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I’ll start with one of the most obvious items - NIL. Bud has done a great job getting us to where we are (and I’d assume there are others involved as well), but it shouldn’t be all on him/them. Anyone reading this can contribute to the Fear the Roo collective. It would be more convenient if the process was easier, but all you need to do is email info@feartheroocollective.com to get things rolling. If you’re able to contribute, you may not think your individual contribution would make a difference. However,“collectively” us diehard fans can be the difference in keeping or obtaining a player that would otherwise go elsewhere. One player can be the difference. The program has a good thing going. In my mind we are currently in the peak of Akron men’s basketball. We have a great coach (who also seems to be a great person), who brings in players who are great representatives of our University, and have a guy leading the NIL who has a vision. Please consider playing a part in our program taking the next step. info@feartheroocollective.com

Square peg, round hole.

It's just a general comment. It's great to want new seating, better scheduling, better players, etc... All of those things cost money. The administration is telling us more cuts are coming. If you are a fan, you can do your part to make up the difference. Buy a better seat. Make a donation to the Zip Athletic club. Make a donation to the collective. UA is not a P-4 school with large numbers of rich alumni. LeBron is not going to come rescue us. My experience in this world is you get what you pay for.

When Ohio State lost to Oregon this year (the same team they clubbed in the Rose Bowl), Urban Meyer said a big reason was the Buckeyes non-conf schedule. He said the speed and athleticism of Oregon was unlike anything they had seen. Basketball is different but maybe the Zips need to see a Big Boy in December every year so they know what it looks like in March. The Sun Belt and Ivy League aren’t Big Boys. Still, great year, great program and a great coach.

Seems like things are kind of percolating right? Finally got some buzz, sustained conference success, good kids on the team, the culture, finally some good marketing.. We're right there if we want to take the next step. Today would be a good day for it

I do not want to offend anyone but I was hoping to read comments about our game tomorrow and not guessing who may or may not transfer. Lets enjoy the moment where we can get our first NCAA victory. Go Zips!!!

Today's Beacon article on Nate- https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2025/03/20/akron-zips-basketball-ncaa-tournament-arizona-nate-johnson-tavari-johnson-john-groce-miami-toledo/82491030007/

I pay virtually no attention to any other games other than the Zips.

It’s as plain as the nose on your face…Power Conferences take the best and brightest mid-major players…and give us their unwanted table scraps in return. We get the best and brightest of the D2 crop, but that doesn’t nearly offset the NIL/Portal talent loss. If this system were in place 25 years ago, the MAC would never have seen the likes of Bonzi Wells, Brandon Hunter, Gary Trent, Chris Kaman, Earl Boykins, Wally Szerbiak, Antonio Brown and on and on. The Zips have some good fortune in having a great coach and someone to pay a few player’s NIL funds. But that can end tomorrow, and we’ll be fielding teams that have zero chance of ever being more than Round 1 NCAA tournament fodder. I hate it.

Probably the only way we'd get someone like Cincinnati or Xavier is if our "home game" is in Cleveland and they get a share of ticket revenue. Although that would probably only work for an OSU as I'm not sure there are many Cincy or Xavier fans in the Cleveland area.

I might be in the minority, but I'd prefer not to have a 7 footer slowing down the tempo. I'd be perfectly content with another 6'8 big that can move the court. We can then slide Amani over to play PF while also targeting a wing that can play both SF and PF. There are ways of us adding size without adding someone who has cement blocks for legs.

Zips will be playing in the Paradise Jam next season.

Dear Santa- Please bring us a decent big and the reincarnation of Xeryius Williams.

I would think that the next step is to win a winnable game in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Akron had the talent and coaching to win yesterday. They didn't for a lot of reasons with two key reasons being unusually bad shooting by the Zips and unusually good shooting by Arizona.

NCAA BB Scholarship limit goes up to 15 next season.

