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The death nail to UA was struck around 2013. The U was already in a precarious financial position; but around that time the Ohio Legislature pushed out tougher commands on the 6-year retention rate. What made these changes especially difficult on The University of Akron was the "part-time" students and "Summit-College" students. As both counted against the 6-year retention rate at the time. Summit-College was performing the service of a Community College, where students were admitted to The University of Akron where they normally would not have been, and counted against the 6-year retention rate. Stark State seems to be moving in to cash in on the void left by UA's phase-out of Summit College as it was back then. Basically the State of Ohio forced UA to give up that vital part of revenue/service to the community that it had served as for decades and now others are moving in to siphon it off. I remember vividly one of my last years on campus when we played the University of Tennessee (where my cousin went to school) I looked up the enrollments of the two schools. UA had a total enrollment greater than that of the University of Tennessee (Ours was about 30,000 theirs was about 28,000). At UA you can clearly see the steepest reduction is in "Pre-Major" and "Associate Degree" programs which would have been mostly serviced by Summit College; followed up by Master's programs which is likely in the overall deduction of programs at UA. You can see the steepest drop in any category at any one time is "Associate Degree" from 2013-2014 which is a reduction of 1,200 in one year...which was most likely a good portion of your Summit College population. I would have gone to UA for my Master's, and given them my money...except they've cut all the programs I could possibly use in my career (for those who were trying to understand the outrage over cutting programs)...and now all of my graduate $ are going to other institutions when I would have preferred to go with my Alma Mater if the option were there. At any rate...it's obvious that there needs to be a steep reduction in the cost of athletics. UA's financial woes have been both self-inflicted, short-sidedness from past decadent leadership; and unrelenting pressure from the State not considering UA's unique position of being a Major University and a Community college at the same time.

Starting in 2020 the MAC will become a primary bowl partner in the Quick Lane Bowl. Locking in a B1G vs. MAC bowl match-up I'd consider to be a win. https://getsomemaction.com/news/2019/6/4/football-mac-to-face-big-ten-as-primary-bowl-partners-in-the-quick-lane-bowl.aspx Edit: Also, I think McDonalds should assume sponsorship rights and name it the BIG-MAC Bowl.

Congrats to Shawn!

I honestly thought he may leave when Antino did since they came from the high school program. Regardless, after all E-man has been through I wish him nothing but the best, not just for basketball but for a healthy life going forward.

I thought that this would interest and please long time zip soccer fans

I think the traditional "Senior Night" is officially passé. Too bad...I always like the ceremony with the parents alongside the kid that you watched grow from an 18 year old role player into a 22 year old All MAC'er. Call me sentimental, but "Transfer Portal 5th-Year Eligibility Night" just ain't the same...

I’m to lazy to go back and look for article but I was pretty sure Terry was bought out around 400k. I’m sure my numbers are not correct but 650k for Nebraska & a future trip in 2025 1.1m Northwestern 1.3 S Carolina, half went to make the other half of Nebraska up & half did Bowden & Arth buyouts. Was a brilliant pick up game, no loss of revenue from Nebraska game & handled all expenses with coaches change Let’s move on - Go Zips, beat Illini

Translation- "I screwed off academically for the last 4 years and believed I could succeed solely on my athletic talent, or I have a higher opinion of my skills than the college coaches, so I am going to prep school to qualify or further showcase my skills. Please respect my decision of choosing prep school over junior college."

Letter of Intent "Insider tip: You can sign a National Letter Intent after the last signing period ends, but it is rare that there will be any roster spots left."

I think the "engineering solution" for the east and south stands should be to punch holes in the concrete every 15 feet or so and plant big-tree saplings so the hillsides return to scenic woods, breaking up and hiding the decay, and providing permanent stability for the embankments and road.

I'm guessing he'll foul out, get a couple rebounds, score a couple points, make 40% of his free throws and get a couple blocks consistently in Utah.

So why did Greg Tribble choose Akron? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD0noJRO_9w&feature=youtu.be Here are some game highlights of 2018-2019 Huntington Prep. Tribble is #3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9qpOvccD1c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiDzqttIzJI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhLO1-8HAu8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHo4Lyf8B6E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYZgfU4NUlc (Full Game - video is a bit fuzzy)

We're going to really need to recruit some front court players for 2020-2021. Only 3 forwards, 2 of which will be seniors, and no centers on the roster.

Akron has signed Tre Edwards, a wing from Toronto, source told @Stadium. Played with UPlay and was at Hamilton Heights for two years. Did post-grad year this year at Link Prep. Just saw this on Twitter

.245 it is; YEAH!!! I think my all red outfit today was what provided the needed incentive to get this gigantic win.

