Leaderboard

Couldn't agree more with GJ. I left the Akron area in 1989 and love living in Columbus, but no one here has a clue about the Zips. They think we are lucky to be in the MAC and are like a YSU w/o the winning football tradition. They know nothing of Soccer, Basketball, W. Swimming or Track and Field. Most think we have a Cleveland State-type campus = no grass or trees. The news on Akron is mostly negative, that is, losing teams, financial crisis, rust belt economy, axed programs, poor leadership (Scarborough). We would do well to recruit this area. The population base will soon be the biggest in the state and the athletic programs are outstanding, like NE Ohio in the 70's and 80's. We will never, ever pass OSU, but we can build a better rep by getting athletes to go to Akron and have them play on winning teams like Will Trapp, Abdul Salaam, Christie Smith and many more, all from Columbus.

Daniel's not that much of a loss (says the guy who found his ex-girlfriends much less attractive after they broke up with him).

Bobby Hurley (ASU), Porter Moser (Loyola- Chicago) and Tim Cluess (Iona) have all turned down the St. John's job. Apparently, not the desirable job some thought it may be.

Just some light reading, enjoy. (Not my notes) https://app.box.com/s/vs4ceg7hm841ucz0a363

I'm kind of like the Dennis Rodman of Zips Nation (without the piercings, tattoos and wedding dress). And I'm fine with that.

Though I would rather he had stayed, neither do I. He was even more one-dimensional than former 3-point specialists Reggie McAdams & Jake Kretzer.

I thought we could compete for a MAC title next year had Utomi returned. Watching Cheese and LCJ progress along with knowing we'd be adding Williams gave me hope we could make strides to improving our offense enough to win in a very weakened MAC. We already had the best defense in the MAC. Fast forward to now and I don't see a real plan. We have 4 graduating seniors on next years team and an additional 5 the year after. The goal should have been to try to win this upcoming season while the MAC is down and before he have to rebuild. Instead of going out and adding a grad transfer that could help replace Utomi's production, our prized off-season acquisition can't even play this season and we now have to spend 2 years worth of scholarships to get 1 year of eligibility. Looking at the scholarship chart @Illini Zip kindly tracks I just don't see where in the next 4 years that we'll be a serious contender for a MAC title. I'm expecting us to hover around mediocrity. I'm not ready to call for Groce head, but I'm certainly losing faith in him.

It is so hard to separate the good news from the bad news in Iowa City. For the record, Dailey is a very good player. Very underutilized in Iowa City, partly because Mad Fran would try to use 10-man rotations. I don't think he ever got a fair shot. He doesn't seem like a disgruntled kid, even though he has good reasons to be. He is very articulate and thoughtful. I think he will bring maturity, not baggage.

Not sure that's a fair statement. The landscape of college basketball and recruiting is changing. Groce has been tasked with stopping the bleeding, and 4 year players don't exactly do that at this level, especially when some of your initial 4 year players aren't locker room fits. Get me a winning product. I don't care if that's 10 4 year players, 10 1 year players, 10 JUCOs, or a concoction of everything. Win.

I am not big on another transfer coming to the school for just one season. Groce has a revolving door of players. This year we had 2 scholarships that were wasted on transfers, Hester and the guy that punched out Klac. ( I cannot remember his name) I would much rather Groce try to build a team with frosh. He has 3 years left to prove that he can build a winning program.