Zip Watcher

You could always go into your controls and under "Board Options" choose to turn off the Personal Messenger.

Nice assessment .. good post.Go Zips!! B)

KD is also an example of someone hired with little or no search. DHip released one day, KD was hired within the next 3-4 days, if I remember correctly.

So why not quote the preceding paragraph, CK? They gave you a metric by which performance during his tenure can be measured: Not sure exactly what the "2008-2009 calendar year" is .. but I'll presume it's the recently completed academic year.

A breath of fresh air from GP1. Thanks for that.I agree in large part to the assessments above, and echo the comments regarding the academic end of things. Most of you know I'm a hoops fan first. Related to that, I think one of Mack's best contributions to the University Athletic Department is reminding it that it is a *UNIVERSITY* Athletic Department. In concert w/ KD's efforts, we no longer get the mid-season Christmas present that is having 2 of the players in the rotation disappear from the roster for a semester or worse.Perhaps the best thing Mack can be remembered for is installing a new order and priority related to things academic. We want our teams to be successful, we want our teams to win championships, and we want our teams to represent the community well. They can't do that if they aren't mindful of the academic responsibilities. Are things perfect? No .. are they better than 4 years ago? IMHO, without question.Second, I think that most of us will never know the details of some of Mack's other contributions. Namely the thawing of relations between City Hall and Buchtel Hall. It's not a blissful situation .. that can be said. But I think from the outside, it's clear that things are improving between The Don and Buchtel Hall. I have on good information that Mack and his team have worked hard to build community here .. and it's starting to pay off. These aren't items in the newspaper every day, but they're very real and they'll have a real impact in the future on the University and the City.Third, there will never be agreement on who deserves what percentage of credit for the INFO. What is certain is that under Mack's watch, the hole got dug .. the yard is nearly built. The project got done. It was a project when he arrived, we all know that. But Mack was hired to be a fund raiser .. that was his primary role coming in as AD. And he did that well. We don't know the numbers exactly .. never will .. but Mack and his team closed the deal and got the stadium underway, and it nears completion. He deserves our thanks for that.I was chatting with a fellow college hoops fan friend of mine the other day, and we spoke about this situation. He said (paraphrasing) .. "that a good AD needs to do the following to be successful: grow the money, grow the wins, grow the GPA, and build something." I think by any objective criteria, Mack did those things while @ UA.Ultimately, I firmly believe that Mack Rhoades was the right guy for UA when we got him. We needed some fund raising, political savvy and a rudder for the academic support of our student athletes. He ably provided all three. For that, I'm grateful. Do I wish he were staying longer, yes. But I can not and will not begrudge him for taking a position closer home to family, in an upstream conference, with a bigger budget and more security for his family. It's not an easy decision, but one I would make the same way as Mack every time. Finally, one thing I think I've learned from family, friends & mentors over the years: We can't do everything in life, all things we attempt aren't always successful. But we CAN make every effort to be a positive influence in any and all situations in which we find ourselves, and leave things better off than how we found them. In my opinion, Mack did that.Thank you Mack for your service and diligence to UA Athletics. Best of luck to you and your family in Houston. Hope to see you at an NCAA Hoops Regional sometime.Go Zips!!

All,I was attempting to prune some spam postings today when I inadvertantly deleted a bunch of topics. This was not intentional, none of them were offensive .. I simply clicked the wrong button.My apologies for this, as I know some of these topics were active. I think 5 or 6 had recent posts, among the 9 that were deleted accidentally.Hopefully some of it is repostable by those who posted. The "Campus News" topic was probably the biggest one lost. Unfortunately, I don't have any easy way to restore these items. Go Zips!!

The MAC will NEVER locate their tournaments in Columbus. It would be a disaster (come to think of it, the move does have MAC written all over it). The entire thing would get swallowed up in the media and with locals by Buckeye basketball or Buckeye football or Buckeye horticultural championships. There isn't a school within close enough proximity to Columbus that could anchor such an endeavor. You know what, the more I think about it, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the MAC does it.If I remember correctly, the MAC tourney has been in Columbus, at Batelle Hall, prior to its time @ the Seagate Center in Toledo.

Please get the freaking job and move on. This is a big distraction from what should be a very exciting time for those who care about UA athletics. If our AD wants to leave at this time, just go. Give me Hunter. Give me someone who wants to be here. I don't care.Why does UA have to be his steady paycheck while he shops his self around?Couldn't really disagree more.Go Zips!

More detail please .. there's been no changes to ZN.org .. you probably changed your setting from Normal to Outline view or something like that. Try the options button on the upper right when you are viewing a topic. In the bottom section, you have 3 ways to view threads. If I were a betting man .. which I am .. I'd say that you are not in "standard" mode .. change it back to Standard View, and things should return to normal.

Haven't the Zips had the "longest tenured coach in the MAC" before .. in both mbb and fb?