So, I read the Troll of an Interim President's comments on the upcoming cuts to athletics, and I was surprised to NOT see any discussion on it on ZNO. I don't subscribe to the Beacon and only got to read the article as one of my X amount of free reads on line, but it sure sounds like some sports are gonna get whacked, or some of the staff that works "Game-Day experiences" are gonna be gone, or have to work for free. But I really was concerned with his comments regarding teams that don't need to have as a goal to work towards national titles., and comparing the new baseball arrangement as a be-all-end-all to the budget crunch. How can you realistically recruit college age kids and their parents or guardians, if you have hanging over your head that the University Administration doesn't give two hoots if you gain national prominence at your level? And I thought the baseball arrangement was temporary until they could fund some scholarships? And Green's comments that by not giving scholarships and bringing in local non-scholarship student-athletes, we would increase attendance at games because people would like to come see their kids and neighbor kids play was simplistic at best and just plain stupid at worst. I'd be hard-pressed to let my son or daughter come to U of A no matter what sport they played, as long as this attitude of funding only national caliber sports persisted. Except, of course, our national championship e-Sports team! I think Green thinks this is the way all sports should be played....

It would reduce expenses some, but the revenue loss would probably meet or exceed the expense savings. Akron is going to have to continue paying ~$4.3 million for Infocision per year for the next 20 years regardless of if they stay FBS, drop down to FCS, or disband football altogether. Dropping out of FBS means we're likely to be booted out of the MAC. That means we'd see an increase, not decrease in travel costs as the MAC is a pretty compact conference. We'd lose out on ~$800k in annual tv revenue. We'd miss out on ~$1.5 million per year from the college football playoff G5 distribution. P5 schools pay G5 schools ~$1.3-$1.5 for buy games. Many P5 don't schedule FCS opponents and the ones that do only pay $300k-$600k so that's another loss or reduction to a revenue source. You can also add in reduced advertising and ticket sales. I'm sure there are other things as well that I'm not accounting for. Excluding the cost of Infocision, which is a sunk cost, the football program is most likely breaking even given all the revenue sources that I mentioned above. Men's basketball and men's soccer are probably both slight money losers as well, but mostly pay for themselves. Literally every other sport plus administrative overhead costs is where the athletic program is bleeding money.

I've heard that there are two more in the pipeline as well....just waiting for them to post online

New York Jets UDFA Breakdown – CB, Kyron Brown " A good sign for him is that he is said to have been flashing at OTA’s so far."

Thank you! It was time for me to get to my old circa 2014 posts and not bitter mid-20s something posts.

If UA fired me, I’d put what’s best for me ahead of what’s best for UA too.

really good, excellent post... You educated me on many things.

The article clearly states he's not cutting sports or jobs in the near term. I'm guessing there's a ton of cost in the "game day experience" within the InfoCision tower, yet very few suites used. I am certain football, basketball and soccer will continue to get most of the bucks. I do think he's naive to believe increased football revenue will make up for half the difference each year. Akron has not shown it will support the Zips in adequate numbers and I'm not sure that will ever change. I find it particularly naive in the next year or two, which will be rebuilds in many respects. The killer in all of this is that the cut increases by $1 million every year for eight years. But who knows, maybe some other MAC programs will follow suit. They all subsidize their programs to a great extent. Only difference is Akron's debt level is a lot higher thanks to President Proenza and the board's decision making. If you've read Green's strategic plan, you may know that increasing the number of foreign students is a big part of closing the revenue gap over the next decade. Unfortunately, our country's leader has done everything he can to make U.S. schools less attractive. Student visas down.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2019/06/05/college-basketball-three-point-line-moving-back-international-distance/1357922001/ Since 2008, the three-point arc has rested at 20 feet, 9 inches from the center of the basket. The international three-point distance had been tested in the National Invitational Tournament the past two years, and the results from the further distance compared to those from the regular season were negligible. Teams in the NIT converted long-range attempts at a 33 percent clip compared to a 35.2 percent mark in the regular season. The 32-team field attempted 23.1 3-pointers during the postseason tournament compared to 22.8 attempts during the regular season, too.

I think another thing to remember is that since this is now a P5 vs. G5 Bowl this bowl game has likely fallen to the very bottom of the B10 totem pole. If there is ever a year that the B10 fails to fill all their bowl commitments, this is probably the one that has to get back filled.

