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With the Hustle Belt going under and not much news coming out about the football program, I figured I’d fire up the position previews again. I stopped updating them before because it got to be too much balancing a full-time job, writing for Rivals, and trying to keep up with the insane amount of portal movement. I’m going with a slightly different format this time around. Now that I’ve got a bit more free time, I’ve gone back and watched full games of our portal and JUCO additions to get a better feel beyond just their highlight reels. If anyone was at the spring game or has anything else to add, feel free to jump in. New Additions: The new additions will provide depth, and a few of them might end up entering the starting rotation at different points during the season. That said, I’m not seeing any clear all-conference type additions right now. If injuries don’t become a factor, the starting DL feels fairly predictable: Hull at one DT spot and Durham holding down one end. They are the two most likely all-conference candidates along the DL. @Captain Kangaroo mentioned D. Frazier as a starter at DE during his spring visit, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that sticks heading into the season. Based on one of the photos, Frazier looks like he’s added some bulk. He was an explosive player coming out of high school as a linebacker, so this might be the year where the move to DE starts to pay off and he takes that next step. The real question mark is the other defensive tackle spot. At this point, I’d lean toward Mixon holding onto it. I just haven’t seen anything on film from the incoming group that suggests someone is clearly better right now. Potential Starter: I originally expected V. Highland to start alongside Hull, and that still could end up being the case. But the staff may lean towards rotating Hull and Highland to keep both fresh, which could give us very little drop-off at that DT spot. Highland graded out as the highest-rated defender on Arkansas Pine-Bluff last season per PFF, but it’s worth noting his snap count was under 400. For comparison, Laventure logged over 650 snaps and Hull was north of 550, so there’s a difference in workload. Either way, Highland is going to play a lot this year. Whether he’s technically listed as a starter or comes in as part of a rotation, he should see significant snaps. The X-Factors: K. Waye and JD Williams bring the kind of size, length, and athleticism you just can’t teach — Waye at 6’4”, 240 and Williams at 6’6”, 340 really stand out. That said, both look a bit raw and are making the jump from DII, so there’s naturally going to be some projection involved. If I’m not mistaken, they’ve each only got one year of eligibility left, which makes it tougher to bank on major development in a short window. I’d be a lot more intrigued if they had two years in the program with the staff having more time to refine things. It sounds like Waye was backing up D. Frazier during the spring, which at least provides a pretty athletic rotation at that end spot. Williams, on the other hand, wasn’t on campus for spring ball, so he may need a little more time to get up to speed. If one (or both) hit, it could really elevate the ceiling of this defensive front. Depth: JUCO DT Ross-Graves looks a bit smaller on film than what he’s listed at, but he plays with a relentless motor. That alone should give him a chance to push Mixon on the interior. At minimum, he feels like a solid backup option. DE J. Ridley is another JUCO addition with a similar high-effort profile. In the game I watched, he was in more of a 3-4 alignment and spent a lot of time lined up inside the tackles - almost like a DT - and held his gap pretty well against that level of competition. B. Tobias is more of a longer-term addition. He has excellent size at 6’5”, 240 and comes over from Western Kentucky, but I’m not expecting much from him this season. Overall, I’d still be surprised if any of these guys provide more than depth right away, but that was clearly a need after the portal losses and graduation. What about the rest of the returners? Not to be forgotten, D. Frazier’s brother, J. Frazier, should continue backing up Durham at DE, just like we saw at the end of 2025. There’s definitely some potential with the younger group. At defensive tackle, E. Davis (R. So.) and Brown-Demery (R. Fr.) could start working their way into the rotation. At defensive end, redshirt freshmen T. Watkins and V. Kavals may not quite be ready to make an impact yet, although it sounds like Kavals could be growing into more of a tackle role. Duncan is also listed at DE, but it sounds like he may have been moved over to linebacker. Overall, there’s some intriguing upside in this group, even if it doesn’t show up in a major way this season What’s next? The staff may not be finished adding to the defensive line if they feel there’s someone out there who can come in and contribute right away. As it stands, there’s a solid mix of older players and younger developmental guys. This unit certainly wouldn’t be mistaken for the best DL in the MAC, and I don’t think it matches the overall talent level of last year’s group. But there does seem to be enough depth here for the unit to be productive and, at the very least, not a liability for the defense. Projected Depth Chart: DE: D. Frazier Waye DE: Durham J. Frazier DT: Hull Highland DT: Mixon Ross-Graves Returners: DE - Duncan (R. Sr.) (Might be a LB now)* DE - Durham (R. Jr.) DE - D Frazier (R. So.) DE - J. Frazier (R. So.) DE - Kavals (R. Fr.) DE - Watkins (R. Fr.) DT - Mixon (R. Jr.) DT - Hull (Jr.) DT - E. Davis (R. So.) DT - Brown-Demery (R. Fr.) In: DE - Waye (Sr.) (DII) DE - Ridley (Jr.) (JUCO) DE - Tobias (R. So.) (Western Kentucky) DT - Highland (R. Sr.) (Arkansas Pine Bluff) DT - Williams (R. Sr.) (DII) DT - Ross-Graves (Jr.) (JUCO) Out: DE - Dall (All-MAC) = UCF DE - Cheatom = Robert Morris DE - Brown = Graduation DT - Laventure (All-MAC) = Texas Tech DT - Murphy = Western Kentucky DT - Madden = Graduation DT - Musika = Portal DT - Vega = Portal