USN&WR rankings are bought and paid for. They're related to research expenditures and market perception more than actual on the ground assessment of how good the schools are.I'll go on record in saying that the last portion of the first sentence of yours that I've quoted is categorically wrong, at least as it pertains to Engineering. I can think of 3 state schools from which I'd hire an engineer before OSU. Based on past experience and current experience with graduates of several statewide nerd schools.Don't drink the Kool Aid. OSU is the best funded public school in Ohio. That doesn't translate automatically to quality or results.

Seems like a better group of teams than we saw in Fairbanks last year.Good to have APSU @ the JAR. They're solid. Not spectacular, but solid.

He's likely still in play .. KD's seen him more recently than that AAU tournament. Keep hope alive.

I'm stunned. Spent time with Barb in Alaska and @ UMass. Great lady & great fan. We sat near her at the JAR.Wow.

A source tells me that Grant was on Hipsher's Stetson staff.

This is really sad to read this crap here. I wish I could say I'm surprised.Someone ought to consider what an assistant coach in this conference makes before they spew this crap about running for the money. If you have a family, you have a spouse .. you have kids .. it's your responsibility to provide for them.Were JB to be an up and coming 35 year old engineer who has a chance to get promoted into a situation with a different opportunity and a bigger upside to providing for the future of his children, this would be a story about a great UA engineer moving and being successful, and what a good example he'd be .. but since his career path (that's what it is) is basketball coaching, he's a greedy traitor? Please!This is one of the consequences of having a good program. Having a successful program. And Jeff's aspirations are to be a head coach. It's the career he's set out to pursue. It's not an easy career, and he needs to make the best moves for that career. This isn't just some hobby, it's the guys livelihood.Did he somehow take Zeke with him to OSU and only Go Zips, Blue & Gold & Quickzips have heard about this? He's not taking Zeke with him. He helped bring him here. He helped the Zips start to shoot higher on the list of ranked recruits in a way we never thought possible.I don't understand why there needs to be such drama and bitterness here. Does any of you really expect a guy to spend his entire career as an assistant in one place (be it here or otherwise)? You going to begrudge his taking an opportunity to coach in the high majors? Are all of you sitting in your fabric box, content to sit and do your current job and not look to grow your career to serve your family?There's a school of thought out there that says that once you're comfortable in your job, able to do all aspects of it well and you've mastered it in its entirety, it's time to look upward and onward. Jeff leaves the program in better shape than it was when he arrived. He helped the program, he represented it well .. and if you were there Friday, you should understand he doesn't take such a move lightly. It was a challenging decision. He's not flippant about it .. at all.Best of luck to Jeff and his family .. and I'm embarrassed for the Nation if he happens to read this thread.Go Zips!! B) B)

The only other place I can see a table being set up would be the Polsky building because it is out of the way and there are students who only have classes in there. It would be extremely hard to set tables up in classroom buildings. They would only be busy at class changes, whereas Polsky and SU have students in there at all times. But I think that is a great idea for the faculty to announce events.The Rowdies need to setup a website that is continually updated. It would of course have a link to the Nation. I think that has the potential to keep students more updated then random facebook events and messages (not that those should stop because those are great!)Thanks for bringing that up... thats something else I think needs to be approached is that the AK-Rowdies don't have any kind of a website to operate from. Yes, they have a facebook page, but prospective students need to be able to get information on what the AK-Rowdies are without having to get information from a person. Now more than ever, people use the internet to get their information because its more convenient for them. I really should contact them and see if I can get them to let me design and build a website for them... Attn: Rowdies!Regarding the point above. The Rowdies have a forum here .. it's gone unused for a little while, but the forum is here.The organizers, chiefs, heads or whatever of the Rowdies can be moderators of that forum if they get in touch with one of us here. We created it for Newhouse .. who used it, but since he left .. it's been crickets in there.Also regarding a web page .. the Nation is willing to make this easy: If the Rowdies want to park on ZN.O servers, I'm certain something can be worked out. I'm (pretty sure) I speak for the Moderators & Supporters of ZN.O in saying that we've got a lot of the same objectives. I'm certain that we've got some bandwith and storage space, so the Rowdies wouldn't need to spend a whole lot of coin to get it going.Get a vision together, and bring it to the Nation. We'll help. Really!Go Zips!P.S. My opinion is that the Rowdies are hitting their stride pretty well. There were more than a few occasions at the Q where the Rowdies really impressed. Not just me, but non Zips around me. It was classic when the guy @ the Miami game couldn't hear the song he was supposed to name and the events guy had to tell him. Rowdies are on the upswing, and it's up to you returning folks to keep it going & improve it.

Vince Hill.

