kreed5120

I think Young could return. Still more unlikely than likely. It just takes 1 A10, AAC, and P5 programs to make him an offer that prices us out. I would be absolutely stunned if Eric returned. He has the size, athleticism, and well rounded game most teams would desire. He could make the 8-9 man rotation on most of the bottom half of P5 teams IMO.

I mean Prather is in the portal again. Not like we can't offer him. It would have been challenging for Prather to get the minutes here to develop had he stayed. We've had a lot of tremendous guard play. Leaving was probably the correct decision for him.

It wasn't posted. He didn't live up to the hype some gave him. He might develop into a good player, but he looked very raw and perhaps the speed of the game was too fast compared to what he's accustomed. Him going to a low major to get consistent minutes and being able to refine his game is probably what's best.

I'll probably sit this round out as this is the first piece of FTRC gear that I didn't really care for. The front of the shirt I like. I just don't care for the giant logo on the back. I get that's part of their branding. I just wish it was smaller and on the sleeve or something. It reminds me of the countless free Akron t-shirts I already own from giveaways.

I'm sure he's already received Akron's best and final offer and his agent has already received better offers. If anything I appreciate the transparency and not providing false hope. IMO I don't think it's a huge loss. Maybe a bit because he could be a locker room presence, but his only strength was his 3-pt shooting. He was a 1 dimensional scorer who didn't play great defense. I'd have him back, but it's not someone worth spending a significant amount of our NIL to keep. There will be plenty of 3-pt specialists who play spotty defense in the portal who we can likely sign cheaper. We might even have 1 on the roster already. Not sure about our redshirts or incoming freshman. Edit: I view Eric and Young more as the losses. I could have seen either of them make the jump to being All-MAC caliber next year.

I think there is a recruitment dead period until April 10th. I'm sure news will break about some players going some places before then, but I don't think anything official can happen until then anyway.

This is an excellent point. Outside of a few posters that attended practices and had in depth discussion with coaches nobody was really even talking about Eric at this time last year. Now some are trying to make it sound like his departure isn't something we can recover from. There are redshirts or incoming freshman who are on the roster now that will be contributors next season. Most of Akron's success has come from player development. We will likely need to go into the portal and find a few impact players, but it's not like we need to go out there and sign an entirely new 13 player roster. With a new coach that would have been likely.

Sure they would have most likely left. I like my job, but if someone offered to 2x-5x my salary I'd leave tomorrow, no two week notice. There is a reason Groce left for a program that has 3x the NIL of Akron despite on paper not looking like much of a promotion, money talks. Ford's hire wasn't just about player retention. It's about keeping the system that has worked going. Sure, Akron could have reached out and maybe got someone like Hurley, but then you'd have to put up with his antics, which could push people away from the program. I certainly know I would have cancelled my season tickets and quit my contributions to FTC if he was the choice. I'm a small fish though. It's possible someone with his personality pushes someone like Bud or one of the other big donors away and money like it or not drives the sport.

https://x.com/i/status/2041523870822191409

Likely a mutual decision. Wouldn't be surprised if he transfers down to D2 or something like that.

Expected that given the post his agent made ~2 weeks ago.

It won't happen, but I wish they would quit playing Final Four games in NFL stadiums.

Akron will, but I'm not so confident about the vast majority of the teams in the MAC. Time will tell.

Much of the MAC's strength and what made it historic this year were the teams at the top. Teams 3-13 were typical of most seasons. Many of which were built via the portal. I don't really expect much out of the 3 bottom feeders who have first year coaches. (I actually thought EMU wasn't all that terrible this year under Heath until they lost their starter to that gambling probe). None of them are going into great situations given the state of their roster and if you visit their boards you will see they don't have money to pay quality players. They will be searching bargain bin for players, which is unlikely to lead to better success. WMU in particular doesn't care about basketball. They have money that they could spend on the sport, but they allocate both the money and attention to hockey instead.

I agree, I don't hold a grudge or ill will towards him for not doing it. Just assumed it would be something he would do given the length of his tenure.

I just don't think the website is completely updated yet.

You say that like one of those players wasn't first team All-MAC and another wasn't 6th man of the year. I see a lot less talent returning to the MAC this coming year compared to this past season. I believe only 1 player that was 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team All-MAC is returning next season. Last year there was 2 players alone that were first time All-MAC who returned. The MAC will add players certainly. They added players last year. It's just much easier to build a strong conference when you're starting from a solid foundation. Last year had that foundation as Akron and Miami were projected to be 2 of the stronger mid-majors in the entire country before the year started given the talent they had returning. There are no teams that you can really point to right now and be like they're going to be great. It seems sensible to believe next year the MAC won't be as good as it was this year considering the MAC had a historic year. It seems some people just want to argue for the sake of arguing. Edit: As I said before we can revisit this in November/December once we see how the MAC does in OOC play.

Jahari Williamson in the portal. https://x.com/i/status/2041246826490180067

We can revisit this at seasons end, but I'd expect the MAC to finish something close to what the Horizon League was this year, which is worse than what the MAC was this past season.

The MAC is coming off its best season since pre-covid (looking at Kenpom) and that was with Akron and Miami returning a lot of talent. Also, with Kent returning Gillespie. The MAC also got its first at-large bid this century Do you honestly believe next year the MAC as a whole will be better?

It wasn't mentioned in my post I suppose, but Young and Eric leaving isn't good for the MAC either. I would prefer to win the MAC again next year because we got better, not because the entire conference regressed to level of a directional Michigan. Edit: Also, what's not mentioned is this is a contract year for the MAC TV deal. If basketball was actually good maybe we could squeeze a few more dollars out of ESPN or whoever bids.

Yep, people try to defend Akron's poor attendance saying nobody wants to see Akron beat a poor MAC team by 15+, but then cheer when other MAC teams lose all their talent. If you're a fan of the sport and want to watch quality basketball at the JAR all these portal entrants isn't a good thing. It's more just a race to the bottom.

Kent board is saying Sumlin has announced intent to return.

I feel this was known for a long time. Kent board seemed to know this was going to happen pretty much as soon as MACT ended.