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That's what I didn't like. Might there be an ever-so-occassional scheduling conflict? Yes. Maaaaaybe. But that would be a good thing - it would mean there are multiple events to enhance the Akron-area's quality of life & draw people/students downtown. Anyway, the U would get first priority. The benefits to both downtown as well as the men's basketball program far outweigh any 20-minutes of additional paperwork/phone calls which may be required for the occasional scheduling inconvenience. Does either the DNC or GOP want to hold their National Convention in Akron on a date which conflicts with a Zips basketball game? Does U2 want to play their farewell concert in Akron on a date which conflicts with a Zips basketball game? Okay, the Zips can play in the JAR on those rare occasions. NOT A BIG DEAL. If arenas can schedule cooperative dates around an NBA schedule, there's no reason an arena (perhaps University-run arena) couldn't schedule around a much shorter and more sparse college basketball schedule. Not only does the JAR suck - and the JAR does suck - but it's not easy to get to - you really have to go out of your way to get to the Zips' games. You drive to the Carroll Street parking deck, walk to the game, walk back to the parking deck & drive home. No auxiliary economic benefit to downtown. The JAR makes it awfully tempting to just stay home & watch games on ESPN+. I want Zips games to be an event - go out to eat before the game, walk to the game, grab desert or a drink after the game. Not that you absolutely cannot do that with the JAR, but the JAR does nothing to facilitate the night out, let alone enhance the experience of the evening. I want the U to be the cultural center of the city. Cleveland knew what they were doing when they finagled getting the Richfield Coliseum shuttered and built Gateway for the Cavs. We in Akron need to be at least as savvy as Cleveland - even more so, frankly. There is more parking on Main Street. There are bars & restaurants for before and after games within walking distance on Main Street (maybe even get a Metro bus to taxi ppl north & south on Main Street on the nights of games?). Canal Park draws a lot of ppl downtown in the summer months, but boy is it quiet down there from November-thru-April. Zips basketball could certainly give the downtown establishments a boost during those slow months. Along with concerts, etc. etc. With all the new housing going in downtown, we could get a lot of ppl who decide on a whim to go to a Zips game. You don't get that at the JAR. A new arena would certainly have to be a collaborative effort between the U, the city, and Summit County as well as local businesses. But it's strange that a city the size of Akron doesn't already have a downtown arena to begin with. Eh, I'm rambling. I just get going when the city & U don't seem to work together when it's an absolutely vital symbiotic relationship. I'll just end with reiterating that Cleveland knew what they were doing when they (cough, screwed Summit County) and finagled to have the perfectly fine Richfield Coliseum shuttered in order to bring the Cavs to their downtown.

BIG Wynn fan here. If I were the coach (probably good thing I'm not) I'd start him..

Before the baseball team came back I felt the perfect place for a new arena was building it where the current baseball field is. That would get you on exchange street so you would be in easy walking distance to bars and restaurants. Not to mention lot 9 parking and the Exchange parking decks right there. Personally, I'm not a big fan of a downtown arena unless the city/county is chipping in. Being in the middle of campus makes it more convenient for students to attend.

Yeah. Lost interest in this one already. Two turnovers. Two missed FTs. Not going to win any MAC tournament playing like this.

Don't see Delante Brown. Good crowd. I think people wanted to get out!

Given the quality of running backs I believe the Zips will be targeting in their next class, I don't believe they would be locking up a future scholarship for Anthony with a grey shirt. Therefore, I vote he is a straight walk-on this year. The question remains, why didn't the staff give him a shout-out on Wednesday like they did several other PWOs.

Exactly this. This team is bringing back shades of Charlie Coles' Miami Teams/Rob Murphy EMU teams. Not quite there on the painful-to-watch index, but close. Honestly, worried about the future too. I know Hilltopper said both of the freshmen guards had injuries coming into the season, and the COVID year complicates things, but I wish we would've been able to get some production out of any of them. Our rotation is much to short this year now with Walton gone and Wynn out.

I'd love to see a decent arena on the edge of campus, downtown. Like you said, we're not going to get the world's premier events but there's no reason mom and dad can't spend a Saturday afternoon in Akron watching the Harlem Globetrotters or some travelling circus. Oddly, Canton has a functional arena. It's absolutely nothing special and a little outdated but it serves the purpose. I actually like the Civic Center for basketball (much more than the JAR). The other problem with revamping the JAR is the limited time available to do it. They'd have from roughly early March to mid-November. That's a relatively short time span for substantial improvements. I would volunteer to be the guy that takes down the silly glass wall/rail!

