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One of the best ways to grow a fan base is to connect kids to it at a young age. I'd love to see free admission for kids with paid admission from an adult.

Athletics has to get creative and provide some fun entertainment for the the non-season ticket holders to have some engagement with the program. Get fans in the door and find a way to get them to come back. Men's Basketball is a winning program that needs some hustle from Athletics. I would love to know how many businesses, churches, community nights and youth teams they contact to attend games. This is a special team that deserves some support.

I took my son when they sold the student section as GA over break. The team coming over and giving them high fives after the win was so incredibly cool to him. He's a fan for life.

10000% this ^ Even do it for the lower seats - maybe one kid ticket under 16 per paying adult? You would only lose a little money, and the bottom would be filled with enthusiastic fans. And kids sitting that close to the action and these larger than life athletes would be hooked for life.

Put together a strong postseason and that won't be a problem.

The college football world is apparently starving for 3rd-5th year OL's. Our mediocre-at-best guys are landing gigs at East Carolina, San Diego State, Liberty... not like that's Alabama, Clemson and Michigan, but still...10 years ago those guys would have ended up at some FCS program. Seems like it's just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic? The JUCO's and random assortment of other guys we pick up are essentially the same caliber of player. It sucks to lose the continuity of several guys playing side-by-side for a few years...but unless the outgoing guys were replaced with Freshman, it seems to work out ok. The days of developing a HS kid with a good frame into a 5th year blocking machine are over. G5 schools can still do the grooming, but a P5 will ultimately reap the benefits.

I've mentioned this before and it's been discussed that the staff is trying to find value players with more than 1 year of eligibility. The JUCO kids are getting squeezed at the P5 level. There's talent to be found at that level. Bill Snyder created a program at K State with JUCO kids.

Someone was filing a complaint about the pregame food offerings in the Tommy Evans Lounge. Well look how underwhelming this spread is in a Boston Garden loge. 🤣😭😭

https://gculopes.com/news/2024/1/5/mens-soccer-kiefer-announces-chappel-as-associate-head-coach.aspx ...Prior to that, Chappel was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Akron, where he served for five seasons. In his time there, the Zips won five Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament championships and made the NCAA tournament five times, including three College Cup appearances and a 2018 national runner-up team. With Chappel as assistant coach, Akron totaled a 76-26-13 record with a postseason mark of 12-2-3. After five seasons, the Zips held the best winning percentage in D-I soccer over that time period. ...

Love this!!

Group rates are: Upper Reserved: $15 non-conference, $20 MAC games Upper GA: $8 non-conference, $10 MAC games Groups get to pick between a spirit tunnel, halftime performance, halftime scrimmage, or a post-game photo on the court. They also get recognized on the jumbotron. (My son's team looked into it this year)

I guess is a good thing Linguist is bailing then. Honestly smart career move as he’d likely get fired after another disappointing season. Who else from Buffalo is worth poaching?!

I think a lot of players see it as a chance to "study abroad". They can get a graduate diploma from a second school...get a change of scenery...experience a different culture. Let's face it - Ronan Chambers has lost a lot of football games in his college career. Like 90% of them. Why not take your NCAA "Grad Transfer Get Out of Jail Free" card to see what else is out there? If it doesn't work out...you have your UA Bachelors degree...and off you go into the real world.

I really don't get this. Why leave for what I assume to be P5 position for only one year? What P5 will take a good, but not great, G5 player from a terrible team? I'm not thinking there are many landing places, so does that mean he focuses on a better G5 team to improve his draft position? Possibly, but, again, it doesn't make sense to me.

We will see who wants it more. the team or the fans? Hoping a big crowd will motivate the Zips to leave it all on the floor. (Someone said WMU is legit. Or was it BG?)

Will be an epic battle.

