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Remember you asked for this… Nine years ago I came onto this forum and expressed to you all just how good of a coach you were getting in John Groce. And an even better person in my opinion. At that time you were dealing with the departure of KD and I couldn’t say goodbye to a guy I grew fond of as the coach of the Fighting Illini. I really thought he would get Akron that first NCAAT win. I know the landscape of the game completely changed during his tenure, but I sure wish he could have achieved that ultimate goal. UCLA was the game, damn we were so close. As a guy who grew up in Illinois within a couple of hours of Chicago I support my local pro teams. I support U of Illinois. My alma mater is Illinois State and they stick their head up every once in a great while. Pretty basic regional loyalty stuff. Here is the great twist as I have gotten older. I have adopted teams into my fandom that are based on affinity. I don’t know Groce personally. I just connected with him on some level and that led me to Akron. And I will probably check in on him at Charleston too. It might be harder because I can’t find a legitimate fan forum for the College of Charleston cougars. It’s still so hard for me to believe he’s gone. Anyway, I have also adopted Ole Miss due to a road trip from Illinois to Florida. They are now my SEC team. The sleepy little town of Oxford fits my personality so well and I enjoyed talking to the people during my short visit. I need to get back down there. All of this is to say people and relationships is what matters most to me. Zips Nation, you all matter to me. I have spent so much time on this forum and have never met any of you in person. Is that silly, pathetic? Perhaps. But you are still my friends. We have experienced so many highs and lows together. So I’m not looking to go anywhere. Now my positive feelings towards the new head coach are a plus. I met both Groce and Ford years ago when the Zips played at NIU. Ford was very personable and gave generously of his time. I think his hire while not a sure thing is a wise decision and I will be pulling for his success just the same. I will still be putting together the scholarship chart and if I win it big one day I will still build Joe and Jane Akron a new basketball arena with the best concessions. Thanks for the good times. And here’s to many more to come!! Go Zips!!

Gather in friends, we secured our first commit of the Ford era.

Been saying it for years - there is too much focus on the suits and not enough focus on the general community. This type of stuff would be a hit with the general community. Outside of the Wentz-sponsored giveaways, the marketing is typically quite drab and borderline lazy. I'd like to see some sort of digital attendance punch card, similar to what you might fight at an ice cream stand. Set up a spot in the lobby or 2nd level where fans can have something scanned on their phone that logs their attendance in a database. Every game attended counts towards rewards. 1 game = Zippy Keychain 3 games = Zippy Plush 5 games = T Shirt 7 games = Hat etc. Could also have each game count as an entry towards some sort of grand prize at the end of the season - future season ticket, tickets to the MAC tournament, something like that. I'd also like to see some sort of Zippy Kids Club brought back.

Zips fans show up when it counts. Kent games, Cleveland, etc. They don't care about directional Michigan schools coming to the JAR in the middle of December because those games don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. In Charleston their basketball team is really the only show in town and they have a much nicer arena. Everyone there probably goes all-in on the basketball team. Whereas in NE Ohio we have pro sports down the road in Cleveland, as well as two MAC schools splitting the region.

Love the idea of a punch card. You can even expand it a bit to include perks that cost the University little to no money, but might be viewed favorably to others who don't typically get those experiences. 2 - courtside seats for 1 game 2 - tickets to Tommy Evans Lounge 1 game

I wonder if that exclusive Zips Fan Club thing is popping out ideas like these.

That's actually more useful thoughts than we typically get in this thread. I think concessions might be outsourced so I'm not sure how feasible it would be to implement this, but it's worth exploring. I would certainly enjoy loaded fries on Friday.

Minor league baseball has done this successfully for years and years.

I'm not sure if the women’s team still does this, but they used to schedule one or two games during the school day and fill the arena with kids. It was a great way to boost attendance. That’s exactly what the men’s team should do during the December lull, when students are off campus and we’re stuck with the inevitable Hiram/Walsh/University of Phoenix-type matchup. Most regular fans have little interest in those games, so there’s no reason to let average attendance take a hit. We also need to leverage concessions to help drive attendance. At every level, teams are creating unique food offerings that fans attend specifically to try. These items often go viral and create a sense of FOMO. We should get creative with options like ice cream bowls, loaded fries, or other items served in 3-peat crowns. We also have a great business school, so let’s tap into marketing students’ creativity to help develop and promote these ideas. Concessions should vary from game-to-game as well. For example, the MAC home opener could become an annual “MAC Night,” featuring mac and cheese flights. This could also serve as a contest for local restaurants to participate and showcase their offerings, and potentially leading to additional NIL. Whenever games are flexed to Friday night, we can brand it as “Fryday Night” and offer a fun, over-the-top fried menu with items like Oreos, Reese’s, and more. The goal is to make concessions part of the experience, not just an afterthought.

Not really meaning to pour any salt on wounds. Someone mentioned CoC attendance in a previous post so I looked. If you go back 15 years they were averaging 3,400 fans, similar to us during the later Dambrot years, and that was with them having a relatively new arena. Fast forward 15 years and they're now on a 39 game sell-out streak, meanwhile our attendance has cratered to ~2200. I do think it would be worthwhile for the Zips athletic department to maybe take a look at what factors maybe helped improve CoC numbers at a time when attendance is shrinking most places. Perhaps see if there is anything they've done to engage the community or improve the gameday experience that is transferable.

BANG!

I'm not privy to any inside knowledge, but I saw this post by Sam Amico on 330togo facebook page. I'm thinking Utah was maybe Utah State as that Utah job was never open.

Mahaffey and Young have a chance to develop into two of the best Zips ever if they stay. Hopefully part of the reason we kept Ford was to make sure that happened.

I like it. From the few brief conversations I've had with our new coach and the former. I like the new coach more. I hope we are able to retain 3 players in particular. Let's make the climb. Go Zips. Fear the Roo.

I thought the same thing of Embick for men's soccer. I thought they should've hired UA alum and highly successful Coastal Carolina coach, Shaun Docking. In any case, it played out the way it did, and Embick has done an amazing job. I hope Dustin Ford is the right assistant in the same way Embick was.

If they had a board with a higher reaction limit, that might be able to sway him.

I'm going to go make a contribution to FTR to show my support for this move. I encourage others as well.

I like the quick decision to beat the portal opening date. I like to believe that the "Akron culture" is a thing. Also, great message from the AD 👏

Looks like Coach Ford will continue the UA Hoops dynasty, as the HC. I'm happy for him and his family.

Me too. I get mixed between hate, loathe and detest.

I'd prefer for the program I love not to be coached by an angry 7 year old.

Kehres! or that guy from Hoban.

I wish JG well in his new endeavor. We survived Dambrots departure. We will survive this one too.

Been trying to figure out what I am more upset about. Losing Coach Groce or losing him to College of Charleston. It's the latter. This is an insult.

3 straight championships, 4 out of the last 5. Best conference record in MAC history over 2 seasons. I didn’t think there was a “level” between what KD did and winning a NCAA tourney game, but Groce showed there apparently was.