kreed5120

It will be what the PAC-12 will be this coming season. Pretty much on par with what the AAC was 5 years ago.

I feel you could make a decent fan committee from just this forum. We have people from all walks of life. Some former players. Many die-hard 30+ year fans. Some more recent grads. Many Akron alumni and a few who weren't that still want to support the local team. Just take 10 people from this board and mix in 2-3 current students and there you go, you have your committee. No need to do a further search.

Wouldn't you imagine Evan would have to guard Byers? Not sure who else would be able to take that assignment given his 6'8" frame. I think we might rely on Eric to guard Suder.

I looked at Miami's message board and even they were surprised that Suder won POTY.

This might be sacrilegious to say, but I don't think Suder should even be the 2nd choice. Gillespie IMO was the 2nd best player in the MAC this season. I can see Suder at #3.

2025-26 MAC Men’s Basketball All-MAC Teams & Specialty Award Winners Coach of the Year: Travis Steele, Miami* Player of the Year: Peter Suder, Senior, Guard, Miami Defensive Player of the Year: Javontae Campbell, Senior, Guard, Bowling Green Freshman of the Year: Leroy Blyden Jr., Guard, Toledo* Sixth Man of the Year: Shammah Scott, Graduate Student, Guard, Akron *unanimous selection All-MAC First Team Tavari Johnson, Senior, Guard, Akron Amani Lyles, Senior, Forward, Akron Javontae Campbell, Senior, Guard, Bowling Green Delrecco Gillespie, Senior, Forward, Kent State Peter Suder, Senior, Guard, Miami All-MAC Second Team Leonardo Bettiol, Graduate Student, Forward, Massachusetts Brant Byers, Redshirt Sophomore, Guard, Miami Eian Elmer, Junior, Guard, Miami Jackson Paveletzke, Senior, Guard, Ohio Sonny Wilson, Junior, Guard, Toledo All-MAC Third Team Shammah Scott, Graduate Student, Guard, Akron Ryan Sabol, Junior, Guard, Buffalo Marcus Banks Jr., Graduate Student, Guard, Massachusetts Luke Skaljac, Sophomore, Guard, Miami Leroy Blyden Jr., Freshman, Guard, Toledo All-MAC Honorable Mention Evan Mahaffey, Senior, Forward, Akron Daniel Freitag, Sophomore, Guard, Buffalo Morgan Safford, Graduate Student, Guard, Kent State Antwone Woolfolk, Senior, Forward, Miami Javan Simmons, Redshirt Junior, Forward, Ohio MAC All-Defensive Team Amani Lyles, Senior, Forward, Akron Evan Mahaffey, Senior, Forward, Akron Javontae Campbell, Senior, Guard, Bowling Green Nathan Claerbaut, Senior, Center, Central Michigan Delrecco Gillespie, Senior, Forward, Kent State MAC All-Freshman Team Eric Mahaffey, Guard, Akron Mohammad Habhab, Forward, Eastern Michigan Quinn Woidke, Guard, Kent State Danny Carbuccia, Guard, Massachusetts Leroy Blyden Jr., Guard, Toledo

I wouldn't even say he was the biggest snub on that list. Freitag should have made 2nd Team. UB was a completely different team with him healthy.

TJ got robbed. I'm not even sure if Suder put up the best numbers on his own team, let alone the MAC. They should just change the award name to best player on the best team. That's all it ever is anymore.

I'm almost certain athletic department contributions are no longer tax deductible unless it's to do something like endow an athletic scholarship. Even if it is you would have to itemize to get the deduction. Only 7%-10% of Americans itemize. I'm not one of them. I'm fairly certain the athletic department is only allowed to revenue share 22% of athletic department revenue. This excludes Hollywood math, like student fees, that ADs try to claim as revenue. That means if Akron generates $10M in revenue they are only allowed to revenue share $2.2M. That excellence fund is to help cover that $2.2M so Akron doesn't have to pay for it out of pocket. FTR isn't tied to any cap. I'm not 100% certain of everything I've said, but that's the conclusion that I've gathered from my previous internet search into the matter. If I misspoke someone please correct me. At the end of the day there must be a reason to have both otherwise we likely wouldn't have both. I trust Bud with my money more than I do Akron's administration.

IMO 2-3 guys will transfer due to lack of playing time or fit. I would expect 3-4 portal additions. Add in Young, Eric and MMK that bring us to 6-7. From there that leaves opportunities for 2-3 additional players to earn solid, consistent minutes. I'm not as knowledgeable on who we have redshirting or true freshman coming in, but I'm sure we'll have some competition to fill out those roles.

I felt the same way with the team Freeman's senior year. We went out that offseason and reloaded. Made it right back into the tournament the following year.

