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As others have already said, it wasn’t a true spring game—just a “thud” practice—but it was still great to watch the players move and compete. QB: Finley is head and shoulders above the rest. Roggow and Broughton each had some good moments, but if the season started today and something happened to Finley, I’m not sure either one is ready to lead us to a win just yet. Like I mentioned before, Broughton’s smaller frame is probably part of the reason we were able to land him, but he’s special and he’s only going to get better. He also lined up at receiver a bit. RB: There weren’t many run plays, and the few they did call were blown dead pretty quickly, so there wasn’t a whole lot to take away there. That said, the backs caught the ball really well out of the backfield, and you could easily see their talent from that angle. Gant and Patrick are the two to keep an eye on. Patrick still needs to put on a little more mass, but once he does—look out. WR: I’m calling it now—Kyan Mason will be all-conference this season as a redshirt freshman. He’s dynamic, and our defense had a tough time covering him all night. Polk and Davis look like they’ve kept progressing and should both have solid seasons. I was expecting more from Hills. He got separation a few times, but just couldn’t haul it in. His catch radius seems somewhat limited. He’ll probably be used more on the short stuff. It was good to see Adams back out there, but he doesn’t look quite like the explosive receiver he was before the injuries. He’ll help us, no doubt, but expectations should be tempered. And once again, another spring and another strong showing from Walker—caught almost everything thrown his way, including a tough grab against Reed to end the period. TE: Backups Whisner and Witherspoon saw a lot of action at tight end tonight. Witherspoon was a bit up and down as a receiver—dropped a few easy ones but also came down with some tough, contested catches. He moves well and has all kinds of length. Pretty sure I saw Newell and Cravaack out there too, just don’t remember them getting many reps. OL: Western Kentucky transfer Darrell Johnson looks to have the inside track at left tackle. He’s got all the physical tools and should be solid. Morris and K. Davis looked really good at center and left guard. Right guard and right tackle still need to be sorted out. Based on what I saw tonight, I’d say transfer Allen Jones has the edge at right guard. Right tackle looks like it’s between JUCO signee Massai King and Jonas Mann. Pretty sure I saw Mann take a few snaps at left tackle too. DL: There was some good out there, but overall, we need immediate help. Arizona transfer Cyrus Durham is the real deal and will help soften the blow of losing Nunnally. Dall looked ready on the opposite side. Inside, Ronald Hull looks good to go. Beyond that, when it comes to starting D1 talent, that’s about it. The rest of the group has potential and might provide depth in 2025, but that’s where things stand for now. The portal and JUCO are going to be critical for our D-line moving forward. LB: Similar to running back, it’s tough to get a full read in this type of practice. That said, our backers move well and can fly downhill when needed. Spriggs came up with an interception when a receiver wasn’t expecting the ball. DB: The defensive backs rotated a lot and played all over the place. I actually thought Jarmon looked the best tonight. If I had to guess, I’d say the starters will be Jarmon and Reed at corner with DeWalt at the nickel. Tranfer Ben Kamara looked good too. We might not have an elite secondary, but we’ve got guys who move well and have plenty of length. The safeties rotated quite a bit too. The biggest thing that stood out to me was seeing Daymon David on the sideline in a red jersey. ST: Wiley looks like a completely different kicker than he was a few years back. When he connects, the ball jumps off his foot. I’d be surprised if he’s not our starter. Hard to say much about the punting, other than there was plenty of hang time—kicks kept smacking the ceiling. I came away feeling really good about our offense. This group has a real chance to be the best we’ve had under Moorhead. Defensively, though, I’m not too confident about our D-line depth. There’s too much youth and inexperience, and we definitely need more help for this season. I think we’ll be solid at linebacker and in the secondary. Now we just have to wait and see who hits the portal and who we can bring in.

