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If they're smart they'll still invest it with Bud.

New edge rusher commit from central michigan Keshawn Hayden 6'3 250 according to PFF ranked 539 which was higher than Durham on 261 snaps though to be fair Durham had 699. He was third in Centrals rotation.

Anyone remember David Coit from NIU? Hasnt lost his scoring touch. Just put up 43 for Maryland tonight.

Great way to keep the ball on that pass, and nice cross to a nice header. Malik will always be one of my favorite zips

It will be interesting to see how the leash shortens on coaching tenures of those guiding underachieving teams with big payrolls. If I were the donor that ponied up a million bucks to buy Nate Johnson I’d be pretty angry about only having a .500 record to show for it. I’d probably be making some demands if they want me to cut more checks in the future.

Nowadays the players are in Akron so briefly you hardly know their names before they're gone.

Kansas State is 0-5 in the Big 12, last place in the conference, and 9-9 overall. Utah is just ahead of them at 1-4, 9-9 overall. It doesn't look like Johnson or Okonkwo will be playing in the NCAA Tournament again.

There were some objectively terrible Akron teams prior to Dambrot coming to Akron. That was before my time though. I would imagine the defense was worse on some of those single digit win teams. I do think it's lazy to just look at points allowed as the sole measure of a defense. Like your mentioned pace can inflate the numbers. I still think outside of Groce's 1st season this is probably his worst defensive team. Like you, I don't necessarily think it's all effort. They just often try to trap and then are slow in rotating. Not having a rim protector certainly plays a part, but I feel that would be something we could overcome if we boxed out better and defended the 3-point line better.

Nate Johnson isn't the problem at Kansas State IMO. If you look at his numbers his FG%, 3P%, FT%, steals, and assists are all above last years numbers. His point total is down because his shot attempts are just down because he's Kansas State's 3 or 4th scoring option, not first. I actually don't think Kansas State is all that bad. I actually watched their game against Oklahoma St. the other night. They just play in what looks to be a very strong conference and have lost some close games OSU and Arizona State. Not to mention they lost to #7 Nebraska by 1. They can field a strong starting 5, but their bench looks underwhelming. Instead of giving Nate what they did they probably should have split that money adding 2-3 players instead. They would likely be in a better place.

Instead, they will be reviewing their stock portfolio with the money they received from Kansas State and Utah. (LOL)

chase brown is gone apparently

I don't really want to spend too much time looking ahead to next season, but my hope is that they're able to bring someone else in. Marvin doesn't have the size to play ~25 minutes a game. Barre, who I don't know if he even has remaining eligibility, is too much of a health risk. If Briscoe can't even get minutes with Barre injured I don't see him being a key contributor. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he transfers at the end of the season

If my math is correct, as well as all the players who should have graduated or hit the portal is also correct, we are currently sitting at 69 scholarships and still have some spots to fill. I’ve listed below what that could look like from here. QB = 1 (maybe) WR = 1 TE = 1-2 OL = 2-3 DL = 4-6 LB = 1 (maybe) DB = 4-6 ST = 2 (probably walk-ons)

no offense by any means, but that would be a long shot by Texas considering Boz didn't do a whole lot at a group five school. I wish him well not gonna bash him at all but you have to admit it is a very surprising move today the very least...

I’m a fan of this pickup. I tracked the Hayden brothers recruitment out of high school during my time at Rivals. He has more upside than he’s shown. Perhaps our DL coach will get it out of him.

Could just be a walk on, but giving up scholarship + exposure at Akron vs likely being buried on depth chart aand paying your own way at Texas feels like a head scratching move.

I would agree the defense has improved since after the Murray State game. There were some breakdowns defensively against Ball State, but for the most part they were hitting contested shots. Many of those being mid-rangers or 3s with a hand in their face.

I wouldn't put too much stock in yesterday's game. The Zips have had much worse defensive games this season. Much, not all of yesterday's success yesterday was the result of guys making tough shots over well- positioned defenders. Sometimes teams just get hot. Some of Dambrot's teams were sketchy on defense. However, during the 4 years with Zeke it all got cleaned up on the back end. Groce's first team here was 8th in the MAC in average points surrendered and 9th in opponent field goal percentage. They were regularly just "out-athleted." This year's squad is 7th in average points surrendered and 2nd in opponent FG%. The current team is not the worst. The fast pace of the offense gives both teams more possessions. They've had lapses which have hurt and can be cleaned up but they're never going to be at the top of the MAC on defense. Barre can help a little if he returns but he'll at best play 12-15 minutes a game and the biggest problem has been on perimeter traps and switches and recovering on help defense when the ball swings, and that's not him on the perimeter.

Markus Boswell committed to University of Texas. Dad graduated from there is an olympic high jumper. wish him luck. Didn't see that one coming ...

Here's the deal ... considering Akron and Miami are the top 2 seeds and in opposite brackets, on a neutral court, I think Bowling Green, Buffalo and Kent are the most dangerous opponents regardless of where they are seeded. The good thing is those three teams - using Buffalo as an example - would likely have to play BG then Kent/Miami, then Akron in three straight days to get to the MAC Tournament title game, much less win it. That's brutal. While I doubt it will be an issue, that 1-2 seed will be imperative to avoid a potential first-round upset knockout, considering how deep/strong the MAC is this season.

Correct

Lebron paid homage to UA and the city with his new shoes which included the UA logo- https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/nba/2026/01/18/lebron-james-nike-23-shoes-pay-tribute-to-akron-zips/88243766007/

This needs a deep ZNO investigation. Could H.R.Pufnstuf be positioning himself to replace Zippy? Could this signing be the avenue in which H.R. weasels into UA? I smell conspiracy.

Maybe a call for stepping on the line when defending an inbound

Maybe I need to be really clear. Look at the spelling of chairback again. This came from a high level University poster. 🙂

So far UMass football and mens basketball are a combined 0-12 against MAC competition. Welcome back. 🙂

Wait... we're still going to be ineligible next year?

I'd settle for an airport where I'm not sweating my ass off after 5 minutes.

Move it to Brook Park once new stadium is built.

I'm obviously an avid Zips basketball fan. That said, if I had a son who was gifted enough to play D1 basketball and was on the Zips and some school came offering him that kind of money, I would be the one packing his bags. That's life altering money at a young age. Assuming he's not stupid with managing it.

so far…

Miami climbs into the top 25 in the AP poll.

Southern Miss according to 247. That’s now two we’ve lost to them if we account for the OL that committed to us just a little while back.

Zips legend Jim Dennsion has passed. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2026/01/05/jim-dennison-died-obit-akron-zips-football-coach-walsh/77733069007/ https://medina-gazette.com/news/453612/college-football-wadsworth-native-jim-dennison-dies-at-87/ https://gozips.com/news/2026/1/5/general-akron-athletics-mourns-loss-of-hall-of-fame-football-coach-and-athletics-director-jim-dennison https://www.beaconjournal.com/obituaries/pwoo1374962