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Some more GREAT work by WZIP...Also TIno's comments show that @UAZip0510 was correct once again in that he was planning on transferring before KD left.

Who's going to drive him from Lawrence to Manhattan?

I wanted to throw my laptop when that kid asked about the trivial 21 win per season streak. The only things I found useful out of listening to the entire press conference was hearing we have 1 assistant (Dustin Ford) while still searching for our others and hearing him say what type of ball we expect to see. All the other questions were either poor or the answers doctored to not really say a whole lot.

You guys are going to think I'm a simpleton, but the biggest takeaway from that presser was JG getting choked up about his Mother being there. I was on the fence about this guy, but he won me over in that singular moment. I'm all in. Go Zips.

I know I've previously stated that I'm not a fan of Groce's explosive antics on the court, but I would love for him to go off on our marketing/video department.

LeBron's Coach.

I'll put this here (instead of the recruiting board) since signing day is right around the corner and Groce will likely have a couple spots to fill. I'm trying to see who may be on the radar. I'll start with two guys I mentioned on other threads: 1. Frankie Hughes: He won't help next year, but guard is going to be a major need even if Antino has a change of heart and Noah decides to stay, since they are both seniors. Since he's from Garfield Heights and had interest in Akron out of high school, he could make sense. This one would not surprise me at all. 2. Kipper Nichols: Groce got him to Illinois after he asked out of his release just prior to enrolling as a freshman at Tulane (he was recruited to Tulane by fellow Cleveland native and former Kent Stater Anthony Wilkins, who is now an assistant at Tulane). Since Nichols, while not losing a year of eligibility, did lose a year by going to Illinois, so who knows if he wants to sit out another year. But it could make sense if he wants to leave Illinois to come back home and play for his coach from this past season. Nichols showed some promise (had a couple double digit scoring games this past year in Big Ten play). 3. LePear Toles: This one has been discussed, but since he's another local kid, I wont' rule him out. Outside of a pretty vague CantonRep.com article the other week, haven't heard much lately on him. Then, there is: 4. Devon Andrews: This is a shot in the dark. If KD was still around, no way he touches Andrews. But with Groce, I would put him back on the radar, though, I've kind of lost track of what his path has been. He committed to Kent out of high school and to nobody's surprise was academically ineligible (then he had an arrest that clouded his future even more). But he seemed to still enroll at Kent at some point, but something happened where he went to a JUCO in Kansas, where he averaged 22-6-2 this past year. Anybody know what his situation is? Doing a google search and don't see anything definitive that he's heading back to Kent. He's a kid that has legit NBA-type talent. 5. Anthony Carmon: This is an even bigger shot in the dark, but the kid was such a talent at East Tech (along with North Carolina State's Markell Johnson led the Scarabs to the D1 Final Four a couple years ago). I read something out of HS he attended a JUCO (I think in Kansas). Then saw that this past year he was at Tri-C Metro, but can't find anything more on him. So who knows what his academic standing is, but if he's able to qualify, he has "John Groce at Akron" written all over him. You can't watch that and with a straight face say that he can't play at Akron ... when Tavian Dunn-Martin got significant minutes on a team that won the regular season title. After these Northeast Ohio kids, I wanted to look to see who Groce was recruiting at Illinois ... Looks like some intriguing names. http://illinois.247sports.com/Season/2017-Basketball/Targets I'm going past the "commits" and the "interested" category since those guys all look like high majors. But in the "looks" category, some 3-star kids that look like have other mid-major offers: 1. Charles Payton, a 6-6 SF out of Bloomington, Ill. (offers UIC and Illinois State) 2. Manny Peterson, a 6-8 PF out of Chicago (offers from Bowling Green and Green Bay) 3. Bol Riek, a 7-2 C out of Naperville, Ill. (offer from New Mexico State) None of those three guys seem to be out of reach and it seems like Groce has some relationship with all three, since they were on Illinois' radar.

Yes. 1350.

They should. Every school in our situation should.

Other than a guy with a skeleton in the closet or an unusual sense of commitment, isn't that the plight of nearly every coach a school in AKron's position can expect to hire?

He should make a highlight film of DJ Cooper and make Antino watch it on repeat for a week

I was always jealous of OU's tournament success with Groce, so I was a fan right away just knowing his record (where it counts). Then I watched his youtube videos describing his offense and defense when he was hired at Illinois, sounded good to me. Then I watched the video of his presser when he got fired at Illinois, very impressed. Today I was impressed with his confidence and his communication skills. It's easy for me to see why he is coach/teacher. It's great to hear him say he likes to mix in a little zone, I really miss seeing that. Love hearing that he talked about scheduling with the AD before he was hired and wants to be challenged. But my favorite part was when he described TP as experienced because of his hairline. Classic. ? PS Thank you LZip and Blue & Gold for embedding/replying that. Worked well. If you missed, here you go. Starbucks Akron Arena 2020?

Seemed to be a lot of "last coaching staff" references too. Would be nice if Groce and UA avoided bringing up the old coach by name.

Groce mentioning being up on the ladder with his kid at the Q a couple years back. Ouch.