Can this conversation get moved elsewhere? While it's an educated and civil conservation, it's completely unrelated to Akron athletics.

$150M is too much for Akron IMO. I get it everyone wants the flashy BMW, but Akron isn't in the position to afford the monthly payments or maintenance on that. If Akron was to ever look seriously into building a new arena they should look for a Toyota Corolla. Something that is dependable and gets you from point A to point B with minimal upkeep. To me that would be something like the Stroh Center. In today's dollars that would cost $43 million. Sticking to the analogy I would want an upgraded trim to get capacity closer to 5,500 and maybe a few smaller amenities. Let's say that brings the cost to $65 million. That would be a much more achievable goal.

MAC women's basketball accolades were released today. Only Shaena Brew received recognition. She made the All Freshman Team.

Mods, is it possible to sticky a post? I'm sure all the regulars are well aware of FTR, but we might draw some additional foot traffic from the casual visitors come tournament time. It's useful to make them aware.

I have donated too. I even have a monthly reoccurring donation setup. I wasn't talking just helping financially. I wouldn't be donating if there was no FTR collective to donate to. Yes, I can agree with this point. It's also why I contribute to men's basketball and not football. Not just because of the success, but because I also feel my dollars stretch further. Akron spent some say $1 million on this years basketball which wasn't far behind UMass for the largest dollar amount. An article was released yesterday that Miami (OH) is spending ~$8 million NIL on football this coming year. That's ~6x the amount UMass is spending on basketball. The hard truth is we can't compete in both so it makes more sense to focus on the one we stand a chance with.

Not to mention compounding investment returns. I just don't see him being interested in contributing to arena. That doesn't really fit the profile for the charity work he has done. At most he might lend his name and shake a few hands, but he's not cutting a $100M check.

Exactly this. @ZippyDoo Akron started a competitive excellence fund to help fund NIL. I have the link shared below. You're more than welcome to contribute. I know there is a $20 million cap, but schools are also restricted to only being allowed to spend ~22% of ahtletic department revenue. I'm pretty sure that 22% excludes student fees and other direct institutional support that athletic departments often Hollywood math into their revenue figures. This would mean to spend the full $20M you would have to generate ~$90 million in athletic revenue. Akron is nowhere near that figure. Let's say our athletic revenue is more like $10 million for simple math (when you exclude student fees). That would mean we're restricted to spend only $2.2 million of University money on NIL. At most schools football gets about 70% so that would mean $1.5 million. The reason basketball is so well funded isn't because of the success. It's largely because of Bud Wentz and the ground work he laid. If Kaulig was investing millions into the football program it would be in a similar spot. I say millions because the cost to compete in FBS is probably 5x the cost of men's hoops. https://fundraise.givesmart.com/vf/CompExFundNIL?fbclid=IwdGRzaAQdAMBjbGNrBB0Al2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHo_R-wvonj103QBpdzCLEd2uGZVJ7jVjoOuOtzDWQpG8is6x9IopCq5-yL-g_aem_npqoWX87I8F61GafRenGPA

I honestly don't think it would be terrible for EMU. Detroit Mercy was 1-31 when he took over and in year 2 has them 1 win away from the Big Dance. That said, it probably won't happen because it would be a tough sell to their fans. What few they still have left. IMO if you aren't going to invest in basketball anyway, Montgomery is a solid choice. You'll hover around mediocre in the MAC, but that certainly beats dumpster fire. It's unrealistic to expect anything better if you aren't financially committed.

It will be awkward for NIU in the Horizon next year...

I would imagine that's hard to project. It really just takes 1 team offering an absurd sum. I'm sure Eric could get some attention given his size and well rounded game, but at the same time I just can't see him getting the money Nate received. I'll choose to enjoy this run and will worry about the portal when that time comes.

I'm of the opinion Groce is a coach that will adapt his offense to the players he has on his roster. Some coaches try to fit square pegs into round holes. That doesn't seem to be Groce's style. We were a much slower paced team with Freeman and its not like Aziz, who backed up Freeman, was a blazer either. The game against UCLA we only scored 53. We nearly score that in a half now.

I hate to be the realist, but if $8 million NIL (on top of whatever we're spending on everything else) is the cost to compete at the G5 level what's the point of continuing? People (myself included) gripe about MLB with no salary cap, but at least there are rules in place so a Francisco Lindor or Skenes can stay in Cleveland or Pittsburgh for the first half dozen years of their careers. If MLB operated like college athletics they would be on a Yankees or Dodgers roster day 1. Any late bloomers would join those rosters immediately following a breakout season. There is no way for us to compete.

Hopefully we pick it up Saturday 😉

I'd love an Akron seat cushion promotion.