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Don't look now, but ESPN dropped Jacob Harrison off all their rankings, and demoted him to a 3-star recruit. They're probably just mad that they had to mention Akron as the desination of a top recruit.

STA2014 zippy5's campaign to stop the acronyms, who's in?

I'm surprised at how good this team looks. I'll admit, I thought we could flush this season down the drain when we lost Tree. I think this team looks better than any Zips team we've seen in a number of years, including the Zeke Marshall years. Forsythe has stepped up big time. He's much more offensively-minded than Big Zeke ever was. I love it. I love the fact he's only a junior. Very exciting. The vast improvement of Kwan Cheatham is just breathtaking. When I watch him play I simply can't believe this is the same Kwan who wore a Zips' jersey last season. Jimmy Conyers would be the only player I could think of that I've witnessed make a bigger leap one year to the next. Deji continues to get better and better every year. He's going to be one of the better players in the MAC this season. When we recruited him out of Chicago, I remember one recruiting service ranking him as the #1 most athletic player in the state his senior year. Well, Deji has worked and worked on his game and is now not only athletic, but a very skilled basketball player. Nyles Evans doesn't look like the same Nyles Evans we saw last year. Nyles can, and does, really help this team. Always glad to see a local player do well. I was in the camp that was a bit concerned with a seeming lack of player development within the Zips program. Well this year has really begun to change my mind on that front. Antino Jackson is going to be a legit D-1 point guard. (What a backcourt we're going to have adding Joshua Williams next year. We've gone from having no point guard to an embarrassment of riches.) Noah Robotham is simply a revelation. Best freshman I've seen suit up for the Zips since... Jimmal Ball. Not as explosive as Jimmal, but an even better point guard. MAC Freshman of the Year. BJ Gladden has definitely been underwhelming, but I feel he is going to be fine. He's big, strong, athletic. Game just has to slow down for him. It may not happen until next year. This 10-game stretch of light(er)weights should really help his confidence. Big Dog. I know he was hurt. But he hurt his wrist for crying out loud. That shouldn't stop you from jogging, sprinting, running stairs, doing wind sprints, treadmill, etc., etc. The rustiness of his basketball skills is understandable, but his lack of conditioning... Getting a little tired of McAdams. As has been astutely observed: a one-trick pony. Even I could hang around beyond the 3-point line & just launch a handful of 3's a game. Floor spacing? Okay, but other than that... I may even start Gladden over Reggie. However, I'm pretty sure Reggie will get into more of a groove as the season goes on & I'll eat my words. At least I hope so. Kretzer is similar, but he seems to be the glue that holds the team together. I really like his hustle, presence, body language & leadership. Anyway, the team looks very good. Ball movement has been great. I attribute this to having legit PG play and, dare I say it, not thinking we should rely on Tree.

If the Lady Zips play like they did in the second half on a consistent basis, this team will be better than last year's team. Also, what a nice athletic play by Anita Brown here: Just a little side note here: Lady Zips are averaging 86 points per game, and are only giving up 59 points per game. That's a 27 point margin of victory. Lady Zips should win Friday, and then should be playing Siena on Saturday. A win over Siena would really help our RPI with Siena currently at #10 in the RPI.

When Can't students are buzzing, it typically has nothing to do with football...

Unfortunately I don't think we need to take the chance .............. For 1 season ? http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2014/11/ohio_state_football_buckeyes_d.html

In the second half we got away from what we were doing well in the first half, driving to the basket, taking threes when we were open and squared up and feeding the ball to Pat. We also missed some easy shots. Reggie had an alley oop and missed the shot, Evans missed an easy layup. The lack of assists does not bother me if we are getting layups off the dribble. When Pat gets the ball and scores there is no assist but no big deal. I really like how we are keeping the lane open. Penn State played much better the 2nd half and deserved the victory. How about our foul shooting. Simply amazing!!

I never thought I would say this: Why didn't Kwon start the 2nd half. Having Reggie and Kretzer in at the same time is hurting us. Would rather start Ibitayo. We are having success driving to the basket. Reggie missed a chippie and the rest were tough shots. Robotham is the man when we need a shot

All the questions were going to Coach Dambrot, and I thought with Dr. Scarborough there it offered a good opportunity to hear his perspective on college sports. So I asked him if he could say a few words about his personal philosophy on the balance between athletics and academics at a university. He started off by talking about his early years in Texas when he became a big sports fan who went to all the games and began realizing how much enthusiasm athletics can generate at a school. He said he agreed with the Bowden philosophy that athletics can be a publicly visible portal to a university generating more interest in the school. But ultimately the primary focus for a university and its president must be on academics. Dr. Scarborough said "balance" was a good term for keeping athletics in perspective, noting that most college athletes would not play professionally and needed to place a high priority on getting a degree that would help them succeed in other fields. He intimated that he's working on plans to improve the position of Zips athletics in the future within the financial constraints of today's economy. He emphasized that financial support from alumni was an important element in funding athletics at the university level, and thanked everyone for their support. A lot of what Dr. Scarborough said was general rather than specific, which was what I expected when I asked about his personal philosophy. What I interpreted from his remarks is that he is personally a genuine sports fan who will do all he can to help advance Zips athletics within the framework of raising UA's academic profile. When I saw Dr. Scarborough after the South Carolina game and pointed out to him that it was the Zips' second win over a high major school in the tournament, he nodded with a big smile and acknowledged it was great for UA. My overall impression so far is that Zips athletics will be treated with the same respect under Dr. Scarborough as they would have been under a Jim Tressel presidency. Since he spoke at some length at the team dinner, I'm sure I've missed some things here so I hope others who attended the dinner will add their thoughts.