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It would be really risky, IMO. Sometimes you get Rodney Coe, and sometimes you get Jelani Hamilton... AD's don't give you 5 years to build a program now-a-days. If your program is at some level of being decimated (there are varying shades of decimation), then you go for the JUCO's & transfers. There's no alternative...3 bad/marginal years and you're gone. If you're a good HS recruiter at an established program, you should focus on the 4-year kid, while cherry-picking the one or two "non-traditional" kids that happen to fall in your lap every so often. On a scale of 1-to-10, KD's departure...,maybe not just the departure, but the last 2-or-so years of his tenure...rated a 6 on the Decimation Scale. Not only did he bail after the eligibility of the team's top 2 players expired, he also obviously had a large mix of either dissatisfied players (Noah, Antino, and I think you can lump Josh Williams in that group too), and ultra-loyal ones like Hughes and TDM. Misfires on kids like Agba and Gladden hurt too. It had been been a couple years since he recruited a "stud." I think Keith Dambrot saw the disenchantment... the graduation losses...and the lack of "impact" returning talent...and got the hell out of Dodge before "12 years of 21+ wins" turned into "14 years of 13+ wins." I really wonder how Joe Akron will evaluate Year #1 of the Groce Era. Will he be intelligent enough to realize Dambrot bailed on him when his program's stock was at it's low point? Can he deal with a Zips basketball team that might uncharacteristically struggle for a while? Was Joe an "Akron Fan," or a "Dambrot Fan?" I love the incumbent guys that have stuck with the Program. Bench guys like Utomi and Ivey have a fresh start and their chance to shine. I'm really intrigued to see what Groce and his staff can do to utilize Olijapoke's freakish athleticism. I look forward to seeing all the new faces taking the court @ the JAR. Dambrot's time had expired. I don't think an entrenched coach of 13 years could bring the program back from where it was when the 2016-17 season's dust ultimately settled. Keith Dambrot's departure was exactly what he wanted, and exactly what the Zips Basketball Program needed. Off we go! Go Zips!

Jackson committed to Akron.

Then how tall do you think a guy would be that's listed at 5'-8" ?

Its pretty clear they are stock piling to go all in a guy whenever the time comes. Its a numbers game in the mean time. The franchise has tried taking QBs with clear limitations in the past and it has set them back years. Just about everybody said this was a weak QB class but this happened: The QB position is the most valuable it's ever been. BTW - LOL at the Bears. As for what the ended up with. The best player in the draft in Garrett. An additional first round pick for next season. Njoku is raw I think, but has a high ceiling. Howard will probably be a beast, but taking a TE as high as they could have is a luxury pick the Browns can't afford to make, IMO. I think I would have preferred Obi over Peppers at that spot, but I can't hate on it. He should fill the Mark Barron role nice for Gregg Williams. Check out how Barron's career looked pre Williams and post Williams. Should be fun to watch. Lets hope it works out. Rome wasn't built in a day. I'd look out for Davis Webb or Josh Dobbs today or tomorrow. Numbers game.

Groce sucks. (((Kidding))) To quote my departed father, I think we "fell in a pile of s.hit and came out smelling like a rose". Keep up the good work JG. Exciting times to be a Zip bb fan for sure.

Like, he's just fcking with us now right? Has to be

Assuming Antino is gone as many suggest, isn't it time to move on?

Breaking!

Per Evan Daniels, the Missouri transfer is in for an official visit.

I thought all Groce guard recruits were 6-2 and over! I don't care if they're 3 feet tall if they can play.

Hard to miss something you never really had.

Another scholarship for Groce.

This is a weird thing to say about someone we've never seen play. Maybe we'll use the scholarship on someone better, maybe we'll swing and miss. But it's not like we've seen him play actual games and struggle or anything.

I'm actually glad to see Dalton leave. It's the first player I said that in regards to.

The one thing we'll probably never know is - how many were planning to leave had Dambrot stayed? I know the answer isn't "0."

"Kid" or not, it really rubbed me the wrong way how he said he and everyone else were jumping ship the second it was announced Dambrot was leaving.

