Zippy87

I always choose to remember that team for the way they responded to the MAC Tournament. Lost their starting PG, didn't have anyone ready to step in - I remember Betancourt cramping against Kent in the regular season finale because the minutes were just too much of a jump - lost that game to Kent. Had one week to figure it out. Beat Kent in the semis and then pounded Ohio in the final while mostly running the offense with players than hadn't done it all season. KD's best coaching job IMO and incredible resilience from the players.

We'll have plenty of time to discuss next year but my only thought right now is winning last night and 2 out if the last 3 is going to be a helluva recruiting help for our coaches.

Did anyone go the last time they had this at the JAR? Worth going?

Does UA get an allotment of tickets to sell?

Latest Bracketology released by Lunardi have Akron as a 14 seed playing Auburn in Pittsburgh.

Rivalry aside, I think Sendy is a very good coach. If you would've told me back in December that Payton would get hurt and they'd still make the MAC Championship (and almost win), I would've called you crazy. If they can keep their core and add a little bit of talent to it, they'll be a contender again next season.

Went down to the lower area to near the tunnel to watch the celebration. I couldn't be more impressed by our guys. A few took pictures with my son, who was on cloud nine. If there was any doubt he's going to grow up a die-hard Zips fan, that's gone. He's a lifer like his dad. 🙂 Some stories while we were down there: There was a little girl who asked Mikal to sign her Zips poster she made - he took it, said "I'll be back", and went and had all of the team sign it. Was chasing down each player so this young fan would have them all. Just won a championship and thinking of others. Sammy asked a young boy near my son if he was going to grow up and win a MAC Championship for the Zips. He also took a ton of pictures with kids and fans nearby. Enrique actually went into the stands to take pictures with the students who came. Took his shoes off and gave them to someone. Probably spent a good 10-15 minutes signing and taking pictures with fans. He also went over to the band and celebrated/took pictures. We saw one band member ask him for his gamertag (basically his screen name on Playstation to play online with). I think he may have had some sort of disability, but I don't want to assume. Anyhow, Enrique took the student's phone, typed his gamertag in, and took a picture with him. Literally minutes after winning a championship. This group is one we can be very proud of for more than just being a fantastic basketball team

Watch Party 5:30 tomorrow at the JAR

You've made your mind up already, and that's fine. It's undeniable that he lifted this program to a higher level and built the foundation of what we have now. I wish him the best and hope they win every game as long as they aren't playing us. Go Zips!

After the game I had this feeling that we maybe got lucky because of Kent fouling. After seeing the replay of the Ali "foul", I no longer feel that way. They almost robbed us.

"Bail" is such a funny word to use here. He was here 13 seasons. Some of you act like he left at the first opportunity he could. How many mid-major coaches can you name who consistently won and stayed that long? It's also pretty well-documented that he has a personal connection to Duquesne. He turned down several offers over the years before he took that job. It is what it is. I wish that man nothing but the best - we wouldn't be where we're at as a program without him.

Here's our end result every year since joining the MAC in 1992. Coleman Crawford 1993 - Did not qualify 1994 - Did not qualify 1995 - Did not qualify Dan Hipsher 1996 - Did not qualify 1997 - Did not qualify 1998 - Lost in quarterfinals 1999 - Lost in quarterfinals 2000 - Lost in first round 2001 - Lost in first round 2002 - Lost in quarterfinals 2003 - Lost in first round 2004 - Lost in first round Keith Dambrot 2005 - Lost in quarterfinals 2006 - Lost in semifinal 2007 - Lost in championship 2008 - Lost in championship 2009 - Won championship 2010 - Lost in championship 2011 - Won championship 2012 - Lost in championship 2013 - Won championship 2014 - Lost in semifinal 2015 - Lost in semifinal 2016 - Lost in championship 2017 - Lost in championship John Groce 2018 - Lost in quarterfinal 2019 - Lost in quarterfinals 2020 - No tournament 2021 - Lost in semifinal 2022 - Won championship 2023 - Lost in semifinal

Im more concerned about the officiating tonight than anything else. If Freeman gets in foul trouble, we're extremely vulnerable. Kent knows they can't stop him, so they'll be trying to get him off the floor. We need to play smart and have composure. I like Ali playing with fire, but you can't give these refs any reason to T you up because they will. Tribble has to stay away from bad fouls too. We need to make life hell for Santiago and Sullinger. I expect us to play with a pace similar to the 2nd half yesterday. Kent is basically playing 7 guys for heavy minutes...run then off the floor. We're the better team. I know our seniors don't want Kent to end their collegiate careers. It's their time tonight - let's go get it!

Enrique Freeman has what I think is his first sports card in the 2023-24 Bowman University set. Card #1 in the set. There's some up for sale on eBay for anyone interested.

I do think they need to re-visit the format, especially after adding UMass. From 2002-2011, everyone made it and the top 4 teams received byes to the quarterfinals. From 2012-2015, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds received byes straight to the semifinals, with the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds beginning tournament play in the quarterfinals. From 2016 to 2019, the top four seeds received byes into the quarterfinals. The current format doesn't really offer any advantage to top seeds aside from possibly better matchups. In a one bid league, I'd prefer the top 2 or 4 teams to get some sort of bye to gain an additional advantage and add value to the regular season.