What a waste of John Groce's work ethic and talent. He does all the heavy lifting of identifying young talent, nurturing it, living through the tough times...and when it comes to graduation day, a new "dad" with a fat wallet buys his way onto the scene and walks John's players across the graduation stage, taking pictures and smiling with his arm around them. John's left with a few hollow tweets, and yet another rebuild. The Zips steal no one's players. We get Freshman, castaways and reclamation projects. Groce works his ass off to get those guys into a cohesive, championship unit that the school and fans can be proud of...until the next April when another new fat billfolded MF'er buys his way onto the scene and strips the Zips down to the frame again. Go Zips...

My son is being born this morning - they're getting a new fan. 😂 The baby's room is nothing but sports with plenty of Akron, and I'm wearing an Akron sweatshirt and the 2025 MAC Champions t-shirt, so he has no choice.

Once a kid mentally decides to enter the portal, whether that's actually in December/April or weeks or months before the window opens, there is nothing the program can do to control that kids actions anymore. If an education is not important to that player, they check out entirely, often not bothering to finish their courses. There is nothing the program can leverage against the kid to enforce his actions. Meanwhile, the kids who stay suffer collectively due to their actions. Once the portal changed, this education requirement should not be enforced. The programs who are still maintaining the requirements are rich enough to fake it. The problem isn't all on the kids currently in the program, it's the kids who check out mid semester because they know they are hitting the portal.

With all the recent conversation about Akron football APR scores it makes me feel even more grateful to have Groce running a basketball program that we can be proud of. On numerous post game interviews over the years I've heard him talk about players getting their degrees and praise individuals success in the classroom. He's the embodiment of what a college coach should be. He could be looking to cut corners and bring in unruly characters in hopes of adding an extra win or two, but he's not. He genuinely seems to care about his players and their long-term futures.

If this was 2014, I get it. But nowadays...how do you even calculate who is credited for a player's graduation after they've been at 4 different schools? We get 40 new kids every season and the NCAA is complaining about them not graduating? Who knew? When Joe signed on, at his press conference he stated "I don't just want kids to get degrees...I want my kids to get meaningful degrees (not just major in eligibility)". That noble goal lasted about 47 minutes, then the portal concept blew up and put the kibosh on any football-academic fantasies. The bulk of today's players are no longer in college for an education. It's a job. Their goal at UA isn't to get a degree, it's to perform good enough to get noticed by a bigger program. Along with the training tables being cut last year, was the academic support staff reduced too?

Hello - Just registered to tell you all you are getting a quality person. Dr. Tire is very approachable and yes, brings energy. GW, like most smaller private liberal arts schools, is having big financial challenges, which he dealt with here from day one. We are also in the midst of a Presidential search on campus as well, this is a critical time for the future of the school. He picked the right time to strike oil and move up the chain. We wish him well. He really didn’t do much hiring, he did hire Cris Reisert as football HC (from Tiffin up your way) to replace the young juggernaut Tre Lamb (now already HC at Tulsa) and he just hired Penn State assistant Terri Williams as head women’s hoops HC. The financial resources at GW, for a D1 program, are scarce, which made his job, especially hiring/fundraising, challenging to say the least. I read some posts mentioning a thin budget at Akron. Goodrich can easily adapt and get your fundraising apparatus kicked into gear. Go Dawgs. Go Zips.

Very revealing article. I remember a news story on Nate Johnson, discussing when he came to UA and Groce wanted to redshirt him. His mom said "Does that mean he gets and extra free year of education?" Groce replied "Yes", and mom was excited to have him redshirt. Fast forward to today: "Five years ago, more than 4,400 Division I men's basketball players were legally and collectively paid a grand total of $0 in NIL earnings. That number is now promised to be in the hundreds of millions." We live in The United States of America, and every citizen is free to make as much money as they'd like. That's what makes our country great, and I can't fault any kid for taking the cash being thrown at them today. But it has destroyed what made college basketball so cool. It's created a G-League disguised as college basketball, and that isn't nearly as cool. It's money-driven and corporate. It's eliminated the underdogs and Cinderella's and created a handful of Yankee's, Mets and Dodgers. And no, Rob Senderoff...the Zips ain't the Yankees.

