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Perhaps someone should have followed up with KD after he said that and asked .... "Coach, please tell everyone exactly which games Akron has EVER won against a top high major that has made them so poisonous?"

Buffalo won the MAC tournament last year and had a host of challenging OOC opponents this season. OU managed to schedule Oklahoma, Memphis, UMass, and St. Bonaventure the year after they made the sweet 16 and were returning DJ Cooper. Why are big names programs scared of Akron, but not other MAC programs? Something smells fishy.

Several unheralded players have unexpectedly opened some eyes. With the loss of two standout interior defensive linemen, the Zips needed someone to step up, and junior Darius Copeland has done so, Bowden said. “He’s making me feel good that we won’t have any drop-off after losing Rodney Coe and Cody Grice,” Bowden said. “He’s playing that position at a very high level. I suspected that he could.” That's extremely high praise from Bowden & sounds almost too good to be true.

I agree. Ok, Houston turned down Akron. Move on to the next. Texas A&M (90 something miles away) is out there if you want to give Antino and the other Houston guys a "home game." Did Akron approach Texas A&M (a legit top 50 program)? I know KD doesn't want to play Shaka Smart, but Texas is also within driving distance from Houston. I'm sure if KD got over the not wanting to go up against his good friend, I'm guessing Shaka would do KD a solid if Akron was striking out left and right trying to get a game in the state of Texas. It's not like KD and Shaka are recruiting the same players. I've said this one before, and I'll continue to bring it up. Has Akron tried to get something together with Louisville? Play a game (2016) in Cleveland and then make a return (if Louisville wants one) in 2017. Why Louisville? For one, Rick Pitino has recruited the Cleveland/Akron area hard in recent years ... Zach Price (St. Edward), Terry Rozier (Shaker Heights), Trey Lewis (Garfield Heights, grad transfer from CSU) ... and 5-star freshman V.J. King (SVSM) is going to be a freshman (and potential one-and-done) this coming season. While King left SVSM to go to a school in Virginia, he grew up most of his life in the Akron area and most of his immediate family is from the Cleveland/Akron area. A game in Cleveland would be a homecoming for King, and King is the type of player Pitino, I'd imagine, would be open to granting a "homecoming". Plus, Louisville is recruiting 2017 (Cleveland) East Tech PG Markell Johnson hard (Johnson has Louisville in his top 5). A game in Cleveland could give Pitino a chance to just happen to "bump" into Johnson. On the Akron end, the biggest ally the school has is the guy who fills Quicken Loans arena 50 times a year (LeBron). KD obviously has a close relationship with LeBron, and LeBron has a close (and now a financial stake) in the University of Akron. I'd imagine if you get LeBron involved (and Louisville would definitely benefit off being apart of something that has LeBron's name attached to it) there is, IMO, a possibility of something coming together if properly pitched/marketed. How many people do you think would attend Akron-Louisville at the Q? I'm saying at least 15,000. Akron would bring 5,000; Louisville has a huge national following and I think would be well-represented; and Louisville is a brand that would get a large number of unaffiliated local college basketball fans buzzing. 15,000 should make that type of game financially feasible, as long as Akron doesn't expect it to be a "home" game for its bottom line. Hell, even if Louisville is the "home team" and gets whatever gate share that is out there, it's still a win for Akron, just getting a program like Louisvillle to come and play in NEO is a win regardless. And Akron has given up home gates (see the Vegas tourney this year against Santa Barbara and Iona) for less. Even if you aren't making money off of this type of game, the fact that you could potentially play the No. 1 brand in all of college basketball (if you believe the WSJ's recent valuations) in your backyard is every reason in the world to try to make it a possibility. And Akron could sweeten the pot, and make up money on the back end, by saying it will take half the amount Louisville usually pays an opponent to come to the Yum Center the following year. Basically, what you would have: Akron: Overall, still makes money off a 2017 game in Louisville, even if going down there is at a discount and not getting a share of the gate in Cleveland. And you get a premier team to come to your backyard. And since Akron has given up gates for less recently (see last year's Vegas tournament), just being able to get two games against a program like Louisville is a huge win from a marketing standpoint (and imagine if Akron actually wins one of the games?). Let's just say Akron gets $50,000 off of two games against Louisville (one being as close of a home game as you can ever come close to getting), is that worth losing two home games against Arkansas Pine-Bluff? Louisville: Could actually make some money (though not nearly as much as a true home game) on a neutral game in Cleveland if it acts as the "home" team. But could make up some of those losses if Akron comes down next year and "only" demands $50,000 (I think Louisville averages about $100,000 for visiting teams). Louisville's main incentive would be giving up one true home gate to get the chance to play a game in an area that it has heavily emphasized in recruiting recently (remember Louisville, to go along with the names above, also had a commitment from 2016 Garfield Heights guard Frankie Hughes, but had to part with him due to the NCAA situation they are in). Dan Gilbert (Quicken Loans Arena): Let's say Louisville gets 100 percent of the ticket sales (throwing out 15,000 at $20 a pop for $300,000), still potentially money to be made for Dan Gilbert if he takes all the concessions. I'm guessing concessions would net at least another $300,000. Maybe that isn't worth it in a vacuum for Gilbert (who would have to pay workers and other costs of having the venue open for a day), but the guy is a multi-billionaire, so even if it happens to be a $100,000 loss, that isn't a big deal, especially since Akron could have the ace in the hole of making something like this happen. LeBron (with no financial stake) could easily approach Gilbert and say, look I've made you a billion dollars, eat this $100,000 or $200,000, if that would be what is holding a game like this up. This is pretty basic, and I guess a blueprint for what KD and UA could use to at least reach out to Louisville. Who knows, maybe Louisville won't be interested. If that's the case, oh well. At least you tried (and trying to get two games against Louisville >>>>> trying to get one game against Houston). BTW, I'm sure somebody will bring up the potential NCAA sanctions against Louisville. I'll eat crow on this if I'm wrong, but nothing is going to happen to slow that train down (they make too much money). Louisville already gave up the tourney this year (a year they legitimately had a chance at a national title) and have self-imposed two scholarship reductions (one this year which cost them Frankie Hughes) and one in 2017. That will be enough to satisfy the NCAA. With the talent they have already and coming in (led by Akron's V.J. King), those sanctions will merely be a speed bump for that program. I continue to bring up Louisville because that is the most realistic school that could come to Cleveland ... though maybe Kansas is also an option because they have 5-star sophomore Carlton Bragg (Cleveland VASJ), but Kansas hasn't traditionally recruited Cleveland/Akron like Louisville. But overall, Akron could, IMO, get ONE game AT any marquee program if it wants. But that would mean taking a discount (like I alluded to above) to make it happen. For example, I'm sure Akron could go up to North Carolina and say, we'll play you at the Dean Dome for $50,000. North Carolina would take that, since they, like Louisville, probably average $100,000 paydays to mid-majors to come in. UNC doesn't care about a potential home loss to Akron (it's not like that would affect their overall tourney chances). They would look at it as: We can pay Radford (just a vague example) for $100,000, or we can pay Akron $50,000. Yeah, we'll go with Akron. I think all this talk about "nobody" wanting to play Akron is bogus. Of course UNC is going to pick Radford over Akron if the money is equal. Those marquee programs are selling out either way and "Radford" is the much easier win. But if Akron comes in at half the cost, yeah, UNC is going to listen. True, that means Akron is kind of whoring itself to get that kind of game, but that comes with the territory of being a successful mid-major who still needs those kinds of games (gaining even $50,000 at UNC>losing out on a home game against North Carolina A&T). I think Akron "missing" out on those types of games is them thinking they deserve Radford type money to go there, even though (and this is a good thing) they aren't a "Radford" type program.

