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Remember you asked for this… Nine years ago I came onto this forum and expressed to you all just how good of a coach you were getting in John Groce. And an even better person in my opinion. At that time you were dealing with the departure of KD and I couldn’t say goodbye to a guy I grew fond of as the coach of the Fighting Illini. I really thought he would get Akron that first NCAAT win. I know the landscape of the game completely changed during his tenure, but I sure wish he could have achieved that ultimate goal. UCLA was the game, damn we were so close. As a guy who grew up in Illinois within a couple of hours of Chicago I support my local pro teams. I support U of Illinois. My alma mater is Illinois State and they stick their head up every once in a great while. Pretty basic regional loyalty stuff. Here is the great twist as I have gotten older. I have adopted teams into my fandom that are based on affinity. I don’t know Groce personally. I just connected with him on some level and that led me to Akron. And I will probably check in on him at Charleston too. It might be harder because I can’t find a legitimate fan forum for the College of Charleston cougars. It’s still so hard for me to believe he’s gone. Anyway, I have also adopted Ole Miss due to a road trip from Illinois to Florida. They are now my SEC team. The sleepy little town of Oxford fits my personality so well and I enjoyed talking to the people during my short visit. I need to get back down there. All of this is to say people and relationships is what matters most to me. Zips Nation, you all matter to me. I have spent so much time on this forum and have never met any of you in person. Is that silly, pathetic? Perhaps. But you are still my friends. We have experienced so many highs and lows together. So I’m not looking to go anywhere. Now my positive feelings towards the new head coach are a plus. I met both Groce and Ford years ago when the Zips played at NIU. Ford was very personable and gave generously of his time. I think his hire while not a sure thing is a wise decision and I will be pulling for his success just the same. I will still be putting together the scholarship chart and if I win it big one day I will still build Joe and Jane Akron a new basketball arena with the best concessions. Thanks for the good times. And here’s to many more to come!! Go Zips!!

every post in here makes me nervous to open

Gather in friends, we secured our first commit of the Ford era.

1.) It allows us to stay in MAC and avoid the Horizon League. 2.) We will never have a tournament run. Those days are over. That's a big reason why Groce left. He'll have more money to retain players like Nate Johnson...money that Bud Wentz and his supporters could only dream of generating. Every upperclassman capable of leading the Zips to an NCAA tournament victory as a Junior or Senior will have left UA for greener pastures during their final 1 or 2 years of eligibility.

It's called the Zips Fan Council and it sounds like a decent number of ZN members signed up for it, but none of us were chosen to my knowledge. They were doing final interviews last I heard with the first meeting set for sometime in the spring. The running joke is that it seems like a lot of effort when they could just join ZN, make a thread called "Zips Fan Council" and have brainstorm sessions here.