I've been lurking for the past few years, not posting at all and just an occasional visit to the site when I want to learn the real story of what's happening in U of A Sports, since there is no legacy media reporting unless you want to pay for the ridiculous Beacon, although when they do write, Brad Bourneval and Mike Bevin do a nice job. I can always count on @TennZip, @Hilltopper, @clarkwgriswold, @72Roo @Spinand @Blue & Gold to give great insights to the Zips programs. Any-hoo, I wanted to take a moment to recognize both Softball and baseball. I went over to Firestone Stadium this past week and joined the "dozens" of Zip fans and a teeny sliver of administration folk to watch the women play. They made Akron proud, in my opinion. They battled back after a lethargic start and was competitive going forward. Great coaching by Coach Nicholson, and, although not on the level with Miami or Ohio, still a wash with the other three teams. Way to go Zips! And baseball...it may look like it's the same ol' - same ol', but I watched a lot of their games and they too have improved, and Coach Faulds has done a nice job with what he has to work with. The major difference, once again in my opinion, is they need at least another power hitter, and as always, pitching hurt. If they could get two strong starters, and one more closer, they could be in the hunt for a tournament slot in the next two seasons. Anyway, just wanted to post something about the men and women who go pretty much un-noticed on campus and in then news. Go Zips!

The hits just keep on coming and coming! The program looks bad. Joe looks bad. The NCAA looks bad and like clowns. But most of all the university, that has excellent students pursuing excellent degree programs, looks bad. Despite all this I believe building a quality, winning football program is achievable. I'm tired of feeling bad every time football is mentioned. I'm hoping Nemer and Goodrich are the people we need. The right people can do amazing things.

This is about as excited as I can get over a back up QB. He was a really impressive player out of HS. He will be a big improvement over Bullock. Strong, athletic kid. His dad is probably the most accomplished UA football player ever, if you look at the breadth of his overall football career. He played in the USFL and has coached high level positions at P5 and NFL staffs. His name usually pops up whenever the Zips decide they need a new HC (about every 3 years) He came to the Zips from Arizona State while I was at UA. He used to wear a burgundy corduroy jacket around campus that was swag from being on Arizona State's Rose Bowl team. Great player. To be eligible to play for the Zips in the fall I recall Mike Sr. had to take something insane like 24 credit hours over the summer, and he did it.

Freeman and the Pacers will be in Cleveland for the 2nd round of the playoffs. How cool is that for Enrique!

Looking forward to three-peat next year! With that being said, I have transferred to the City of Pittsburgh. Don’t think it’s possible to change my username on here so I may just end up making a new account. Plea$e re$pect my decision.

Great victory today by the lacrosse team. Robert Morris is an established program in the sport- having fielded a team for over 25 years with decent success. Back and forth even contest between the teams. Akron made the plays in the 4th quarter. This is their 6th year of existence including the covid years. This year's team set a number of firsts, including- without any stat sheets available: 1. most wins in a season- 9 2. most conference wins- 4 3. first time to make the tournament 4. Co conference regular season champions 5. most assisted goals per game in the conference- to me a measure of "teamism" 6. All eight seniors will graduate in 2025! Great day for all to be proud of these zips!

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.

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."

Win 6 to become bowl eligible which will create a national “Free Akron” campaign that will shine the light on the ridiculous irony in the NCAA rules.

We can criticize the NCAA, question the formula that results in the classification, gripe about NIL and question the dedication of the modern athlete to academics, but one inescapable fact remains and that is that the University of Akron football program is the only program in this position. Every other school is operating under the same constraints and standards yet UA is the only program in this position and that's damn embarrassing.

