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I don't think he will leave. He's well-paid, leads the best program in the MAC, has wonderful support from donors, and will have a loaded senior class next year. I do hope people realize how lucky we are, though. To have a legendary coach in Keith Dambrot for 13 years and then immediately shift to another legendary coach in John Groce for 8 years now and counting? That type of longevity - while winning - just doesn't happen often at the mid-major level. If either guy didn't have that loyalty and bring that longevity, we could have very easily become what Buffalo is now.

No such thing as a sure thing except there will be a basketball game between the Zips and Bowling Green on Thursday. And in 2020 that sure thing did not even happen.

My mother always taught me if you don't have something good to say, don't say anything at all. I hope UA provides him with the support he needs to continue to run a successful MAC program. I personally hope he stays.

Paid access only but I’m sure this emphasizes how happy he is here. I don’t see him even exploring other offers with the backing he has from Wentz. Would have to start all over somewhere else without the trusted circle he has here. Why even put doubt in current team or recruits minds.

Perkins ended up with a career high 35 points. https://pressprosmagazine.com/2025/03/08/perkins-lights-it-up-as-westerville-north-wins-first-regional-title-since-1996/

Miami, Kent, OU, Akron in MAC blue blood semis.

Good vibes only at this time please

He’s been there done that (and I think has made similar comments), has all the money he or his kids should ever need, and has a good thing going where he is. I think it would be a tough decision to leave and hope he doesn’t.

Hilltopper isn't giving me a warm and fuzzy feeling

Ryan Andrick cold cocked Dan Hipsher on the sidelines during a game.

Recap and a preview of the MAC Tournament. https://open.substack.com/pub/akronzippedup/p/zips-mens-basketball-weekly-update-964?r=4gotw8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

And Harney just being a general moron iirc

It would have to be a very attractive program for him to leave. He's not leaving for a Duquesne like KD, or a Bradley like Geno Ford. It would have to be an SEC, Big 10 or ACC program with a solid base with the potential to succeed, and even then I think it would be tough for him. I also think that if he did it would be a program where he could offer Dustin big money to follow him. I think Dustin has an equal chance of drawing interest from a smaller program or a struggling D1 program. It's all very scary as UA's chances of hitting on 3 in a row are slim.

Westerville North won their game vs. Sunbury Big Walnut today to reach the Ohio D2 Final Four. Idk what he finished with but Tai Perkins had 22 1st-half points.

Groce chose NOT to allow this team to devolve into mediocrity in age of transfer portal and NIL.

Last night everybody was a winner thanks to Bud Wentz. In the putting contest, a new target sign was revealed that was 50% larger and had no target hole. The announcers said all that was required to win the $10,000 prize was to hit the sign. The young lady contestant took aim and sent a straight putt right at it. Just as the ball got there, the helpers lifted the sign and the ball passed underneath. The contestant started to walk away but was informed she had indeed won $10,000! Bud was waiting with the check at the other end of the court. The shot for tuition contest took a similar twist. A student was selected as always who could win a semester of tuition by sinking a layup, a foul shot, a three point shot and a half court shot in 30 seconds. It was then announced there would be a substitute celebrity shooter. Ali Ali! He calmly sank the first three shots on his first attempt. After about 10 attempts he banked in the halfcourt shot and the crowd went wild! Kudos to Bud for thinking outside the box to make senior night special.

I don't know what he'll do, but Akron is a great place for him at this point in his life. He has almost 20 years in the Ohio retirement system and needs some years of service to maximize retirement benefits. I've heard, but don't know for sure, this pays an average of your three highest paid years in retirement. His lives in a very good public school system for his kid and one isn't a teenager yet. Most of all, he seems happy and a different job may equate to misery. Staying at Akron is a no brainer.

Watched some of the game today and the zips stink. Some bonehead plays that shouldn’t happen.

No.

Steve Swiech is an air traffic controller per his Facebook

This generation doesn't have the deep pockets necessarily. George will be as successful as the BG NIL allows for.

True, I forgot KD went Senderoff-lite for a few years.

Also Diggs and Treadwell domestic issues.

And since this incident, Akron has been home to some of the highest character rosters in the NCAA, which is the true difference between Akron & Kent. Chris Singletary blew a .13 and punched Nate Linhart 17 years ago - they've had countless incidents since. We have Abreu and Gueye/Kostelec. That's it.

BG reportedly set to move forward with Eddie George. Seems like a good hire. Cut his teeth and had some success at FCS level, and obviously has the name recognition, though not sure how much it resonates with this generation.

No way OU beats Toledo without a healthy AJ Brown.

zips lose a close one today at Dayton (2nd game of the spring league)

Jonas Nichols, the highly touted freshman from Hoban.

BPI + KPI + NET + KENPOM + SOR + TOR + WAB and divide by 7.

And Prather is having a good year at Robert Morris averaging 8 points a game and Robert Morris won the Horizon league regular season. He scored 13 points in the quarter finals of their tourney.

Says a lot about the program that Ali would come back to the game and do this.

My Predictions: #1 Akron over #8 BGSU #4 Toledo over #5 Ohio #3 Kent over Western Michigan #2 Miami over #7 Eastern Michigan #1 Akron over #4 Toledo #3 Kent over #2 Miami Akron beats Kent for a third time this season to capture the crown.

Let’s all acknowledge that WMU has a record of 12-19 and is the 6 seed in the Mac tournament

I know it’s been mentioned already, but kudos to Groce & Co. for green lighting the Evan Wilson start. Very nice.

Dayton is a solid private school, but the pricetag is pretty steep for just solid. Ohio public universities offer very good value for the cost. Kids should be looking at the Ohio public university more than they are. It's a great value. I'd stack UofA up against Dayton any day of the week. I understand demographic, etc. but it seems easy enough to exploit.

Maybe that was intentional on our part since few outside our circle would know what the "A" stands for. 🤔 I still think the A needs to have Akron or Zips with it somewhere most of the time anyway.

Right these total wins, win streaks, and KDs infamous "20" win seasons are fuzzy math, garbage in/garbage out stuff. Throw in some D3s, some low level MAC competition, etc. and next thing you know you have a record. I'm not diminishing what this team or any other team did. These #s are good for low-information fans and the media. If I were to tell someone Akron set record for most wins in a season, the response back usually isn't "But SUNY Brockport."

I’ll tell you what that means to me. A much better non-conference result next year. Maybe a tougher non-conference schedule.

I hate the exclusivity occurring with college sports. This is awful. The year round schedule is fine, but only inviting the elitist group of 32 is nauseating.