Hmmm ... wasn't All-Ohio Red committed to the JamFest a long time ago? I'm wondering if they're swinging over between games or something. Can't imagine he'd be skipping as important an AAU as that for an unofficial visit.Fingers crossed he's still visiting soon.Go Zeke! Go Trevor! Go Zips!

I think that guys name is "Rick McFadden".

Good points, both. I'm in agreement on both counts.This isn't a house of cards, and it's not coming down because of this. It simply matters because the assistants are the ones that forge the early relationships with some of the guys. KD can't possibly be involved in EVERY meeting with EVERY recruit, so the top 2 or 3 assistants are key to getting the ball rolling.This MAY hurt us with guys that JB has been starting with .. but on the court there should be no effect in 2009-10 as far as personnel, and hopefully minimal in 2010 if the Zips adapt quickly and keep moving.Remember that all of these top guys are hoping to play in the JAR at the end of the month, and will be traveling here to try and do so. That will continue to help.Your second point is a huge one also. We lost Shaka to Clemson, not Florida .. but it's 2 guys in a row that have jumped from UA's bench to BCS, without an A10 or MVC stop in the middle.Go Zips!!! B)

Some brief thoughts on this, after sleeping on the tOSU news regarding JB last night.- First reaction was that it was bad for the Zips over and above just bad because we're losing a great guy. Good coach, good recruiter, great family guy .. he's integral to the complete program. But bad over and above because it could relieve us of any chance to land Weatherspoon or Payne or Payne.- This morning, I think I feel better about it than last night. If Jeff lands at OSU, I think that Payne & JDW might still be in play for Akron. The little that I know about tOSU's recruiting efforts for 2010 indicate that they have 1 spot open, and the position of need appears to be @ PG. They've already landed Sullinger for that class, and if another big isn't the position of need, Payne might not fit at tOSU. Perhaps.- Then if I believe my own BS on point #2, I've arrived at the conclusion that if we're losing Boals, it's better to lose him to tOSU than to XU. Especially if tOSU isn't bringing in another big for 2010. Had JB gone to XU, we'd most definitely be doomed on the Payne front. It's a longshot anyway .. but if Payne is close to Boals, and Boals ended up at XU, which is very much hot after him .. the equation's pretty easy. However, if tOSU isn't hot on a big .. then Payne could still be in play. I think it will be very interesting to see if the visit this weekend still goes down, and if the Rivals update dropping Akron from his list was a harbinger of this move by JB.- Next, I think this move, if confirmed .. should make Zips fans realize that the gap has closed big-time between Akron and the elite mid-majors (Xavier, Gonzaga, Dayton) as well as Akron and the BCS guys. We've landed one BCS talent .. he's signed and coming. We're in the hunt for 2 more for the following year. And a BCS that's been in the title game within the last 3 or 4 years is poaching our recruiter. Aside from the results on the court, which are apparent .. what further evidence do we need that this ship is steaming ahead in the right direction.- Lastly, I think, at least on the basketball side of things, we can drop the notion that the "Zips don't compete against tOSU for recruits." Fact is, they are, and they do compete for the same guys. One day soon, the Zips may just win one of these battles.There's work to be done, the gap still exists, but it's a little bit smaller this spring than last year .. and quite a bit smaller than it was in the spring of 2004.My best to Boals whatever happens. He's been great for the Zips, and he's always been cordial and engaging with the fans, some of us who are obsessed idiots when it comes to Zips hoops. It's a compliment to KD & the program for one of our guys to be pulled up to the bigger leagues.Go Zips!! B) B) P.S. Jeff, if you are going to Columbus, could you leave a parting gift in the way of a verbal from Payne to UA? We'd love you for it!

I think it would slow the Zips down a bit for 2010 recruiting if Jeff did happen to leave. Seems like he might be the lead guy on Payne & Weatherspoon. Nothing says we're getting those guys for sure .. but if he's the guy in the door with the player, and he goes to a school those guys are considering, that can't possibly help the Zips with those guys.Good news is that we're talking about 2 years out, and not next year. The list of prospects for UA is long, it includes several 3 star players .. not all of them are JB's recruits.That said, IMHO KD's judgment is to be trusted here. Nothing he's done at UA in 5 years leads me to believe he won't make the right sort of move if faced with a vacancy on his staff. He's established here, the roster is loaded, they're coming off a conference title & NCAA appearance .. there's lots to like for a new assistant & recruiter. Attracting good candidates shouldn't be hard.I will continue to hope that the assistant coach continues to be JB .. and that he stays to help put UA above XU in the pecking order of college hoops. There's work to be done here .. but the tools are in place. One of the prices of being a good program is that you'll get raided for coaches. Further proof that this vision of KD's is coming to fruition.Go Zips!!! B)

That's funny!

We need Boals to stay. He's a big part of what's happening here, and hopefully UA can keep him.He's close to home @ UA, and he's got Zeke coming in. I for one hope he sticks around.Go Zips!! B)