You forgot to add that Coach's door is open and is happy to hear suggestions

What is the University/Athletic Department doing to differentiate themselves from every other Mid-Major that's looking to get to the next level? Why aren't we at the forefront of an All-Ohio tournament? Better yet, why don't we start some sort of MAC vs. A10, Big East, CUSA, or AAC tournament? Using the regular season results, take the top 4 MAC teams from the year before, take take the top 4 teams from an aforementioned conference, create a bracket style tournament with the Championship game being played at the Q or another rotating neutral site (i.e. FedEx Forum if playing against the AAC or CUSA) while every other game is played at the higher seeds' arena. The regular season conference champions would be the #1 seeds on each side of the bracket, guaranteeing at least one home game for each. You could even shrink the "tournament" to feature just 2 teams from each conference (the Conference Tournament Champion and the Regular Season Champion; in event of each champion being the same team, go to the second place finishing team from the regular season). I am sick and tired of hearing about our scheduling revolving around "money" games. 10 straight 21+ win seasons, 3 NCAA Tournament appearances in that stretch, a national ranking at one point, and we act like we are still a small mid-major. If you want to hang your hat on your mediocre (by national standards), quit hiding behind excuses. Stick your neck out there, take the bull by the horns, and control your own destiny. Edit: I want to add that I completely understand the difficulties of scheduling. So many schools nowadays are looking for the easy win instead of earning everything. It's sad and pathetic that nobody wants to play Akron. The point of my post was to merely express some frustration with what appears to be a misdirected scheduling search in my opinion. Just seems like we are dropping the ball when it comes to which teams to target. (Edit cont.) I like the idea of playing at Creighton. That is a solid name and a winnable game. Ty Dalton as a walk-on is an interesting development. I wonder what made him decide to come here to walk-on instead of staying closer to home? I'm excited for next year! Go Zips!

