Zippy87

They were clearly the better team in the game at their place...that went to OT?

Who and what?

I really didn't want Sincere Carry to make it to The Dance. Can't stand that dude.

Akron's Athletic Department botched the rebrand rollout and doesn't even try with promotions anymore, I'm not holding my breath on them finding NIL opportunities for their student athletes.

This is where having a winning culture will matter. Players can go to Akron, Kent, Toledo, and Ohio and expect to be on good teams. Not so much with CMU, EMU, etc. Doesn't mean we won't lose players, but I think they're less likely to bolt right away vs those types of schools.

I haven't seen much from UA on NIL opportunities aside from OpenDorse, which basically looks like Cameo. https://gozips.com/news/2022/12/9/general-akron-athletics-partners-with-opendorse-for-official-marketplace-for-zips-student-athletes

Buffalo loses a talented player.

It's hard for me to expect Tavari to be the starting PG when Groce clearly didn't trust him enough to play him in games like last night. I'm not saying he can't be a rotation player or push for starter-like minutes next year, but banking on him as your starting PG would be a dangerous bet. We need to be aggressive in nabbing an experienced PG in the portal.

Some thoughts: 1) The re-recruitment of Freeman starts today. UA Athletics needs to do everythi g within reason to retain him. If he leaves, we're immediately in a "retool" year. 2) They need to be aggressive in the transfer portal to bring in an experienced point guard who can score and create. X didn't play well last night, but he did over the course of the season and has big shoes to fill. It should be an attractive role for an outside player - starting PG for a top mid-major with an elite big to partner with. 3) To open that spot, someone will need to go. Kobe Johnson is the most obvious candidate. Tavari Johnson and Garvin Clarke are other possibilities. 4) To be successful in college basketball today, you have to do well in the transfer portal. Looking back over the Groce era, there's some big hits and some big misses. Xavier Castaneda Loren Cristian Jackson Xeyrius Williams Tyler Cheese Channel Banks Trendon Hankerson Sammy Hunter Bryan Trimble Michael Wynn KJ Walton Maishe Dailey Deng Riak Eric Hester Malcolm Duvivier 5) We'll be entering Year 7 of the Groce era next season. We've had two really good teams (2019-20, 2021-22), two OK MAC teams (2020-21, 2022-23), and two mediocre one's (2017-18, 2018-19). Covid knocked out a potentially special March run and we almost got the job done vs UCLA last year, but one thing Zips fans have learned is "close" doesn't count for much. To continue to move this program upward we'll need consistent portal success, HS recruits who can impact the team by Year 2, and a strong investment from UA and its stakeholders.

What's the general feeling on Freeman next season? I'm sure P5 programs will come calling, does he finish his career in Akron? I sure hope so - he's so important to our chances for success next season and truly a joy to watch on the court.

I hate to do it but I think you have to credit Kent's perimeter defense more. X wasn't just cold, he wasn't allowed to get comfortable or get to his normal spots either last Friday or tonight. He had to work for every single point. They did a fantastic job game-planning for him.

The only uncontrollable circumstance was Dawson's injury though (which I will admit was pretty big). Re-recruiting your own players is now as important (if not more) than recruiting externally. And if those players do leave, you have to be ready to replace them via the portal or internally. They just didn't do that sufficiently. Lots of question marks moving forward.

I do agree they had the better team and, maybe more importantly, more depth. But I also don't think there's anyone to blame but the coach who built the lesser roster. Don't get me wrong, I love Groce and think he's great for this program. But he shouldn't be immune from criticism.

I'm good, these opinions weren't formed tonight. They never adequately replaced what they lost over the summer. Hank/Hunter are solid role players but not difference-makers. Nate Johnson was the only young player who stepped into a bigger role and could be trusted in big games. It's a flawed roster that desperately needs some reinforcements either from within or the transfer portal.

JG built the outmached roster. Recruit better.

Outplayed, outhustled, outcoached. Better keep Freeman and find a transfer PG that can create his own shot to replace X. A transfer big to get Enrique some freaking help on the glass would be nice too.

Romeo seemed to be a possible future HC at St. V. Sad to see him throw it all away.

I want to eliminate Carry so bad. One of the cockiest Kent players I can remember.

Any discussion on KD needs to look at Akron KD vs KD now. KD built Akron's program with four-year players. His staff would find diamonds in the rough and develop them into really good players. Romeo Travis, Dru Joyce, Jeremiah Wood, Isaiah Johnson, Nikola Cvetinovic, Steve McNees, the McKnight brothers, etc - none of them were highly recruited out of HS. And they were so good at this that they reached the MAC Championship in 9 out of 11 years (and 7 straight) while reaching The Dance three times. "20 wins and that's it" is utter nonsense. He was a great coach here. But the college basketball landscape has changed over the last few years. With the transfer portal filled up every summer, 4-year players at mid-majors are becoming less and less common. NIL money is drawing players away from mid-majors even more now. His intense style probably isn't well-suited for an atmosphere where you have to re-recruit your entire roster every year either. I think, like many great coaches before him, the game has evolved beyond him. That doesn't mean he wasn't a great coach for us - he was - he revived Akron basketball. It's possible to be appreciative of his time here and wish him the best while simultaneously being excited for what Groce is building.

Nate Oats is about to be in hot water

Awesome for KD and pretty cool to see the videos from the thread.

Groce and the players do a fantastic job engaging with the students, but Akron's issue has been the same for the last 15-20 years - no promotions/creative ideas to get more people in the community out to games. And don't tell me it can't happen in Akron because the Rubberducks do it (with an inferior product) every year.

The biggest negative of his tenure IMO has been the new branding rollout. Took forever to have gear with the new logo available to fans.

I hope to be proven wrong but this feels like an average MAC team. They didn't get enough to replace Ali/Bandaogo/Wynn then had the misfortune of losing Dawson and now Clarke.