Some tidbits from the WMU game preview: * WMU is riding a five-game winning streak, Western Michigan heads to Akron for a battle between two of the MAC's three teams who remain undefeated in league play. * WMU is 4-0 in the MAC for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign when it won its first six conference games. * B. Artis White is averaging 18.8 points and 5.4 assists during the winning streak. * Through four conference games, WMU is leading the MAC in scoring at 85.3 PPG. * Akron leads the all-time series between the two programs, 38-31. * The Zips are 21-5 at home against the Broncos, with WMU's last road win in the series coming back on Jan. 3, 2004. * Western Michigan was dominant on the glass on Saturday as it enjoyed a 46-29 edge in rebounding against Ohio, marking the seventh straight game the Broncos have won the rebounding battle. During this run, WMU has risen to second in the MAC in overall rebounding (38.1) and tied for second in rebounding margin (+3.3). The Brown and Gold also sits atop the conference in offensive rebounding for the second consecutive season at 12.5 per game. * Akron holds a 38-21 advantage in the all-time series against Western Michigan and has won eight of the last nine meetings

OK. Class & character are different, but they go together. I've been schooled.

It's the age we live in... I wonder who the first G5 team will be to openly market itself as simply a stepping stone to the P5 level. "If you're a P5 level recruit, come to Prep State University. We'll give you the playing time, coaching and facilities to get you a P5 scholarship and NIL money, or your money back. I guarantee it!"

It was 70 and sunny yesterday and I went to the beach in shorts. People here don't know what cold means. Winter coats in the 50s.

it's great, they have started doing co-player of the week with him just so it's not the Enrique award every week

Unbelievable. Enrique just earned another MACPOtW award. Crazy

I double checked this issue and once again the husband of the luckiest woman in the world is correct. While both words are nouns, they can be used to describe two distinctly different things. Class: a group of students who are taught together. Character: a person in a novel, play, or movie.

Also, looks like Toledo at Akron has been moved to Friday, FEB 2nd, and will be televised on ESPN2 at 9pm.

As you might have noticed, I have some down time. So I’m replowing some old ground with the future bigs on our roster. Amani Lyles just has to wait his turn. He is a strong bodied center behind one of the best in the game. He’s not tall for a center, 6-7, but he can move people around. I would like to see him continue to get stronger and he already has the 3 point shot in his bag of tricks. Marvin Musiime-Kamali as I mentioned before is likely Ali’s replacement on the wing. At 6-6, he’s lean, explosive and has hops. His highlights show a player with scoring ability at all levels. Darrian Baker, at 6-8, 225lbs is definitely a forward. But he is built, moves and plays like a small forward. He’s a prototypical stretch 4 in my mind and eerily similar to Xeyrius Williams. Which would be awesome. Rich Brisco, is a 6-8 power forward. I don’t expect a lot from him offensively early on except for maybe cleaning up around the rim. But he looks like a defensive dream in the paint from the limited material on him. He earns his keep by blocking shots, rebounding and being an overall scrappy pain in the ass. He’s the type that plays angry and is not at all deterred by the occasional elbow to the face. In the Groce/Akron era, I would best compare him to Camron Reece. But his temperament is actually closer to Leron Black during the Groce/Illinois days. If Brisco pans out we are going to love this guy’s tenacity. Quote from Brisco about his own game; "I could score, but mostly I love playing defense. I love getting rebounds, blocking shots, deflecting shots, getting tip-ins. That's just my game. That's what I like to do to help my team win. Whatever they need, I'm gonna do". One final thought, there is a hole in this roster once filled by center, Aziz Bandaogo. Damn, that still hurts. We have a couple of scholarships available this year. I’m hoping Groce can land a 7 foot rim protector. 🤞🙏

We've had some kids come through the program over the years that have made major progress from the time they came to the time they left. Jimond Ivey is one that immediately comes to mind. Tribble has grown as much or more as a player and team leader as any of them.

https://x.com/akronecho/status/1745917016148410790?s=46

I've been closely following Zips basketball since the last year of the Coleman Crawford era and I've got a lot of favorite players (Jeremiah Wood, Jimmal Ball, Romeo Travis, Daric Tarver, Jamie Bosley, Dru Joyce, LCJIII, X 1&2, Big Dog, Tree, Zeke Marshall, and I'm sure I'm missing a few) but I've got to admit I guess Enrique's the best Zip I've ever had the privilege of watching.

There’s a lot of football specific merchandise

Items with our new “A” logo?

I wish I knew but its probably the only way WCU would play the zips this year. would've liked to have seen it played here in akron (or found another team) considering the zips only have 2 non conference homes games.

Just passed Nate at Chipotle, hand is still wrapped up (not in a tortilla)