Blue & Gold

ABJ: Zips need more offense from frontcourt players Good article. Addresses what we've been lamenting on here for some time.

+1. Still scratching my head over that one.

If we still had Cotton on this team I'm betting we would have won a lot of those close games (with Cotton on this team we may have won those close games comfortably). On the other hand, with Cotton still with us, the team may have imploded half way through the season. IMHO Cotton not working out hurt more than one might think & set us back another year.

How many steps can you count Turner take to the layup? 🧐 I'm going with five.

Great website! Thanks!

ABJ: Injured Hoban senior Emma Tecca enjoys watching 22-0 Knights Here is a nice article about UA recruit Emma Tecca & Archbishop Hoban's 22-0 girls' basketball team. This is the 2nd consecutive year Emma's had to sit out due to an ACL injury (different knee each year). That's a bit concerning. I hope she's okay & I hope she has better fortune, health-wise, during her promising college career.

The women's team has started out strong under first year head coach Melissa Jackson. They're 3-0 w/ 3 convincing wins thus far 49-36 over North Carolina A&T 85-65 over Oakland 77-60 over Northern Kentucky Here's an ABJ article following the win over Oakland: Megan Sefcik leads Zips to big win The article states that, even though Coach Jackson had been an assistant coach at UA under Jody Kest, she's changed some things both offensively and defensively & that, fortunately, the girls have all bought in. “The transition’s been smooth,” Jackson said. “The kids have made it really easy. They’ve bought in to everything. We’ve completely changed our offense. The defensive principles are different.”

ABJ: Season doesn't get any easier as Zips face Bowling Green Tough remaining 3 weeks of the regular season. If we aren't at the top of our game it's gonna be really easy to finish the season going 2-4 & without any momentum heading into the MACC. Tonight: @ BUGS 2/23: Miami-O 2/26: @ Buffalo 3/2: Ohio 3/5: BUGS 3/8: @ KSUcks Looking at the remaining schedule, we should only be favored to win this Saturday -v- Miami and on March 2nd -v- Ohio.

ABJ: University of Akron Men's Basketball Zips facing pivotal game against Ball State

I'm on my phone so can't post a link tonight, but we got a verbal commitment from Ali Ali, a 6-7 small forward from East Noble HS in Kendalville, IN. I'm excited about Ali as he's got nice length and is a a smooth offensive player w/ a nice outside shot.

I didn't see the play live (one of the guys I was with was talking to me about something :/ ). But I looked up when the whistle blew & another guy I was with (who played college ball), immediately said it was a terrible call. The refs strongly influenced a change in the momentum of the contest (away from the Zips) at least two times during the course of the game. The last five minutes were an abomination.

Agreed. I'm gonna be nervous for this one.

ABJ news release: UA coach Chris Sabo to be guest speaker for Greater Akron Baseball HOF The Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame is hosting an evening with the new University of Akron baseball coach and former Cincinnati Reds star Chris Sabo on Feb. 23 at the Duck Club at Canal Park in downtown Akron. The program begins at 6 p.m. with appetizers and a cash bar. Sabo will begin speaking at 7 p.m. Tickets are free, but you must register online at eventbrite.com and seats are limited. A $5 donation is requested at the door with a portion of the proceeds going to the UA baseball team.

FWIW

I’ve wished now for over two decades that the Beacon would do game preview articles.

Excellent news. This should be our home opener every year.