I'm not disputing that there aren't some teams out there that won't play us, but I feel it's overblown. If we made enough calls, some big name program would bite on facing a recognizable program that consistently finishes in or around the top 100 every year. It's a numbers game. If I had my eye on 1 girl at the bar then went up to her to get her number and was rejected, that doesn't mean that no attractive girl in the bar would be willing to go on a date with me. It means I should try my luck with another.

Research the video history. It will take you two minutes on Google. Nigel de Jong has a long and shameful record. He has been perpetrating this crap for a long time, on several continents. A season long ban should be considered by MLS. But MLS hate to discipline the LA Galaxy, their flagship franchise.

Right, I told a few people that if it's anything less than 10, I will be complaining as long as Darlington is sidelined. Anything less than 2, and MLS loses all respect for me and I will be an irritant to the MLS office.

I saw when Northern Iowa beat the Tar Heels earlier this year it pretty much ruined UNC's storied program.

I wonder if, when someone from Akron called Hunter Yurachek at Houston to ask him "Could you do me a solid and schedule the Zips in basketball?" he replied: "Remember when I was Interim AD and you guys chose Tome Wistercill over me? I do...and F U." Hunter is too nice of a guy to say that...but not too nice of a guy to think it. I'm sure doing UA Athletics favors is not on the top of his daily to-do list. Regarding Louisville - Scheduling a major program to play the Zips at The Q would be a big "splash" promotion for the program. You might say its "Thinking Bigger." But it would require a lot of work, and I think it's just easier for UA to get a home game with Bethune-Cookman and call it a day. And let's be honest...Louisville would kill us. At this point I think we need appreciate being - The Best Ohio College Basketball Program Not Named Dayton, Xavier, Cincinnati or Ohio State™. That's not so bad. There's 8 other D1 programs that would kill for that title.

Probably because Boxen was a given. I thought Copeland did play pretty well on Saturday. One guy that stood out to me was Josh Ward. They had him at DE and he was in the backfield all day pressuring the QB. He also blew up a few running plays in the backfield.

If Houston's your example of trying to schedule a top team, I can tell you what the problem is already. Their RPI was 87 and they were a first round NIT loser. Of course they wouldn't want to play Akron. They are the kind of team that's in a very similar position to us. We need to play Power conference teams that have the kind of money to throw around where they can afford to buy a home game against a top-50 RPI mid-major.

BTW, Ty Dalton the player mentioned in the recruiting forum will walk on. Per Coach.

It all started in 2008 with second team preseason All-MAC Iowa transfer Ryan Bain. So many memories.

@SpinThanks for starting this list and @chris for adding to it. I tried to re-compile from and group to get a feel for how many former Zips are in MLS, foreign, etc. MLS Saad Abdul-Salaam Sporting KC Chad Barson RB Columbus Crew SC Teal Bunbury ST New England Revolution Evan Bush GK Montreal Impact Scott Caldwell CM New England Revolution Chris Korb RB DC United Richie Laryea - Orlando City SC Darren Mattocks ST Vancouver Whitecaps FC / Portland Timbers FC [pending] Darlington Nagbe CAM Portland Timbers FC USMNT Dillon Serna CAM Colorado Rapids Wil Trapp CDM Columbus Crew SC USMNT Zarek Valentin RB Portland Timbers FC Ben Zemanski MF Portland Timbers FC Europe / Other Foreign Anthony Ampaipitakwong MF Bangkok United F.C. Reinaldo Brenes Costa Rica Saprissa Perry Kitchen CM Heart of Midlothian USMNT Deandre Yedlin RB Sunderland AFC USMNT Other Jake Fenlason GK Orlando City B Blair Gavin CM Arizona David Meves Fort Lauderdale Strikers Michael Nanchoff LM Tampa Bay Rowdies Aodhan Quinn Louisville City Zac Portillos MF Tampa Bay Rowdies Ben Speas LM Minnesota Eric Stevenson FC Cincinnati Sinisa Ubiparapovic - Indy Eleven Robbie Derschang TBD Kofi Sarkodie RB TBD Bryan Gallego "Retired" Steve Zakuani Retired (Seattle Sounders FC, Portland Timbers FC, DR Congo)