Former University of Akron men's basketball coach John Groce said he is reflecting on his nine seasons at the helm of the Zips "with a smile," adding it wasn't "easy" during an emotional time to inform his players on March 30 he would leave for a job at the College of Charleston. "I ended up talking to all those guys directly," Groce said. "I thought that was really important. I wanted them to hear from me. Obviously, I love all those guys dearly. I care for them a lot. We've been through a lot together." Groce and Akron athletic director Andrew T. Goodrich spoke to the Beacon Journal by phone about Groce leaving to become the men's basketball coach at Charleston and the Zips quickly hiring longtime UA assistant Dustin Ford as Groce's successor. Here are highlights from those conversations: Why did John Groce leave the Akron Zips basketball team for Charleston? Everyone who follows the Zips wants to know why Groce chose to leave Akron, especially for another mid-major program. It's widely considered a lateral move. Akron went 29-6, including 17-1 in the Mid-American Conference, during the 2025-26 season. UA became the first men's team to three-peat as a MAC Tournament champion. The Zips captured four MAC tourney crowns (2022, '24, '25 and '26) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times in five years under Groce, losing in the first round of March Madness each time. Last season, Charleston went 21-11, including 14-4 in the Coastal Athletic Association. The team suffered a season-ending defeat in the quarterfinal round of the CAA tourney. Charleston made back-to-back March Madness appearances in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. "The biggest thing is the opportunity there [at Charleston]," Groce said of his decision. "We went through nine years [at Akron]. I feel very strongly about this place and how it was supported in multiple areas, and that was certainly more challenging as we moved forward. But also in combination with that would be the special opportunity at College of Charleston. They've got great leadership there with president [Anrew T.] Hsu and athletic director Matt Roberts. "They obviously have great resources. It's a great city. They love basketball. It's important to them there — high care factor. There's a lot of pluses other than just the weather, as people like to reference a lot. So, I think it's just a combination of those two things." Financial terms of Groce's five-year contract with Charleston were not immediately disclosed. Akron extended Groce's deal several times during his employment, most recently in June 2025. The latest version of Groce's contract with UA had been scheduled to run until June 30, 2035. His base salary and supplemental compensation combined for $850,000 a year. He had incentives in his contract, too, and buyout language in his deal states he owes $350,000 for terminating it this year. Of course, a modern-day college coach's salary is only part of the money with which he or she must be concerned. Name, image and likeness deals are used to build rosters and retain talent. The Fear the Roo Collective founded by local businessman Bud Wentz has played a crucial role in shaping Akron basketball's personnel in recent years. Like other schools, UA has also been allowed to directly pay its student-athletes through revenue sharing since July 2025. Groce's aforementioned comment about Zips basketball being "supported in multiple areas, and that was certainly more challenging as we moved forward" gives rise to a natural follow-up question. Was Groce's decision to leave Akron related to a desire for the university to boost its financial support for men's basketball? "I don't really want to comment on that just because right now we've obviously moved on, and my focus is on what's ahead," Groce said. "That's a great opportunity with great commitment, high care factor, investment and great resources there [at Charleston] and really good people that I've had an opportunity to meet very quickly. You can tell there's good alignment, and obviously those things are important to any program that's trying to be consistently successful." Akron Zips AD Andrew T. Goodrich points to UA's financial challenges being tied to John Groce's decision Hired nearly a year ago as Akron's AD, Goodrich did not shy away from his thoughts about financial support being part of the equation with Groce's departure. Simply put, Goodrich explained he expects Charleston to invest more in men's basketball than UA. "I believe that the other school offering a greater amount of money specific for revenue share did play a role in John making the decision he made," Goodrich said. However, Goodrich pushed back against this popular theory: Charleston can afford to throw more money into its men's basketball bucket than Akron because Charleston doesn't have a football team and Akron does. "I don't think that has anything to do with football," Goodrich said. "I think those things are mutually exclusive. [On social media], somebody asked a question about we lost John Groce because of football. That is absolutely 100% patently false. There's no way that that's true." To further illustrate the point, Goodrich cited the philosophies of one his mentors, retired Duke University AD Kevin White. "When he got to Duke, they said, 'Hey, we need to protect Duke basketball at all costs,'" Goodrich said. "And they said, 'Well, what do we need to do?' And he said, 'You need to have a good football team, and they need to stay in the ACC because if the football team gets kicked out of the ACC, then you won't have money for Duke men's basketball.' That's proven to be true. "When you see everything that's going on out there right now about college sports and the Save College Sports group and the media rights bundling, all of it is tied to football. So, the best way to protect, not just men's basketball, but men's soccer, track and field, swim and dive, all of our sports, is by having a robust football program, especially over the next 10 years. Because when the next multimedia-rights package happens and it's bundled, all of that money will go to the universities that have football." University of Akron's athletics budget dropped