What actually caused the National Debt that we now pay $800-billion in interest on? What actually caused the $1 Trillion deficit we are currently experiencing? 1. The Bush-era Taxcuts 2. Two unfunded wars (Iraq and Afghanistan) 3. Continually increasing military budgets to the level of absurdity over the past 20-years (and no, Military aid to Ukraine doesn't actually count here because most of that was surplus stockpile that was going to cost us $ to decommission anyways). 4. Trump (2016) Taxcuts. The four things are the major contributors to both the Debt AND deficit. And no, it goes much further back than the past 10-years. It goes back to that 2000s era of Taxcuts that turned Bill Clinton's surpluses into deficits. And if you want to play the conspiracy theory game, it's all by design of ONE political party so they could justify cutting Social Security instead of doing the sensible thing, which everyone knew in the 1980s we should do to solve Social Security, which is eliminating the cap on taxable personal income. I'm so sick and tired of people lying about this. It's not a mystery as to where this debt and deficit came from. It's from cutting taxes into oblivion, and running up the charge card on military spending. Period Fullstop. It wasn't spending on education, or food stamps, or national park funding, or NASA, or the EPA (etc...etc...etc). It was taxcuts and military spending. Yes, we should have been able to spend stimulus money in a lifetime of a Pandemic to keep people in homes and to keep the economy from free falling into a depression. You know, basic crap governments are like supposed to do. But no, a segment of this country decided it was better to give free handouts to the wealthiest people in the country at the expense of the future.

Would it be easier to just list the MAC players who are not entering the TP?

I mean I guess it's good if we schedule a P5 or two outside this tournament

will have to deal with center Raynaud, the nation's best double-double producer with 24 and averages of 20.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. 24 games with a double double is nice and all, still I think 31 is better. 🙂

And just like that, most things about the NCAAT that appealed to the casual fan are gone. If this continues into the future, there will be viewer apathy, and ratings and advertising will suffer. The suits are always so short-sighted. I was only planning to watch games featuring Cinderellas. Since there are none, I've lost substantial interest. There are other things I can spend my spring weekend days enjoying.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I_men's_basketball_tournament_all-time_team_records Interestingly, of all the teams to play in the men's NCAAT and not win a game only Boise State (10) and Eastern Kentucky (8) are more than our total of 7 without winning, and we are tied with Long Island University, Nebraska, and South Dakota State So, we are due to win a NCAAT game! 😁😆

This is fair. Here’s another great idea that won’t get funded. Sorry, but seriously. I wonder if it would be beneficial to have a crowdfunding page on Fear the Roo where we could all see the basketball program’s wish list with their set priorities and goals. I think visualizing each line item might give perspective and motivation. I know a new stadium costs tens of millions, but I have no idea how much a Thanksgiving tournament costs. People feel their $50 - $100 is a drop in the bucket, but if they see a line item slowly progress towards 100% maybe there would be more involvement. Edit: I just want to add that I would like one of the line items to be a general fund specifically giving Bud Wentz permission to use his financial talents to invest and grow a nest egg for the long term.

I have just shared my frustrations with the state of the MAC and college basketball in general. But I too want to thank the guys for an entertaining and successful year. And even though we the fan base are dying to get this NCAA monkey off of our back, this year was another step in the right direction. And every player who contributes along the way is appreciated and deserves to be celebrated. So thank you to Seth, Isaiah and Evan. You all seem like great dudes and it’s been a pleasure watching from afar. And now, Tavari, back in the weight room with you. Marvin and Amani improve your driving and shooting and Okonkwo, free throws and finishing around the rim. Because we know Groce & Company with the help of Bud Wentz are not quitting. And I’m not going anywhere either. I have a scholarship chart that apparently needs a couple more spots added to it. Go Zips!!

As a wise man said ( @csims0917 😉) "We're in limbo." I wish our Big East soccer buddies would throw Men's Basketball a bone or two with scheduling.

To look at it a different way, we were the only Ohio program to make the 64 bracket, and the only Ohio public college in the tournament. There’s that I guess.

I'm sure P5 teams watched us last night and thought no way we'll ever schedule that juggernaut

More importantly you have to win the measuring stick games. Had we beaten St. Mary's and Yale during OOC play we probably would have been a 12 seed. Scheduling tougher doesn't mean anything if you just lose those games by double figures.

The reality is that as a MAC basketball program this is about as good as it is ever going to get. Maybe someday you might pull off an upset and make it to the round of 32. The only way for it to get better would be for the university and athletic program to completely sell out for basketball, abandoning the financial commitment to the other sports in the athletic department (within the limits of Title IX). That then takes you out of the MAC and searching for another conference. I don't see the university doing any of this. It was a wonderful season. It ended on a down note but it sure was fun in 2025. This was a great group of kids and their comradery and fun nature wore off on Zips fans. We'd be blessed to get most of them back next year and with fewer new faces the team should come up to speed much faster next year then they did this year. Go Zips!

