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Maybe it comes down to something as simple as: Keith Dambrot came along when the program really needed him. I think John Groce is doing the same. To reach the next level the program needs him. Keith brought us three wonderful MAC championships and those came with a lot of heartbreak on the side. Certainly, all the other MAC teams (Toledo or BG for example) would have loved those wins and those final appearances. But we aren't those schools and comparing our experiences to theirs is a bit of a false equivalence rather like comparing the basketball team to the football team. Just because they would like our level of success doesn't mean our program has to be satisfied with it. KD isn't "dead" to me. I don't know the man. But I thank him for leaving and allowing us to get John Groce. And over the last couple days I had the pleasure of actually meeting our new coach and his family. I never had the opportunity with the other coaches. They appeared to be high quality people (although, I realize they have experience in the public eye.) But Groce's mom is the the real basketball aficionado. She likes old-style basketball arenas like the JAR. We are going to have anticipation we never had before come November.

Forget about the damn conferences. Akron is a relevant college basketball program right now, and Duquesne sucks.

That makes sense. My concern when I see stuff like that is that people reading it will base their opinion on innuendo rather than fact, but I get where you're coming from here.

Hughes averaged 7.3 minutes per game in OOC play (before he was hurt) and 2.2 in conference play (after he returned). Whether that was the result of him falling out of the rotation or the coaching staff not thinking his play was worthy of more minutes or thought he was still hurt, only the coaching staff knows. I thought he showed some real promise early, before his injury.

You gotta hope Antonio and Noah stay. If Hughes leaves it will be for somewhere like Fairmont State.

I want Robotham to stay. He's an outstanding kid, and outstanding representative of UA. Beyond that, he's a senior 4-year starter with upside. I still don't think we've seen Noah's best basketball. I think a guy like Groce will be a breath of fresh air for Noah and rejuvenate him.

Why the secrecy?

GT's written a nice article addressing Zach's (and one other's?) concerns over a few of Coach Groce's players' off-court issues.

Definitely ver interesting. On one hand, you could say Akron was on the list because KD made the Zips "marquee." On the other hand, if that was the case, then Duquesne (especially since other A-10 schools were judged) should've been A+ ... Instead, not even mentioned, when three other schools in that league who changed coaches were. What I take from that is kind of in the middle. Akron is a good job due to KDs foundation and its recruiting area (but I don't think even anybody here would try to pass it off as "marquee") and KD, while a good coach, did indeed leave to go to a dead-end job ... even if it meant a negligible pay raise. I don't want this taken as a shot at KD ... I've flat out said I wish he would've retired at Akron and would've fine if that happened, even if the next 7 years were "only" like the first 13. But I do think KD's decision may really have been the shot in the arm the school needed to take things to the next level. While KD did a great job of making this a program with a very high floor, he was set in his ways and though reluctantly adjusted later on, it limited the ceiling. Now, we may have a guy, who even if the floor is lowered a bit because of the unknown (and the weak 34-30 argument detractors will argue), is somebody who will raise the ceiling of this program because: 1. It is established and 2. He is a guy who has a long track record of recruiting talent and is at a place where he is going to be tripping over talent within 50 miles of campus. I'll admit if I'm wrong, but I think Groce will do (even if he bolts after three years) what most of us were hoping KD would do ... in capitalizing on what was in place and potentially taking the program to a VCU/Wichita/Butler type status (all programs who had a guy come in and lay the foundation, then hire another guy to build on it to the point where it is still an elite job even after that second coach (third in VCU's case) leaves. Maybe we were hoping to be Gonzaga and KD to be our Mark Few, but that isn't (and never was) going to happen, so lets embrace this opportunity.

Keith will turn them, and himself, around. He needed to leave, both for himself and for Akron. He was mentally just done here; you could see it. I am grateful for what KD did here. I wish him the best. And I think he will give his best and be successful. DU in the tourney March 2020. I love the Groce hire. Time for a new era.

I think any comments on Dambrot's winning percentage are irrelevant - he left Akron. He's gone by his own choice. He didn't want to be here any more. We now have a coach that wants to be at Akron. So I like him.

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

I think part of the reason we won that game was because guys like Antino (whom, if I remember correctly, had a pretty good game) are from the Houston area. Also, Houston didn't want to be in that game. Throwing in the towel/giving up is completely different than not playing with fire/passion. I will never accuse this team of forfeiting/quitting/throwing in the towel. I will say that they seemed to walk through the MAC Championship Game, while Can't came out like a bat out of Hell. Did Can't earn it with their effort (complementing Can't... )? Yes. Did we assist them with our lack of passion/fire/energy? You betcha. That game was within 1-3 possessions the entire time, which is a testament - in my opinion - to how much better we were than Can't skill wise. We just didn't apply ourselves, which makes me believe (having the knowledge we do now) that some of the guys had pre-determined transfers. I'm not saying everyone didn't apply themselves, but teammates feed off of each other, and when a couple guys don't want to be there, it can kill any energy for the other players.