Zippy87

We are about to see some next-level flopping to get to the line.

4 against UMass in the first 2 1/2 minutes.

Byers with 3 fouls. Something to keep an eye on.

Every time I watch this team, I come away stunned that they are undefeated. Steele is almost always whining to the referees. His players follow suit. They don't seem mentally tough at all.

UMass is beating them up. They may not beat them, but I like the style of this game so far.

Bettiol is getting whatever he wants inside early.

I'll be curious to see how UMass starts out tomorrow. Because of the imbalanced number of teams in the MAC this year and their havibg the "bye" in the final week, they haven't played a game since March 3rd.

Let's hear some tournament predictions

I think Miami's best and most important player is Elmer.

Suder barely led his own team in scoring. What a joke. Hopefully this adds some motivation for Tavari (not that I think he needs it)

Nate Johnson's college career is officially over. K State went 12-20, losing in the 1st Round of the Big 12 tournament.

I can agree with that. Just wanted to share perspective from someone who has a ton of experience working with the same type of kids the I Promise school has.

If you take the lowest performing kids from any school district and put them in a separate school, I promise you'll see the same results. They are starting way behind in ability, especially reading level, which is the cornerstone of success in education. All of them. Some of the kids arrive there 2-3 grade levels behind. So even though a large percentage of their scores might improve over the course of the year, they still "fail" according to the standardized tests. A 5th grader comes to them at a 3rd grade reading level, improves to a 4th grade reading level, but still fails the test because they're still behind. It is why nobody should look at standardized test results as the primary indicator for school success. It's much more complex than that, and it's why the large majority of educators dislike the current standardized test system. If people can't see how graduating kids and sending kids to college that would probably end up on the streets otherwise if it wasn't for the school isn't helping the community, I'm not sure what to tell them.

I've thought of that team, too. They brought in 5 portal players the next year - Gray, Okonkwo, Hardman, Wilson, and Harris. Unless some players leave, I believe we only have two open spots right now.

Spot on. I work in education. 10 years working in schools with at-risk students. Pass/fail on standardized tests, especially with a 100% at-risk population, never tells the story - growth does. When you help an at-risk student graduate, you're literally changing the outcome of their life, but also the lives of future generations in that family. The work they're doing - investing in the kids, in the families, the wraparound services - is incredible.

This feels like a pretty big MAC Tournament for us. We're about to lose 5/8 of our primary rotation and 73% of our scoring. The transfer portal can change things quickly, but right now we are slated to be young and inexperienced next season. A tournament win would go a long way toward keeping our best underclassmen and drawing some additional talent in the portal.

You can tell some of you just don't like LeBron. 😂

Absolutely. I will also say I believe in Coach Groce and what he is doing more than just about any other coach I've encountered at Akron. He spoke to my son and I at the preseason event and was so kind, personable, and seemed genuinely thankful for our support of the team. You can see why he is so good at recruiting and building a positive culture. But to your point, I feel like my financial support makes at least a small difference because of the smaller roster. I don't feel that way about football at all.

Bud is the main driver, but I think the success certainly helps. I have donated many times to Akron basketball. I have never contributed to Akron football. I am sure I'm not alone in that. I'm also sure Bud wouldn't be as likely to drop so much money into the program if he wasn't seeing results on the court.

I would love to "barely" be a billionaire. I don't think LeBron is going to pay for an arena. His financial investments in Akron are almost exclusively in at-risk youth and their families, which I think is pretty cool. But if he wanted to, he absolutely has the money/connections to get something done. I just don't think it is on his future agenda, and that is OK.

LeBron is a billionaire.

I think they need a veteran scorer. Assuming they return, I think Sharron and Eric will both improve in that department, but expecting either to become "the guy" next year may be a big ask. As @LZIpnoted, they may be able to go after an immediate contributor or two with some of the senior NIL agreements coming off the books.

Anyone know what section Zips fans will be in Thursday?

If Hardman doesn't get an extra year, we will have two openings. We obviously have no idea who will stay/go from the current roster, but I wouldn't be stunned to see Barre move on. Let's assume for a moment that everyone returns, though: Mahaffey/MMK Halligan/Stankovic Barre/Brisco Head/Henderson/Groce Young/Perkins RS: Ladd, Jones, Christion ...with two roster spots available to go portal shopping.