kreed5120

I'd much rather have the Stroh Center than have something like the Wolstein Center where it looks empty even when you curtain off half the seats. Akron pretty consistently draws 2800-3500 fans on average. Any arena over 5k or so seats would just be a waste.

It looks like Utah State is hiring Danny Sprinkle from Montana State. I didn't really see Tod mentioned in any articles so I'm not sure how serious of a candidate he even was.

He's been a D1 coach for 21 years and has never made an NCAA Tournament. One would think by dumb chance he would have at least lucked into one by now. He just seems like a good regular season coach who just doesn't know how to win in March. I think some just don't realize what it takes to win in January or February is different than what it takes to win in March. Let's take that Big Dog and Cheatham team as a prime example. In a scenario where you only need to play 2 games a week and there are 3-4 days off between games, that Akron team was clearly the best in the MAC. We won the MAC regular season title by 3 full games. When you're asked to win 3 games in 3 days and your best player is north of 300lbs, that becomes a lot more challenging. Tod IMO has ridden his starters too hard over the years and just hasn't had the depth to keep players fresh. Also, his style of play doesn't really preach giving 100% effort on defense every possession. You can mask those things in the regular season. They catch up to you come March.

Indeed we have.

I think there were some for jobs that were lateral moves or marginal upgrades. I just can't imagine Groce leaving to go coach some place like Illinois State. To get an offer from another Big 10 or Big East type school I'd think he'd need a tournament win.

Without a NCAA tournament win I just don't see it happening. In 6 years he has 1 NCAA tournament appearance and 1 MAC regular season title. For comparison in Dambrot's first 7 years, he went to 2 NCAA tournaments and won 2 MAC regular season titles. If Groce wins the regular season title and wins the MAC tournament to lose in the round of 64 next year, he'd just match what Dambrot achieved in the same timeframe. I'm not saying this to start another Dambrot vs Groce debate. I'm saying this because it would be hard for me to fathom a major program being interested in him when they weren't when Dambrot had a similar type of tenure.

I think a lot of that credit goes to @Captain Kangaroo and the fellow moderaters. I'll occasionally peak into other MAC team boards to see what they're talking about and very few MAC boards are remotely in the same league as zipsnation.org. Even Toledo, who likes to pump their chests and brag about their attendance figures, doesn't see the volume nor quality of content that you see here. I feel the fact that Zips Fandom is so niche and there aren't many other great outlets also helps drive traffic here.

It's why I didn't even bother responding to that poster. I post often enough that anyone who posts here should know I'm open to discussion. I might not agree with someone else's opinion, but I have no problem hearing them out.

I've never understood those type of people's logic. True equality is the best person gets the job regardless of race, gender, religion, etc. If you're refusing to hire someone because they're a man even though they're the best candidate, that's reverse discrimination.

At this point who even is the main competition?...Ohio? Edit: The MAC just keeps getting worse.

Generally I prefer a 6th man to have some scoring ability that way he can provide offense with the second unit on the floor. I think many fail to understand the starting 5 doesn't necessarily mean the 5 you use to close out games.

Yes, I saw that offer, but I didn't bother subscribing.

If you have t-mobile phone or internet, you can get MLB TV for free.

As far as I know none of the major college conferences have affiliation with the regional sports networks. I'm not sure how, if it all, it would impact them.

Realistically when a P6 school comes calling, the coach is going to leave. I think Buffalo signed Oats to a massive 800k extension just weeks before he darted to Alabama for a significant pay bump.

Did both make the programs worse? Definitely, but one could argue Akron football has been a decimated program for the past 3-4 decades. With a few years of outlier success here and there. It's amazing how bad Akron has been at picking coaches.

Leave them be. March Madness is the most entertaining playoff system in all of sports.

I wouldn't deal in absolutes. Reports are Bacot, at UNC, is getting $1 million dollars in NIL to return. That's more than he would make playing in the D-league, overseas, or working whatever job his major is in.

I'm not even going to pretend to make a guess at who it will be, but if it's a D1 coach I'd imagine it will be someone from a low-major. I'd be stunned if we have the money in the budget to pluck away a proven winner from a fellow mid-major. Football has obviously been the top priority at Akron for funding. To get Joe here he had to agree to a pay cut and accept a salary similar to what Arth was making. I'd be stunned to see us spending significantly more than what we were paying Jackson.

He inherited a 4-22 team then had them winning 20+ games in his first year. Frankly, I feel 1 season is too small of a sample to judge how good of a D1 coach he'll end up being. That said, even if you take the Purdue upset away, adding 16 additional wins year-over-year is a hell of an accomplishment.

Between X, Hankerson, Kobe, and Clarke we lost 4 guards who got regular minutes. I'd assume we'd be after at least 1 more guard.

Burried before meant they hovered around 150-200 in rankings. Now CMU is ranked 329 out of 363 teams. It has definitely widened the gap even at the mid-major level between the haves and have nots. Akron seems to benefit from it so I'm not complaining, just stating a fact. I certainly agree with you here that players should be able to transfer without penalty if a coach leaves.

Yes, I feel role players like a Hankerson or Cochran are easier to pluck and there certainly is value in doing so. They have shown the ability to play in the MAC and by taking them, you're weakening your competition. That said a roster full of Hankerson's or Cochran's aren't going to win you the MAC. You need a few legitimate studs so you have to bring in some guys who have high ceilings.

Unfortunately for him his coach bolted to BGSU and who knows what kind of roster fall out that will create. He might get stuck on a gutted team considering he burned his free transfer.

I don't think he'd turn into this player had he stayed. He's a talent, but he would have always been stuck behind Freeman.