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I guess this is worthy of beginning a new thread. Spring news, observations, rumors, & Spring Game takeaways.

Bump for update. For the most part PWOs are not on this list. There are a handful of players on the departures list that may have earned scholarships by the time they left. There are so few in that scenario that I’m not going to reach out and ask. All signings should be scholarship players. I’m also still waiting on some type of confirmation on the verbal commitments. As of now, we are tied for 3rd place in Rivals Comprehensive Rankings. We finished tied for 1st last year. In my opinion, bare minimum expectations should be a bowl game in 2024.

If Wally was playing today there is little to no chance that he would have returned to Miami for his senior season. Someone like Kentucky, UNC, or Duke would have offered him low to mid 6 figures to transfer. If you're a mid-major, you have to win with team basketball. In reality, Freeman is probably the closest thing we'll see to Wally in an Akron uniform for a long time.

To me, it boils down to this. Most games, you're going to get 35-40 points from Freeman and Ali. Tribble is going to pitch on 10 or more. After that, it's a huge drop-off. Hunter has failed to hit double digits in 8 of the last 11 games. Dawson has failed to do the same in 10 of the last 12. Thornton's shooting has fallen off a cliff since the calendar flipped to the new year. Scott hasn't been great. Tavari has shown flashes of why we thought he could be special but has been too inconsistent. Good teams will be happy to double Freeman and force anyone else to beat them. Someone or multiple someone's will have to step up. Getting Nate back would be huge, too. Still the MAC favorite in a down year. Going to need some of our role players to grow to have any chance to do anything beyond that.

Amen. How many easy layups and dunks did they get with simple cuts to the hoop? It was maddening.

Houston, @zipnetter1951 is having a problem.

Yes the JAR is bad. But that horse is still twitching, so we should continue to work on finishing that job a few times a year just to be sure. I made my second trip in as many Fridays to the MAC Center to see Kent lose again tonight. That place is far worse than the JAR, and totally lacks atmosphere. If you think a game at the JAR is boring, make the drive over there. In a rivalry game with a half decent crowd, the Flashes got a dunk to take the lead early in the 2nd half after previously trailing by 8 and not a single fan stood up to express excitement. It made me kind of sad, in a way. They’ve lost 5 home games this season including 3 straight MAC losses. The most home losses Groce has ever had at Akron was 4, during his first season with Lucas Smith in the starting lineup.

KD left for $1,000,000/yr guaranteed for 7 years at his Fathers Alma Mater.

Thanks! Glad to do it.

You are a machine @catdaddyp!