him to believe the suspensions were no longer necessary.

Chisholm said they were also awaiting legal documentation from Mexico. However, he was unsure when it would arrive or whether it would contain any additional information that would make him inclined to uphold the suspensions.

“I hope for the student-athletes’ sake they get some closure,” Chisholm said.

Despite lifting the suspensions less than a month after they were handed down, Chisholm said he sticks by the decision.

“With the information we had to work with at the time, it was the right decision,” Chisholm said.