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The NIL money at P4 programs has gotten so stupid that it forces players to choose getting a fat pay check and losing over staying with their teammates/friends, coaches, and winning championships. That's just the way it is now. No use lamenting it. Next man up.

This is fantastic.

@Let'sGoZips94 wins the longest post of the year award. Very impressive!!

Maybe I have unsophisticated ears, but the national anthem seemed…not that good.

Someone told me at the game that is was a players parents reunion event. Don't know if that's true, but that's what I heard.

In case you forgot, we had a devout Muslim player on the team just 2 years ago. He didn't seem too offended by the culture of the team. In fact, he left and came back for more.

I just wonder who is happier, Tavari who is having a break out season in the MAC and has an opportunity to go to the big dance or Nate who cashed a much bigger paycheck but is stuck on a losing team with no personal accolades such as MAC player of the year and no chance of an NCAA tourney. Money or fame? Difficult decision for 22 year old athletes.

Isn't nice to have a PCCC game where all we're left to b!+ch about are t-shirts, anthems and parking?

Are they that clever?

They are up 2 at the half. It's not that uncommon for a bad team to hang with a good one for a half of basketball. Usually around the 10 minute mark of the second half the better team pulls away. It isn't until about the 6 minute mark that I start thinking upset alert potential.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRzhM73gOUI/?img_index=7&igsh=cjI5OXZoMTBlYTU4 marvin posted this a while ago about getting baptized and you can see the team came to support him. Whatever you believe it is nice to see this group come together for something bigger than themselves

I understand Groce takes the kids to Christ Community Chapel that want to come so it's not a show.

I respect all religions and those who don't practice any religion. Personally, I'd prefer they stick to team gear on the bench. We are not a Christian school. But it's also not something I'm going to lose any sleep over.

Those t-shirts are the same t-shirts worn by the Ohio State football team. Easy way for young Christian athletes to witness & remind themselves "Jesus won" - that they're just playing a game that's intended to be fun; take the pressure off. Jesus won the greatest victory. Love to see it. *And people actually wonder how Groce continually recruits such high character kids 😆

Speaking of alumni parents, I remember only one parent that used to post on this board and that was Kwan's mom. She was always very nice. I started thinking about Kwan and it looks like he has had a very successful career playing all over Europe and in Israel. I copied his Twitter picture and he looks great with a very handsome family.

The money was obviously a huge factor, but maybe Nate will come back around the Akron program and echo Ali’s message that the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere. And not every program or locker room has a great culture like Akron does. Cherish what you have.

That’s great….i have no doubt the team is cool with everyone’s beliefs. Personally I’m not a big fan of ‘performative religion’ and I’ll admit it turned me off a little. But they certainly have the right to wear whatever they want.

"Oh crap I didn't know he was Muslim" And then I'd move on with my life

I mean that's kind of the player he was here. Although I would say last year he was a + defender and + rebounder. MAC bigs last season also weren't as good as this year and certainly well behind anything the Big 12 has at the position. IMO him getting his bag really represents 2 things. 1) There is a very small pool of bigs, much smaller than guards, so anyone that shows any sort of promise can and will get paid. 2) These P4 NIL programs have more money than they know what to do with. I'm sure Okonkwo wasn't their first choice, but when they lost out on musical chairs on the guys they really wanted they were like we have all this money budgeted for this position so let's throw it at a guy like Okonkwo.

Just curious…how would you have responded to a Muslim Zip player wearing a “Allah Won” tee shirt. Be honest.

Wearing religious shirts is very different than racial justice, but to keep this topic on our team, I don't recall them ever wearing anything like that? Seems like a red herring. The only time I can recall them wearing non-team gear was the "Colin's Crew" shirts last year in support of Tim Campbell's son battling cancer, which was an obvious special circumstance.

Only thing embarassing here is your understanding of Constitutional law.

I'm impressed you read it all so quickly. Rumor has it a lurking Kent fan is stuck on "It"

No, the MAC lucked out by not having the cajones to tell NIU to take a hike, thus delaying the implementation of the 22 game conference schedule. No thanks. It would be hypocritical of me to pound the drum against .500 or worse P5 squads getting into the dance, while simultaneously rooting for the champions of the Charmin Ultra Soft Schedule Bowl to get a bid.

I just watched some of the Oklahoma State at Utah game and I am so not missing Okonkwo at all. He’s earning his money running up and down the court. He’s active on defense and sets screens on offense, but other than being a big body who can lean on an opponent he’s a non-factor. He’s not a consideration on offense (4 pts in 28 minutes) and not overly effective on defense. He had 6 rebounds which is something I guess. I know the Big 12 is a better conference, but Ok. State is not exactly Arizona.

Actually that is the second time this season a student won the contest. Both times at the womens game. There have also been two winners in the putting contest at a women's game.

I thought Cian Medley was a good player for Kent, very quick, and played really tough defense on Tavari. He had full court pressure on Tavari a few times and really made him work to bring up the ball. I was really suprised that he sat the bench the last 10 minutes of the game. He averages 10 points a game and we held him to 3. He did not shoot the ball well but the same could be said for every Kent player. Tavari leading the team in rebounds does not surprise me. One thing we are doing better is the guards coming back to the hoop looking for long rebounds. With Kent shooting poorly from long range there were a lot of long rebounds. Also, when I played street basketball there was a term, "following your shot" which meant after you shot you went toward the basket to get your own rebound. At least once a game an Akron 3 point shooter would pick up an offensive rebound if he would follow his shot, espcially when shooting from the corners. Finally, Kent missed a lot of open 3 point shots and shot 1 for 23. Maybe we start a new contest at the Jar: "the Kent challenge." Give somebody 23 three point shots and if they make 2 they win.

Zack getting on the floor with a broken nose and fighting for a ball 2 seconds into the game is a perfect snapshot of John Groce basketball. Evan, Amani and Chabi did a good job on Gillespie and on offense the Zips got him in some disadvantageous switches drawing some of his fouls. On to EMU with the knowledge we'll see a different team in Brimfield in 3 weeks.

I think we were ~45 when NET was first released this year. The Murray State loss dropped us ~20 or so spots and we have slowly climbed back up.

This is kind of where I'm at. I think it's important to set the tone early defensively. Halligan diving on the floor for the opening tip off are the kind of plays that energize a team early. I do agree with @Zippy87 that Halligan playing 25 minutes isn't ideal. Lyles and Eric both battling foul trouble likely played a role in that.

Agree with this except the starters. Since the change for the most part we have started off very well in games, with more defensive intensity. Zack on the opening tip last night is a prime example. Our best 5 usually get the most minutes and play at crunch time, but I like our starting lineup.

I think Nick being here could help Oggie's adjustment to Akron and the American system. It also gives the program an in in Nick's area of the world.

They had them in the Tommy Evans lounge pregame to sing the Alma Mater as well. It was embarrassingly putrid. It looks like somebody dropped the ball on this one.