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I saw Tavari on campus earlier this week and spoke with him. He spoke as if he is returning and looking forward to it. This was before Nate entered the portal.

Congratulations to all of the Zips soccer fans.....that donated to the program on "Giving Day". Zips set a target of $25,000. By 8 pm, the zips had accepted donations of almost $27,000. Great job, zips Nation !!!!!

I'm in the group that says let me see a confirmation that Tavari is in the portal. Then I'll spazz out.

Easter Weekend betrayal. They sold out Groce and the Zips for 30 pieces of silver.

When you have 'teamism' and make a commitment to stay there is probably a lot of pressure to not be the one to let your friends down. Once someone else breaks it, it likely becomes easier for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc guy to follow suit.

Good post. It got me thinking about college sports and how the fellowship and friendship developed between players is going to be lost in the NIL era. It's something awesome that is yet another thing destroyed by NIL. A lifelong friend of mine and former teammate in the football team introduced me to Mrs. GP1, the luckiest woman in the world.

I think Akron will win 4 games this year behind QB Ben Finley. 1. Duquesne 2.Buffalo 3. Massachusetts 4. Kent state The biggest recruiting signing I'm excited about is Cibastian Broughton and I think he has a great shot at winning the starting QB position by 2027

Eric Mahaffey has allegedly grown to 6'6". He's the same height as his brother now without the muscle build (yet). @Illini Zip Sorry you have to do more scholarship chart work than originally expected.

Okay, assuming Tavari is gone. Young for Tavari, Eric Mahaffey for Nate. Such is our world. ...and, above it all- we still have the best head coach in the MAC.

Sharron's is still on Twitter

It all depends on how we fill these vacant roster spots (I think we are overvaluing a bit the talent portion of what we've lost), but this constant turnover year after year isn't fun. What a broken, rotten system the NCAA has.

I've heard it hits schools in waves. One guy gets paid (Okonkwo in our case) and then another guy hears the number and thinks, "Damn, what could I get?"

I'm not sure our intentional rebuild would start with shuttling Nate and Tavari out and keeping the others

With Nate I guess "show me the money" beat out "teamism" It is obvious that Okonkwo decided to leave because he had another offer. Like Okowkwo, I thought we would see Nate landing immediately. Now I wonder whether he decided to test the market. If he does not have a landing spot, coaches will see the same thing that was pointed out by another poster, he has struggled against good teams. Ali Ali also struggled against elite competition before he transferred and never made it at the next level. Even though he left Akron, I would like to see Nate be successful but he will need to work hard to be successful at the next level. His three point shooting will need to improve and he must eliminate those crazy passes that we have seen from him the last 3 years. His defense is good but he will be playing against quicker players almost every day. The "Where are they now" thread looks like it will be busy next year.

Also, how disconnected former athletes are from the program. Men's soccer raised the most by a significant sum. A large chunk of that money came from former players.

I respect your user name leaving the door open to jump in the portal.

Just confirmed with Shammah's grandpa that he's staying put.

We've gone from thinking that kids deserved an opportunity to make some pocket money signing autographs at the local car dealer to backups making millions. It's ridiculous.

I guess I am in a wait and see mode because either (A) we have some serious holes that will make this season way more difficult than we thought a week ago or (B) Groce and Wentz are playing money ball and systematically addressing issues position by position within a set budget. We already replaced Gray with Evan. Maybe replacing Okonkwo was intentional and we helped him land somewhere safely. Maybe his replacement is already lined up, but we just don’t know it yet. Maybe we needed to cut Nate’s salary to acquire these players. And maybe there are cheaper options for Nate’s replacement in consideration at this very moment. I know that’s a lot of “maybes”, but I’m trying to keep an open mind.

Came out of the delivery room to this crap news. Happy for Nate - life changing money coming his way. In no way, shape, or form should players ever be shamed for taking the money; always blame the NCAA and the greedy bastards that have let this be a free for all with no guardrails. In addition, continue to hold guys like Freeman on the highest pedestal for their loyalty. I don't think this is that big of a talent loss. As Captain said, you'll struggle to improve by losing your will-be-senior and reining MAC POTY, but the discussion all season was how average the competition was for that award. Nate isn't that great of a shooter and he had so many boneheaded plays over the years. The biggest hits will come in the experience & fit departments. If we can find a shooter or even another front court player to replace Nate, I don't think we'll see much - if any - drop in success. Good luck to Nate and thanks for some wonderful memories, especially the euro floater just over a month ago.

AKR 3-0 LOU For several years in a row now, Zips play their best of the season in Historic Crew Stadium. Saving the best for last, I suppose. For the second consecutive year, Louisville Cardinals were the victims of an Akron squad congealing and playing with purpose. Not for the first time this Spring, Sophomore F Remi Agunbiade #13 proved a tough customer, very aggressive in the offensive third. This guy has tremendous raw athleticism. It will be incumbent upon Embick & Co. to draw the best out of him. Transfer from St. Louis, Junior MF Jack Sullivan #19 showed promise especially in the offensive third. Seems a box-to-box midfielder. Good to see more of him. Sullivan will push for a starting spot come Fall. If you are not already familiar with R-Senior GK Mitch Budler #1, perhaps you have wandered on to the wrong forum. "If you don't know, you better axe somebody!"

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/mls/2025/04/17/lionel-messi-game-cleveland-inter-miami-cf-vs-columbus-crew-darlington-nagbe-evan-bush-homecoming/82762394007/ Nagbe, 34, had a tremendous collegiate career with the Zips. As a freshman, he was named the Mid-American Conference Newcomer of the Year, and was a Soccer America first-team all-freshman honoree. He led the Zips to the NCAA tournament every season, and helped them win their first national title in 2010. "Akron was definitely life changing for me," he said. "I was able to be close to home, play for a great team and a great coach. Being able to represent Akron, it was a huge accomplishment. Being from Ohio and getting the chance to stay and be a part of a championship team and bring back the first national champion, it was definitely a special moment in my career. I owe so much to that school."

Wouldn’t this be nice?!

Wtf, he just transferred there!

I still miss the sale the athletic department used to have in conjunction with the spring game. You could get some decent gear out of that sale. The grab bags were also a fun deal, especially if you wanted to add to your collection of Matthew Wilson bobbleheads!

Good source says Tavari has boarded the portal. What is happening?

Sports that outraised football on the day of Giving: Baseball Golf Men's basketball Men's soccer Women's basketball

247 has Nate Johnson putting his name into the portal.