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I am actually with you here. I think Amani is better than any C we have on the roster currently, but our production outside of him was very minimal to non-existent. We got 25 minutes of good to great C play then 15 minutes of pretty bad play. Theoretically Barre/MMK (I expect both to improve), Burton, and even Hammer (all of who I expect to see play minutes at the 5) should give us more depth in the front court. Also, gives us more versatility to adjust our style of play depending on the opponent. We can play Barre if we want to get bigger. We can play Hammer if we want to push the tempo. Burton something in-between both. I would expect more consistent 40 minutes out of our C even though none of them are probably getting All-MAC honors.

I used to think that, but diving into the stats - especially his shooting volume - has changed my tune. Not to mention his 4 pts in the NCAAT was rough. Very much appreciate everything he did for the program, but the reality of his impact is a little overblown. He was much better at the being of the season than the end. How do you not agree we're better at center? Young was replaced. Shammah was always going to be tough to replace because in addition to nearly 13ppg, he had the clutch gene and mental fortitude to step up in big moments. We shall see if anyone can fill those shoes. Our guards were recreated in the aggregate, to steal from Moneyball. The sum of our guards shouldn't be much of a drop off if any, and the improvement will be seen in the front court.

Personally speaking, every top tier MAC team from last season is in some form of major transition at two or more positions. To start the season, bet on experienced coaching. The talent on the well-coached teams will flourish the second half of the season. The MAC schedule changes dramatically, a complete round-robin, so by Valentines Day the standings should be interesting ... yet still in a state of flux. Talent and good coaching down the stretch will show up well into the MAC Tournament.

Zips win in 2OT!!

Headed to overtime vs Eastern

Were there 8 omitted teams ranked higher than us? Even if not, I would expect additional P5's to be given preferential seeding in the future.

This is a fantastic home schedule. We will see some of the best collegiate soccer in the country. I am so glad we got out of the MAC and into the Big East. We need big crowds for each of these games to cement our reputation as a near impossible place for visiting teams to win.

It's not just TJ, but also Scott and Young. Young is very replaceable, but it will be a challenge to replace TJ and Scott at the guard position. Not saying it's impossible. Just pointing out it's more than just TJ that needs replaced.

Last year was likely the highest seed the Zips will ever see. Others like McNeese and Akron, who were No. 12 seeds as automatic qualifiers, would likely have been pushed down to the No. 13 seed line to make room for eight additional at-large teams.

That's an insult to TJ, he should have been MAC POY last year. Tahj was good at IW but wasn't even all-conference. I agree w/ SF as I thought that was Mahaffey but definitely not center

I'm not sure Tavari to Tahj is a drop off. Tavari averaged 19.7ppg but also took the most shots for a player in the MAC. He averaged 5agp and shot 37.3% from 3P. Tahj averaged 17.3ppg and averaged half a shot less per game than Tavari. He averaged 4.1agp on a worse team (who knows how many assists he would've had with better shooters around him) and also shot 37.3% from 3P. We're picking up 2-3 inches at that position which is huge considering how many shots Tavari had blocked/altered. We've improved at SF IMO. Pence/White/Hammer/MMK most likely isn't a drop off and is certainly deeper. C is absolutely improved. We had Evan Mahaffey playing out of position at C 90% of the time last year and Amani disappeared completely at times. They were undersized in 99% of the matchups. We have 2 6'10" PF/C's and can flex MMK/White/Hammer/Pence as a PF/C as a luxury instead of a necessity. I don't want to rip last year's squad but personnel wise, we weren't built for how Groce wanted to play. This team is much more malleable/matchup proof. It's going to come down to execution. I don't know how anyone can say we're definitively going to be worse.

According to an email from Coach Embick about Day of Giving, the 2026 home schedule features matches against the following (potentially more as he said they are finalizing some dates). Dayton, Army, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Creighton, Georgetown, Xavier, Butler and Robert Morris

Who had 0 scholarship offers and was a former walk on. Someone who credits Ford and his staff with his development. Just another example of showing how effective this Zips staff has been at developing players and unlocking potential.

Amani is somewhat unique and an anomaly, he played behind an NBA draft pick and learned a lot there but he was still averaging 18 minutes and 8 points. That's tied for or more production than most of the incoming guys. The better analogy would be comparing incoming transfers to Amani's 23-24 season.

Cheers to the Buffalo and visiting Canadian fans for creating a memorable moment of friendship. Our government treats Canada like an enemy when they have been a friendly, supportive neighbor. They deserve moments like this.

You have to remember coming into this last season Amani Lyles was just a mid-major bench piece that was promoted to starter. He was coming off a 7.6 ppg, 5.2 rebounds/game season. Nobody was predicting he would make an All-MAC team, let alone make 1st team All-MAC. Every season there has been at least 1 player that has dramatically improved YoY. It would seem odd to not believe someone won't achieve the same this coming season (not necessarily 1st team all MAC). The question is just who.

Ahh I thought Halligan played the four last year and Mahaffey was the three - drop off at PF then. I see us more around the top 150 but I really hope I'm wrong and this is the best Zips team of all time. I just don't see it right now.

Although we joke, I think this is great and fully support Canada but I wonder how many U.S. arena crowds outside of Buffalo would know the words to O Canada..

We're taking a step back at PG and C. Not really sure how you can say SF. That's where Halligan started last year and I would think Pence/White would make it an upgrade. Not to mention Halligan is probably going to improve and it's TBD what we get out of Henderson. Wing is the one position that we clearly look better and deeper at. IMO we will be a worse team offensively, but a better team defensively. I doubt we'll finish a top 60 team in NET like we did last and will probably start the season off slow as it will take time to work out rotations and for players to get familiarity. I still think we can be a borderline top 100 team, which is good enough to win the MAC both regular season and MAC tournament.

I’m just not seeing how this roster stacks up to last year’s. Yeah, we’re taller, but that doesn’t really mean much by itself—there’s a lot more to winning than just size. We’re taking a step back at PG, SF, and center, and it’s not like we replaced that production with proven guys. Right now it feels more like we’re filling in with mid-major bench pieces instead of legit difference-makers. If last year’s team played this one, I think last year’s group wins pretty comfortably.

There's irony in getting significantly taller but using "sizable" as the adverb for your step back prediction. Not sure how you're coming to that conclusion as well.

Agreed and appreciate Illini ZIP's efforts and forum content!!!

He looks to be the perfect roster add at this point. No matter if he starts or comes off the bench. At minimum, he should be an 8pt, 6reb, 20-minute guy with ability to deliver much more at any spot along the baseline. Those kind of players are hard to find.

Sizable step back next season IMO

This is where we're at in college athletics. The Big 12 will likely die as a result of this.