Dave in Green

Some interesting data about JT in that article. For example, the fact that he has about 200 people reporting to him, and that the vice president of strategic engagement position is akin to a vice president for student affairs, but more wide-ranging. Sounds as if it's working for him and for UA.

A couple of years ago I did many hours of internet research on the Lowder situation at Auburn, including the Coach Bowden chapter. Of all the stories I read, virtually all of them were less favorable to Lowder and more favorable to Coach Bowden than this ESPN commentary. This piece appears to have originally been written in the 1998-1999 time frame before more information became available on what really went on behind the scenes. More recent stories have more focus on how Coach Bowden tried to stop the shady activities going on at Auburn, which caused Lowder to engineer his departure. There are also many stories about how Lowder was responsible for getting rid of William Muse (ex-UA president) when Muse threatened Lowder's micromanagement of Auburn. A quick internet search for Bobby Lowder and Terry Bowden will produce many more informative hits.

The story says "at gunpoint." Hopefully a case of mistaken identity, but it doesn't sound good from the brief initial report.

@OU Dude, that's a bad link.

As opposed to internet forum debate rulz, or lack thereof.

Bingo! Crunch the numbers and do what's in the overall best interests of the school from a business standpoint. I'd just add that it's important to consider the long-term as well as the short-term interests. It does no good to get a brief short-term uptick if it's followed by a long-term downtick. Trying to analyze the math, some fans may prefer staying home and watching on TV if that's an option. If they're season ticketholders, they've already bought and paid for their tickets, whether they show up or not. So the direct, immediate loss would be in walk-up ticket sales and lost concession sales. If the TV helps recruiting, better recruiting results in more wins, and more wins results in more paying fans, there's a great long-term business case to be made for that investment.

Well, you're right that South Carolina usually has a top 25 recruiting class. But they've only rarely squeaked into the top half of the SEC recruiting classes over the years. It would take a heck of a coach to win the SEC with below average SEC talent.

@LZip, have you considered where South Carolina ranks in recruiting versus other SEC teams? I just took a quick look at the 2013 recruiting class rankings, and South Carolina had only the 8th best recruiting class in the SEC. For 2014, there are currently 9 SEC teams in the top 25 recruiting class rankings (including Vanderbilt), and South Carolina is not one of them, so they're only 10th at best in their conference.

@OU Dude, I really like your citation of quotes, facts and numbers to back your opinion. One thing I'm curious about is that you say that there's a "small drop off in attendance for the weeknight games." Could you be a little more specific about exactly how much attendance is down for weeknight games? It's certainly understandable that fewer fans can make it to weeknight games as opposed to weekend games. But if the drop off isn't too great, and if the coaching staff is convinced that the weeknight TV has a positive effect on recruiting, then it might be a reasonable trade-off. For Zips fans in particular, it would also be interesting to know Coach Bowden's opinion on this. Maybe George Thomas will read this and pose the question to Coach Bowden.

Many of the college centers in the draft are listed as C/PF candidates for the NBA. In other words, many who play center in college may be better suited to playing power forward in the NBA. To the best of my knowledge there is not a single NBA mock draft list that considers Zeke anything but a pure C. He's always had a classic center style of play. While remotely possible, I think it's highly unlikely that Zeke would be considered for a PF position in the NBA.

@GameChngr44, you throw a mean party! We really enjoyed talking with you and talking with Zeke. It's so funny to think back to all those stories about how shy and withdrawn Zeke was when he arrived at UA, and contrast that with the gregarious, outgoing Zeke we talked with tonight. He has really grown into a confident and engaging young man. It was interesting to hear him talk about how much he learned at the John Lucas Basketball Camp in Houston. Whoever made the decision to have Zeke go there was really smart. It was really exciting to learn about all the NBA teams that have interest in him, and all the traveling around the country he's going to be doing for private workouts with various teams. I'm starting to see more respect for Zeke in some of the NBA mock drafts, and will try to keep that updated in the "Zeke and the NBA Draft" thread. I hope that you will also jump in and keep us updated on any interesting developments. I had told my wife what a great person you are, and after talking with you tonight she now understands what I was talking about! You and Zeke and your whole family will always be part of the big Zips family. All the best.

The PR tournament was pretty loaded with NC State, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, UMass and Providence, and only two teams outside the top 100 (Penn State and UNC Asheville). The Hawaiian tournament looks to be a little short of that, but still not bad.

