All Activity

"Joe Akron" doesn't even know we're ineligible

Bummer, no more Head

Point shaving scandal incoming?

My comment was more about I'm not sure they would be willing to lax academic standards. An Alabama, Miami (FL), Auburn, etc will admit a kid with an 16 ACT score if they thought it could help win them ballgames. Stanford prides itself too much on academics for that to be the case (I don't fault them. Just speaking the reality). The same with schools like a Northwestern or Vanderbilt That's not to say you can't win at these schools. Vanderbilt is currently in the top 10. Stanford was nationally relevant ~15 years ago. Its just that those higher academic standards are going to handicap them so they can't really be a perennial contender. They can have windows of being really good, but they will soon later fall back to irrelevance.

A bronze Arby's A?

YSU was a basketball desert for a half century. I spoke to the late Dan Peters (former YSU HC and Zips assistant) and he said it was virtually impossible to win there. It was a football school in the hood, and any decent players went to MAC schools. Low and behold YSU has won some games lately? They've cleaned up their campus and actually recruited some talent. And, their arena is basically a "red JAR". It gives me hope that someone could one day turn the Zips football program around. Our FB is nowhere near the loser program that YSU basketball was for 50 years. They even lost a serviceable big (7' 3" center) to USC, and apparently haven't skipped a beat. Having mob money to pay NIL doesn't hurt, I'm sure. 🙃

Side note: Pretty sure every Zips opponent that has had a "Blackshear" on their team has had said Blackshear absolutely destroy the Zips.

I think they will be "ok" also. Solid 5-7 wins a season.

The only conclusion I can draw from this is that Groce didn't want James Madison to collect any film on this team. #3DimensionalChess

I believe Stanford just had an alum give $50 million to the football program. With Andrew Luck as the GM, I think they’ll be OK pursuing football and academics.

Didn't YSU get the better of us in a scrimmage last year too?

The rest of this season is all about giving you opportunities to high five your wife!

If we beat UMass, and Kent continues to play well, I think the Wagon Wheel game at Infocision in 2 weeks will cause Joe's (Akron) left big toe to wiggle. Will there be a ticker tape parade down Exchange Street and tickets being scalped for $1,000 on Stub Hub? No. But there will be a palpable buzz and perhaps a "bigger than just friends and family" weekday crowd. Hopefully UA gives away a bunch of tickets. If the Zips blow a home game November 4th against this shitty UMass team, I'll personally go to Sully's Tool Rental, drive a rented bulldozer up Exchange, flatten Infocision and commence construction of a 40 foot tall bronze tribute to Charles Guthrie.

Nice article on Izzy Callaway- https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2025/10/30/izzy-callaway-akron-zips-womens-basketball-mac-copley-high-school/86972184007/

I think a lot of people quit caring long before that. Joe Akron probably quit caring around the time of the Ianello years.

The biggest concern for me was hearing that briscoe and barre played a total of 2 minutes. That puts its all on Amani. I love MMK as he is a hustle player. But he is not skilled enough to be our back up big.

They spent a lot last year. Only fourth in the conference over a number of years. LSU won't be able to sustain it over time. At this rate LSU will be hiring a new coach every year or two. NFL teams aren't this stupid. Over time, Kelly will not be remembered for a student getting killed. It didn't get him fired and he still got the LSU job.

Damn, Akron better not lose this. I think a lot of people cared less once they were declared ineligible for the MAC Championship and any postseason play. I know I did. The MAC scheduling the Kent game on a Tuesday in November with a 7:30 PM kickoff won't help, either.

All that $$, effort, travel, and time to recruit a guy that can't play defense. Guess Groce is down to a 14 man rotation. Maybe 13 because Cody must have fallen out of favor between Tuesday and Wednesday night.

YSU getting 12 offensive rebounded and outrebounding us in total wasn't great. Those were issues that plagued us early last season as well. You have to limit 2nd chancs point opportunities, especially when a team is shooting as well from the perimeter as YSU. Hopefully we can get more from Barre or Brisco once real games are being played.

Game story and extended highlights

YSU is a solid team. They played hard, handled the Zips pressure well and made timely shots. They will win a lot of games. The Zips could never sustain a run. They allowed too many open 3s and turned the ball over at inopportune times. Oggie looks like he fits in but his defense needs work. Shammah was the best Zip on the floor. His ability to create space they hit a jumper was on full display. Young continued to show his tenacity on defense. On one switch to a big man he actually muscled him out of the post. The Zips failures last night were clearly not effort related. They played hard and fast but just a little sloppy. They'll be fine.

It's puzzling. Could be any number of reasons.

Based on your recap, I think it's likely Groce was forcing the guys to play in uncomfortable ways. Frustrating for fans but it's good coaching if true. Odd that Brisco didn't get any PT. Wonder what's up with that. What I haven't heard yet is that we looked slow and weak. As long as those two attributes avoid becoming the descriptors of this team, we'll be quite competitive.