2019 Commits: Zach Gibson, QB, 6-3, 215, Johns Creek HS, Alpharetta, GA Xavior Gray, OL, 6-9, 320, Jackson HS, Massillon, OH Caleb Herring, OT, 6-7, 315, St. Edward HS, Lakewood, OH Owen Murphy, OL, 6-6, 280, St. Ignatius HS, Cleveland, OH Jordan Daniels, OT, 6-5, 275, North Mecklenburg HS, Huntersville, NC Michael Scott, DE, 6-3, 230, Iowa Western CC, North Florida Christian HS, Tallahassee, FL Demetrick Watts, LB, 6-0, 225, Humboldt State, Hillcrest HS, Riverside, CA Jarred Uran, LB, 6-2, 195, LaSalle HS, Cincinnati, OH Keyshawn Swanson, ATH, 5-11, 178, West Florida HS, Pensacola, FL Randy Cochran, CB, 6-0, 175, Norcross HS, Norcross, GA Tyson McDonald, S, 6-2, 195, Eleanor Roosevelt HS, Corona, CA Daniel Lavelle, DE, 6-4, 240, Mary Persons HS, Forsyth, GA Michael Mathison, WR, 5-10, 175, Newton HS, Covington, GA Peter Hayes-Patrick, RB, 6-0, 190, Winter Park HS, Winter Park, FL Corey Thomas, S, 6-4, 190, Central Catholic HS, Pittsburgh, PA Preferred Walk-Ons: QB Nic Demchuk, 6-2, 180, Benedictine HS, Cleveland, OH ATH Connor Shell, 6-1, 190, Bay HS, Bay Village, OH OL Alex Robarge, 6-5, 315, Kenston HS, Chagrin Falls, OH LB Mason McMillen, 5-11, 205, Wadsworth HS, Wadsworth, OH RB Taylor Griffin, 5-10, 195, Strongsville HS, Strongsville, OH ATH JJ Coleman, 5-11, 175, Westlake HS, Westlake, OH WR Shawn Naim, 6-3, 190, Lutheran West HS, Rocky River, OH DL Bryce Wilson, 6-3, 235, Parkview HS, Lilburn, GA OL Ryan Beckman, 6-2, 285, Avon Lake HS, Avon Lake, OH WR Terrance Davis, 6-3, 175, Girard HS, Girard, OH For reference, I'm not going to delete all the verbals we had under Bowden. It'll be interesting to see who they end up signing with & which ones we hang on to. FORMER 2019 (Bowden) commits: Tyler Connolly, OL, 6-5, 285, Marysville HS, Marysville, OH (Akron) Janil Brown, DT, 6-3, 300, Palm Beach Central HS, Wellington, FL (Akron) Jalen Bell, DT, 6-0, 285, Martin Luther King HS, Detroit, MI (Akron) Sonny Ray Jones, Jr., RB, 5-11, 185, Ravenna HS, Ravenna, OH (Akron) Jaison Williams, OL, 6-2, 330, Trotwood Madison HS, Trotwood, OH (Akron) Jarred Uran, LB, 6-2, 195, LaSalle HS, Cincinnati, OH (Akron, Ball St., BG, EMU, Kent St., UMass, NMSU, NDSU, Ohio) Kyre Williams, DB, 5-11, 195, East HS, Akron, OH (Akron, Buffalo, EMU, Toledo) Deearius Reese, DT, 6-2, 280, East HS, Akron, OH (Akron, EMU, Kent St., Toledo) Tyler Riddell, QB, 6-1, 173, Chamberlain HS, Tampa, FL (Akron, Southern Miss) Chris McDonald, CB, 5-10, 170, Southridge HS, Miami, FL (Akron, Southern Miss, App State, Arkansas St., BG, Buffalo, FAU, Georgia St., Marshall, UMass, NC State, Temple, Toledo, UAB, UNLV, USF) Will King, DE, 6-6, 220, New Albany HS, New Albany, OH (Akron) Jesus Santiago, CB, 5-11, 170, Palm Beach Central HS, West Palm Beach, FL (Akron, App State, Air Force, FAU) Chris Hill Jr., DB, 6-2, 180, Coral Springs HS, Coral Springs, FL (Akron, BGSU, Missouri, Buffalo, Kentucky, WKU, Tulane) Keyon Martin, CB, 5-11, 160, Deerfield Beach HS, Deerfield Beach, FL (Akron, Air Force, Ohio, NIU) Non-Qualifiers from 2018 counting toward 2019 class: Adetutu Daranijo, S, 5-10, 190, 3-star, St. Thomas Aquinas HS, Fort Lauderdale, FL Shedro Louis, WR, 5-8, 160, Immokalee HS, Immokalee, FL Treon Sibley, WR, 6-0, 185, Coventry HS, Akron, OH Breakdown: This brings the '18 class to 17 players, broken down as such: 14 high school seniors 3 non-qualifiers from last season (WR Treon Sibley, WR Shedro Louis, & S Adetutu Daranijo) Position Breakdown: Offense: OL: 2 (Tyler Connolly, Jaison Williams) TE: 0 RB: 1 (Sonny Ray Jones, Jr.) WR: 2 (Treon Sibley, Shedro Louis) QB: 1 (Tyler Riddell) Defense: DT: 3 (Janil Brown, Jalen Bell, Deearius Reese) DE: 1 (Will King) LB: 1 (Jarred Uran) DB: 6 (Kyre Williams, Chris McDonald, Adetutu Daranijo, Jesus Santiago, Chris Hill Jr., Keyon Martin)

I probably read it on here, but he broke his wrist in the same spot he broke it last season. If so... that seems rather concerning. Right?

A Toledo player accidentally hit his teammate in the face (eye?) while trying to give him a high-five.

This may be an interesting little pickle to watch. It appears Groce has really been stressing getting back on D. I only guess at this because while watching the bench, the players were constantly waving the guys back on D when we missed a shot. So I assume they're picking up on that urgency to get back from the coaching. Our D's been absolutely top shelf, but I wonder if a bit of that may come at the expense of offensive rebounding?

Could you tell if he was upset at the whole squad, or just/mainly Riak. Riak’s head was still in halftime break to start the 2nd half. Groce lit in to him & put his butt on the bench. It was a good move. Riak came back in & had a really nice 2nd half. I always wanna see more fire in the belly with him. Maybe this summer he can watch some old video of Tree. Lol

He signed LB Jarred Uran and S Adetutu Daranijo. Two players I was excited about (OL Kobe Hilton & LB Max Wynn) signed with Miami-O. Two Akron East players I was excited about (DeeArius Reese & Kyre Williams) have academic issues. Bowden verbal QB Tyler Riddell signed with FCS ETSU.

Thanks for doing that, @bigjim. That's why I kept the original list mostly in tact. I was intending to do what you just did but hadn't yet made the time. I do know that, to put it mildly, other schools weren't exactly swooping in to try and "steal" most of our former verbals.