by $8 million, AD Andrew Goodrich says Aside from the football discussion, questions about why Akron didn't increase its financial commitment to men's basketball to supplement the contributions made by the Fear the Roo Collective remain, especially if an uptick could have convinced Groce to stay. No other coach has guided UA basketball to as many Division I NCAA Tournament berths as the 54-year-old Groce. With the Zips, he went 197-94, including 114-50 in the MAC. His career record is 377-225, including 4-7 in the NCAA Tournament (3-2 at Ohio, 1-1 at Illinois and 0-4 at Akron). "This university is still on the rebound financially, the whole university, right?" Goodrich said. "We all know the story that we went from 30,000 students down to 15,000. Now, last year, we had a 3.4% increase in enrollment, which kind of looks like a bounce. But the financial piece of that is more like a tsunami, right? You have the earthquake, and then the water comes later. So, we are growing as a university, but the financial support is going to come later." Goodrich referenced a study of UA athletics conducted by the Huron Consulting Group. "The Huron study showed that Akron's competitive athletics expenses are 10.5% below the MAC median, and we are still fighting to get our budget back up," Goodrich said. "Our [annual operating athletics] budget right now, this year's budget is $30 million. It used to be $38 million." Did UA tell Groce he would need to take a pay cut amid the university's cost-cutting measures? After all, it would be another logical reason for a coach to seek employment elsewhere. "No, John was never told he needed to take a pay cut. Never," Goodrich said. "... In fairness to John, I told him, as I've told every single person here, 'There may be additional belt-tightening here.' For example, what happens if our enrollment goes down again this year? I can't guarantee anybody the same budget. You can't do it. "If we have fewer kids, we'll have fewer dollars, and that's it, right? That's why we're trying so hard to get people to support us with gifts because there's a very good chance that the university may ask to cut even more of our budget. So, that's the reality of where we are at the University of Akron. That's why every single dollar matters." Why did Akron hire Dustin Ford as its new men's basketball coach? Goodrich said he knew for months Groce would be a hot name on the coaching job market. Although Groce had been linked to several head coaching vacancies, he declined to comment on whether he interviewed anywhere other than Charleston. "He is a great coach, and people have been trying to get John for a long time," Goodrich said. " ... I have a lot of friends in intercollegiate athletics who, if you call this friendly, [gave me] friendly warning shots: 'Hey, if we need a coach, I might come looking at your coach. I don't want you to be mad at me. I don't want you to be upset or sideswiped, Andrew, if people start coming after your coach.'" Goodrich said the feedback caused him to form a succession plan for Groce, and the exercise led him to Ford, who previously held the title of Zips associate head coach. Ford worked as an assistant under Groce for 18 seasons — all four of Groce's seasons at the helm of Ohio (2008-12), all five at Illinois (2012-17) and all nine at Akron (2017-26). Dustin Ford worked for the past 18 seasons as an assistant basketball coach on John Groce's staff. A native of Cambridge, Ohio, the 47-year-old Ford has never previously been a college head coach, yet he has been learning from Groce for nearly two decades. "We will miss John," Goodrich said. "He is a wonderful human being. We miss the coach, but we're going to miss the man. I love his smile. I love being around him. He's awesome. But he had to talk with his family. He had to search his heart, and I think what he did, he thought maybe it was a time for a change. But that's why I feel so incredibly blessed that Dustin Ford is here and wants to be here and wants to lead this team. "As sad as I am to lose John, I'm equally glad that Dustin is here, and Dustin's ready. There's not a fan, there's not a college basketball expert who has watched Dustin over the last nine years here ... with John who hasn't thought, 'All right, this guy's ready for head coaching.' He's ready. And I'll be honest with you. If it didn't end up [happening] here, it would have been somewhere else. He was ready, and I know that people were reaching out to him and considering him for jobs." Goodrich said he had other options in mind to replace Groce, but he only interviewed Ford because hiring him was "plan A". The meeting occurred on March 30 after Groce told the Zips he would accept the job at Charleston. Goodrich acted quickly. Terms of Ford's contract have not been disclosed and are pending approval by UA's board of trustees. Groce said he anticipates bringing some Akron assistant coaches with him to Charleston and will collaborate with Ford on the process. "He's earned the type of opportunity that this presents," Groce said of passing the torch to Ford at Akron. "He's beyond paid his dues. He's well versed in all areas of being able to run a program successfully. We've been doing it such a long time together. I think his strength is his versatility and the fact that he can do just about anything within that coaching box. "In addition to that, obviously, he has a high work capacity. He's a guy that really works at it, that really cares. I think very highly of him and absolutely love his family. I'm so thankful and grateful for all he's done, not only to help the program at Akron, but to help me and our family." Groce has similar feelings about Greater Akron as he prepares for the next stop on his coaching journey. "Just an incredible nine years in the community, at the university with the people that I had the opportunity to do it with, staff, support staff, and then, most importantly, the players," Groce said. "Over nine years, we had a lot of guys that devoted a lot of their time, their effort. They were invested and sacrificed to do something special together. I hope we made a lot of the people certainly in the community and the people that came out to watch us play smile."