WHY. DO. THEY. NEVER. DO. A. TEST. RUN. EVER. And why does this happen with Akron more often than not? Why is no one on ZN.o surprised. Even a little. Simply, and entirely, inexcusable.

well this is certainly an interesting development. congrats on the hire. One thing that concerns me about Groce as a non-Akron fan is the loyalty he builds with recruits and players. You might not get a 5 star guy like Tilmon to commit but I wouldn't be surprised to see one or a few of his recruits/players come to Akron in the next couple of years. Perfect example is Walt Offutt. Offutt was a 4 star player in HS that Groce recruited to Ohio State. Offutt had signed his LOI when Groce took the job at OU, Offutt wanted to follow him but Groce, out of respect to Matta, talked him out of it. Couple years later he transferred to OU and was a key player for them. See also: Armon Bassett and Jon Smith. Saul Phillips said today that he sent Groce a text that said "I guess we have to hate each other now. ;)" he went on to say how gracious Groce had been to him and how their wives have become friends. Needless to say, its going to be interesting when the Zips come to Athens next year. I hope Groce becomes the coach that gets you guys all of the at-large bids you could ever want.

Agree. Out of likes.

To elaborate more on the Dailey comments, Bowden basically said he is as talented of a corner as Akron has seen in a long time. Now maybe I am biased, but I think we have had some pretty decent players at the collegiate level in the defensive backfield and even have some pretty talented young guys as well. Saying that about Dailey has me pretty excited.

Even a school like Dayton isn't above losing its coach to a bigger program. In today's world at the mid-major level if a coach stays in a place a long time it means he's doing enough to not get fired, but not enough for bigger programs to want him (look at WMU). What he had with Dambrot was the exception, not the rule. I hope Groce is at a (insert big name program here) in 5 years. That means he won at Akron and did his job.

Note to self- don't hook leash to bumper/ keep dog away from sandwiches.

I don't disagree with that. I thought you were suggesting the deal makes it easier for him to bolt after two years

As long as Bragg keeps his nose clean, I have no problem with him coming here - IF he comes here. Kansas is a troubled program, full of bad character that gets bailed out because of the basketball-first mentality. Maybe if he is surround with better people, he will be fine. We'll see. To echo Zippy5: this really is fun.

This is fun

I assume it was from this story on Cleveland.com.

If John Groce can come close to duplicating what Dambrot accomplished, he will be a huge success. Pluto's such an asshat.

C-USA has performed worse than the MAC in both football and basketball since the latest realignment. I'll pass on that.

I get way more out of the guys on 1350 than our local beat "reporters". I need to start listening to them more.

+1

Must be recruiting Carlton Bragg and Tillmon.

To be fair to GT, he did spend a good ten minutes after the end of the broadcast conducting a private interwiew with Groce.

I love this student reporting. They go to a source! I just read about some HS students in Kansas who discovered and reported that their new principal faked her credentials. GT sat at the press conference today and smirked and took notes. Whatever

My guess is the UA will whack something to get to the minimum ...and in addition, stop fully funding a few sports.

I was watching it at work hoping someone would ask him that question. Of course it was a student at WZIP and not a professional that is getting paid to do this. Good job kid But as for the local media(GT, TP, EA)....

I thought that was an excellent presser. Yes, lots of your typical cliches, but I thought there was a lot of personality and commitment as well. Now I'm interested to see who he can bring in recruits wise.

I love that he keeps calling it the last place he was at, and not OU If he keeps that up over his tenure I can't wait to see all the kitties with their jimmies rustled

Great Q by Frenchy. man-to-man, some zone on D pick-n-rolls on O adapt to personnel

He's bringing up LeBron's Homecoming quote about "Nothing is given; everything is earned."

Thanks, LZip. I see it but get no audio. I blame myself. I'm obviously doing something wrong/missed clicking a button, or something. :/

Zippy is our new coach?

Antino at presser. Ivey in front row

Akron pro day article---- mentions Jerome Lane--Jamal Marcus--Sevon Pittman

I'm not, but sometimes these fans give us more information than any of our local media does, so that's why I am throwing it out there. The Indiana people were certainly right when they said about the "If Groce doesn't get the Akron job, he'll be an assistant at Indiana" tweets. So until our local media starts stepping it up, this is where I'm going for my "rumor mill"

This type of thing is why Christian rock sucks too.

I thought Zach tweeted that he was done supporting Akron basketball? Groce has had a couple players with questionable character, but Dambrot had his share too. Harney, Tree, Diggs, Abreu are the 4 that come to mind.

It's funny we're talking about this because earlier today, I sent this to a few people: "If someone would have told me after the 2012 MAC Championship game, that in 5 years Dambrot would leave for Duquesne and Groce would be the next Akron coach, I would have told you 'Who's your dealer?" A couple of them answered back: "Those people would say that their dealer is Alex Abreu"

Little did we know he recruits county jails instead of JUCOs

The Mom has an Education degree and was/is employed by Akron Public Schools. So yes, education expectations are high in their family.

That's pretty creative thinking UAZipper, but I love it. It would immediately put Groce's stamp on the progrum and show he's bought in. It would be a shrewd PR move on his part. All that being said it will not happen in the real world, but it's fun to live in fantasy world for a brief moment.

From an Ohio fan (who's married to a Zip) congrats. I think it is a good hire for the Zips.

I think you also felt Rick McFadden should be the next Zips coach? Compare McFadden's resume to Groce's. McFadden - Akron assistant. Groce - Butler, NC State, Ohio State assistant. Head coach - Ohio and Illinois. In the 5 years Groce made the post-season (not including this season, where an interim coach finished the NIT), he's won at least one tournament game 4 times. Had he coached in the NIT this year, it would have been 5-out-of-6 seasons that he not only made the post-season, but advanced beyond the first round. MAC regular season titles are for Dambrot. Groce has consistently won where Dambrot rarely did...in the post season. I love the Lolla/Porter parallel drawn by MDZip. I think the Zips upgraded with Groce.