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This was a fascinating listen. Bud Wentz needs to be at the forefront of PR for the University - he's a tremendous communicator. For those that haven't listened to this, here are some key takeaways... - NIL program is built around community involvement; designed to retain players more so than attract players; Wentz believes there are changes in NIL are coming very soon that will make Akron's program more of the model as the "pay to play" schemes are going to get shut down - FearTheRooCollective.com is the NIL site; they're working on finalizing it to be more formal and easy to use; he mentioned one time donations, monthly donations, etc., and a wide range of amounts starting as low as $10 - The basketball practice facility isn't finished yet; a grand opening is expected at some point; Wentz said our facilities across the board are nicer than most mid majors, including James Madison - Akron basketball alumni, since Groce has been here, have returned at a very high rate to continue to support the program. Part of the NIL program is a former player assistance program so they can be involved and build longevity with the program @roopride You asked what is a better donation destination - the school itself or the NIL? That's a personal preference, but I'll say this: success in college athletics drives enrollment. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/education/online-colleges/does-march-madness-performance-drive-college-application-rates/

Enrique, Ali, and Greg are coming back for a 6th year!🎉

😱😱😱

Beat me to it. Note the CBS Sports Network - televised baby!

Bud Wentz discussed the collective at the beginning of this podcast with Joe Dunn

Glad to see the powers that be are putting something together. Whether you like it or not (I’m not personally opposed to players benefitting, but there is a lot that needs fixed), play the game or fall further behind.

Love the breakdowns @catdaddyp!

This is an incredibly strong group of safties from the high schools ranks. I’m certain in a few years multiple names will be listed below as players that could have been in the top 5. I also think coach Renna has done an excellent job in the portal filling departures on our backend. HS/JUCO SAFTIES: OHIO - Tony Mathis HUDL FILM WESTERN MICHIGAN - Carlos Mitchell HUDL FILM KENT STATE - Clinton Robinson HUDL FILM CENTRAL MICHIGAN - Tysen Campbell HUDL FILM TOLEDO - Hyajah Miller HUDL FILM TRANSFER SAFETIES: AKRON - Amon Greenwood AKRON - Paul Lewis KENT STATE - Kaleb Moody OHIO - Dustin Johnson AKRON - Daymon David 2023 S and how they fared: MIAMI - Mychal Yharbrough = 3 Tackles and Redshirted. AKRON - David Jester = N/A Redshirted. CENTRAL MICHIGAN - Mark-Allen Gay = N/A Redshirted. BOWLING GREEN - Tracy Revels = N/A Redshirted. BUFFALO - Devon Rainey = N/A No longer on team. Who I may have missed on: N/A thus far.

Groce's son has Akron as a potential landing spot for his college career. Dartmouth is another D1 offer. Also offered by Wooster, John Carrol, Mount Union, and Baldwin Wallace

I struggled with the top 5. Rich Benege and Jason Hocker deserve to be there, but I couldn’t leave Joshua Lloyd off. The other issue I had is that I believe Lloyd will grow into a DE and probably should be with the DEs. In any case, Akron has 3 really good LBs in this class that absolutely deserve to be listed below. It’s a strong LB class as a whole for the MAC. HS/JUCO LBs: 1) TOLEDO - K’Von Sherman HUDL FILM (JUCO) 2) TOLEDO - Demontrae Gaston HUDL FILM 3) BOWLING GREEN - Elias Owens HUDL FILM 4) AKRON - Dahvon Frazier HUDL FILM 5) WESTERN MICHIGAN - Joshua Lloyd HUDL FILM TRANFER LBs: 1) TOLEDO - Lance Dixon 2) EASTERN MICHIGAN - James Djonkam 3) CENTRAL MICHIGAN - Nolan Ziegler 4) EASTERN MICHIGAN - JT Killen 5) KENT STATE - Luke Fulton 2023 LBs and how they fared: 1) MIAMI - Malcolm McCain = 1 Tackle and Redshirted. 2) EASTERN MICHIGAN - Jaivian Norman = N/A Redshirted. 3) BOWLING GREEN - David Afogho = N/A Redshirted. 4) WESTERN MICHIGAN - Marcus Woodley = N/A Redshirted. 5) BOWLING GREEN - Jabari Mitchell = N/A Redshirted. Who I may have missed on: N/A thus far.

On twitter Da'Quan is very excited about visiting. Hopefully we can get a verbal 💯

No

I agree, it's not like the NCAA was behind NIL. They had their hands forced by the courts. Any restrictions they attempt will likely just get met with more lawsuits.

