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Went to today's practice. Here's what I gleaned... Check out some of the defensive numbers if you'd like... Starting DL was: 97 / 10 / 5 / 41 Second unit was: 50 / 90 / 98 / 30 Joe's post-practice speech. He seemed pretty pleased Joe spent the bulk of his time observing from 20 yards behind the offense. #3 Cibastian Broughton is intriguing. He's a diminutive kid, but has a strong arm. Completed a long TD pass to #7 Adams (who's back and looks healthy). Had another nice TD pass to St Ed's Kyan Mason (#11) and one to Jake Newell too. Moves well. He's like Dijon Jennings, but good. He will see the field somewhere this season. 2nd Unit OL. First unit was (left tackle to right tackle): 78/56/52/50/73 Second unit was: 60/55/52/79/51 Finley's left leg was apparently cold? He played a lot today. Looked in-command, but understandably a bit rusty. WR's screwed up some routes that probably made his accuracy look worse than it was. Owen Wiley and Dublin Fr. Matt Schramm split the kicker duties. Both missed from 42 yards out. Tough to kick indoors, into netting with goal post stripes that's often only halfway dropped from the ceiling when the ball is snapped. Wiley seems to have the bigger leg, but Schramm is no slouch. This position will be an interesting battle. I forget who caught this Finley pass? It's spring practice for me too. 🙃 Ruggow on the run. He threw an early pick (S #18 DeMarco Johnson). Probably threw more bad balls than good ones today. Back up QB will be a battle this year. I expect Broughton (#3) will see the field, even if not at QB (like above). He's pretty athletic. Maybe a few of the 2024 "Taj" wildcat plays go to him this season? Kyan Mason blocks for Ben. Washington State transfer Brandon Hills (Soph.) made a couple nice receptions. Washington State transfer Brandon Hills again. A Cibastian Broughton INT ended the scrimmage. Overall or DB's looked surprisingly good? I think they had a pick of each Blue QB. Other notes: #95 Joey Castle punted well (albeit indoors). It looks like we'll be ok at punter this year. #22 Jordan Gant (Tennessee State) started at RB. He fumbled on his first carry. But rebounded with a tough 10 yard run on next opportunity. #25 Chris Gee from Colgate was the #2 RB today. Got a lot of action. Runs hard. Showed good hands on swing passes. #13 Sean Patrick saw a lot of reps today. Played at WR and RB. Overall the defense looks good. Solid tackling and created several turnovers. #88 Newell looks to be a beast this year. Made several nice plays. Caught a TD from Broughton. Starting LB's were: 42 (Spriggs), 32 (Summers) and 17 DeWalt (Butte College - listed as a DB) #5 Ronald Hull from Wise HS in Maryland played NT. He's mistakenly listed as #55 on the Zips roster Late game RB's included #28 Luke Reed from Benedictine and Cam Macon from Walsh It was heartening to see the Zips had sufficient depth to field 2-deep offensive and defensive units, even without the guys who will be joining in the summer. The country "Rock me like a Wagon Wheel" blasted on the speaker system for the final few minutes. Overheard in the crowd - Adrian Norton is ineligible...that's why he hasn't signed anywhere.

8 points and 8 boards in 31 minutes in his hometown today.

Does anyone else wonder if perhaps there was a better option out there and we told James to explore his options? Or am I just being too optimistic

F*ck Utah.

The above is very true ... which again begs the question why the Zips don't play more of these games.

We would only ever face those type of programs on a neutral court if we play them in an exempt tournament anyway. I don't mind playing Purdue on the road. Either we win and gain instant credibility or we lose, like everything expects, and it doesn't really ding us any sort of way.

Much tougher competition than in the MAC. He is really going to have to improve his game to get significant playing time. Only time will tell.

Purdue, nice. I thought those big schools were too scared of us or something

Totaling 4 schools in 5 years. Hard to root for a guy like that. See ya.

So did the coaches. Look who was in the game in crunch time late in the season.

It's hard for me to fault the kid. I love my job, but if a recruiter reached out to me telling me they would double or triple my pay to do the exact same job for a competitor, I'd probably leave as well. That doesn't necessarily mean he didn't enjoy his time here.

This is my thoughts as well. His agent behind the scenes likely gathered a few offers and Okonkwo picked whichever one he thought was best. A deal was most likely in place before he even entered his name in the portal. It's also likely why the Memphis reporter broke the news he was entering the portal. His agent probably reached out to Memphis to see about getting a offer. Someone on staff passed the news onto the beat reporter. It would seem unlikely we would force him out. He was a productive player, particularly on defense which Groce loves, for us and his game was still developing offensively. Besides it would be a poor look for us to force a guy out this late in the recruiting process when we're promoting a team culture. Proven quality bigs are in short supply in the portal and cost a pretty penny. They all will find their way onto a P5 or high major roster. My best guess is we'll target someone under the radar who wants an opportunity to play and prove themselves. Parks from OSU is still available I believe. Some speculated we had interest in him earlier before we signed his his teammate (Evan).

I have been vulnerable to being overly optimistic as well. I think the proof will be in the quality of his replacement, that’s if we land another big at all.

I heard it was a surprise to the team. Jimmy being committed to Utah so quickly likely supports the unexpectedness of the decision. I would not expect it to take too long to fill his spot, though.

…and the horse they rode in on!!

I do like Milwaukee and Princeton heading to the JAR. And I’m counting on our radio guys to lobby the refs on any close calls when we play Princeton.

Painter & Groce are friends; Purdue is throwing us a bone, especially with paying us to go there, because of the scheduling struggles we've had. One interesting component to this matchup: Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer's dad, John, played for Akron in the 1980s.

Sure, at Purdue and when they are ranked 2nd in the country going into next year. Good luck trying to get last year’s Minnesota, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech or Oklahoma State on a neutral court. All were our peers or worse in terms of NET. We break that top 75 mark and things could get much more exciting.

WMU wins the National Championship 6-2. Congrats to them . This, however, does not count as a MAC National Championship since the MAC does not sponsor hockey.

The Purdue game is 11/16 with a $90k guarantee. Milwaukee 12/14 Princeton 12/30 it’s a shame the Princeton game is during break.

Wow!!! so we have UW-Milwaukee & Princeton at home and visit to Purdue. nice!!!

WMU up 3-2 going into the 3rd period. Good for them!

I don't know, but all these kids have agents these days. It wouldn't surprise me if he had people in his ear telling him he could make double, triple elsewhere.

Goals by Jack Roman, Remi Agunbiade, and Tyler Morck.

Enrique had 4 and 3 in 10 minutes tonight against Orlando.

Maybe he saw the writing on the wall with Amani's progress. Maybe it was shown to him by the staff. Maybe he wants to go back to a P4 program and playing 3 minutes a game in blowouts.

So I went to my 1st G league game. Those guys are really good. Stronger and faster. Enrique had a great 4th quarter. Hit a few 3s, a dunk and the Mad Ants won a close game. The arena was super nice and the locals seem to really support their team.

It looks like he has visits scheduled with both Penn State and Villanova.

The YSU C committed to USC last night. @Captain Kangaroo lost one of his desired replacements.

Big 12 poached him.