Been saying it for years - there is too much focus on the suits and not enough focus on the general community. This type of stuff would be a hit with the general community. Outside of the Wentz-sponsored giveaways, the marketing is typically quite drab and borderline lazy. I'd like to see some sort of digital attendance punch card, similar to what you might fight at an ice cream stand. Set up a spot in the lobby or 2nd level where fans can have something scanned on their phone that logs their attendance in a database. Every game attended counts towards rewards. 1 game = Zippy Keychain 3 games = Zippy Plush 5 games = T Shirt 7 games = Hat etc. Could also have each game count as an entry towards some sort of grand prize at the end of the season - future season ticket, tickets to the MAC tournament, something like that. I'd also like to see some sort of Zippy Kids Club brought back.

Zips fans show up when it counts. Kent games, Cleveland, etc. They don't care about directional Michigan schools coming to the JAR in the middle of December because those games don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. In Charleston their basketball team is really the only show in town and they have a much nicer arena. Everyone there probably goes all-in on the basketball team. Whereas in NE Ohio we have pro sports down the road in Cleveland, as well as two MAC schools splitting the region.

That was one of the things that stuck out to me about Goodrich's interview. He pointed out Duke's basketball program needed football to remain in the ACC. That makes sense as at that level only the Big East could provide a comparable alternative if they scrapped football and even then that could be a step down. Akron will never get an AAC, let alone ACC invite so that makes it an invalid comparison. The A10 and MVC are non-FBS conferences in our own footprint that would be a step up in competition compared to the MAC for hoops. 10 years ago I wouldn't seriously considered canceling the FBS program, but with NIL and our well documented financial troubles I just don't see how we can keep up in both sports. It's reported the NIL spend in basketball is projected to be up 35% compared to last year. With that kind of growth it's just a matter of time before our basketball program decays over time. If we continue down this path I fear we will have 2 programs struggling. Maybe not now, but in 5-10 years out.

If even part of the reason is the football program is hampering the success of bb and the other successful sports programs I have to ask..what does fb do for UA as whole? Even if they managed to when the MAC and went on to win a potato, tangerine, or fruitcake bowl, who would really notice and how would that add to the prestige of UA? There is no amount of success they could have in fb that is remotely as beneficial as tournament run.

I think a forum like this is great for brainstorming ideas, certainly for one's they might use. Having a smaller focus group is probably better for working out how best to implement them.

They might, but for a University with budget constraints, seems odd to use financial resources on a formal process like this instead of joining the board, creating a section or a thread with questions, and starting there - for free.

I agree with pretty much everything you'd stated, but found this to be especially true. Scarcity drives demand. Particularly in this age of people wanting to show off on social media. People buy season tickets because they feel they have to and then keep them because it's a great experience watching games with an energized crowd. Perhaps the change needs to start with us on Zipsnation. Last year I bought 1 season ticket and split it in half as many games my fiancé work schedule didn't allow for her to attend and there were quite a few games that frankly I had little interest in committing time to attend in person. I will commit to two tickets next season and try to invite friends to games when fiancé can't attend. Perhaps that leads them to getting tickets in the future.

You're crazy!

A lot to unpack here. I don't really care to get i to dissecting it now, but I might jump in and say things if others comment. I appreciate much of the honesty displayed by Goodrich and Groce here.

That quote from Groce tells you attendance and support from the fans IS VERY IMPORTANT to him! 'high care factor"

Love the idea of a punch card. You can even expand it a bit to include perks that cost the University little to no money, but might be viewed favorably to others who don't typically get those experiences. 2 - courtside seats for 1 game 2 - tickets to Tommy Evans Lounge 1 game

I wonder if that exclusive Zips Fan Club thing is popping out ideas like these.

Not that it means anything, but I looked at who is following the Charleston Basketball IG after yesterday and the only current players are Halligan, MMK, and Groce (obviously).

