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UAZip0510

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It's not difficult at all if you look at her record over the last three years. She is in a profession that always asks "What have you done for us lately." She neither recruited well, nor coached 'em up, nor laid the foundation for a turnaround. We should, and must, expect more. 

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On 5/11/2018 at 5:23 PM, 72 Roo said:

I like Larry Williams and hope he proves to be an outstanding AD. But when it comes to our current situation in hiring a women's basketball head coach I hold him responsible for not being ahead of the situation. As last season unfolded everyone in the world knew Jodi had to be replaced. She was neither coaching nor recruiting on a high level. The pipeline of talent to turn the situation around was non existent. 

 

It was Larry's job to go to her, review her performance and discuss changes. If he waited for her to "think it over" shame on him. That's bad management and leadership. We lost the best coach in Ohio  when BG hired the Ashland women's coach. Larry should have already had back channel contact with her letting her know a change was coming. I've got to believe our resources, vision and future are far better than BG can offer. If she would not come to UA then other candidates should have been identified. Succession planning is one of the most important aspects of any large organization leader. 

 

The wait we are experiencing now should have been avoided. I hope he still finds a good one.

Why is Akron such a better job than BG? How is the vision any better? Resources? I suspect their budget is in much better shape and enrollment more stable in recent years.

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18 hours ago, jupitertoo said:

Why is Akron such a better job than BG? How is the vision any better? Resources? I suspect their budget is in much better shape and enrollment more stable in recent years.

Yeah, I also have to disagree about which is the better job/program -although we may have been paying a bit more. BGSU has been an elite program in the MAC going back to the 80s. Our program was nothing until Kest got here. BGSU has a much stronger fan base, evidenced by the fact they drew almost 3 times the fans the Zips did despite having a similarly dismal season this year. They also drew more fans this year than we did in our NCAA tournament year. They also have an active chat room focused on women's basketball.

The challenge will be for the new Zips regime to build the team and program back up to where it is at an elite level. We saw Buffalo and CMU raise the bar this year in the NCAA tournament. That was fun to watch.

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They had to of known by mid-season that she had to go. She might be the winning-est coach in Akron women's basketball, but she still in 12 years made only 1 tourney and had a cumulative 89-113  conference record. If the plan wasn't to fire her it probably had more to do with the fact Akron didn't want to pay to buy out her contract.

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2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

They had to of known by mid-season that she had to go. She might be the winning-est coach in Akron women's basketball, but she still in 12 years made only 1 tourney and had a cumulative 89-113  conference record. If the plan wasn't to fire her it probably had more to do with the fact Akron didn't want to pay to buy out her contract.

She signed a 5 year contract in 2013 that took her though the end of this season, so buying her out wouldn't really have been a consideration. Some move was going to have to be made anyway. Losing 19 MAC games in a row over two seasons obviously didn't bode well. I was wondering then what might happen at the end of the season and am surprised it didn't happen sooner after our season ended. For what it's worth, BGSU endured 4 years of big losing before letting their long time (assistant and the head) coach go. I think the beginning of Kest's downfall was not capitalizing on the NCAA success with successful recruiting classes for 14-15 and 15-16.

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OK, I'll bite. Since I started this discussion I'll offer why I feel the Akron job in women's basketball is better than the BGSU job. First let me acknowledge that from 2001-2012 Curt Miller had BG at a level above the rest of the MAC. He left for IU and fizzled out after 3 years. But the BG program was bad under Jennifer Roos. To be honest ours was worse under Jodi. So why do I say the Akron job is better than the BG job? Many points could be argued but the biggest is that BG does not want to play at a higher level. They built the Stroth Center to accommodate a grand total of 5,000 fans. That is the damning statement that their athletic dept is making about where they want to be. Our gym, while a piece of crap, seats 5500. We know it is crap and we want better. That is what makes our program an upgrade over BG. They have low aspirations, we don't. We aren't there, but we want to be. They are content to be happy with a low expectations. Their athletic infrastructure speaks volumes. Even hockey, their primier program, is no longer relevant at the top level. So yeah, I think we offer more and that is potential. We ain't here yet but an aspiring coach could take us there better at Akron than at BG. 

