kreed5120

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.

We had the longest win streak in the nation at the time if I recall correctly. We had a win over a MTSU team that finished the season 28-6 and a P5 win against Penn State (although they admittedly were terrible). I think what held us back is we had no top 100 wins. Had we beaten Yale or Miami we would probably be getting more love.

A lot to unpack here. 1) What would make you think LeBron would ever fund such a thing? Almost all the charity work he has done in the area has been for the impoverished community (not criticism). This wouldn't really fit that profile. You'd have better luck getting funds through the Knight Foundation IMO. 2) Akron city tried and it was hugely unsuccessful. 3) Why would the Charge move to Akron after they just relocated from Canton to Cleveland. 4) 10k seats is way too many for Zips basketball. I think we hosted only 1 game with 3k fans, maybe 2. 5) Moving the games off campus would lead to fewer students attending. 6) Akron already has venues for concerts/plays. Between Blossom, E.J. Thomas, Akron Civic Theater I'm not really seeing the capacity to support more.

I told an NIU fan a day or two ago that if NIU never planned to fund basketball they should have just kept Montgomery. They would certainly be in a better position today if they had. He at least kept them in the middle of the pack in the MAC. Not really sure NIU can expect more out of a coach unless they start taking basketball seriously.

It's also worth noting NIL dollars in basketball go much further because there are fewer players to pay and more schools are actively trying to compete in FBS compared to basketball.

I've watched parts of a few of the Sun Belt games over the past several days. Game attendance has varied between ~600-2,500 thus far. We give the MAC a lot of crap, but let's take a moment to at least acknowledge the one thing they have done right is the MAC tournament. They put on quite the show. We're easily hitting above our weight class when you see the attendance figures we put up compared to other relative conferences and even some, like the AAC, that you would expect much more out of.

Yes, I can see now that's where it got sent.

I wouldn't get caught up in trying to keep up with the Jones's. Infocision has financially hamstrung the football department. If you add in what we're spending on the stadium to what we're spending on everything else football related (coach, staff, recruiting, etc) we're near the top of the MAC. The problem is we can't both make debt service payments on the stadium while still having an upper tier G5 budget. That's why we just lost an assistant to Marshall. IMO NIL is a great equalizer for a program like Akron. Facility upgrades are immensely costly and don't correlate directly to success. Two of our G5 peers in the Sun Belt built new arenas in the last 5 years. This season they went a combined 15-21 in conference play. What matters for success and notoriety is players. We already have the training facility and fantastic locker rooms that are in the upper echelon of the MAC. IMO every dollar you spend in NIL equates to $10, $20, maybe more in facilities. You get a greater ROI in NIL.

I think Groce will survive financially without it.

What's crazy given the SunBelts absurd bracket is Georgia Southern has won 5 games in 5 days, which the announcers said has never been done before. They still need 1 more win to advance to the tournament.

Well, looking back through my email now and I'm not even seeing that. Perhaps my order didn't go through 😅

I think UMass fans would be thrilled if Frank Martin went to BC. Frank is by far the highest paid coach in the MAC and UMass has more NIL than any MAC team, but the best he can do is an 8th place finish.

Technically they are in the MAC until July 1st. Edit: That day can't come soon enough.

Kind of what I'm seeing in Marvin as well. If he can develop a perimeter shot like Freeman and Amani did their senior years I can see him getting a slightly more expanded role in getting minutes at both the 4 & 5 positions. Finding someone to replace Evan IMO is what will be the biggest challenge. He's kind of the glue that holds everything together.

Barre is already getting a few minutes this year and he's playing behind someone who is most likely going to be 2nd Team All-MAC. He has some heart health issues that the team has to monitor so I doubt he can ever be a 20 minutes a game player. An offseason of growth and I think he could give us 10-15 solid minutes next year. Briscoe I'm not as sold on. Even when Barre was injured he still didn't see the floor. I can't imagine Oggy came halfway a crossed the world just to be burried on the depth chart. I would be surprised if he's on the roster next year TBH. IMO we go into the portal to add 1 big (replace Amani), 1 wing (replace Evan), and 1 guard (help absorb loss of both Tavari & Scott)

My best guess is we target 1 big. MMK and Barre still have eligibility and I just don't see us starting 2 traditional bigs. More likely playing a SF at the 4 like we've done with guys like Mahaffey and Ali in the past and attempted to do with Harris before he got injured. Bigs are very expensive in the portal since there are so few. Okonkwo who put up pretty pedestrian numbers last season got a bag. When you're like a school like Akron, but hope to compete with high majors like Dayton or mid tier P5 programs like a Oklahoma you have to take a money ball approach to roster construction. If they're over paying bigs, but undervaluing undersized guards, like Tavari, you spend your money their instead. That's a big reason why I think Akron has gone to a 3 guard, 1 SF, 1 big lineup. It's the most cost efficient way to build a competitive roster. There is a surplus of 5'10"-6'3" guards. There is a shortage of 6'10" bigs who can move the court and aren't liabilities on offense or defense.

That's not who I intended to direct the insult, but I can see how it could come off as a stray. I'll be more mindful moving forward.

Earl Grant was just fired from Boston College and I think he would be another solid option as well. He had a nice run at Charleston prior to taking the Boston College job so he has shown he can win and compete at this level. Boston College is a tough place to win. No shame in not being able to cut it at the P5 level.