I meant that it was a big-time coup for the Zips in the sense that prior to Coach Bowden UA didn't have a history of attracting quality transfers with academic achievements that allow them to play immediately with two years of eligibility remaining. It's hard to evaluate just how good Hirschman is because he's lost a lot of PT with broken metatarsal bones in both feet in consecutive seasons and had three surgeries. Hopefully this is not an ongoing problem. His HS ratings were solid though not brilliant: Bio link

Discussion also started here.

Hirschman "was impressed by Akron's facilities?" Is that allowed? He appears to be a really smart, Ivy League caliber student who's also a heck of a QB. This is the kind of big-time coup that we were all expecting from Coach Bowden. Let the QB controversy begin. Link

NBA Draft Tiers is a new one to me, and they've just done an interesting analysis of Zeke. I like the bar chart for different aspects of a player's game. I'm not sure that I agree with everything they say. For example, they downplay Zeke's offensive abilities despite the huge jump he made in offensive efficiency in his senior season. But the good news is that, despite what they see as his weaknesses, they still rate him as a late second-round pick. That's really all the opening Zeke needs. If he gets drafted, he gets a chance to prove that he's not stuck as "an end of the bench rotation big man." Link

@Z.I.P., I thought you were in charge of Hawaiian news. The news hasn't even reached the online edition of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser yet, and they don't sell print editions in Green. Besides, I've been a little distracted by an overnight burglary at my wife's shop. I've never picked up so many pieces of shattered safety glass (from the front door) in my life. Hawaii would be fun if I can pull all the money together to get me and my wife over there. Since the Zips continue to have difficulty finding quality OOC opponents who will schedule them, a tournament loaded with quality opponents is the next best option for OOC SOS. This looks like a good one.

Count me in along with the Mrs. at 6-8 p.m.

@GameChngr44, many thanks for your firsthand report. It doesn't surprise me at all that Zeke would be among the least likely recruits to be impressed with the LeBron factor. We all now know the story that Zeke's love for basketball didn't really get serious until last year, so LeBron was probably not that big a deal to him back when he was looking at different colleges. Before he really started getting serious about basketball, he would probably have been more impressed if Coach Dambrot and UA had a personal connection with Bill Gates. I'd be shocked if any recruit decided to select UA primarily due to LeBron. But I'd expect just about every recruit and just about every recruit's family to consider the LeBron connection to be one of many positive points about the Zips basketball program. It's always good to keep things in proper perspective.

@UAZip0510, as always you've done a great job of making a thoughtful case for your position. You make a lot of good points about why all the coaches and all the players deserve most of the credit for the Zips' performance. I think every Zips fan will support you on that. But I don't think you've totally thought out the implications of the LeBron factor. You seem to be saying that some of the media and others give too much credit to LeBron for the Zips' success. You object to headlines like "Akron College Hoops Program Thriving Thanks to LeBron" as if it was pulled out of thin air. It wasn't. The headline writer just did his job of capturing what Coach Dambrot said in the story: People aren't just making this stuff up. Coach Dambrot always gives big props to LeBron's association with Akron, with UA and with him personally for helping Zips recruiting. Sports journalists and headline writers would be derelict in their duty if they didn't report what Coach Dambrot said about LeBron. As to whether the LeBron factor is being overplayed or not, only Coach Dambrot can answer that. He's the one giving out the quotes that generate the headlines. And every headline and every story is yet another reminder to potential UA recruits of the LeBron relationship. If I was Coach Dambrot's PR advisor, I'd advise him to keep on doing what he's been doing as long as he believes it benefits the Zips basketball program. Now a side effect of that might be to turn off a few people who get the idea that the LeBron factor is being overplayed. But if I'm balancing that against doing what's best for the Zips basketball program, I say full speed ahead.

What exactly are you looking for? There are many quotes in the media where Coach Dambrot credits his ongoing relationship with LeBron for helping with recruits in general, like the quote I posted earlier in this thread. Do you not take Coach Dambrot at his word when he says "our program would not be what it is today if it wasn't for LeBron James"? Have you ever spoken with Coach Dambrot? He's easily accessible and enjoys interacting with Zips fans.

Thanks. I try to make reasonable points and appreciate when they're taken that way.

John Groce still leaving ripples in the MAC: Darius Paul headed to Illinois

After interviewing Coach Dambrot and Hunter Yurachek back in 2009, I think The Washington Post got it right:

@Jake, how did I know it wouldn't take you long to resort to one of your old juvenile personal attacks after I was the first to publicly out your phony new identity. In a battle of annoyances, I'd rank Jake right up there with a gnat flying up a nostril. In a battle of wits, I'd bet on the gnat over Jake.