In early August, gloom had settled over Christian Guess. Across the country, college basketball’s freshmen sweated through predawn conditioning, schlepped from lecture to lecture and settled into evening study halls — a routine the guard of out Cleveland would have killed to make his own.
Instead, worry jolted Guess from his sleep most nights. And the already sinewy guard, who stands 6-foot-5 and checks in at 180 pounds, found it hard to muster an appetite. Sure, he set off from Shaker Heights, an enclave on the city’s east side, for morning workouts and lifting sessions, but to what end?