Groce is right. Akron's schedule was 'competitive.' The two Sun Belt games, Milwaukee, Yale are the 'competitive' non-conference games Akron should be playing. Akron's non-con SOS was second-best in the MAC per Kenpom. However, the Zips never played a game above their class. That is the measure, especially going forward. Being 'Best in (Mid-Major/MAC) Class' is great in and of itself. But the object is to step up, in non-conference. Can't wait until the NCAA to see how you measure up. Those recently successful Buffalo MAC teams 'played up' often in the non-conference. That is where Akron has to step up, especially if the bulk of this still young team returns for 2025-2026. If that means a 25-win season instead of 28, that is worth it.

Tavari stepping up. Shammah and Lyles holding their own. Everyone else is not playing well enough for us to win this game.

Here is a copy of the Zips football spring practice schedule + the spring game date

Great article on the transfer players. Love the quote from Okonkwo: Per a change in NCAA rules, Okonkwo has one year of eligibility left and said, "I plan on staying here for as long as I possibly can. I love it here. I have no reason to leave. The coaching staff here, the atmosphere, it is everything you could want in a place. I am so thankful I came to Akron."

Break the glass ceiling! Games like today are how you go from Vermont level to Gonzaga level.

Indeed. Because it stayed invested in the economy, in companies, and in workers instead of flowing to the wealthy. Because if you're going to pay 90%, you don't take it home as pay then. You keep it in the company, and pay your workers more. This isn't rocket science. Ironically THIS is what actually generates more tax revenue. Because if you're paying workers more money, that's all taxed as income for everything from social security to FIT. So preventing the wealthy from being able to be paid exorbitant amounts, and rewarding the actual boot-on-the-grounds workers more, is what actually generates more tax revenue.

It's the spending. It's always the spending.

If the quality of the teams you get thrashed by is indicative of the quality of your program, then Zips football is much better than I was led to believe!

Terrible letting people get to keep their money when we all know the government would do a much better job spending it for them! I really appreciate these sarcastic posts of yours!

One thing I love about these Zips is that everyone on the team is involved and having fun. Guys like Gray and Wilson have been here for a short period of time but they are right in the middle of the mix. Seth is leading the team in the huddle before they come out. Seth is putting the Akron name as the winner on the bracket board. No sulking, no outsiders. From Nate Johnson to Connor Groce they're all in and happy for each other. That's TEAMISM.

😂 guess we even compete for headlines related to budget cuts

A chance at an actual starter big (combined with a lot of the returners we have) might have @NWAkron willing to stand directly in front of the T-shirt cannon.

How can you not love Enrique? Since generally, there's never more than one 13 versus four upset in any single tournament, I'm rooting against all the other 13s. 🤣

Kenni Burns probably just needed a runner to place his March Madness bets.

Well, to be fair, PCCC was better prepared for Vegas.

They took a private jet, using that Furman NIL money!

As somebody else pointed out, the only "plus" Kent had over Miami this year was playing (and losing) to Alabama and Auburn, whereas Miami played and lost to Michigan and Indiana, which were good teams as well. Miami had a better overall record, better conference record, and obviously beat Kent 3 teams. If there is that much weight given to who you lose to in these ratings 1) there are clearly some serious flaws in them and 2) why wouldn't you schedule tough as hell in the OOC to game the system? Best case scenario, you *might* give yourself an at-large chance if you pull off a few upsets, you're better prepared for March Madness, and you give yourself a chance at better seed (therefore better matchup) if you win the conference tourney. Worst case scenario, it all comes down to 3 days in Cleveland like it always does, with the potential for getting a better seed due to losing to these good teams..

In 1998, Dennis Rodman skipped out of practice in the NBA Finals to wrestle Hulk Hogan and spend some time with a model in Las Vegas. They still won the championship. Kent did just fine after a couple of guys missed one practice. After 30+ games, how much practice do these guys really need for a Mickey Mouse post season tournament?

Does any of that fall on the shoulders of the head coach and his staff - IMO it can’t all be blamed on bad luck. Lack of depth going in had to contribute to some extent, no?

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