 

Yet let's remember why I started this discussion. It was not about who has the better program. It was about why did Larry Williams let it get to this point? He had a bad coach, who lost 19 MAC games and needed to be removed. Yet he delayed making the proper move. Why? Jodi was not going to survive this season, so as AD prepare for it. A damn good coach, Robyn Fralick, of Ashland and Ohio Coach of The Year, was plucked away by BG. OK that happens, but when it does you have a plan B and you move on. We have done nothing to date. As I have said before, I like Larry and I support him. But when he falls short of the job I'm going to say so.

 

Go Zips! 

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7 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

OK, I'll bite. Since I started this discussion I'll offer why I feel the Akron job in women's basketball is better than the BGSU job. First let me acknowledge that from 2001-2012 Curt Miller had BG at a level above the rest of the MAC. He left for IU and fizzled out after 3 years. But the BG program was bad under Jennifer Roos. To be honest ours was worse under Jodi. So why do I say the Akron job is better than the BG job? Many points could be argued but the biggest is that BG does not want to play at a higher level. They built the Stroth Center to accommodate a grand total of 5,000 fans. That is the damning statement that their athletic dept is making about where they want to be. Our gym, while a piece of crap, seats 5500. We know it is crap and we want better. That is what makes our program an upgrade over BG. They have low aspirations, we don't. We aren't there, but we want to be. They are content to be happy with a low expectations. Their athletic infrastructure speaks volumes. Even hockey, their primier program, is no longer relevant at the top level. So yeah, I think we offer more and that is potential. We ain't here yet but an aspiring coach could take us there better at Akron than at BG. 

 

Yet let's remember why I started this discussion. It was not about who has the better program. It was about why did Larry Williams let it get to this point? He had a bad coach, who lost 19 MAC games and needed to be removed. Yet he delayed making the proper move. Why? Jodi was not going to survive this season, so as AD prepare for it. A damn good coach, Robyn Fralick, of Ashland and Ohio Coach of The Year, was plucked away by BG. OK that happens, but when it does you have a plan B and you move on. We have done nothing to date. As I have said before, I like Larry and I support him. But when he falls short of the job I'm going to say so.

 

Go Zips! 

The fallacy in the argument is Akron hasn't shown a commitment to want to win at women's sports. 

 

Volleyball - Finished 10th out of 11

Softball - Finished 12th out of 12

Women's basketball - Finished 12th out of 12

Women's soccer - Finished 12th out of 12

 

Akron not having a plan in place to replace Jodi and showing no sense of urgency in filling this position for what's easily the highest profile women's sports shows you women's sports are very low on their list of priorities. It also shows the position isn't better than BGSU as they went out and got the hot name before someone else could snatch them up. One program is looking to win. The other is just looking to fill a Title IV requirement.

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1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

The fallacy in the argument is Akron hasn't shown a commitment to want to win at women's sports. 

 

Volleyball - Finished 10th out of 11

Softball - Finished 12th out of 12

Women's basketball - Finished 12th out of 12

Women's soccer - Finished 12th out of 12

 

Akron not having a plan in place to replace Jodi and showing no sense of urgency in filling this position for what's easily the highest profile women's sports shows you women's sports are very low on their list of priorities. It also shows the position isn't better than BGSU as they went out and got the hot name before someone else could snatch them up. One program is looking to win. The other is just looking to fill a Title IV requirement.

 

Softball finished strong, however, with an impressive 15-5 win over PCCC, to bring their season record to 4-43-1.  :tomato:   :puke: 

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Is it a lack of urgency, or a determination to find the right candidate? Do we know any details on the depth of the search, or is all of this pure speculation based on when Kest was relieved of her duties and the fact that we missed out on a supposedly good coach from Ashland? I'm sure people wanted a coach hired by now so we can save this recruiting class, but hiring the wrong person can be more detrimental to the program than missing out on a singular recruiting class. 