This one makes me wonder if Groce may have told him it's best to go elsewhere

I don't think so, but only a dozen or so really know. Their number one need was edge. They met with Butt, Wormley and Taco at UM's pro day, but not Peppers. They did have a pro day meeting with Njoku, but it might have had to do with their interest in Kaaya since he was also brought into Pittsburgh for a private meeting. It's also possible they thought Njoku could be available later. They met with a bunch of mid round safeties and tight ends, so I'll guess their plan was to address both after round one. They met with three safeties that will more than likely go in round two, I'm guessing they are hoping one is available this evening. With the speediness of getting the 30th pick in, I'll guess they were pretty happy to get an edge guy. That's what ever team says, right? It will be interesting to see if Peppers can develop as a first round talent at safety. Since (supposedly) it's not his strongest position, I would let him concentrate on that for awhile before risking injuries on offense. Just my opinion though. I'll guess that Peppers would have a tough time in the Burg being a first rounder, since the last one they drafted in the first round was a HOF'er. He would get sick of hearing that around town as he learned the position and league. Keeping on topic, I like what the Browns did in the first round by not taking a QB. I never believed they were taking Trubisky. But I have watched enough drafts in my life, to not count anything out when it comes to the Browns. I don't like any top media "rated" QBs in this draft for them. Next year, or after this draft, is their time to roll the dice on a signal caller, wether it's through the draft, or through free agency. If you really like to study video I love watching draft breakdown video. You view a condensed version of the game, and see every snap. Most of the time fans just view highlights, those are all good right? Fans watch a highlight video of the guy their team just drafted, and say "he's a beast." This is the video that analysts watch and say "he takes plays off" or stuff like that. How great would this be for Zips games, so we could study each player and prove their value or not? Edit: NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports the Browns have "touched base" with the Bengals about QB A.J. McCarron. Rapsheet is hearing that Cincinnati's asking price for McCarron is "high," which explains why talks haven't gotten very far. Cleveland did well to land Myles Garrett with the No. 1 pick, but that obviously doesn't solve the team's quarterback conundrum. The Bengals don't have much incentive to move McCarron, who is under contract through 2018. The Browns also checked in on Patriots backup Jimmy Garoppolo but were told he's not available.

I do agree that TE is a bit of a luxury pick, but we are in desperate need of play makers on the offensive side of the ball and the receiving class was pretty weak so I understand the move.

Can you share what you believe that is ? I've now heard that a 5'-7" guard is a good fit, and that a 270lb. post player is a good fit as well.

Watching him early in that clip just walking by the defense for a lay up reminded me of the Zips defense this year.

Im on my phone, so don't have the link, but if you go to his verbal commits page under closed offers it shows high school offers. I remember that Oklahoma State was listed.

Well it's complicated. He first will be a #loboforlife for a year and then he can resume #zipforlife status

With Antino leaving, we have no guards left from last year. After we got killed in the second game of the NIT, my thought was that we will never win a NCAA tournament game with the guards we have on the team. Of course, I had no idea that a month later none of them would be returning. If our goal is to win a tournament game, that was not going to happen with Noah, Antino, Josh, and Dunn Martin. They were too small, not athletic, poor rebounders, difficult stopping penetration and weak when it came to penetrating against defenses. (If anyone disagrees please rewatch the Texas Arlington game or the last 2 MAC finals.) Antino was probably our best guard on defense and slashing at the basket but at best he was an average MAC guard. KD liked to play inside out which meant our guards often stood on the wing or behind the 3 point line and shot the 3 ball. I cannot remember any of these guys back cutting to the basket or diving for a loose ball all season. When there was no double team, they struggled offensively against better athletes because they could not create their own shot and just shot the 3 ball. (Gonzaga game). There strength was their 3 point shooting and playing within the KD system of feeding the ball to Big Dog, waiting for the double team, and then shooting the 3 ball. I know that we will struggle next year with 4 new guards but hopefully we can pick up some athletes who can keep their man in front of them, rebound, move and cut without the ball and show athleticism in attacking the basket.

Whaaaaaat?! You kidding me?! GREAT NEWS!!! ????

No bad situation? What about all the fans and boosters putting down good players just because they don't want to play for someone who didn't recruit them? All this "they're dead to me" crap has to stop. I swear half the posters here are like thirteen year-olds after their first break-up.