You're diminishing his successes and amplifying his failures. Saying he "consistently underachieved" just isn't rooted in reality. If it's championship every year or failure, Groce has underachieved too, no? And I don't think any of us would say or think that. Duquesne had a good team. They were missing their top scorer for he first chunk of conference play and took off once he returned. It's no fluke, and saying they didn't even deserve to be in the tournament is wild. Ah well, to each his own.

Just locked in tickets- Angela Rizzo coming up clutch once again!

Groce publicly expressed frustration with home attendance this year more than once. Was that OK? These coaches love their kids and see how hard they work every single day. When it doesn't feel like the fan support matches that energy, they get frustrated, and I don't blame either of them for it. KD did make comments related to the JAR and frustrations with being a one bid league. Is he saying anything that wasn't true? These were his comments after his last game here: “I feel sick for our guys because they had a terrific season and that’s just the reality of this league,” Akron coach Keith Dambrot said. “If you have an average night when it really matters, the regular season kind of goes out the window. I’m a big boy, I can take it, but I really feel bad for all the work our guys put in because we just can’t go to the Big Dance. “They made all the plays in the last eight minutes. We didn’t, and just feel bad for our kids.” Again, no excuses, just loves his players. I do agree it was probably time for a change. I actually think KD leaving forced the Athletics program to stop taking having a really good coach for granted. Hopefully they never stop that feeling, because if we win tomorrow, Groce is going to get some calls. Last two points... The VCU game was hard. We didn't have our PG we had all year, half the team had the flu, and they drew the absolute worst matchup. That was a special team. Final point - tonight should be a reminder that getting to the championship game isn't easy. This is a down year for the MAC overall, and we've still had to grind out two wins to get there. Tomorrow wont be easy, either. Of course we want to win them all, but diminishing them if we don't ("participation trophy accomplishments") doesn't make much sense to me either. Anyhow, time to focus on Kent but I wish the Dukes the best, too. Aside from KD, they also have former Zips player/coach Rick McFadden, former Zip Dru Joyce III, and longtime Zips coach Terry Weigand. It'd be great to see them go Dancing (alongside us of course!)

Quick thoughts: - What a game. That was an all-timer. One of the wildest 4-5 minutes in recent MAC Tournament memory. - OU is a good team. I was disappointed we lost the #1 seed because I didn't want to see them until the Final. They gave us everything we could handle though. - Freeman, Ali, and Hunter stepped up as seniors and carried this team. They combined for 54 of our 65 points! - I thought Tavari looked good. Didn't score but made some beautiful passes to find his teammates. He can break down a defense even if he isn't scoring. - Of course, it's Kent. They were ridiculous from deep tonight (12-18, 67%) and that obviously can't happen tomorrow. Sullinger and Santiago both played all 40 minutes tonight and Santiago played the entire game Thursday. Hopefully they'll have tired legs tomorrow (I miss the days of #8 seeds having to win an additional game or two. Hopefully the MAC fixes that) - Enrique Freeman...man...what a phenomenal player. I won't compare him to players from different eras like Jakubick, but he's got to be our best modern-era player in program history. He's special. Let's go get one more tomorrow!!!!

WHAT...A...GAME! Our boys have some fight in 'em!!! Anyone know what section Akron fans are in tomorrow?

Unless Ali said something we don't know, that's a weak T. Emotions are high. These teams are playing for their seasons.

Let's see if this team has some fight in them. I know OU does.

OU's crowd putting ours to shame so far, too

3PT shooting in March (NIU, EM, WM, UM) Scott: 4-4 (100%) Tribble: 4-7 (57%) Hunter: 7-18 (39%) T. Johnson: 1-3 (33%) Thornton: 1-5 (20%) Dawson: 2-14 (14%) Ali: 2-17 (12%) N. Johnson: 1-10 (10%) Freeman: 0-6

1) I have no recollection of KD ever ripping Akron fans. Source on that? He still considers Akron home and roots for us to do well. There was conflict between he and Larry Williams, but he never harbored any negativity toward Akron. 2) He didn't "empty the cupboards of the program" - Tavian Dunn-Martin and Michael Hughes were the only ones that followed him, and given they were freshman, I understand why they did it. Antino Jackson transferred, but this came after Groce's hire. He attended Groce's introductory press conference and told the ABJ his recruitment was still open, but eventually decided to go elsewhere. Noah Robotham was the other transfer and he was leaving no matter who was coach as he had an offer from his hometown team, UNLV. So two guys left because of Dambrot. 3) It's hard to consistently win as a mid-major program. We made it to seven straight MAC Championships and got there nine times in eleven years. That's an insane run for a MAC school. Do I wish we won more than 3 times? Absolutely. We lost twice by one point (Penno being one of them...ugh) and another in OT. But I don't think that should take away from what was an incredible run. We've only made it back once since he left (although I think they would've gotten there in 2020). 4) While I do think it was time for mutual change between the program and KD, I hope fans never lose sight of his impact here. Akron basketball was a mediocre MAC basketball program. We had never won a MAC Championship. We rarely advanced beyond the first round. While we never got that elusive NCAA Tournament win, he built the program into a a consistent winner. If the program wasn't in good shape when he left, Groce would've never come. If you don't believe me, here's Groce shortly after being hired: "We had battles, and I have just great respect for him not only as a coach but as a person," Groce said. "We hired three former Akron Zips people in different capacities during my time at Illinois for the most part strictly based on Keith's recommendation. "I told him, 'What you've done is a big reason why I'm here.'" We don't have to make this KD vs Groce. We can appreciate what KD did here and wish him well while also being happy about having Groce.