I imagine it's also easier and cheaper to retain players on your current roster as they already decided to play for Akron once. If you try to go after the 'free agents', who have no connection to the area, you probably have to pay a premium to get them to come to Ohio vs Florida or a Southern Cal school.

He may have been the most mature freshman I have seen. Seems like a great kid and a fine basketball player but if he actually wants to play in college he would be much better served to go to one of those last 4 programs listed.

The team that beat us never even made it out of the Sweet 16 😒

How much NIL available? -- I don't know if any collective really publishes this Is it public knowledge? -- No where can someone contribute. -- Good question, hopefully they publish something soon Is it now better to contribute to NIL vs the school. -- School contributions can't go to players while NIL can. So it's up to you if you want to fund facility/travel type expenditures or to pay for players

Look, the kid has had one week of spring practice. Not saying if there was a game today that he would go in ahead of Wassel. I just heard that he was looking very good at this point - which isn’t very far along in the big picture.

Patience grasshoppers.

Honestly, I might be in the minority, but I'm not all that impressed with Coit. He's a career .416 shooter and .354 from 3. The only scoring that he does efficiently is free throws, but it's not like he gets to the line a ton. ~18 ppg on ~15 fga/gm just isn't all that good. He's a chucker on a bad team.

Better. It’s early, so take it for what it is.

Also worth mentioning everything negative being shared about Coit is (respectfully to those who have shared) total hearsay.

That's disappointing on Coit. We need a killer G in the backcourt. I hope Groce & Co. haven't been spoiled by the demeanors of our departing seniors & remember most D1 athletes are testosterone-filled young men who still have a lot of maturing to do. I respect and am proud of the culture Groce & Co. have built here, but it's a matter of degrees... is Coit really that bad? He must be for Groce not to want to bring such a natural born scorer on board. Idk, but Groce had an awful lot of success at OU w/ The Marvelous Mr. Cooper... who was no choirboy.

If you're relying on the portal to build a winner next year, there may not be many natural scorers like Coit out there who would consider Akron. I don't want criminals but I'd rather have a guy like Voit who may need to learn some humility vs a guy like Thornton who's going to be a team player that falls out of the rotation.

A little birdie told me that the early enroll freshman, Roggow, already looks pretty good. Maybe he’s that guy?

This year’s crop of MAC DTs is not quite as deep as the 2023 class. I also think the two defensive line coaches Akron has had since Moorhead’s arrival have done as good of a job recruiting as any DL coach in the MAC. HS/JUCO DTs: 1) AKRON - Elijah Davis HUDL FILM 2) AKRON - Ronald Hull HUDL FILM 3) KENT STATE - Josue Cordoba HUDL FILM 4) MIAMI - Oyeka Alexander HUDL FILM 5) WESTERN MICHIGAN - Jordan Buckley HUDL FILM TRANSFER DTs: 1) AKRON - Nathan Kapongo 2) WESTERN MICHIGAN - Anterio Thompson 3) OHIO - CJ Doggette 4) EASTERN MICHIGAN - Dylan Shelton 5) BUFFALO - Tristan Souza 2023 DTs and how they fared: 1) WESTERN MICHIGAN - Sid Kaba = N/A Redshirted. 2) TOLEDO - Wayne Peart = N/A Redshirted. 3) OHIO - Kobi Gorman = 5 Tackles and 1 Sack. 4) BOWLING GREEN - James Thomas = N/A Redshirted. 5) AKRON - Marcus Moore = 8 Tackles. Who I may have missed on: N/A thus far.

FWIW, Groce had similar situation in year 1 going into year 2. Felt like he was hired later than usual, KD took a lot of the team with him - current players and HS recruits - and Groce was left scrambling to fill scholarships in year 1. Because of that, we had significant turnover going into year 2 as well. Hoping Gensler finds his foundational players. Year 2 may be disappointing again, but in year 3 we should start seeing noticeable improvement if this is going to be a success.

Already removed him from the list, but looks like Behm is officially in the portal. Good luck to him. I thought he was a bit out of his depth at this level.

Akron is last in MAC FB for grossing revenue but first in MBB for grossing revenue. Even with this, football still brings in more $$ which is why I say the MAC has more longevity than the A10 or similar conferences. With the sheer amount of money going into football, if I was a university president and I didn't have a FB program, I'd want to wet my universities's beak - especially in today's day & age

I like you - you're intellectual. Do you think the money from MAC football would offset the A10's top down approach? I know they currently don't have a FB program (like Vermont) but, they could assemble a team quickly and likely be a contender. I read part of an article before the paywall prop populated & it said the main reason VCU doesn't have a football program is bc of the start-up cost to only play FCS ball. Basically the ends didn't justify the means but would a change in conference offset this? UMass seems to think so