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IMO 2-3 guys will transfer due to lack of playing time or fit. I would expect 3-4 portal additions. Add in Young, Eric and MMK that bring us to 6-7. From there that leaves opportunities for 2-3 additional players to earn solid, consistent minutes. I'm not as knowledgeable on who we have redshirting or true freshman coming in, but I'm sure we'll have some competition to fill out those roles.

Maybe next year for MJ

I've thought of that team, too. They brought in 5 portal players the next year - Gray, Okonkwo, Hardman, Wilson, and Harris. Unless some players leave, I believe we only have two open spots right now.

I felt the same way with the team Freeman's senior year. We went out that offseason and reloaded. Made it right back into the tournament the following year.

Can this conversation get moved elsewhere? While it's an educated and civil conservation, it's completely unrelated to Akron athletics.

Exactly, https://reportcard.education.ohio.gov

If zero eighth graders pass the math test, that’s not a success story. You can debate standardized tests, but a 0% pass rate shows something is seriously wrong. Akron city kids deserve better results than 100% failure. Edit: Typo

Whole interview starts at about 1:15

I'm all for helping these kids achieve lives they otherwise wouldn't have; if that requires some grace when it comes to grades/testing while improvement is shown in other areas of their lives/education, so be it. However, it is like pulling teeth to get any transparent data on the overall success of the school. Are these kids experiencing success in high school? What percentage are actually utilizing the scholarships? I know it's still relatively early, but the lack of transparency leads me to believe it's not as successful as they would like the public to believe. "Nothing is given; everything is earned," seems to be a complete contradiction to the model. Tying this back to UA - it doesn't seem like this is helping the university whatsoever. You're right - I don't. However, that's independent of my belief that the iPromise model doesn't actually translate to success in the community and that's my ultimate problem with the school. I don't care who created the school - stealing from taxpayers and potentially causing further harm to our youth isn't something I support. Some food for thought: 20-40% is the proficiency in reading and math for Akron Public Schools (the failures of our public education system are an entirely different discussion). 6-10% is the estimated proficiency for the iPromise school. The iPromise school is costing taxpayers $8M per year. How is that helping the community?

TOS to Detroit

Billionaire plus another $300M.

Spot on. I work in education. 10 years working in schools with at-risk students. Pass/fail on standardized tests, especially with a 100% at-risk population, never tells the story - growth does. When you help an at-risk student graduate, you're literally changing the outcome of their life, but also the lives of future generations in that family. The work they're doing - investing in the kids, in the families, the wraparound services - is incredible.

Zips are favored by 13.5 against Buffalo with an O/U of 162.5. Miami is favored by 7.5 over UMass, and for some reason the other two games are not listed yet.

This feels like a pretty big MAC Tournament for us. We're about to lose 5/8 of our primary rotation and 73% of our scoring. The transfer portal can change things quickly, but right now we are slated to be young and inexperienced next season. A tournament win would go a long way toward keeping our best underclassmen and drawing some additional talent in the portal.

Right. I don't see how he's to blame for kids' math test results. Also, no one is taking into account how ridiculous standardized tests are. These kids are from disadvantaged backgrounds, so they likely are behind already before starting at the iPromise school. Just because they don't pass the standardized test doesn't mean the school isn't helping to improve their education. Not all "failure" on tests is the same.

You can tell some of you just don't like LeBron. 😂

It would be unwise to chase too big an offer from some deep-pocketed P4 for anyone on our roster if we can get a similar developable (is that a word?) replacement for much less.

26 degrees is the projected high temp for practice #1 next Tuesday, St. Patrick's Day. But it's always 65 inside Stiles.

and it's BAD!! I think only two of 75 seventh grade students passed the state math test and zero in the 8th grade passed.

$150M is too much for Akron IMO. I get it everyone wants the flashy BMW, but Akron isn't in the position to afford the monthly payments or maintenance on that. If Akron was to ever look seriously into building a new arena they should look for a Toyota Corolla. Something that is dependable and gets you from point A to point B with minimal upkeep. To me that would be something like the Stroh Center. In today's dollars that would cost $43 million. Sticking to the analogy I would want an upgraded trim to get capacity closer to 5,500 and maybe a few smaller amenities. Let's say that brings the cost to $65 million. That would be a much more achievable goal.

Considering taxpayers largely fund his iPromise school, no.

I don't think he's a negative. I just don't think his influence is as great as people think. The second he retires from the NBA, he becomes less relevant and that doesn't get better with time. I don't think he sit around thinking about how to get an arena built in Akron. In fact, it would probably create a nightmare he doesn't want in his life. Here is the other problem. A rule of thumb in facilities management says the cost of constructing a facility is only 20% of the cost of maintaining the facility throughout the life of the structure. Who is going to pay for the maintenance alone on the facility? Assume the arena lives for 50 years and is constructed for $150 million, the annual maintenance alone would be around $15 million if my math is right. It's also an average so the climate on the building in Ohio would create even more maintenance. Is LBJ going to pony up for the maintenance also? What is Akron can't draw high dollar events like quilting convention? See the problem here? They could prempt time and just start out calling it The Interbelt Arena.

MAC women's basketball accolades were released today. Only Shaena Brew received recognition. She made the All Freshman Team.

Mods, is it possible to sticky a post? I'm sure all the regulars are well aware of FTR, but we might draw some additional foot traffic from the casual visitors come tournament time. It's useful to make them aware.