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Seeing all these portal transfers make me sad for the MAC, and sad for the state of college basketball. Year ago Don Ohlmeyer famously said "The answer to all your questions is money." Sucks what greed and money do to just about everything good. For whatever inexplicable reason the planets aligned and the Zips got John Groce and Bud Wentz at the precise time we needed them, or we'd be in the same boat and everyone else. So grateful for those guys. But it all can come crashing down at any second, and we'll be like Buffalo and Toledo...losing our best players because they're chasing a couple quick bucks rather than getting a meaningful degree and making lifelong friendships with college teammates. The bulk of the portal transfers are pure basketball mercenaries majoring in eligibility. Kowalczyk spoke the truth...it'll be interesting to see where these guys end up in 20 years...with the $38,000 in NIL long gone, and no college degree to fall back on. For every decent MAC player that ascends to a P4 school with success, there are 15 who sit the P4 pines eagerly awaiting the season's end and the chance to transfer yet again.

@Captain Kangaroo has never seen a more perfect bracket, with 2 Akron A's in the middle.

After rewatching the final, I know you can say this about a lot of players who play well, But the Zips do not win that game without Amani Lyles. He was so clutch in so many ways, he must have been watching Enrique because 14 rebounds in 26 minutes is dog work. Six of them were offensive rebounds, which is the same number as the rest of the team had and only one less than Miami had. Plus obviously his clutch rebound at the end with that fantastic outlet pass. But he was also the guy boxing out Miami when Nate Johnson made his game tying shot near the end. Just an amazing game for him for somebody you just never thought was going to be that kind of a contributor last year. The Cavs had the Block, the 3 and the D, the Zips had the D, the Outlet and the Euro. 😊

Nope

So happy for Enrique...young man deserves it all.

This is absolutely glorious...finally some recognition for our logo's inspiration!

Let's check in on where our transfers came from and how their team did this season. Isiah Gray - Cornell lost in the Ivy Finals, season over. Seth Wilson & Josiah Harris - WVU got hosed by the selection committee Bowen Hardman - OSU missed the tourney, declined the NIT and headed to Vegas James Okonkwo - UNC should have missed the tourney, but luckily their AD was committee chair. Definitely looks like good recruiting ammo for Groce next season. "We have kids transfer from Ohio State because they actually want to play in March Madness."

Please let San Diego State win by 25 tonight.🙏

We're going to pay it over 25 years, like Bobby Bonilla!

We are back with another year of the ZipsNation Bracket Challenge, yet again featuring the Zips in the bracket. If you have participated in the past, I just sent out an alert that the group is now active, so feel free to create your bracket. For those who are new, click here to join. It is 100% free. The only thing we play for is pride. The scoring is Standard Points + Seed. Each round is worth X number of points, and picking the correct winner in that round results in a final point total of that team's seed + round points. i.e. Sweet Sixteen is 4 points, so if you have a 4 seed winning in the Sweet Sixteen, it's 4+4=8 total points (Kent fans had to use their toes for that one). Never forget: no matter how bad your bracket turns out, you'll still never be as big a failure as a Kent fan. Good luck & Go Zips!

Wet Virginia's coach is leaving after only one year to take the Indiana job. I wonder of the governor will have a presser to protest.

At least go back to where they have to sit a year or show hardship after the first or even second transfer. Four schools in four years is bad for the game and the players.

Hell. No. Go Bonnies.

There’s the March Madness Live app that supposedly allows you to watch any game. It requires a TV provider log in. Use on any device or smart TV…free!

Link to article I was telling myself not to wilt

PCCC getting an NIT bid while Miami didn't is a travesty.

And the NBA is a terrible product. It's unwatchable to me, and I've always enjoyed watching basketball.

Sorry, that Arby's on E. Exchange closed last summer.

That was challenged in court and the NCAA was going to lose the battle, which is why they backed off. Between the courts and the P4 organizing, they've lost all power. It's more a figurehead institution than one that has any authority.

Beacon article on Amani- https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2025/03/18/amani-lyles-akron-zips-ncaa-tournament-arizona-wildcats-march-madness-mens-college-basketball/82498385007/

Yet another graphic showcasing what Akron's gameplan has to be.

The game plan to beat Arizona is there bois!

It's a good thing UA has parted ways with this facility; the next burden to get rid of is old Central Hower HS.

I went to one Cavs game this year, and it was like a circus. sensory stimulation everywhere.

I went to see an NBA game for the first time in many years a couple of Fridays ago when the Cavs came to Charlotte. It was mostly good entertainment with nonsense woven through. I talk a lot on this board about how hard it is to be an in person fan now. The NBA makes it very difficult. First, the incessant music played during game action is obnoxious. The NBA isn't a great product, but it's good enough that they don't need that nonsense. Am I the only person who likes the sound of sneakers squeaking on the floor? Second, the replays. Fans have to spend too much time watching refs stare at TV screens. The illusion is that they get the calls right. There are plenty of times I don't agree with the replay decision. An NBA game shouldn't last almost 3 hours. Third, I had no idea there was a defensive three second call. It's no wonder NBA players get more layups than the Globetrotters against the Washington Generals. A dunk used to be a cool thing. Now they happen every few minutes. Makes the rare mid range jump shot exciting in comparison. Maybe I'm too old, but I remember the NBA being a better product.

Is it really a new rebuild if you're already in the middle of a rebuild?

So Enrique gets chosen for the free throws, makes em both, and Akron gets a timely shout-out on the broadcast to boot. Unbelievable. 😂

I love it!!! Freeman has not been playing with the Pacers and probably just got called up. Amazing how he was able to come off the bench and sink both free throws. So in the box score Freeman will probably have 0 minutes and 2 points. Do not see that very often.

Exactly. West Virginia apparently has no bigger issues than the middle of road UWV basketball team going to tournament.

Who averaged 5 ppg this year!

Sorry, can’t buy that we’d be in on a player looking for 500k

The "TOS to" meme is the 2nd best thing that came out of Athens after John Groce.

By a factor of 10X!

All we're lacking is a serviceable backup big. 😉

That’s a higher number than I thought was being spent at Akron. And maybe our roster isn’t set for next year.

Bowen Hardman's family member posted a nice message in the Zips Fan Facebook group, thanking ZipsNation.

I think the Kent State education is starting to get to Pinky.

God this country is run by such dweebs. What happened to mature adults?

Jeff Goodman: Most likely double digit seeds to make the Sweet Sixteen

The bigger problem is they went from having live sports and in depth sports discussion to now it's just loud mouths with hot takes. They laid off all the real journalists to throw bags of money at clowns, like Stephen A.

I just listened to the interview and it was a great. Interesting to hear that Groce's plan was to call a timeout but when he saw the runout he looked at the clock and saw Nate had time to score and kept the timeout in his pocket. The 3 guys that he has since frosh, Nate, Lyles, and TJ all made great plays to win that game.

Former Zips Mens Soccer Goal Keeper Ben Lundt gets the clean sheet…

In this transfer portal era of college basketball, how great was it seeing three guys recruited out of high school to Akron and developed by the staff make the winning plays. Tavari with the D, Amani with the rebound and outlet and Nate with the bucket!

There are no sit down chain restaurants in the South End like you are thinking. If Akron could pull off something like that, it would be a boom for the city and local business owners. I understand people want to try a different version of the same thing hoping it will somehow work the next time. It won't. These are the same people who believe if the Browns could just draft a QB in the first round their problems would be solved.

Great angle.