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2017-2018


UAZip0510

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Jackson and Eubanks are gone after next year and each under scholly correct? And we just brought in 2 former 4 stars and a 3 star within a day who are both very young in their careers (i.e. far from assumed busts)? Holy moly.

Edited by LZIp
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2 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

Man, Groce has brought in as much highly-regarded talent in one week as KD did in 12 years.

 

Once again, I'd like to express my deeply heartfelt thanks to Duquesne!!!  :bow:

 

I know this is tongue-in-cheek but I sense it will be a theme for many moving forward, so I'll say this and then move on:

 

Akron was a mediocre program when Keith Dambrot took over.  He and his staff built it into a consistently winning program with 3 NCAA Tournament berths along the way.  When KD left, he left the program in FAR better condition than he received it.  Even the biggest KD critic should be able to admit that he took the program to a higher level than it had been before.  In fact, John Groce is not Akron's coach today if Dambrot didn't build it into a program with a winning reputation first.  

 

Dambrot took us as far as he could, and now I believe Groce will take us to the next level in finally getting that NCAA Tournament run.  It's OK to be excited about Groce and what he's doing while still having great appreciation for 13 years of hard work KD gave us.  

 

Keith Dambrot will one day have a banner next to the one belonging to Bob Huggins in Akron.  I think we can all agree on two things: #1- That banner better be hanging in a new or renovated arena, #2- It'd be perfect if John Groce fulfills what we all believe he can here to have a banner up there as well.

 

Rant over, back to scouting awesome prospects.  

 

Go Zips!

Edited by UAZip0510
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2 hours ago, UAZip0510 said:

 

I know this is tongue-in-cheek but I sense it will be a theme for many moving forward, so I'll say this and then move on:

 

Akron was a mediocre program when Keith Dambrot took over.  He and his staff built it into a consistently winning program with 3 NCAA Tournament berths along the way.  When KD left, he left the program in FAR better condition than he received it.  Even the biggest KD critic should be able to admit that he took the program to a higher level than it had been before.  In fact, John Groce is not Akron's coach today if Dambrot didn't build it into a program with a winning reputation first.  

 

Dambrot took us as far as he could, and now I believe Groce will take us to the next level in finally getting that NCAA Tournament run.  It's OK to be excited about Groce and what he's doing while still having great appreciation for 13 years of hard work KD gave us.  

 

Keith Dambrot will one day have a banner next to the one belonging to Bob Huggins in Akron.  I think we can all agree on two things: #1- That banner better be hanging in a new or renovated arena, #2- It'd be perfect if John Groce fulfills what we all believe he can here to have a banner up there as well.

 

Rant over, back to scouting awesome prospects.  

 

Go Zips!

I totally agree with every word you said. Nothing but gratitude and appreciation for KD and his staff for what they have done at Akron. 
That being said, B&G didn't say anything wrong. I am also grateful for Duquesne. We all know that KD would have been able to keep the job at Akron for as long as he wanted. So the only way for us to upgrade and keep moving forward was for someone else to hire KD away. Duquesne did that for us. Hence the gratitude.   

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23 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Roster make up still worries me for next year (specifically PG and the lack of guard depth in general), but I don't think any of us should really have any expectations for the transition year as unfortunate as that is.

Yeah really anything accomplished this year will be gravy. I'm mostly interested to see what kind of ball we're playing. Not hopeful for too great of a season. But you never know, we have a few decent pieces left.

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10 hours ago, UAZip0510 said:

 

I know this is tongue-in-cheek but I sense it will be a theme for many moving forward, so I'll say this and then move on:

 

Akron was a mediocre program when Keith Dambrot took over.  He and his staff built it into a consistently winning program with 3 NCAA Tournament berths along the way.  When KD left, he left the program in FAR better condition than he received it.  Even the biggest KD critic should be able to admit that he took the program to a higher level than it had been before.  In fact, John Groce is not Akron's coach today if Dambrot didn't build it into a program with a winning reputation first.  

 

Dambrot took us as far as he could, and now I believe Groce will take us to the next level in finally getting that NCAA Tournament run.  It's OK to be excited about Groce and what he's doing while still having great appreciation for 13 years of hard work KD gave us.  

 

Keith Dambrot will one day have a banner next to the one belonging to Bob Huggins in Akron.  I think we can all agree on two things: #1- That banner better be hanging in a new or renovated arena, #2- It'd be perfect if John Groce fulfills what we all believe he can here to have a banner up there as well.

 

Rant over, back to scouting awesome prospects.  

 

Go Zips!

I agree.  I mentioned essentially the same sentiment in either the Dambrot to Duquesne thread or the John Groce thread.

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7 hours ago, akronzips71 said:

Starting to look like everyone on the team either loved KD and went with him or hated him and had already decided to leave.

I'm gonna go on a limb and say the last two departures may have gotten a little nudge from Groce

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Aaron didn't really choose to leave.  

14 hours ago, zippy5 said:

I'm gonna go on a limb and say the last two departures may have gotten a little nudge from Groce

 

I'm going to confirm the limb zippy5 is out on is correct.  Aaron was close with several returning players - we'll see if this impacts morale at all. 

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You have to feel bad for Aaron in that he did not have a very good year.  As an underclassman he was like the energizer bunny, he would come in off the bench and bring energy to the game.  He made a lot of hustle plays.  In the beginning of the year he played double digit minutes.  Like everyone else, he liked to shoot the 3.  This year he only shot 22% from the 3 line and was 0 for 8 once we hit MAC play.  He hardly played toward the end of the season.  I remember when he was in a game and playing well KD pulled him after a couple of minutes and he gave KD a look like why are you pulling me.  I did not see him getting major minutes this year.  I wish him the best of luck and hope that he obtained his degree. 

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I think this is a good move for both Aaron and the team. He did not get much playing time last year and is not likely to get much time with the new regime either. 

Seeing how he already graduated, it only makes sense to move on. If he's done with basketball, he can start his career a year early and if he wants to play some more, he can be the star at a low major.

 

Edited by Valpo Zip
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As I understand it, Aaron is a great kid and a great teammate.  He's a lighthearted personable kid everybody liked.

 

As a Zip basketball player, he went sideways at best, never improving during his time there.  I don't think it was for lack of effort.  In any event, I don't think he was suddenly going to develop as a major MAC contributor as a senior and I'd rather have the open scholarship.

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16 hours ago, UAZip0510 said:

Aaron didn't really choose to leave.  

 

I'm going to confirm the limb zippy5 is out on is correct.  Aaron was close with several returning players - we'll see if this impacts morale at all. 

That's what I'm afraid of. He seemed pretty close with the guys that were left. Hopefully it was all on good terms and no one got upset

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He could have been run off the team.

 

Or, he could have been given a frank assessment of his basketball future at the MAC level (his PT last season would be similar the what's in store for him in 2017-18 @ UA) and been given the choice of staying or leaving. 

 

Nice kid. I wish him well. 

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