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12 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Is it a lack of urgency, or a determination to find the right candidate? Do we know any details on the depth of the search, or is all of this pure speculation based on when Kest was relieved of her duties and the fact that we missed out on a supposedly good coach from Ashland? I'm sure people wanted a coach hired by now so we can save this recruiting class, but hiring the wrong person can be more detrimental to the program than missing out on a singular recruiting class. 

Given that they're 18-42 the last two years, they've already missed at least two recruiting classes!  What's one more?

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9 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

The fallacy in the argument is Akron hasn't shown a commitment to want to win at women's sports. 

 

Volleyball - Finished 10th out of 11

Softball - Finished 12th out of 12

Women's basketball - Finished 12th out of 12

Women's soccer - Finished 12th out of 12

 

Akron not having a plan in place to replace Jodi and showing no sense of urgency in filling this position for what's easily the highest profile women's sports shows you women's sports are very low on their list of priorities. It also shows the position isn't better than BGSU as they went out and got the hot name before someone else could snatch them up. One program is looking to win. The other is just looking to fill a Title IV requirement.

I find your point hard to argue against. Realistically we have an underperforming women's program. Despite outstanding Swimming & Diving and Track & Field. Cross Country and Tennis could be considered average this year, but have had some very good years so they are not lost causes. This situation points to the need to have fired Jones at the end of the season. She must have time left on her contract. I still believe we should be a better program than most MAC schools. I concede to your point that we have not been so. Damn! :tomato: I still expect more out to Williams. Find a way to get us to the top of the MAC and it all starts with coaching. 

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Jake is from Bishop Hartley in Columbus before going to prep school, he is a  high volume shooter, He has always been a highly ranked player based off his scoring average, he can shoot, likes to shoot & does shoot a lot, IMO the rest of his game will struggle to transition to this level of basketball 

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3 hours ago, 94zipgrad said:

Jake is from Bishop Hartley in Columbus before going to prep school, he is a  high volume shooter, He has always been a highly ranked player based off his scoring average, he can shoot, likes to shoot & does shoot a lot, IMO the rest of his game will struggle to transition to this level of basketball 

 

Nick Goddard 2.0?

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3 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Whoa.

Terry and family were very strongly rooted in the Marlington School District, so I saw him as being the most difficult "leave" when the staff escaped to Pittsburgh.  I can imagine they're feeling homesick by now.  For reasons that are internal to Terry, he never felt the desire to apply for head coaching jobs while at Akron.  Maybe this is his last chance at either a HC job or returning to the area (He's a Barberton native).  I'm just not sure its a good idea to hire a man who's never coached womens' basketball for his first HC job at a D1 university.

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33 minutes ago, Z.I.P. said:

Terry and family were very strongly rooted in the Marlington School District, so I saw him as being the most difficult "leave" when the staff escaped to Pittsburgh.  I can imagine they're feeling homesick by now.  For reasons that are internal to Terry, he never felt the desire to apply for head coaching jobs while at Akron.  Maybe this is his last chance at either a HC job or returning to the area (He's a Barberton native).  I'm just not sure its a good idea to hire a man who's never coached womens' basketball for his first HC job at a D1 university.

 

It makes a lot of sense for him both career wise and location wise. It's just a bit out of left field to consider him, a guy as you said with zero women's basketball coaching experience (minus the summer camps). 

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Side note. I know scheduling is a big topic around here, and it looks like Saul is going to give himself every opportunity to save his job in Athens.

 

Highlights for OU...

 

- At Xavier this upcoming season

- Possibly a tournament in Jamaica with Georgetown as a confirmed opponent (field yet to be announced)

- At Purdue this upcoming season 

- Purdue AT THE CONVO the following season?!

 

Who do we have confirmed outside of the Cayman Islands tourney?

 

P.S. Sorry for plugging Kitty Attack. I frequent as a non-registered guest often, though, as they are the second best fan board in the MAC and typically have some good nuggets. Plus, I especially like to see their fan base in disarray over the state of their program currently. 

Edited by Let'sGoZips94
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