One way or the other, the axe of reality is going to fall on most of the G5. The money just isn't there, and even some of the rich programs are sacrificing the Olympic sports to prop up football, which, let's be honest, even at Toledo few really care about it. Front-loading entire athletic departments toward football and basketball while cutting other sports is eventually going to invoke some interpretation of Title IX or spur the advent of new legislation to protect scholarships and opportunities for students who actually go to classes, pass classes, and graduate instead of smoking dope in the elevators of the Exchange Street Residence Hall (Sorry to vent but I had enough of that when I was moving my kid into his dorm room). At this point, as a loyal UA alumnus, I just don't give a damn about football anymore if it's going to be a money-draining, losing embarrassment. Joe must go.

We can criticize the APR system all we want, but every other school is under the same system.

First of all, the APR is a joke. In the Portal/NIL era, academics don't matter. The only reason Akron is being punished is because we don't make the NCAA enough money. Second of all, how embarrassing. Two straight years of penalties. Pure negligence by JoeMo and his staff.

This NCAA bid for women's lacrosse is gaining some significant exposure for UA and our athletic program- more than I think any of us would have expected. Realize most people in Northeastern Ohio know literally nothing about lacrosse- how it is played, what to watch for, what the rules are, or even how it is scored. Even fewer are aware of the skill, intelligence, and athletic ability necessary to play it at a high level. Encourage all of you to find out- you will probably become hooked- it is the fastest growing sport in the US. Aside from that- the screen showing that the Zips have clinched a space in the tournament has received over 1,000 likes on instagram in just 48 hrs. These are not UA fans- this is a national recognition liking the achievement of a new "guy on the block" so to speak. They are happy to see a new program succeed in a new location. Outside the tradition "hotbed" of the middle atlantic and northeastern states. They are also curious, checking us out- exactly who is this new lacrosse "power". I hope this might translate into a few transfer portal inquires and new areas for serious recruiting possibilities! All in all- all positive for the Zips!

So, social media says the Zips are going to the Virgin Islands in November for the Paradise Jam. Other teams are Charleston, Evansville, Green Bay, Yale, UMass, Oregon St and Iona. TV coverage. https://www.basketballtravelers.com/mensparadisejam

THE WOMEN'S LACROSSE TEAM CONTINUES TO EXCEED EXPECTATIONS AND SET NEW RECORDS! They completely dominated Eastern Michigan in the conference semi final. They destroyed them with a 16-4 victory! For context, Akron lost to EMU in the regular season. EMU had the offensive player of the year (held scoreless by Akron today) and the league goalie of the year and Akron put 16 on her today. They play for the conference championship saturday- not bad for a team picked to finsh last in the conference. Go Zips

Zips Softball split today's doubleheader with Buffalo, which moved them to 13-9 in the MAC and clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2017. Top six teams play May 7-10 at Firestone Stadium.

2025 MAC Regular Season Champs

Tavari Johnson returns!!

Their absolute best chance to win a championship and play in the NCAA Tournament was to stay in Akron. Their absolute best chance to make between $500,000 and $1.5 million was to transfer to a P5 program. Compare Nate's income next season to any UA graduate walking across the stage this May. His income will dwarf the next closest earner by a factor of 10X. Hell...he'll be making $1,000,000 more than Enrique Freeman's made with the Pacers this season! Nate's the #1 '25 UA earner, and no one else is even close. Okonkwo and Tavari will be second and third on the list of Class of '25 UA earners. Then, some schmuck with a Polymer Science Doctorate comes in 4th, pulling in around $150,000. Playing time, championships, etc. do not factor into the transfer equation. As Don Olmeyer famously said: "The answer to all your questions is 'money'".

This really is a good article. I recommend reading it if you haven’t already. Towards the end it talks about players breaking their contracts, etc. I found this excerpt to be interesting: More schools are trying to protect themselves with strict liability in these NIL deals. For example, there's another high-major player who signed a substantial NIL contract near the end of the season but subsequently went into the portal anyway, seeking an even bigger deal. One of his coaches told me they were bracing for this, even though pen was put to paper weeks ago. According to this coach, this player now owes the school "the entirety of a contract he hasn't received a dime of yet." "They think we are bluffing," the coach said. "We are 100% holding them to the contract."