Same sort of thing.

One of the replies on X said, "Detroit Mercy gets punished for Michigan's violations."

Jerry Tarkanian said it best. “The NCAA was so mad at Kentucky they gave Cleveland State two more years of probation.”

Nobody is giving the NCAA credit - that's the point. They are a spineless group of suits that lack any sort of moral compass.

I think you guys give the NCAA more credit than they deserve. They only exist because the P4 allows them to. The courts stripped away much of their power and the little power they do still have the P4 holds them as a hostage at gunpoint. Case in point, who wanted the expanded tournament? It was the P4 schools so they could get more 18-15 into the tournament and take more NCAA credits from mid-majors. Not to mention allows them to avoid more costly coaching fires since select P4 programs are content just making the tournament. The second the NCAA doesn't comply the P4+ will just pull out and start their own league. They're the real ones calling the shots. The NCAA is just the fall guy that conferences can point their fingers at to deflect the blame. Their version of Roger Goodell

If the NCAA actually believed that, they'd create a system that promotes academics over $$$ and they'd actually investigate the P4s.

But, but, but academics are the most important thing in college sports.

Detroit Mercy hit with a postseason ban for APR violations. Screw the NCAA.

The tool I have says not well, which passes the eye test. We had a lot of great offensive players, but not a lot of good defensive ones. Eric might have been our only real 2 way player. Evan could score, but he was still very limited offensively. Next years team I feel will have more 2-way players so Ford wouldn't be forced to pick between offense or defense when running out 5 players as the players on the court can do both. In all likelihood we won't be as good offensively, but should improve defensively.

I have been curious all year how Shammah graded out defensively. So many times Shammah was the closest guy to an opponent hitting a three. That doesn’t necessarily mean he was at fault. But it has me wondering.

Couldn't quite tell but there was a young girl behind the Toronto bench who appeared to be wearing a Zips MAC Championship shirt.

Shammah showed up in every game this year. Hoping he gets a shot.

Could also see Morrow. Regardless, we have some nice experience on the staff with a variety of connections around the country.

Yeah, academic year 26 isn't over until 6/30 so there wouldn't be any reporting on that yet

Thank you both. Miami OH is why I asked. Their attendance didn't really solidify itself until MAC season, so I wasn't sure if it included the first half of last year, too. Akron being $100k better than Kent is really something else.

Yes, these type of numbers are almost always announced 1 year in arrears, which can make them confusing. This is further backed by the fact you see Miami so far down the list. One would have to think they would be near or at the top if we were looking at the most recent season numbers since they sold out half their games at Millett.

I would guess Shunnar since he's the associate head coach. The role Dustin had prior.

More in line with academic year than calendar year, though it may not exactly match up. Just their reporting period. Since this is FY25, it would have been based off of the season we played Arizona and not this most recent season.

Forgive my potential ignorance but is FY2025 for Universities the calendar year or the academic year?

Dustin was responsible for scheduling under JG. I wonder who will take this on under Dustin.

Interesting add for UMass. They received a commitment from Abdullah Ahmed from BYU. Last season he averaged 1.4 blocks while scoring 1.3ppg. It might be the first time I recall seeing someone averaging more blocks than ppg.

Now that the roster is set, keep your heads on a swivel for schedule announcements. Curious to see what type of schedule gets put together.