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2017 Golf Outing News and Notes


Dr Z

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The Annual Zips Golf Outing was held yesterday at Shale Creek Golf Course in Medina. While attendance seemed to be down a little, it was probably the best Outing UA has run in quite a while. The day was absolutely beautiful, the coaches were all in attendance and happy to answer any-and-all questions, the door prizes were fantastic and the BBQ ribs and chicken were outstanding yet-again. Kudos to UA for putting on such a fun well-organized event. I wish everyone on ZipsNation could have been there! 

 

As posted by zzx, the Zips inked a new QB this weekend, Robbie Kelley from Quincy College, a graduate transfer. Apparently he was too small for D-1 ball coming out of high school, but grew 3 inches in college, and now stands 6' 2". He was an all-conference player. He'll have two years at Akron. He learned of UA through a past relationship at NC State during the Coach Amato /  Stroud era.

 

Woodson has started throwing, and the prognisis for an on-time recovery is good. If everything continues to remain on-schedule, he will be the game 1 starter. That said, the staff is very happy with the QB depth and competition this season. No one is as good as a healthy Tommy, but the other guys are more than capable of leading the team to some W's.

 

MTB has both a hand and knee injuries, and will be out for the 2017 season. He is expected to get a medical redshirt and play in 2017. Newman Williams is purported to be as healthy as he's ever been during his injury-plagued UA career, and is expected to split the H-back role with incoming freshman Kobie Booker, whose combination of size and hands make him a perfect fit for the position. Brandon Junk will also see some time situational time at H-back, as he's a reliable blocker. 

 

Tra'Von Chapman has made the transition to receiver look easy, according to one coach. You might also see him line up at h-back occasionally. He's proven to be a leader, and one of the harder workers on the team.

 

Expect to see a little more running early this year, the running backs have more talent and depth than the receivers at this point. The staff is very pleased with the depth at the position and Warren Ball is said to be one hundred percent healthy and ready to rock!

 

Who will assume the much-needed role of "disruptor" on defense? In 2015, it was Jatavis Brown and Jamal Marcus wreaking havoc in the backfield. In the injury-plagued 2016, there really wasn't anyone. Look for Pitt transfer Jamal Davis to assume the role of Jamal Marcus, with a rising Ulysses Gilbert stepping into those big shoes of Jatavis Brown. 

 

Another disruptive force on the 2017 Zips defense will likely be St V's Justin Sampson. Most big schools shied-away from him when it appeared his grades would relegate him to a "non-qualifier" designation this season. But it appears he'll take care of the required academic work this summer and be ready to take the field this fall. He purportedly has as much talent and any d-lineman this Zips staff has recruited...they're very high on him.

 

Help on the 2016 front seven may also come in the form of Aurora's Bubba Arslanian, who is a blue shirt. He very well could make an immediate impact for the Zips defense. Multiple members of the staff praised the kid's potential.

 

WR Nate Stewart and is dealing with an unspecified injury, but should be ready come August. 

 

If you were hoping Oregon State transfer Deltron Sands would shoulder the load at RB this fall, you'll need to pray his recuperative powers are excellent. He came to the Zips program while healing from a shoulder injury. He took a spill a short while ago, and injured his other shoulder. If all goes well with his recovery, he'll be good to go in the fall. But two recently-injured shoulders is not something you want if you're bucking for 15 carries per game. Keep your fingers and toes crossed...

 

Brock Boxen is back one hundred percent and will be counted on. Overall, Coach Bowden seems confident that his defense will be a force once again. 

 

One coach said he spoke to Steve Keim (Arizona GM) recently, and Steve indicated that Nordly Capi had a decent chance to make the Cardinals roster. 

 

Reggie Corner is a flat-out ballplayer, but he will likely sit out 2017 to get on solid academic footing.

 

The staff is VERY high on incoming freshman Jordyn Riley and Jeffrey Lubin. Expect them both to be on the secondary's 2-deep this fall. Jordan George, Kyron Brown and Darian "Double D" Dailey will be the starting CB's, while Alvin Davis, the 157 lbs heat-seeking missile, will continue to start at safety. 

 

James King, the transfer from Miami, is an aggressive, talented, 190 lb kid with the mean streak you want on the defensive side of the ball. He'll see appreciable playing time this season. "How much?" will depend upon his coachability and learning of the playbook. 

 

Malik Woodridge and Dustin Burkhart are both 10.6 100 meter guys. The staff is really happy to get kids with that speed in the fold. They expect Woodridge to fill an AJ Coney-type role in the future. 

 

Suggs will enter the fall as the Zips #4 RB, behind Ball, Edwards and Morgan. While he doesn't possess sprinter-like speed, he's very elusive and will be fun to watch.

 

As far as other comings and goings are concerned - Brian Bell's semester in exile is over, and he will be back for summer camp. The only "going" thusfar is Freshman OL Montel Jordan, who has left UA and returned home to Florida.

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18 hours ago, Dr Z said:

Zips inked a new QB this weekend, Robbie Kelley from Quincy College, a graduate transfer. Apparently he was too small for D-1 ball coming out of high school, but grew 3 inches in college, and now stands 6' 2".

 

I'm seeing 6'-3" and 220 lbs.  Which is pretty much ideal.  I realize it's a "listed height", but I'm curious where you saw 6'-2" (or were told that).  That would mean he's probably only a little over 6' tall.  

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21 hours ago, zipsoutsider said:

Thanks @Dr Z that was a terrific write-up!

Thanks, but giving credit where credit is due, I took some notes when I got home, Captain Kangaroo edited my post, added his  notes and polished my average writing so we could keep everything in one post. 

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22 hours ago, Dr Z said:

As posted by zzx, the Zips inked a new QB this weekend, Robbie Kelley from Quincy College, a graduate transfer. Apparently he was too small for D-1 ball coming out of high school, but grew 3 inches in college, and now stands 6' 2". He was an all-conference player. He'll have two years at Akron. He learned of UA through a past relationship at NC State during the Coach Amato /  Stroud era.

 

According to this article, he was 6 ' 3" as a high school senior. Max preps lists him as 6' 3" 220lbs as a HS senior, too.

 

If he grew to be 6'5" or 6' 6", he would be around Big Ben's height and that is a tough size to take down. If they got the height wrong, 6' 3" is still decent, lol.

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Sucks the MTB is out again as he may have been our best receiving threat. I believe this is now 2 years that he has missed with injuries. It is good to see he plans on coming back, though. Hopefully Sands can get it together health-wise if we are going to be running a lot as he should be better than Edwards and Morgan.

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