kreed5120

Ryan Sabol to Providence. https://x.com/i/status/2044487251204161976

Hard to get a read on if this is a good pickup or not. On one hand he only played in garbage time. On the other hand Purdue was loaded so the fact he was burried on the depth chart doesn't necessarily mean he isn't good.

Are you able to confirm or deny if this player is separate from this morning's earlier commit?

Not to mention these type of events really appeal to upper middle class and the wealthy. Even if the event itself doesn't make program changing money, perhaps the relationship building leads to more premium tickets getting sold or corporate sponsors.

Golf outing seems like a great way of attracting new people or re-engaging some who had interest before, but lost interest. It's pretty easy to get a friend or associate who enjoys golf to be your 4th to fill our your scramble. Also, maybe a way of attracting some more local business to get more involved.

It does already seem Dustin has tried to be more engaging with fans on social media compared to Groce. Another sign is starting the golf event back up.

His presence I'm not sure indicates much either way. Antino I remember attended Groce's press conference and then still transferred elsewhere.

I can see it interpreted both ways as he also stated he couldn't mention the new commit by name. Either way it's evident the job isn't finished on the recruiting trail.

I switched to my phone and it has worked much better.

Evan Miya has him rated as the #73 player in the MAC last season and grades him as slight below average on both offense and defense. The hope would be a change in style of play and being surrounded by better talent would help him improve his numbers. On the surface not a signing I'm thrilled about, but the possibility exists that he over performs.

Not everyone we bring in from the portal is necessarily expected to be a 25+ minute a night guy. It might just be someone we expect to be 10-12 minute incoming sophomore that we hope to develop. I do think we do need 1 more wing and big at minimum that can be solid MAC starters.

You can't even have him in during crunch time of close games because he's a 33.3% FT shooter. They must plan to start Atlason.

I read that article a short bit ago. What may be relevant for us is that mid-major spending is up 44% YoY.

Yep, as an undergrad I would go to 3-4 games a year when JD was the coach. I quit attending regularly under I-coach as going to games and being down 3 scores at half-time frankly wasn't worth my time. I've attended 2, maybe 3 games in the last 10 years and am in no rush to attend anymore anytime soon. In that same time I've attended 5-6 alumni tailgates, but typically just go to Euro to hang out with friends or go home when kickoff nears. The school has no interest in committing the resources necessary to put a competitive team on the field and I have no interest in watching a consistent 0-4 win MAC program that I have little reason to get excited over. No amount of bouncy houses or kid fun days will change that. Joe Akron is likely even less invested than I am.

I agree with this. I'll add it's just not money, but there is also a finite amount of roster spots on those teams as well.

Gillespie is no Freeman, but he IMO was the 2nd best player in the MAC last season (behind TJ). When you have a player of that talent it makes sense you adjust your system to feed off his talents. That was what Groce did with Freeman even though Groce teams typically play through their guards. With Gillespie now gone it would make sense for Sendy to modify his style of play to fit what he prefers to play.

Probably a bit off topic, but I saw there is something like 1,400 in the women's portal. I found this a bit surprising. I get it with men's hoops as even between a CSU and UMass the pay difference for a starter is substantial. Maybe $75k-$100k difference, perhaps more for an all-conference caliber contribtutor. In the women's game those same wages aren't available. I read that UConn men's roster is $8-10 million spend while the women's is $1.6-$2.5 million. Don't get me wrong that's a good chunk of money, but that's comparable to what Utah State is spending on mens. Now if you take into account UConn is probably at or near the top in women's spending, that would mean most mid-majors are likely at $300k or less. Now mind you that's split across a roster of 15 players. It would seem to me a lot are entering the portal and end up making pretty much a similar amount unless they're going to one of the top ~50 programs that are investing heavily into women's hoops. It begs the question is it really worth making an extra $5k-10k if it disrupts you obtaining a degree because you're on your 3rd school in 4 years?

Evan Miya grades him as an above average offensive player, but below average defender. Rated #53 in the MAC last season overall. Probably a win for both teams. He's better than what Ball State had last season, but a position UMass probably hopes to upgrade if they want to compete at the top of the MAC next year.

I assume Josiah was given a medical redshirt playing only 6 games with Akron. He actually got engaged a few days ago. I saw several Zips players on Instagram share it on their story so they must stay in touch.

I don't think we've gotten anything officially. That's just a prediction. Considering the page only has 6k followers and can't even spell the players name correctly it's hard for me to give it much weight.

Yeah, I think when I looked a few days ago they only had ~300 out of the ~1500 portal players rated. I don't even think they listed Young in the portal until about a week after he declared. It feels there are much better sources out there for listing and ranking portal players. Unfortunately most of them are hidden behind paywalls.

You can achieve that without an open spring practice. A few years ago they had a concert featuring Soul Asylum and other festivities before a home game. The focus should be on improving the gameday experience, not on a spring practice that maybe a few hundred attend. Most of which are already long-term season ticket holders like @Captain Kangaroo.

It doesn't help he's playing out of position. He's being asked to play on the perimeter, which wasn't what made him impactful at Akron. I understand NBA size makes it impractical for him to play him at the 5 unless it's situational. It's just going to be challenging for him to make the NBA long-term (5+ year career) if he's being asked to play SF or stretch 4. He's hindered by the fact he's not 2-3 inches taller.

Anyone know if Wednesdays press conference will be streamed on facebook or youtube for those of us who aren't retired or self employed?

Concord's Boubacar Djigo has committed to Marshall. That's one fewer Concord player @NWAkron has to worry about being on Akron's roster this year.