Leaderboard

Warning: I got long-winded late at night, sorry. When it comes to recruiting, there are few better than Groce. A saying at Illinois was "Mothers love Groce" for the way he was able to alleviate their concerns during the process. And the guy's work ethic is off the charts. Also, I think he (and Dustin Ford) have proven to be solid at player development as well as game planning at each of their stops. As long as the Akron administration continues to meet him half way the sky is the limit. I believed that on day one and nothing has changed. Groce has the ability and the patience to continue to grow this program incrementally. And I believe we would be even further along if not for COVID. It's my opinion that injuries and the unethical side of the business is why Groce failed at Illinois. Nothing more. You lose your 4 star point guard 2 years in a row to season ending injury it's going to have ramifications. And today, if Illinois gets into that 2 way battle vs. Villanova for Jalen Brunson they would send in the CEO of the NIL Collective to try to seal the deal. Groce didn't want any part of that crap. I don't have first-hand knowledge, but the evidence was clear then. Groce ended up the "recruiting bridesmaid" way too many times on the high level recruits for it to be pure misfortune. Groce always talked about "not taking any short cuts". I took that statement to mean he had no intention of buying a championship. Now thanks to NIL, all of those seedy dealings are legal and part of the standard operating procedure. The other aspect of the P6 racket that I don't think people quite appreciate is the pressure to win immediately. I know from following Illinois that P6 fan bases can be entitled and insufferable. And their donors can be even worse. I don't see any of that appealing to him anymore. There are many factors that motivate a student athlete to attend a university; prestige, promises of going pro, immediate cash payouts, specific educational goals, family legacy, other relationships such as girlfriends, favorite team growing up, etc. Some of those might not apply to Akron, but here are a couple that might. Guys from the Cleveland area can play for their local team and their friends / family can attend many of the games. Freeman's family is a great example. And this is the pitch I believe Groce is using more than any other; come to Akron and you can be a part of building something special, something bigger than yourself, create your own legacy and the players that follow you will stand on your shoulders to reach even higher. This approach appeals to a certain personality and it's not for everyone. But Groce can sell that. I truly believe Groce is just getting started. Go Zips!!

I can think of millions of reasons why other schools might be hesitant to hire JG away from Akron. I think the type of program he runs is a perfect fit for a quality mid-major. He isn't greasy enough for the average P-5 up and comer. Hopefully improvements to the JAR and other enhancements to the program keep him around. He is a perfect fit for Akron.

Often imitated, never duplicated....LOL. I'll sue when somebody steals Mr. Pinky or uses a derivative!

Let’s get some team chemistry going and hit the fall with a vengeance. Load those chips on those shoulders. Zips got work to do!

Agreed. Given the present state of the program, this Spring schedule is more important than it is in most years. Zips need some collective success on which to build. Zips got work to do!

Michigan State will play at Akron on Saturday March 9 We now know that Akron's 2 home games in the college spring league will be Dayton on April 6 and the Spartans on March 9 We know that the zips...play at Bowling Green on Friday March 22. The zips will play at Michigan in their 4th college spring league game (that date has not yet been published by either Michigan or Akron)

An 11 seed would mean we'd be seeded better than at least 2 at-large teams. That isn't attainable whatsoever. A 12 is possible, but that would require multiple teams, like Samford, to lose their conference tournament. I use Samford as an example because they have a better resume than Akron. That said, if they lose their conference tournament and another team in that conference wins the AQ, Akron would be seeded ahead of them. The same is true of McNeese in the Southland conference. It's a common misconception that the top 68 teams make the field. It's really more like the top ~48 with 20 random conference AQ add-ins. The way to get a 12 seen is be one of the top teams among those 20 1 bid AQ. In Akron's case since their resume isn't strong, they will need teams placed ahead of them to lose in their conference tournament.

The Kent fan that needed to copy Clarke’s PCCC cracks me up. Nothing worse than an unimaginative wannabe copycat.