That's actually more useful thoughts than we typically get in this thread. I think concessions might be outsourced so I'm not sure how feasible it would be to implement this, but it's worth exploring. I would certainly enjoy loaded fries on Friday.

Minor league baseball has done this successfully for years and years.

I'm not sure if the women’s team still does this, but they used to schedule one or two games during the school day and fill the arena with kids. It was a great way to boost attendance. That’s exactly what the men’s team should do during the December lull, when students are off campus and we’re stuck with the inevitable Hiram/Walsh/University of Phoenix-type matchup. Most regular fans have little interest in those games, so there’s no reason to let average attendance take a hit. We also need to leverage concessions to help drive attendance. At every level, teams are creating unique food offerings that fans attend specifically to try. These items often go viral and create a sense of FOMO. We should get creative with options like ice cream bowls, loaded fries, or other items served in 3-peat crowns. We also have a great business school, so let’s tap into marketing students’ creativity to help develop and promote these ideas. Concessions should vary from game-to-game as well. For example, the MAC home opener could become an annual “MAC Night,” featuring mac and cheese flights. This could also serve as a contest for local restaurants to participate and showcase their offerings, and potentially leading to additional NIL. Whenever games are flexed to Friday night, we can brand it as “Fryday Night” and offer a fun, over-the-top fried menu with items like Oreos, Reese’s, and more. The goal is to make concessions part of the experience, not just an afterthought.

There are teams in the CAA that aren't any better than the directionals in the MAC. The CAA is also a 1 bid league. CoC is averaging more fans now than when their arena opened 15-20 years ago. Obviously they have done something to improve the experience. Edit: They've also been the only show in town for many years. That wouldn't explain why their attendance improved while ours regressed.

Not really meaning to pour any salt on wounds. Someone mentioned CoC attendance in a previous post so I looked. If you go back 15 years they were averaging 3,400 fans, similar to us during the later Dambrot years, and that was with them having a relatively new arena. Fast forward 15 years and they're now on a 39 game sell-out streak, meanwhile our attendance has cratered to ~2200. I do think it would be worthwhile for the Zips athletic department to maybe take a look at what factors maybe helped improve CoC numbers at a time when attendance is shrinking most places. Perhaps see if there is anything they've done to engage the community or improve the gameday experience that is transferable.

BANG!

I'm not privy to any inside knowledge, but I saw this post by Sam Amico on 330togo facebook page. I'm thinking Utah was maybe Utah State as that Utah job was never open.

Mahaffey and Young have a chance to develop into two of the best Zips ever if they stay. Hopefully part of the reason we kept Ford was to make sure that happened.

I like it. From the few brief conversations I've had with our new coach and the former. I like the new coach more. I hope we are able to retain 3 players in particular. Let's make the climb. Go Zips. Fear the Roo.

I thought the same thing of Embick for men's soccer. I thought they should've hired UA alum and highly successful Coastal Carolina coach, Shaun Docking. In any case, it played out the way it did, and Embick has done an amazing job. I hope Dustin Ford is the right assistant in the same way Embick was.

If they had a board with a higher reaction limit, that might be able to sway him.

Those who follow soccer at UA might have a different opinion. Soccer consistently wins its conference, makes the NCAA playoffs, goes to the elite eight, makes the final four and has a national championship and two runners-up. I'd say there is an argument there.

I'm going to go make a contribution to FTR to show my support for this move. I encourage others as well.

I like the quick decision to beat the portal opening date. I like to believe that the "Akron culture" is a thing. Also, great message from the AD 👏

Looks like Coach Ford will continue the UA Hoops dynasty, as the HC. I'm happy for him and his family.

Me too. I get mixed between hate, loathe and detest.

I'd prefer for the program I love not to be coached by an angry 7 year old.

Kehres! or that guy from Hoban.

I wish JG well in his new endeavor. We survived Dambrots departure. We will survive this one too.

Been trying to figure out what I am more upset about. Losing Coach Groce or losing him to College of Charleston. It's the latter. This is an insult.

3 straight championships, 4 out of the last 5. Best conference record in MAC history over 2 seasons. I didn’t think there was a “level” between what KD did and winning a NCAA tourney game, but Groce showed there apparently was.