Zippy87

Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) contracts have already changed college athletics, and I'm expecting that to continue in years to come, especially when coupled with less strict transfer rules. We'll never operate in the same as as bigger schools, but I do think the schools that do this well will create advantages for themselves, even at the mid-major level. To this point, I've seen our student athletes connected to Barstool, Zips Merch, Sign Here Signatures, and Hey Dude. I'm assuming there are others I haven't seen/don't know about. Athletics will need to plan to try to connect our athletes to these opportunities as much as possible, as I believe this will be something HS and transfer recruits will look at more and more as time goes on.

Not sure exactly, but I've always heard he still has a great relationship with UA and Groce. Could even create a position for him.

Of the top ten projected picks in NBA.com's latest mock draft, 50% are college players. It was 50% in the 2023 Draft as well. Looking at the drafts from 2021-2023, the G League Ignite have had 10 players drafted and 2 others undrafted who eventually signed NBA contracts. It's definitely changed the landscape since the Ignite started in 2020.

Yes, he's in the final year of his contract. Would not be surprised at all to see him to return to UA in some capacity, but not as a coach.

To me, it boils down to this. Most games, you're going to get 35-40 points from Freeman and Ali. Tribble is going to pitch on 10 or more. After that, it's a huge drop-off. Hunter has failed to hit double digits in 8 of the last 11 games. Dawson has failed to do the same in 10 of the last 12. Thornton's shooting has fallen off a cliff since the calendar flipped to the new year. Scott hasn't been great. Tavari has shown flashes of why we thought he could be special but has been too inconsistent. Good teams will be happy to double Freeman and force anyone else to beat them. Someone or multiple someone's will have to step up. Getting Nate back would be huge, too. Still the MAC favorite in a down year. Going to need some of our role players to grow to have any chance to do anything beyond that.

He's going to come home to UA at some point, but not as coach.

I honestly think loosened transfer rules have hurt him quite a bit and are what will probably lead him to retire after this year. KD is notoriously tough on his players and pushes them quite a bit. Eventually, the players see it's because he's pushing them to be better players, but sometimes younger guys can miss that. I believe Romeo Travis even said he thought about transferring at one point. In an era where you basically need to re-recruit every kid every year, I just don't know that his "tough love" approach can be successful.

100% agree. It's been time. Thornton gives you some solid defense and he can run the offense, but he's too passive, can't penetrate and break a defense down, and teams are fine with doubling Freeman and him shooting it from outside. Rotations with both he and Scott are extra rough. It's been said already bur we need Dawson and Hunter to step up. 1-10 combined from deep tonight.

Maybe his wording wasn't great (I don't remember the exact quote) but at the time he was 100% correct that the A-10 historically had much better odds of teams getting selected for at-large bids than the MAC. Even in our best conference years, we're always a one-bid league. It's been BS some years, but it's been reality.

It's not uncommon for players to follow the coach who recruited them. Michael Hughes and Tavian Dunn-Martin, who were both freshmen, were pretty much it. Antino Jackson, Noah Robotham, and Aaron Jackson went elsewhere. Isaiah Johnson and Kwan Cheatham had just graduated. It was going to be a retooling year no matter what.

Whatever happens, I just hope if he does choose to leave that we wish him well and appreciate his time here. I'll never understand the KD-haters.

EMU is up on Toledo late...

Tavari Johnson is playing fantastic. Earning more minutes.

Any word on Ali's ankle?

Freeman is now at 1600 points, 1235 rebounds, and 160 blocks. He needs 126 rebounds to pass Fred Goldberg and become the all-time leader. He needs 6 blocks to pass Romeo Travis and move to 2nd all-time. He's still 208 blocks behind Zeke Marshall - who may never lose that record. He needs 31 points to pass Bill Turner for 4th all-time in points and 58 to pass John Britton and move to #3. Enjoy this young man, he's an all-time great Zip!

CMU has actually been pretty solid in MAC play. Key conference wins over Toledo, BG, and Kent so far. But also lost to Buffalo.

A few thoughts after getting home from the game: - Really good win overall. Definitely some things to work on but they came out fired up and ready. - Late game execution is a concern. We had a lot of difficulty just getting the ball in. I'm sure it's something Groce is going to work a lot on with the team. - When Freeman is out of the game we struggle on both ends. Thankfully Toledo doesn't have the bigs to take advantage. - Tribble has had 4 or more fouls in 5 of 10 MAC games. I love his aggressiveness but something to watch. - I know Tavari had a few bad turnovers but I'd rather Thornton lose minutes when Nate Johnson comes back. - The student showed out today - fantastic turnout and energy.

Good to see them get a win tonight. Per the article @Captain Kangaroo shared, Donna Dambrot's surgery is tomorrow.

Received this from Akron Athletics: Akron Athletics Parking Update for Friday, February 2nd. With Akron Athletics hosting the 20th Annual Akron Invitational for Indoor Track and Field as well as Men's Basketball vs Toledo on Friday, February 2nd, please follow the below parking guidelines. For the Indoor Track and Field Meet, please park in Lots 6, 9, or 10 and follow the designated parking guidelines and applicable fees for each lot. For the Men's Basketball game, please park in your designated lot on your parking pass or in Lot 1 and follow the designated guidelines and applicable fees for this lot. Click here to purchase tickets for Men's Basketball vs Toledo. Reminder: The Men's Basketball game vs Toledo is scheduled to tip-off at 9pm on Friday, February 2. If you received or purchased tickets for the Men's Basketball game vs Toledo prior to the date change, those tickets will still be valid for entry to the game. For questions, please contact the Akron Athletics Ticket office at 888-992-5766 or tickets@uakron.edu Go Zips!

I think they'd send us out of the country if they could 😂 I've never been to a Zips NCAA Tournament game and am hoping for somewhere reasonably close. Pittsburgh would be a dream!

They were probably distracted by EMUs "White Out" 😂

It'd be fantastic. One of Ball State, EMU, Buffalo, or NIU would have to pass them. I'd guess Ball State the best possibility of the four.

The only thing I really look at much is what seed they list us at. I do agree so much will happen between now and then and it's probably silly to pay too much attention, but it's an interesting snapshot of where their projection system sees us as things currently stand.

OK? All I've said is that this year's team lacks depth off the bench in the frontcourt. I also felt Aziz provided that on our last MAC Champion. If you disagree, that's fine, we're not going to all agree on everything, but debate the points or simply agree to disagree and move on.