Interesting Why is the university hiding this signing?

I'm really excited about this kid!

I was part of the original staff that opened the rec center back in 2004 - 2007. During my time there the auxiliary gym did not get much traffic however it was used for many Table Events. The rubber surface in there was not popular but at times the aux served its purpose when other activities like badminton was set up in the main gym. I see them knocking down the outer wall to either extend or create a private entrance.

GT's column concerning the 4.7M athletics fundraising effort states the new turf at InfoCision is to be completed by May. I assume they'll want our primary (new?) logo at the 50, so we should probably be hearing some announcement pretty soon. I'd assume they can't wait too much longer to order the new turf (complete w/ chosen logo at the 50) if they hope to have it installed by May.

@Zip LOL on the FC Dallas comment, but isn't similar true of living in Florida, Governor DeSantis? 🤣l

The cost of the basketball practice facility is just over $1 million. The biggest costs are the Floor and a new HVAC system to keep the floor from buckling.

Sky high is pretty high, but my expectations for a full recruiting year border on the unbelievable. I predict that next years crop will include two 4* (even though stars don't matter).

We're still 10th (MAC) & 123rd (Nationally) for HS Recruits, but the Overall is more important in my opinion, at least for G5 schools. The Open Portal (immediate eligibility) is a gamechanger.

Great info, thank you! Wow I went to bed last night and Akron was ranked 10. Now they are 7!! After being 12 last year, this is huge and a great success to the new coaching staff already!

Looking at 247, there have been a few updates... - Marquell Darnell was added, raising Akron's class average rating to .8220. - Tyhler Williams, Charles Kellom, and Kiawan Murphy are all still N/A, which I'm not sure will change at this point (although it should, especially Williams). - As of this morning, Akron is 7th in the MAC in Overall (Recruits & Transfers) points. - Nationally, the MAC order is: Canada (66), Miami OH (84), Toledo (96), PCCC (100), NIU (102), CMU (103), Akron (105), Balls (106), BUGS (119), WMU (121), EMU (126), OU (136). - Of note: Jackson State (68), Coastal Carolina (86), Liberty (88), Louisiana Monroe (134); no MAC school landed a 4* Recruit It cannot be stated enough the job this coaching staff did to pull together a near top-half-of-the-MAC & near top-100-nationally class in just 2 months when the majority of schools had both signing periods to bring guys in. I also don't believe we'll be done adding transfers. Spring Ball will shake fruit out of the trees, and we're a perfect landing spot.

One drawback to the class: we only signed one transfer OL. I know most of us on ZNO were hoping for at least one more. But I guess we still have till the start of Fall camp to add another.

Someone who is guaranteed a spot on the team for a year that pays their own way. So they are targeted, but not deemed worthy of a scholly, at least right away. Programs usually have 25 or so walk-ons on the roster, whether invited in the recruiting cycle, a school tryout, or whatever other manner.

I'm an empty shell of a man who despises Kent, Ohio, Toledo, Miami, Buffalo, that back up guard for BG, the third asst for EMU, the WMU dance team, and, of course, Whitford.

I've always thought they should have a much bigger American flag and pole to the left of the scoreboard. The flags at the closed end are pretty small for the size of the venue and don't make much of an impact.

It would also be nice if the university looked into upgrading the football stadium scoreboards also.They look outdated.

If they win in it, I could adjust to something as bland as Penn State or as obnoxious as Oregon.

