RoyalBlu

Judging from his stats, career, ... perfect example of a guy long on potential and short on 'game.'

One thing is clear ... MAC basketball should be a lot different next season. Only time will tell if it will be better. Ohio has made major inroads getting both size and proven 3-pt shooting out of the portal ... UMass has also added size to go along with a juco PG ... BG has gotten a quality player to return and added some size ... Toledo has added some perimeter experience and some unproven size ... Miami has lost some key pieces, but return as much as anyone in the league plus a stellar recruiting class ... CMU has a new coach from D-II, and has brought several of his former players/recruits with him ... Kent lost a trio of proven 4-year players (that might be a MAC trivia question/answer soon enough) but is still to be heard from re: portal pickups or new prep recruits. Of course now Akron has lost 3 starters - late - off its MAC title team to the portal. Actually 4 if you count Harris, who was starting before he was out with an injury. But returning youth/depth and a solid recruiting class should keep the Zips at the top of the heap -- with time and $$$ to help add to the roster as well. Different, yes. Better, who knows.

NATE had some 'credentials' and not just numbers beside his name. Kind of like winning an Oscar because you're in a great movie ... even though you are not the best actor. TJ has no comparqble credentials, and other than last season, showed no consistency to his game. He fits Akron's system perfectly ... but looking at the portal, there are MANY guards out there just like him. I say Akron has a better chance finding his replacement, than TJ has of finding a comparable winning situation like Akron. But hope the $$$ makes up for it.

Let's start with a baseline: With Groce as head coach Akron is a Top 4 team in the MAC. Period. The talent on hand and how the team progresses will determine the ultimate finish. Using the last two seasons as a template, the non-conference performance seemed to have as many questions as answers. The MAC regular season showed Akron as a Top 4 team in the MAC. The MAC Tournament showed Akron was a title game favorite/winner. As long as Akron lands in the same spot come March - playing for a tournament title - the process will take care of itself. Simply stated, Groce and Co. are likely in the office saying 'I'd rather be us than them.'

I take a different view ... big guys aside (they are rare and coveted) - there are a plethora of unsigned guards and wings in the portal, not to mention prep decomits from coaching changes and the ever available jucos. Time for Groce and Dustin to recalibrate and beat the bushes. As time goes by the asking prices will drop for guards and wings .... then they start looking for winning programs to validate their new decisions. Patience grasshopper.

Strictly a roll-of-the-dice player at this point. Nice if you can get him - AT THE RIGHT PRICE - but I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Style of play, especially for bigs, is an issue, too. And not sure if he is an Akron fit their, either. There are still post players out there. And don't forget, price comes into play now as well. Personally speaking, especially when it comes to a post player, I want to be comfortable with what I'm paying for. Guessing Akron/Groce are the same. Sad that college basketball has come to this. But it is the new normal.

Solid hire for the school and the situation. If CMU is committed to an old school 5-year plan the Chippewas should ultimately have some level of success. Upper Michigan has more than its share of talent as the plethora of success D-2 programs show. CMU is the kind of place where area kids from that region are not likely to jump ship (NIL/Portal) as quickly as others. Establish the program, then fill in with the portal; 2-3 years then solid MAC program. It's been done there before.

The above is very true ... which again begs the question why the Zips don't play more of these games.

Guessing another big is coming in ... No other reason to leave. Sadly, $$$ and minutes talk.

DITTO!!!!!

Great find, interesting website!!!

While it is clearly early ... It looks like Ohio has gotten better with two portal bigs. Seems like Miami will be a bit better just based on so many returnees and experience. Obviously Akron. After that, Toledo still searching for portal help. So is BG and Kent. No clue about UMass. But after that, doubt there is much of a potential threat in the MAC.

Frankly ... I'd rather see the money got to NIL over a new arena. Not sure I would have said this even 5 years ago. But Rhodes Arena has not kept Groce from landing some pretty good recruits. Until Rhodes consistently has 5,000 attendance ... even 3,500 consistently, Rhodes is just fine. Rhodes isn't keeping that extra 2,000 fans/students from consistently buying a ticket.

Miami, Ohio, Toledo and Akron were all ranked a lot lower than I would have anticipated. Thought Miami would have been in the top 100, Ohio inside 150. Toledo just a breath above 300 was a puzzle, too. Expected Akron to be about in the middle. As for Harvard ... that's said about almost all private schools, high school or college. Once you get in, they pretty much make sure you graduate some kind of way. It adds to their elitism.

I probably should not have looked this up ... but I did. And I probably should not share this ... but I will. 2024 US News and World Report National Rankings (alphabetical order, 436 colleges and universities ranked). Akron T-No 377 Ball State - No. 204 Bowling Green T - No. 273 Buffalo - No. 76 Central Michigan - No. 259 Eastern Michigan T-No. 377 Kent State - No. 231 UMass - No. 58 Miami - No. 136 Northern Ill. T - No. 273 Ohio U. - No. 179 Toledo - No. 296 Western Michigan - No. 288 Seriously, my guess is, what hurts Akron's ranking is student retention - probably expecting something easy when it is obviously not.