Two questions in 5 years! Your constant questioning is driving me crazy.

The good news is we can’t possibly shoot any worse from behind the arc than we did last year regardless of where they moved it to.

Akron has won the Wagon Wheel Challenge again this year, as they have every year since dropping baseball. After eight years of the 'all sports' challenge, Kent won the first four, and Akron has won the most recent four. Has this promotion now run its course? In every year except 2013-2014, the team that won the football game won the all sports challenge. Most of the sports are not competitive at all, with one school winning 7 or 8 of the last eight years. Kent domination : Baseball (before 2015-16), Men's Golf, Women's Golf, Women's Soccer, Softball Akron domination : Men's Cross-Country, Men's Indoor Track and Field, Men's Outdoor Track and Field It was a nice idea to get other sports involved in the wagon wheel rivalry, but ultimately it comes down to the football game anyways. If Akron had not dropped baseball (and you assume a Kent win in every season), the two schools would have been tied the past four years, with Kent retaining possession of the challenge trophy.

OT. A buddy at work had a D1 football player son who is transferring from a military academy. And because of Zipsnation I was well-versed in the Transfer Portal. Buddy: yeah, they put his name in... Me: The transfer portal?

8 kids just won the National Spelling Bee. Nothing is the same.

I missed this one over the weekend... Great Job, Richie !!!

Maybe if someone in Akron had deeper pockets he would consider them a friend. Years ago, I asked him what it would take for the Mountaineers to play at Akron. His reply as I recall was about $275K.

We all cringed last year when ever the ball was shot from beyond the arc. Let's hope that Tre Edwards can continue hitting them around 40.3%.

So Central Michigan is the real deal, but kinda a different approach by their coach Jordan Bischel, who’s brand-smacking new. It’s interesting, it’s like a frat party without the keg in the dugout. This is gonna sound sexist - TRIGGER WARNING - but it reminds me of the way women’s volleyball and softball and swimming teams act at games/matches...add to that testosterone. They wear weird hats, they dance, they do coordinated cheers and whoops, they have a backboard in the dugout and play 3 on 3 during games. And they have FUN, smile a lot, and play kick-ass baseball. And their parents/fans are wacky too, dressing in costumes like a hot dog, a ketchup bottle, mustard bottle, fonzy the bear, even Santa Claus. But not obnoxiously. Interesting approach but for them it works....

We were recruiting him. Now he is putting off his decision until next year. We are likely done now as well. I'm sure we will continue to track his progress and we will have 4 more scholarships open up in the Fall. Someone should tell him there is a good prep school in Huntington, West Virginia.

There's a balance to be had. Nothing wrong at all with 1-2 pay day/P5 games, 1-2 equal level G5 games, and 1 FCS opponent.

The Canadian calendar is actually a week later than the American calendar. So considering that, the time change, customs, weather and the NCAA Canadian exemption, this makes total sense.

Sabo scouting the other programs has to be a good thing, right?

Can’t State gives up 5 runs inning one and loses to Ohio to start MAC Tourney. Coach Szabo in the house. 2020, Baby!

Someone said they now have too many players on scholarship? Is that correct? I read somewhere that we lost Jimond to a transfer.

This could prove to be a significant get, and a turning point for the program. Up to this point, we haven't necessarily beaten out other solid schools for 4-year recruits. Everyone knows we need a shooter/scorer, and this guy looks to be just that. I'm expecting some pretty immediate impact from him this year. Side note: how huge is it to have Fulford on the staff for recruiting purposes?

And time for the snark: but we aren't getting any 4 year players. So this can't be right.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh, finally some damn news.

when are they going to find and name a permanent president? and they are expecting increased revenues from the gridiron team? Akron sports like soccer and track and field continue to do well...despite the turmoil and budget issues for the university https://www.ohio.com/news/20190607/ua-sports-teams-could-face-cuts-over-next-3-years?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GHM_Daily_Newsletter&utm_content=GTOH_ABJ&utm_term=060819

Won't know for sure until the end of August for the UMass game. All games have bee televised in the past seasons and would expect that to continue. Generally games start at 3PM in the Saturdays before daylight savings time. TV has been on NESN and NESNPlus. Since there is no Red Sox game on the 28th, there is a good chance it will be on NESN National and also available from the UMassAthletics site. Here is visiting guide and the new Video Boards, sound system, south end hospitality plaza, bathrooms and perhaps some ADA stuff as handrails and ADA access on the new* visitors side. * They switched the home side for the cameras, but switched us back this year. https://csnbbs.com/thread-818378.html