I am not finding a whole lot of video of Tavari Johnson so far. It makes sense if he is a late bloomer. There are a couple short compilation videos on his twitter account. Hopefully going forward into his senior year he will post more similar content. https://twitter.com/Tavarijohnson5?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1435811852445962241|twgr^|twcon^s2_&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fzipsnation.org%2Fforums%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcoremodule%3Dsystemcontroller%3Dembedurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FCokesSunday%2Fstatus%2F1435811852445962241 Wanting to learn more I spent the monthly dues to get the Tavari Johnson notes from Scott Burgess of Prep Hoops. Burgess has proven to be a solid high school talent evaluator in Illinois. Here are the most recent write-ups after camps and tournaments where Tavari is mentioned. I will simply copy and past below. Much of the content is redundant, but to me hearing repetition reinforces his profile. It appears it's his height/slight frame that has him limited to the mid-major conversation because he has all the tools. Currently he is the 6th best 2022 prospect out of Illinois, third best PG. The number one prospect just committed to Duke, the next two are getting high-major offers and then I don't see much difference in the fourth and fifth rated prospects and Tavari in terms of offers. Prospects four and five are both point guards as well. Scott Burgess of Prep Hoops notes on Tavari Johnson ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted On: 07/6/21 7:43 PM Tavari Johnson (6’ 2022 PG, Young & Reckless)- Not sure I’ve ever seen Tavari play a bad game, as he’s constantly finding ways to produce. His feel for the game and basketball IQ is extremely high, and that’s evident with how he handles the ball in pick & roll situations. He finds ways to react to defenders in a variety of ways to make plays, whether it be hitting a pull up jumper, lobbing a pass over the top, splitting defenders to attack, or threading the needle with an accurate bounce pass. No matter what the defense throws at him he’s able to remain calm under pressure. Against a talented Wisconsin PGC team that went undefeated on the weekend, Tavari had a strong outing scoring at all three levels and dishing out a handful of assists. Posted On: 07/14/21 10:00 AM Tavari Johnson (Young & Reckless/Authentic Basketball 17U) One of the more underappreciated point guards in the Midwest once again showed why. He led his team to a strong weekend including beating EYBL squad LivOn on a floater at the buzzer. His ability to get in the teeth of a defense and pick them apart with his passing and runner game is tremendous. Electric around ball screen situations slicing the defense up over and over again. Some will be scared off because of height, but he is a mid-major prospect all the way. Posted On: 07/20/21 8:00 PM Tavari Johnson (Young & Reckless/Authentic Basketball 17U) Anyone who reads what I write or follows me on twitter is very well aware of my fondness for this point guard. He is the kind of mid-major guard that wins games in March in upset games. Electric passer that reads the floor like a college veteran already. Pick and roll savant. Changes gears, burst with the ball, and finishes in the lane with floaters over bigs despite his slight frame. Effective shooter off the bounce. (emphasis is mine) Posted On: 07/27/21 5:00 PM Tavari Johnson (Young & Reckless/Authentic Basketball 17U) Johnson is making a case for himself to continue to move up the board in 2022. He is a PH favorite with the way he operates in ball screen situations and his advanced IQ for the game. Makes some absolutely incredible passes. What impressed college coaches most was his ability to knock down shots at as high of a rate as he did off the bounce. Elite mid-major lead guard. Posted On: 08/12/21 6:00 AM - by Steve Parham Tavari Johnson (Lyons Township) 2022 Tavari was clearly one of the most consistent lead guards on the Prep Hoops Circuit this year. He has a knack to make the right decision majority of the time. Johnson would flourish in the pick and roll game and with shooters spaced out all around him, Tavari would have high assists numbers. And when defenders would take away his passing options look to Johnson to also score from all three levels. A dangerous weapon that Illinois could unleash. Posted On: 08/18/21 6:00 AM Tavari Johnson (Lyons) Johnson is a high level point guard that runs a team, hits shots, and makes everyone around him better. He has lined up four visits: August 25-26 Akron, September 10-12 UW-Milwaukee, September 17-19 Bowling Green, and September 24-26 Toledo. Posted On: 08/19/21 6:00 AM Tavari Johnson (Young & Reckless) Johnson is a high IQ point guard with the ball on a string. He understands how to run a team and is an absolute ball screen savant. Makes excellent reads in that area along with being able to find teammates picking/popping or getting to the rim himself and even pulling up from mid-range for jumpers. With his play for Y&R/Authentic he became a coveted mid-major target. Posted On: 08/28/21 6:00 AM Tavari Johnson (Young & Reckless) Johnson is such a complete point guard which includes being able to shoot the rock at a high level especially pulling up. Posted On: 08/31/21 6:00 AM Tavari Johnson (Young & Reckless) One of the more electric guards in the senior class with the ball in his hands he weaves in and out of traffic for scores in the paint. Posted On: 09/2/21 6:00 AM Tavari Johnson (Young & Reckless) Johnson is the most electric passer in the state. Has eyes in the back of his head and is elite in pick/roll or pick/pop situations. Posted On: 09/8/21 6:00 AM Tavari Johnson (Lyons) Current Ranking: #6 Johnson is a PH favorite. The Lyons Township point guard is an elite ball screen player that makes decisions with such ease. High level passer that sees the floor like a college upperclassmen. Plus shooter that can knock down shots pulling up off the dribble or spot up threes. Despite being smaller he is a very pesky defender. Posted On: 09/13/21 3:00 PM Tavari Johnson (Lyons) Johnson leads a nice list of point guard commitments this week. The LT floor general is a ball screen savant with the way he operates getting himself and teammates the looks they want. Narrowed it down to four and ultimately decided he would commit to Akron. Go Zips!!!

They've hardly been used (Akron's side) since 2009.