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Mahaffeys are at the presser.

Sad to see a "rafterable" player leave so soon, but that's the way it will be for the rest of our lifetimes. I saw worthless talking head Clark Kellogg state "The mid-majors are losing their veteran players to P4 programs, but they're getting a better caliber of Freshmen than ever before. So it's a wash." You know what they say when a Freshman redshirts? "You're trading your worst year for your best (5th) year." The Zips now get a Freshman for his worst year, and P4 programs get him for his best years. Definitely a "wash." 🙄

He played well overall. Along with the 13/7 he also had 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. His +/- of 25 led the team.

Jacob Thomas, one of our student managers, wins the Internet today. He posted this on his IG.

oh man I thought I was done reading this stuff like 4 years ago

This could’ve been prevented if Zipsnation members were on the fan council.

I am a life long Republician and there is NO WAY I would ever vote for Vivek after his simplistic attitude towards higher education. Simply put, The University of Akron is now stronger academically than ever in its history. The strength of undergraduate/graduate programs in Engineering, Business, Nursing, Law, Psych, Speech Audiology, and even unheralded programs like Geology and PoliSc/Law are numerous (I have left out some other strong programs just for brevity). How many schools can boost the world's best program in any discipline? Admittedly The University bears some responsiblilty for not promoting itself as much as it should have given its strengths but the facts are still the same. In addition, The University is doing an excelllent job of producing "career-ready" graduates- not everyone but some of that blame is on the students for not taking advantage of opportunities provided by UA that are essential in today's more difficult job market. It is inexcusable for any public figure to take such a sophomoric rather than qualitative view of Universities. He has lost this Republician vote forever. I would rather be Forever A Zip!

Oh I see what this is. Welcome to Akron, Javari Tohnson

That's why Kent made it "kids day" and had activities for the kids with the football players being involved with the kids. Yeah, it was bad football...but I bet they made a couple fans for life because they actually tried to.

Zips add Tahj Staneskie. Zips entering the portal with a possibility of returning; Bowen Hardman, Sharron Young, Eric Mahaffey, Ognjen Stankovic. (Still on the chart in green) Those not likely to return; Connor Groce and Rich Brisco.

I understand most spring games are going by the wayside, but this whole thing has seemed like an absolute **** show. Kent State is doing it right and now this is supposed to be the answer? Just a few years ago they opened up the suites and had free food for everyone. How far things have fallen. I’m incredibly disappointed as I can only get up there twice a year and the spring game is one of those times. This is exactly how not to resonate with your fanbase.

This came off from a very direct question from Jim Clark, long time Akron radio broadcaster. "I was at the championship game against toledo, 12k fans and maybe 10k were akron fans. How do we get them to come out on a Tuesday night against Eastern Michigan". Its nice to hear the stuff we discuss about in here ad nauseam being brought up in public

If MMK has one fan that’s me, if MMK has no fans I’m dead

I think the NCAA is having a BOGO transfer portal deal on D2 and D3 players.

Finished with 13 points (career high) and 7 rebounds in 26 minutes.

I can speculate, assume, reason, and guess that Coach Ford isn't going to be pushed around by the players and agents. He recruited over Sherron.

WKU is a program many around the MAC for years have coveted for expansion, specifically because of the quality of their basketball program, historically. Guessing their NIL is competitive with MAC teams, just a ??? of which positions they want/need to spend it.

Nate commented "ZIP GO ZIPPERS" on his IG post committing to Akron. I imagine he put in a nice word on Akron and Ford.

A security update was yesterday. The update caused some issues that have been fixed. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Spring game kickoff is Saturday April 25th @1pm.

I know things can change quickly in today's college hoops world, but I'm going to assume the players with eligibility remaining who aren't in the portal are returning. Returnees who saw the floor last season would include MMK, Halligan, and Barre with Head, Henderson, and Perkins returning as well. I'll also assume for now that Jones, Ladd, and Christion will stay and redshirt. MMK and Halligan are both culture guys, and I think they'll bring a lot of value in making sure the Akron culture Groce/Ford built continues forward under Ford. I think MMK in particular can be a valuable rotation player if he continues to add strength and develops more offensive ability. Halligan is going to give you defense and energy, ideally off the bench, and will hopefully improve his spot-up shooting from the outside further over the summer. Barre is a bit of an enigma - he's shown the ability to be an impact player in small samples here and during his time at Duquesne, but there were also times where he looked lost. I'm hoping a (hopefully) fully healthy offseason + time with our big man whisperer in Coach Ford will at a minimum give us a Barre who can rebound and provide interior defense. He certainly has the size and athleticism to do it, and everything I've heard of him is that he is an excellent young man who works hard. Head was fantastic at Lipscomb as a freshman and I think, at a minimum, can be a solid contributor. I was surprised he redshirted last season, but hopefully a year in our system as a redshirt will help him hit the ground running next fall. I'm excited to see Henderson and Perkins, and think they'll both contribute as redshirt freshmen.