This was posted earlier in this thread .... https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/kent-state/2025/04/03/rob-senderoff-contract-salary-details-kent-state-basketball-coach/82762896007/

Let's establish a couple of things. (1) For the last five years the Akron Zips have pretty much owned MAC basketball, from Kent State on down. No contest, and the numbers and banners bear that out. (2) Groce, by virtue of No. 1, is arguably the best MBB coach in the league. Kent State is a rival, not an enemy, just like every other team in the MAC. You are only as tall as the shoulders you stand on. When a rival does well, it reflects positively on Akron, the best team/program in the league. As for your 19-17 argument, it reflects more positively on Kent than negatively on CMU. Kent advanced to two MAC Tournaments, CMU only one. Kent advanced to one MAC title game, CMU lost its opening game. Those early season loses to a pair of Top 10 Kenpom teams and a Top 65 team were translated into NIT at-large invitation, then road wins at a pair of Top 100 teams (St. Bonaventure, 96 at the time, and 86 Stanford). CMU was not invited to a post season tournament. Senderoff was rewarded, Bruno was fired. Finally, like most on this thread, don't take Kent's failures, shortcomings or success personally. It's a rivalry that Akron sits at the top of. It sounds personal to you - (did somebody from Kent steal your hubcaps) - but just a game to most.

As mentioned somewhere before ... It's a MAC Thread, indicating topics/comments about OTHER TEAMS from around THE MAC, - both to make fun of or not - are supposedly ok here. If this is strictly for bashing the rest of the league, ... then let's make that clear for all.

Half empty? Half full? Kent went to MAC Tournament title game with a .500, 8th place MAC team last year, and to the NIT Elite 8 with a barely third place MAC team this year. You can use numbers to justify just about anything.

Ditto for most of the above ...IMO, like all of the MAC they need a scoring big (to play beside Gillespie) and a scoring guard beside Medley plus a solid freshman for depth, to just get back to 'Top 4' in the MAC. They have not had a 'difference maker' for several years now.

All of this I would believe to be true. ADs, coaches and administrators in general rarely have 'rivalry grudges' like fans. Behind the scenes they need to work together much more than they need to fight. I would bet Groce and Senderoff see eye-to-eye on a lot of MAC basketball issues that have to be addressed and/or voted on. Same with ADs. Would not surprise me if Groce or even Dambrot spoke up for Senderoff to Fordham, if that was needed. As many have said, it is better to have Kent as a strong rival, not a weak one. Ohio-Miami basketball rivalry has been negligible for many years since Charlie Coles died, until this year. Good to have another rivalry at the top of the MAC, instead of the middle (UT-BG) or the bottom (CMU-WMU).

I think there are 10 teams in the MAC not named Akron-Kent-Ohio that would be happy with two NCAA tournament appearances in the last 14 years. Appreciate this run by the Zips, it's not easy in a one-bid league. Just like you have to have stones to hit last-second game-clinching free throws, or the right guy with the ball in his hands to make the game-winning layup .... You may also need a team to blow an 18-point lead in a championship game, or have the opposition brain fart in the final seconds to help make that happen. Akron has been in title games they should have won, but didn't (Miami, Kent), just as they have won its share. It's not easy. So let's not act like it is. The key is to be in position (championship game) for all those things to fall the right way. Akron-Kent-Ohio have pretty much done that over the last 14 years to a certain extent. We should appreciate that and hope it continues.

There are former Kent players as assistants at Oklahoma, Duquesne, and Canisius, as well. Most of these guys played on at least one of their NCAA Tournament teams. Very quietly, Senderoff has built himself/Kent quite a coaching tree of assistants for the AD to choose from. At some point, one of these main characters have to make something 'official.' Fordham has to announce a press conference ... or Kent has to announce a coaching search ... or Senderoff has to speak up. At this point, until one of the three happens, nothing is official and everything is gossip. I'm on the internet. But sometimes I'm fed up with the internet.

Sorry for the outrage ... have known Sampson for years. But the facts still stand. Everything they did was new age recruiting that became the norm very quickly.

First -- taking anything Dakich says as gospel speaks more about you than Senderoff. Second ... EVERYTHING that happened w/Sampson and Senderoff was at the dawn of the internet/cell phone age of recruiting. EVERYTHING Sampson/Senderoff were sanctioned for by the NCAA became NCAA legal within 2 years. Third ... both Sampson and Senderoff had no trouble getting rehired on the college level where the NCAA could have blackballed them ... but didn't. Both have gone on to not only be rehired in the NCAA ranks, but also have successful NCAA head coaching careers. Dakich ... bless his soul ... was a hot ticket at BG for a few years, then flamed out. Remember ... even to this day, everything about Indiana basketball is viewed through a Bobby Knight lens, for better or worse, and Dakich carries that torch higher than most.