Leaderboard

Do these people understand that KD is the one who left and that he was NOT fired?!!! What was the AD supposed to do?

With all this talk about who is leaving, who will be on Groce's staff, who will be coming in has had me doing some Twitter stalking, lol. One thing that sticks out is Jimond Ivey and the leadership role he seems to be taking. There has been no talk of him waivering, even though out of potential transfers, he is probably at the top of the list (above both Antino and Noah) in landing at a high major. Instead, he not only was front and center at the Groce presser, has been taking the "this is now your team talk" to heart. The anti-OSU people will hate this, but this situation seems a lot like what it was when Tyvis Powell was the first player in the Buckeyes' football class to reconfirm his commitment to the school following the Jim Tressel fallout. True, that's not exactly apples-to-apples since Jimond is already established. But he's somebody, like Powell, if he wanted out, he had landing spots. But all you are seeing is somebody who appears to be committed to the school/program. Powell has become somewhat of a folk hero at Ohio State. I think Ivey has the chance at doing the same at Akron. I don't blame anybody for leaving, but it says something to me when you see somebody embracing what will be a challenging season. If Jimond sees this out and helps continues to build on the foundation that has been established, there is no doubt that he will go down as my all-time favorite Zips player, and I know there has never been a player I will be rooting for more than what I will be doing for Jimond next year.

Truer words have never been spoken.

How did Boals not recruit him to OSU?

OK, I've been lured in. It's a slow night. 38 LSU players have played in the NBA or ABA, including Shaq, Pete Maravich, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, John Chaney and Bob Petit. Akron's had 4 and none since 1976 when Nathanile Barnett played 12 games for the Indiana Pacers in the ABA. As a 20 year old basketball player, I suspect Antino is more concerned with a school's basketball tradition and where the school may take him in basketball than he is with the academic reputation behind his Master's Degree. Yes, I know they are bottom dwellers in the SEC right now, but I'd bet the Shejiang LIons, Maccabi Tel Aviv BC or the Frankfurt Skyliners are more likely to recognize LSU on a basketball resume.

A nice post-season honor for him...

Unbelievable. Talk about Sunshine Patriots. Gee, Dambrot bails after telling team he won't. Akron hires a quality coach AND saves the university maybe $800,000 over two years and "they" withdraw $. Quality stuff there .

Jimond has the physical attributes. I'd say Antino is the more polished player currently, however, Ivey has the higher ceiling.

Saw Dusty Burkhart at a HS track meet tonight. Ran 100, 4 x 100 relay and long jumped. Don't know about his hands, but he has speed. Very quick off start line and maintains velocity through the finish line. Second in the LJ but nursing his hammy a little. Plus he's excited to be Zip! Had a Z hat on and a ZIPS tee on between races.

Good Lord. Would someone "in the know" please private message me and let me out of my misery?

WTF? Absurd. Not even comparable on any level.

He didn't deserve a raise. It is what it is. Hopefully Groce wins and people will forget about this quick enough

No, I haven't heard that at all. I don't know why it's a shock to some people that there are supporters of a longtime coach who wanted him to be retained, and are pissed that he's not still here. Isn't that going to be the case with any coaching change? I'm sure that we just won't know for a long time how strong that legion of supports is, or how long they might be pissed.

So, being the highest paid coach in a conference that he couldn't win in the last 4 years was not enough?!

Of course they do. That's not where the displeasure among some people is coming from at all. It's about whether we should have done more to keep him.

Don't you be dissin' the Bogalusa Bomber!

For 2018 and beyond recruits, I'd say no unless Groce feels that are a player worth continuing to pursue. I haven't seen tape of Gavin and have no idea what type of player, but he is drawing interest from above average to very great mid-majors so he may very well continue to pursue him.

Simple personal observation from standing next to him in the lobby at the JAR. I would also estimate him at approximately 275 pounds.

We are on page 16 of the Groce discussion. Like CK said I'm not sure what is left to talk about until we actually see stuff happen. This thread has the 9th most replies (and growing) on the entire basketball forum with the #1 being the coaching search thread, the #2 being the 4 year running Duquesne/Dambrot thread. There has been plenty of discussion. In fact, the basketball board has never been this active.

God have mercy. At least summer is right around the corner for you.

Sorry, we got caught up in the LSU/Akron and Boals recruiting debates.

I think everyone has had their say, and we're waiting for the staff and roster to be filled-out. Meet and greet is over. Time for "real" Zips basketball news.