But you have the leak? Are MAC employees who may have the privilege to attend the discussion not bound by this? And to be honest, I don’t see a real benefit for Akron to stay in the MAC if they aren’t there for football.

Yeah, I get the logic—this coming season is probably his best shot to cash in before heading overseas, and I can’t fault a guy for trying to secure his bag. But honestly, if he hadn’t made a public return announcement, I wouldn’t even be mad about him exploring his options or jumping in the portal. What rubs me the wrong way is making two big public statement about coming back and then flipping on it. That feels bush league to me. I lose some respect for that move, not for him portaling. It’s one thing to weigh your options quietly, it’s another to put it out there and then backtrack.

Wouldn’t this be nice?!

✋🛑

And I thought I had commitment issues.

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

The existing "system" is great for those Power schools that make the rules. Say there's someone you want on the Zips...take them. It's free. If the Boston Celtics want Enrique Freeman, they need to pay for him either with players, money and/or draft picks. That's how pro sports works. "College" is now professional. The MAC shouldn't be a free developmental league for the P5's. You want Nate Johnson, you pay for him.

We were 1 of 5 teams to offer him out of high school. Marshall, Western Kentucky, and Maryland were the other notable programs. Didn't have any stats last year as a freshman (not sure if he redshirted).

I like Nate, appreciate his contributions and wish him well. That being said, he very much benefited from the lack of dominant MAC players in winning MAC POY. He had some great games for the Zips but when I look at the history of MAC POYs he's one of the least impactful. As I said, I like Nate. He seems like a great kid. I don't begrudge his decision to head to Kansas State for life changing money and I hope to hell he proves me wrong and has a million dollar year as far as accomplishments but I think he's a contributor as opposed to a standout in the Big 12..

Happy Easter everyone!!

It has to be the plural wives thing.

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.

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.

Looking on the bright side, I imagine the number committed to keep Nate wasn't small, so we should have an okay budget for the roster spot

I blame every Zips fan who didn't contribute $350,000 to the basketball program's Day of Giving fund today. And people wonder why the mid-majors performed so poorly in the NCAA tourney...every good/great player gets poached, regardless of culture, coach, NIL money...from the NIL/portal era until the end of time there will never be another number raised to the JAR rafters...unless we lower the bar to "impactful 1- or 2-year mercenaries". Get used to #foreverazip and watching your most promising Zips players compete in other team's jersey's for their final year or two. If this doesn't make you appreciate Freeman, nothing will. I can't imagine the money he turned down to stick with the Zips. The Zips should still be the favorite to win the MAC. And the spread for our Round #1 NCAA tournament game should be around Zips +17. Shammah and Sharron will happily take his minutes, and flourish. But you don't improve your roster by losing the MAC PoTY who was entering his senior season.

I'm not going to lose sleep over Parks. I'm not sure he's a very good fit with the up tempo nature of this squad. We already got the better Buckeye.

My OL positives out of the first scrimmage - We were able to field a full 1st and 2nd team OL. With the additions this summer, we should have a stable of 8-10 serviceable OL's to choose from. That's much better than Joe's Year #1. #78 Darrell Johnson looked good at LT. He's a Jr. from Western Kentucky. The scrimmage was officiated, and there were few OL penalties. Seems like a disciplined group. Tough to glean anything deeper than that from scrimmage #1. My biggest takeaways overall from the scrimmage were - Broughton seems like an exciting player. Has some "special" qualities. He won't unseat Finley, but next year it wouldn't be a surprise to see him behind center. Alex Adams looked healthy and in-shape. He could definitely lessen the blow from Norton's departure.

And a +29