Zippy87

Interesting...

Don't know who this account it, but did notice several coaches follow it.

I still think it's possible for mid-majors to win, personally.

I kind of wonder if some of the players learned from Nate and Okonkwo to not post anything until they knew for sure they were staying.

I actually checked this earlier. The "Back to Work" posts went up Sunday evening following their tournament loss. I imagine they'll get back from Florida, touch base with all of the players, then we start hearing things.

Head had a solid freshman year at Lipscomb the year before his sophomore season at Arkansas State, where he seemed to be blocked on the depth chart. I'm hopeful he can be a solid contributor next year.

As far as I can tell, he's always been a guard. He certainly has the size to be a stretch 4, but would need some significant development. And who knows if that's what he wants or if he wants to stay.

Let's assume Brisco leaves but everyone else returns, that gives you three rosters spots to bring in talent. My dream offseason brings in three impact players: 1) Center/post 2) Stretch 4 3) Scoring guard C-Transfer/Barre F-Transfer/Stankovic/MMK W-Mahaffey/Henderson/Halligan G-Transfer/Head G-Young/Perkins

Tavari had 4 points on 2-10 shooting. I don't think we should judge the value of any of these players based on yesterday alone.

What is interesting is that Groce seems to prefer the fast pace style, but our closest shot at winning an NCAA Tournament game was playing at a slower pace - the final score of the UCLA game was 57-53. But maybe that was our closest shot because we had a future NBA player on the roster.

Another fun season in the books which saw Akron make history as the first team to win three straight MAC Tournament titles. Now comes a pivotal offseason for the program. Does Groce stay? Which players stay/go? Can Akron rebuild on the fly and contend again next year?

Steele doesn't sound like a coach planning to leave.

Terry Pluto: Groce could be a hot name for several openings, such as Butler, where he once was an assistant. His mentor is Thad Matta, who is retiring as Butler’s head coach – but he will be part of the group looking for a replacement. But Groce also has been very content at Akron. He never seems to be looking for another job. He has something very special with the Zips and seems to know it. He will have to rebuild, as key players Lyles, Johnson, Scott and Evan Mahaffey are out of eligibility. Groce will probably figure it out and add players to keep Akron among the MAC’s elite programs. That’s something to remember on this day when the Zips’ season ended.

Jarrod Calhoun seems like the favorite at Cincinnati. Ronald Nored is the name most mentioned for Butler, although Groce and Steele would certainly be candidates there. Boston College has been mentioned for Groce, too. Butler is the job I am worried about the most. Like you said, this is going to move fairly quickly.

FWIW, this was Groce last March: Meanwhile, Groce's name is circulating on social media because some fans and media members have been pointing to his success in eight seasons at Akron and wondering whether he'll land another job this offseason. “When that stuff happens, I mean, it's flattering, right? And more than likely it means that people think you've done a decent job,” Groce said with a laugh. “But, for me, I kind of just take it one day at a time.” Groce and his staff met with Zips players Sunday. So as the players made decisions about their futures with the program, what did Groce tell them about the status of his job? “It didn't even really come up,” Groce said. “I mean, we don't deal in speculation. I mean, I don't do that. Hey, if this, if that, if this — we don't do that. So they know, obviously, how I feel about them and our program and what we're building, and that's how we handle it. “That stuff, I don't deal with speculation, either way — them to us, us to them. I say, 'Here's where we're at. Here's what it is. Here's where we're attempting to go. Here's the strategy in order to do that. Here's our vision.' So I think the communication is important between player and coaches and coaches and player.”

Ford has been with Groce since 2009, from Ohio to Illinois to Akron. I would assume he would leave with Groce if he takes another job.

Akron Zips men's basketball coach John Groce understands college sports is a business, but he didn't want to shift the focus to a discussion about his future on the heels of UA's 91-71 loss to Texas Tech in a first-round Midwest Region matchup on Friday, March 20, at Benchmark International Arena. Groce being linked by media to other head coaching jobs at Cincinnati, Butler and Boston College is a reflection of the success he has achieved in his nine seasons at the helm of Akron. In a one-on-one interview after Akron was eliminated from March Madness, the Beacon Journal asked Groce whether he plans to interview elsewhere this offseason. "What I would tell you is right now I'm not even thinking about that," Groce said. "I don't answer those questions, obviously, especially today when today's the day about our five seniors. This whole deal should be all about them and all about the team and the success that we've had. So, that's my comment at this time."

If Groce leaves, I'm guessing Young and Mahaffey leave, too, which means a new coach would basically be building from scratch. I also don't think we'll be as fortunate as we were when KD left in having a coach the caliber of Groce being available.

OP updated with Tavari's final career numbers.

Much better showing for Akron, who at least pushed Texas Tech. This isn't great for the MAC, though. I'm sure Miami will try to pump up their "tournament win", but the actual tournament saw both teams lose by 20. They will absolutely hold that against the MAC in future years.

Assuming Groce stays and we don't have core players leave, we have a lot of work to do in the portal to contend next season. We have two openings right now, but three questions marks that could increase the number of spots available. Barre - he lost trust to the point where he played behind MMK most of the season. Did his injuries prevent him from ever getting comfortable here, or is he simply not a fit? He seems like a great young man, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him move on. Stankovic - Part of the rotation for the first part of the season, he fell behind Halligan and barely played down the stretch. I doubt that was his expectation when he came here - I wouldn't be shocked to see him leave. Brisco - Seems like a high character young man and you never like to give up on bigs, but he just doesn't look like someone you can count on to play next year, even 10-12 minutes per night. I can definitely see him moving to a lower division team.

The bottom line is perimeter defense was a problem all season. Bad teams will have trouble exposing that, good teams will not. The 5th best 3-point shooting offense in the country certainly will not.

Groce will certainly have some tempting offers. Butler is the one to watch, IMO.

Akron ranked 259th in the country in 3-point defense. Perimeter defense was a weakness most of the year. Bad or average teams couldn't take advantage of that. Better teams could, which is why we didn't beat any of them. They made shots at absurd rates because we consistently gave opponents great looks...we saw it throughout the game today. That's not bad luck for us or good luck for them, that's a team's weakness getting exposed.