kreed5120

I think his offensive numbers will improve as Akron will look to push the ball instead of playing a half court offense. That fits his athleticism and high motor.

I can see him being the starting PF and Lyles playing minutes at both PF and C next year. We added size and don't have to alter our offense to accommodate a slower pace offense. I'm pleased even though CK didn't get one of the bigs his metrics preferred.

Yes, the Kent board is hinting that some large donor commitments came in that enticed Sendy to stay.

Gillespie certainly can play at a high level in the MAC. Perhaps Sumlin could develop into something as well with an expanded role. Medley IMO isn't much of a loss. He was one of the biggest culprits of Kent's shooting woes

I see he's from Lithuania. As I understand it, players in US on student visas can't collect NIL. That would certainly help Wentz checkbook. Just a matter of selling the program to him.

Most of their top contributors were seniors. They were likely in for a rebuilding year regardless. Julian Sullinger is probably another candidate that could be added to the list.

What I saw online is it's the NIL, not salary that is more swaying him. Although reports are his salary will double from ~$500k to ~$1M with Fordham. I imagine whatever counteroffer Kent presented him probably at least bumped him up to 650k-700k. Fordham probably does have more NIL, especially if the A10 opted into revenue sharing. I still think he'll struggle competing in the A10 as everyone else in the conference will have more NIL and nicer facilities. Fordham has never prioritized athletics, which is perfectly fine as they have several great academic programs. It's just not so great when you're a head coach and you're competing against programs like Dayton who are offering more money to a single player than you have to field an entire team.

I doubt they would want to pay a buyout to get Christian if they're already going to be for Kenni.

Kenni Burns placed on admin leave. Oddly it happens on the same day national reports say Fordham will be hiring Pinky. I wonder if Kent is using the Fordham buyout to help buy themselves out of Kenni's contract 🤔

You can't think rationale. You're talking about the guy who hired Kenni Burns.

I've heard rumblings Kent is cracking its piggy bank trying to gather every last cent to make a last-ditch offer to keep him. This might be why we haven't heard anything formal. He might still be weighing his decision.

In the last day or 2 I've started seeing commits. I imagine things will pick up on that front in the next week or so. A BG alum posted that Austin Parks plans to visit there this weekend. I believe BG, Toledo, and us have all had reported interest.

I was just sharing what everyone on the Kent board is claiming. I'm not pretending to be in the know. The Fordham program is a terrible job in the sense that it's one of if not the least funded in the A10. Since they joined the A10 in 1995, they have had 3 winning seasons in 30 years. They haven't made the NCAA tournament since 1992 or the NIT since 1991. Sendy would get a pay raise if he took the job so if you want to say that makes it a better job, sure. The odds of him actually winning at Fordham however are very low. Duquesne was a pretty poor program when Dambrot took it over, but at least there were monetary commitments to invest in the program, including a major renovation. Fordham plays in a 100 year old arena that to my knowledge has never seen a major renovation other than new flooring.

The Kent board seems convinced that Sendy has coached his last game with the team and that he's already accepted the Fordham job. Kind of odd that he was just on social media promoting Kent's collective days ago when he likely already knew he wouldn't be with the team next year. The Fordham job is pretty terrible. He must really want out of Kent badly. If he thinks Akron is the Dodgers, he's in a rude awakening when he faces the AL All-Stars (Dayton) and NL All-Stars (VCU) every year.

What I've seen posted on their forum is their collective is made up of 500+ donors and has a budget of ~500k in total, $400k of it allocated to MBB (football has a different collective, which the UMass athletic department took over. Not sure the budget for that). That included non-cash gifts as well. Like I saw one of their players was given a car, which I assume was leased. The person running their collective admitted they whiffed and overpaid a few transfers this year, which is why they took a step back. Hopefully they keep inefficiently spending their money as I have to assume they have a larger bankroll than us.

Michigan State is little brother to Michigan in their own state. They obviously have lots more resources than us at Akron, but relative to their peers (OSU, Michigan, etc.) they have to make their money stretch.

Pinning a post that way it stays at the top of the board would be useful and not require web design.

https://www.feartheroocollective.com/ For the wondering minds.

Kyle Neptune is who I've seen speculated for the Fordham job.

Bud must have been browsing the forum and heard us complaining the past few days /s

When I tried last week on my phone it tried to prompt me to email. After reading your post I went onto the website and it now seems to be functioning. I'm not sure if the site was recently updated or if mobile just isn't user friendly. Signing up now for recurring donation.

This I agree with. I would have also signed up for a monthly reoccurring donation. I'm a relatively small fish though. I imagine why they haven't taken the time to implement such a thing yet after talking about doing it for almost a year is they're more focused on attracting the larger one time gifts and corporate sponsors. Bud seems to have a lot on his plate and a finite amount of time. If the feature ever gets added, someone let me know.

If Kent basketball is as poorly funded as Sendy claims it to be, I think he has Kent basketball competing at the highest level it can reach (sustainably) in this NIL era. If he leaves, Kent likely regresses to the bottom half of the MAC.

If the only cost is a scholarship, it's not like it will cost us NIL $$$. I'd say just use those 2 scholarships on incoming freshman that you hope to develop into being future contributors. They can earn NIL in future years if they produce. If nothing else by giving them a scholarship you're attracting a higher caliber player that you can use in practice compared to a walk-on. Edit: Imagine if Dambrot had an extra scholarship to offer McCollum or Nance Jr.

We certainly let OSU off the hook in the NIT. Lost in OT if I recall correctly.