Illini Zip

I wonder what Ohio thinks of this hire. Did they perhaps have their eyes on Mike Allen themselves? Who knows, in time he might end up the head coach over there. Looks like he can recruit.

If so, I just got squeezed. Ha!!

I will say the 30th pick. The last pick of the first round.

Even if sending Enrique to the NBA isn’t a major draw in recruiting, it would remove a negative recruiting tactic done by other schools/coaches. They wouldn’t be able to tell an athlete he has NBA potential so why would you go to Akron where you are less likely to get noticed by NBA scouts. That said, every time Akron is mentioned during the NCAAT it is instant advertising. So I have to agree with you all.

The Davidson/Curry example makes for a strong argument. Davidson had basically the same Kenpom rating as Akron last year.

What would have more impact on the recruiting trail, Enrique being selected in the NBA draft or the Zips winning their first NCAA Tournament game?

Are we still waiting on Coach Fulford’s replacement?

Wait...what...seriously?!

I think it would be a challenging task to get next year’s OOC schedule right. There is a lot of talent on paper, but how long do they need to play as a unit. Not to mention ironing out the rotations.

Yep.

Ooops!! Misfired. My bad.

How about build a Sweet 16 team and they will come?

What position group does Fulford develop currently for the Zips?

…but we are talking about Western Illinois. Not only are they bad, in a bad conference, they’re not exactly next door to Chicago. SMH.

I wonder if Dawson was a part of the conversation at the time. One way or another.

All I can say is I hope someone got a coaching job out of this move. Western Illinois, good grief.

@Hilltopper would be a great name for someone from West Virginia. Coach Fulford is that you? Have you been lurking the whole time? Inquiring minds want to know.

Ryan Prather Jr departs. Zips add Bowen Hardman. Note: Prather was the sole Sophomore on the team going into 2024-25. Now we have Seniors, Juniors and Freshmen only. In 2025-26 we have Seniors and Sophomores. 2026-27 Juniors only. 2027-28 Seniors only. I think it's safe to assume that this class balance will likely change again next year.

Does adding Hardman move the needle with respect to the NIL ranking?

I’ll tell you what makes me all warm inside. Improved shooting from deep gives the MAC refs less opportunity to manage the game. Oh, don’t get me wrong they will try…but they will fail.

Sniper yes, but he’s not 7 foot. I protest!! I kid. Very good. I will update the scholarship chart on Monday.

I think this might be the way to go on the white background, thoughts? Okay, I'm done. I do care about these things, but I'm not getting paid and I don't want to upset anybody. I know how much work goes into it.

And here the three combinations are tweaked to appear the same, but the line weights are different. I suggest someone take this advice to heart.

I took a moment to recreate the Akron Logo to illustrate my point. This is the three ways the logo appears on the Akron jersey. They are all scaled exactly the same. But notice how the top one appears to be thicker than the others. This is the color combination I like the best. Edit: I should add that the visual discrepancy is worse on television.

For me personally, there is too much variance in the execution/application of the Akron logo. Sometimes the letter strokes appear thicker or thinner depending on the background. It’s not a mathematical problem, it’s an optical illusion problem. The fuller thicker line version is much more preferred.