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Groce has signed several players from USA-Africa, I believe. They just haven't stuck for long. As far as basketball, those guys seem to be pretty transient - quick to transfer if they show any definite skill (blocked shots, rebounding) scoring usually comes late to most of them as well, if at all. Frankly, most would be better served staying and improving at the mid-major level but I'm guessing handlers and agents are pushing for bigger bucks as fast as possible.

On my phone so can’t post the tweet but it appears the poor kid had cancer but is now cancer free.

For 1970’s style retro bigs we will probably need to recruit out of Cuba.

According to inquirer.com, in a subscription article dated Dec. 06, 2024: "Roman Catholic drops state championship game to Bishop McDevitt in overtime" .... "Roman Catholic junior standout quarterback Semaj Beals reportedly was injured just before the fourth quarter concluded..." I am not sure the extent of his injury, however, the injury might be the reason some schools lost interest in recruiting him.

Then people would just complain that he isn't a 1970s style back to the basket scorer.

Now that we are expanding our recruiting to Europe maybe we can finally get that serviceable backup big?

Word is that a former Serbian Zips player is helping Groce in Europe.

Our soccer team has had foreign born players for a long time. This is kind of the first I'm hearing about Akron basketball actively recruiting overseas players. Not to say they haven't before. Just that I don't recall seeing it mentioned. The overseas players I recall Akron landing in the past were either transfers or guys that came to US to play basketball at either a high school or prep school.

Like others I'm surprised the buyout is so low for a 10 year deal. I would have thought it would be 2-3 years of his base compensation so more like 800k-$1.2 million. He still earned about $950k this past season it appears. Given that he seems to like it here, it would seem that would be enough to keep him unless a team from SEC, B1G, Big East, etc came calling.

Not to diminish his talents or abilities at all, but if you look at his Rivals timeline, several of these offers were made when he could commit. For example, Florida A&M and Pitt both offered him in 2023 along with 17 other schools. He was only a sophomore. So someone showed interest then everyone jumped on board and tried to get his loyalty.

HUGE if it sticks, NIL play? Either way the future looks bright atleast for right now.

As far as I can tell the practices and scrimmages are closed to the public. Gotta protect our top secret winning formula, you know 🙄

It's safe to say there is more to this story. I love the recruit, but I don't buy that we out-recruited the big boys. I would love to learn the real story behind this. The second thing I would love to answer is how long he will stay at UA if he is successful. We are, and will be, a stepping stone to greener pastures. I'll enjoy him while we have him.

First 2025 OOC scheduling info: 11/30 coach Jackson returns with her Youngstown State Penguins. Any other preseason news?

Something about this just doesn’t add up - must be more to this story. Maybe he just waited too long and this was the only offer still on the table? There is no way that he chooses Akron over some of those other schools. I’m guessing that it was Buffalo, Akron, Tulsa, and Sacramento State as the only valid offers left and he chose Akron.

I know that camp starts tomorrow, and I believe the first day of full contact is Friday. Is this generally open to the public and are the scrimmages open to the public?

His massive offer sheet also included Colorado, Duke, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska and Penn State, among many others. In his junior season, Beals finished with 4,135 passing yards and 50 touchdowns, while adding seven scores on the ground.

That is an awfully low buyout. Could be a strategic bargaining point (and indicator of interest) to help JG move up to a more prestigious gig. Make no mistake, virtually all coaches are going to move up if the opportunity and money are right. I'm guessing Groce and Dustin have one more try at a top-20 program in them.

What a CULTURE.

I sure wish the buyout for him to leave for another job was more than $350K! I want him to stay forever.

He is worth every penny. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2025/07/28/akron-zips-mens-basketball-coach-john-groce-contract-extension-details/83115798007/

4.0 GPA according to his bio.

What a picture.

This is a little off topic, but is our soccer program able to recruit the world like apparently Groce is? This is a pretty big piece of information that shows just how deep Bud's pockets are along with the other financial support for the program.

Wow, was not expecting that. This kid had offers from a number of big time programs at one point. Not sure if all offers were for QB or a different position, but major recruiting win for this staff.