Agreed. Just wish Akron (general community) would support him better. Seems like a sect of fans disappeared when KD did and never came back.

Groce really galvanized my support for Akron Basketball! I was a student and fan during the Dambrot era but when JG got to Akron things felt different (and better) maybe that can just be chalked up to mannerisms and enthusiasm but Groce seems to 'get it.'

At Michigan, Sunday, March 17th.

https://www.threads.net/@zipsbarstool/post/C3Ip7PZO1Ff/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Hilarious 😂

I would have no objections to that. Now only if we could get a Knights Arena 😉

From your mouth to the basketball Gods' ears!

Great post @Illini Zip (out of reactions).

Pretty sure Akron plays Michigan at Michigan on Saturday, March 16

I feel covid was equally to blame. You had people get out of the routine of going to games and they never returned once things returned to normal.

This area is also saturated with smaller colleges his son could play at and he could see quite a few games. Probably higher on the priority list than you may imagine.

JMU recent starters: Friedl- 6'4"- guard- 12.6 ppg/5.5 rpg/2 apg Edwards- 6'6"- G/F- 16.7 ppg/4.6 rpg/3/1 apg Wooden- 6'8"- F- 10.2 ppg/3.1 rpg Bickerstaff- 6'9"- F- 13.6 ppg/8.8 rpg Brown- 6'2"- guard- 6 ppg/2.1 rpg Other major contributors: 6th man, occasional starter- Horton- 6'6" junior G/F- 7.1 ppg/4.4 rpg 6'1" senior guard Green appears to have started quite a bit but seems to have fallen out of the starting order and averages 7.3 points and 3.5 apg

52 I don't think is old enough to be a concern. Coaches usually coach until early to mid 60s before they voluntarily retire. That would give whatever program that would be interested 10 years with him. That's much longer than the average coach stays at any program. If we was 57-58 I can see his age being a deterrent.

https://www.dominionpost.com/2024/02/02/sharron-young-scores-30-to-become-all-time-leading-scorer-at-morgantown-high/

Maybe it was a trap game for them?

Those ZtZ / UAronkid vs bobbyake debates were something.

JMU squeaked by Arkansas State last night, 77-73. They were up 13 at half but Arkansas State rallied to make it close. Noah Friedl, a 6'4" senior guard led scoring and rebounding at 19 and 10.

Didn't Eastern Michigan have like a dozen people in the stands when we played them? Also Duquesne not even being listed is hilarious to me. Same with Ohio State.

It seems Groce moved all the chips to the middle of the table trying for 1 last magical ride while you have a talent like Freeman on the roster. If Akron makes noise in March, Groce could gain attention. If not, next year will be a rebuilding year regardless. Although, with how bad the MAC is a rebuilding year still might be able to get you a 3rd or 4th place finish in the MAC. Regardless, I'm going to enjoy this run while it lasts. It will probably be a while before we see a talent like Freeman on Akron's roster again.

Zero. I'm not saying Groce won't leave for one of the bigger jobs, but my only concern is whether or not we make it into the Big Dance and win a Tourney game. After this year, the program resets anyways. A lot of question marks regardless of Groce's employment.

They beat Portage County Community College in double OT. It might have been the biggest choke job in PCCC history.

This is really all about football so I'll put it here. https://sports.yahoo.com/sec-big-ten-uniting-to-tackle-pervasive-issues-in-college-athletics--pressures-are-mounting-172832810.html G5 schools had better get together and come up with their own solutions, because whatever comes out of this won't benefit them.

My three sons don’t really show any interest in going to the games anymore. They went with me during the Bowden era, we had season tickets. We catch some hoops during the winter. Football? meh. I usually catch a couple games by myself every season now. And a couple at the high school I played for BITD. If they have enough players to play…

I've gotten too accustomed to Friday night Zips hoops, can't believe we have to wait another day for this one