Antino is not 5'8" "on a good day". He is a legit 5'11" or 6'. Every player with talent has a chance to play overseas regardless of what school they attended.

I don't follow LSU hoops, but I see that they only had two seniors on the roster last year, and those two combined to average less than 3 points per game. Are they experiencing similar fallout as Akron? If not, I'm not sure it's beneficial for him to go to that situation despite LSU's mostly ancient basketball history (and one season with Ben Simmons where they couldn't even make the tournament). If he goes to LSU and only plays 10-15 minutes a game as a backup, guess what, his pro aspirations in Europe will largely be based off of what he did for three years ...at Akron. He would be taking a huge chance, especially since now he is all but guaranteed to play 30-plus minutes (and I would be its closer to 35) a game next year in Akron. With all that said, I think he is gone.

I'm happy to read that Chad found a place to play. best wishes to him in Sweden. My favorite Zips memory of all time starts with Scotty Caldwell scoring the lone goal, moves to the kick save by David Meves, onto the shin save by Chad Barson, the clock hitting zero as the ball sailed out of bounds, hearing the "Akron Zips are National Champions" and concludes with our team triumphantly holding the trophy on the pitch. There is no one thing in that sequence that can be separated to stand alone. So glad I could be there. My best sports memory ever.

Also, if Eubanks and Dalton are on scholarship and the three recruits are on board, looks like that will mean four scholarships Groce can fill this year. If he can land two late high school recruits ... Pickett and maybe somebody else he has been recruiting at Illinois along with two grad transfers/JUCOs, I think he can still pull together a team that won't suffer too much drop off from what I expected for next season ... that was 18-19 wins and something like 10-8 in league play. EDIT: With the Fulford hire, I fully expect Frankie Hughes to come to Akron as a transfer. Since it is tougher to get a hardship now, he will probably sit out a year. So that would leave three open spots for guys who could come in next year ... And if Carlton Bragg somehow picks Akron, they can't turn him down either.

That is his active twitter account.

Tyler Dalton.

If we are going to have this ridiculous conversation can someone at least state what Antino's actual degree is in? Given the time committments required to be a D1 basketball player I highly doubt he is an engineer or a law student, both of which people are trying to use in this dick measuring contest.

I was simply making the point that if he can get an offer from a "name brand" school for his Masters, it would be a good career move. Not necessarily LSU.

We've clearly passed over into "who gives a $h!+" mode.

I think Ezana Kaysay has found a new home on the left flank. He really seems to flourish with a bit more real estate to work with. Our formation/system is evidently going to be 4-2-3-1. Holthusen plays the 1 better than Kahsay, and Kahsay looks really dangerous on the outside left (as one of the 3).

Sorry, but I think this is rubbish. *Maybe* those names will matter the first time a hiring manager is hiring someone. After that, they'll quickly learn / understand the institution name on the sheepskin has diddly squat to do with the profitability, productivity, whatever of the division they've hired for. The characteristics of the individual whose name is on the sheepskin drive everything after the first interview. To say nothing that your 2 arguments are conflicting. Are people jumping on the Princeton grad because in 1996 at the Hoosier Dome, Pete Carrill's team ended Jim Harrick's UCLA team's hopes of defending its NCAA title? I can only speak from experience specific to the technical / engineering side of things, but I can promise you I only made what I call the "Case Mistake" one time. Sure, it might be more regional, but I'm certain that managers hiring engineers know the value of UA sheepskin and how much it can add to their organization. Their perception of UA isn't a static thing based on who was in the tournament when they were in college. It's a living evolving perception formed from the pure performance of the members of their organization. N.B.: I write this as someone who never took a class at UA and holds degrees from 2 schools who *are* on all the lists. Those of you carrying a UA degree have no reason to be self conscious about it. I promise you those of us that work with you don't give a squat about it. It's another example of NEOH defeatism. Own it, be proud of it. Go Zips!

Ohio North-South All-Star Classic / D-1-3 North roster The Zippers are very well represented on the North D-1-3 roster in the upcoming Ohio North-South All-Star Football Classic. Marquise Bridges (Ellet) Tracy Jordan (Springfield) De'Andre Brimage (East) Reggie Corner Jr. (McKinley) Marquess Callaway (East) Bubba Arslanian (Aurora) And I'm also quite sure East's Jemarulin Suggs is on the team even though I don't see him listed here. I don't believe we've ever had 7 players on this prestigious team before. TB's cranking it up.