And the same amount of MAC championships

The Lady Zips have now won 9 in a row and sit in 1st place with a 15-3 record in MAC play.

By God, that's Todd May's music!

His stats at previous stops were way better than any stats Sharron has put up to this point. I like Sharron and hope he can stay but there's no reason to think he's better than an incoming player who has better stats just because we like him. By the way, the Southland and Horizon League were the two conferences directly behind the MAC in conference NET Rankings last year, so it's not like he was playing at a drastically lower level for the past 3 seasons.

No argument there. The hope is if the MAC does expand to a 22 game conference schedule those would be the games eliminated. Whether it plays out that way who knows.

I think one or two from this board would be fine because I'm sure a lot of our opinions would be repetitive

The portal is the new normal. 4- or 5-year commitments to a single school are passe’. It’s fun to be wanted, and flirt with other schools. You can’t tweet #foreverazip unless you leave Akron. And those tweets, which always contain noble references to God and family, are great for the ol’ ego too. It’s often as much about ego, and the grass being greener at the next school, as it is about money.

Remember the old radio jingle.. Wherever you're go-ing 🎵 You can get there 🎶 From the U-niver-sity of Ak-ron 🎵 (maybe they should bring it back)

Yep, we are 100% in agreement there. Yeah, the game itself isn't exactly going to be the highlight of anything because it is effectively a practice. Which means the other parts of the package actually have to do work to make it a fun experience. And Akron has failed amazingly at that task.

It looked almost completely empty. Spring games are bad football. I don't see how exposing people to bad football will make them want to come back for more.

The officiating was deplorably inconsistent. Just awful. By any standard anywhere. There was something about the artificial turf on the training fields adjacent to Historic Crew Stadium. Although the weather was dry and sunny, players from both teams kept slipping and sliding to ground. This persisted the entire match. The turf itself was dry to the touch. Was everyone wearing the wrong cleats? And no one adjusted? These conditions exacerbated the already overly physical play and reluctant refereeing. Terrible! Hopefully, no lasting injuries were sustained. This competition finale had been hosted in the actual Historic Crew Stadium some five (or more) years running. Rumor is that the new UFL franchise renting the stadium as home did not want the soccer field lines showing concurrently with the football field lines. Imagine that. Never mind that Historic Crew Stadium was the first soccer specific stadium built in the USA. Irony abounds! Consequently, the collegiate Spring League (or whatever) was bumped to the training facility. Restrooms were literally one half mile from the meager seating. It is doubtful any of the schools involved will want anything about this scenario repeated, so the Spring League has likely come to an end. It was fun while it lasted. Standouts for Zips were (unsurprisingly) Matt Dreas, Matthew Paiva and Farrel Ngongang.

It was a 1-1 tie while losing in a shootout. The teams were evenly matched. Louisville is vastly improved over last Spring. We used the game to see who fit where. Many freshman got PT. We have a lot of talent not yet on campus and that is great because we have some holes to fill. I thought Rourke, Freddy K. and Dreas played very well. Jared used this to clearly evaluate what we have and where he needs to mine the portal. Expect a completely different team than this Spring to Open up next Fall against Dayton.

After having guards named Sharron and Shammah on the court together which scrambled my simple, little brain…we will now have a Tai’Ree and a Tahj. 🤦‍♂️

First of all, the Tahj addition fits the system already in place. Time will tell, but this leads me to think Ford isn’t looking to make drastic offensive changes. I agree with this statement. I thought with the loss TJ to graduation bringing in senior leadership at PG was going to be necessary. And with Young in the portal, he is a good insurance policy, but won’t necessarily step on Young’s toes if he decides to stay. They are complimentary pieces. Just like TJ, Young and Scott were this year. He could very well be PG1. Hopefully there’s a vigorous battle this offseason with Young. But again, they likely share the PG responsibilities and play together a bunch. Tai’Ree will be in the PG rotation as well.

Enrique should play next game! 😂

I saw on Twitter that it ended in a 1-1 draw with Louisville winning on PKs 7-6. Overall, I think it was a good spring with three wins and two draws, plus the offense is looking good which can sometimes take time to get going. Looking forward to the fall!

Wow, he looks like a home-grown kid right out of the foothills of the Ohio River. All he needs is some overalls, no shirt or shoes and a little brown jug.

Really hoping Sharron comes back, because I think he, Tahj, Cody, and Tai would form a really nice backcourt.

Experienced guard who can score, rebound and assist; perfect transition guy for the freshmen guards behind him.

The free food in the club seats was fantastic a couple years ago. I am always last minute on buying season tickets for football, this isn't really speeding up my decision

While the team hasn’t even been put together yet, the schedule is already coming together. Akron @ Bucknell 12/2 Tulane @ Akron 12/5

Probably thought he was going to play in Athens, Greece instead of Ohio. Sad mistake.

https://youtu.be/pbAkDyhEwgE?si=J0upTKHdpxgfI0Vg