Quickzips

Just for comparison sake, here is the 2009-10 Schedule and how our opponents finished in the final 2008-09 RPI. Austin Peay-146 NC State-110 Drake-171 Howard-329 Arkansas-Pine Bluff-251 Niagra-58 Texas A&M-32 Malone-N/A UNC Greensboro-316 St. Francis (PA)-322 UIC-166 Valparasio-260 Wyoming-112 Rhode Island-60 Some comparisons with this years schedule: Highest RPI-Texas A&M(32) vs. Temple(11) Lowest RPI-St. Francis(322) vs. Stetson (326) Average RPI- 183 vs. 173 Top 50 RPI- 1 (Texas A&M-32) vs. 2 (Temple-11 & Dayton-36) Top 100 RPI- 3 (A&M, Niagra-58 & Rhode Island-60) vs. 4 (Temple, Dayton, Minnesota-63 & Miami-95) Below 250 RPI- 5 (Valparasio, St. Francis, UNC Greensboro, Pine Bluff, Howard) vs. 5 (YSU, UIC, Bethune Cookman, UALR, Stetson) Below 300 RPI- 3 (St. Francis, Greensboro, Howard) vs. 2 (Stetson, UALR) Non-DI Teams- 1 (Malone) vs. 1 (Milliken) On paper I would say this years schedule has seen a modest upgrade at the top, is about the same at the bottom and if anything is slightly worse through the middle tier. Of course, previous season RPI is not always the best indication of where a team will be this year (as an example see UIC who finished 2009 with an RPI of 166 and 2010 with an RPI of 289)

There is some potential in this schedule for an at-large bid, which I think a lot of us look at as one defining factor for a good OOC schedule. We absolutely cannot drop a game against any of the cupcakes, either on the OOC end (Milliken, UIC, Bethune Cookman, UALR, Stetson and YSU) or in the MAC. We might be able to survive dropping a game to Cleveland State, Detroit, Pine-Bluff or Oral Roberts, but probably can't afford to lose more than one. Where we really need to shine are the big 4 games. Dayton, Temple, Minnesota and Miami(FL). We need to win more than one of those (and I would say probably 3 of 4 if all else goes according to plan) to really merit legitimate at-large consideration. Then of course, we can't have major slip-ups in the conference schedule. It is still a pretty big long shot as we would have to go 11-3 or 12-2 in OOC and would likely need to go 13-3 or better in conference. Add in a good draw in the bracketbuster and it is still possible. That is more than you could say about previous OOC schedules, so it is certainly an improvement, but there isn't a whole lot of wiggle room.

I am continually amazed that people never absorb the content of previous posts. As recently as last Friday (August 27), the Zips were working to get matching dates with Michigan State. The Milliken game is a last second addition. Show me where that school name appears anywhere in previous posts. Frankly, playing Milliken prior to the Dayton trip is a God send. If the Zips and the Spartans could have matched up mutually available dates then MSU on the road would have been Akron's opponent. It was not to be. As for firing the scheduler, march your arse down to coach Dan Peters office and fess up that you are volunteering your hinny for the next 365 days to help secure a great, to your personal standards, 2011-2012 schedule. He'll be happy to see you. Dude, settle down, unbunch your panties and take a chill pill. I actually kind of like the schedule, it is a step in the right direction, but in my honest, on the sideline opinion (that is what this site is for, isn't it?) there is still some work to be done. So Michigan State fell through, fine, I can understand that. But as a last minute fill in I have a hard time believing that there weren't better options out there than a D-III school from Illinois. Sorry, you can try selling me that one all you want, I'm just not buying it. Quite frankly your continued obsession with Dan Peters job is confounding to me. I've read a lot of your posts over the years and Dan Peters is the only guy you defend to the high heavens like this. This is a fan forum where diehards can come to discuss information that is relevant to Zips athletics, like, say, scheduling? People on this site are constantly scrutinizing and criticizing the decisions of everyone in the athletic department from Tom Wistricill to the coaches to the assistant coaches, the marketing department and beyond. Never once do you step up with these over the top rants defending these other people and telling everyone that if they can do better they should just volunteer their services. The fact of the matter is that none of these people, Dan Peters included is a volunteer. They get paid to perform a service for a public institution in a relatively public role. I, as a member of the public have the right and the ability to scrutinize their work without these over the top lectures from you.

Out of Conference Opponents final 2010 RPI: Milliken-D-III Dayton-36 Youngstown State-269 Cleveland State-157 Detroit-161 Illinois-Chicago-289 Temple-11 Minnesota-63 Bethune Cookman-256 UALR-300 Stetson-326 Miami(FL)-95 Arkansas Pine-Bluff-168 Oral Roberts-130 The Good: Four opponents in the top-100 RPI from the end of last year including two in the top 50. Home games against Cleveland State and Youngstown State should draw well and maybe create a little bit of early season buzz in the area. The Bad: Scheduling home games against Can't and Ohio during winter break (thank you MAC offices). All of the top OOC games are on the road. Finishing the season with away games at Ohio and Can't. The Ugly: Continuing to have too many 200-250+ RPI opponents. Stetson(326), UALR(300), UIC(289), Bethune Cookman(256). Even if we pick off some good teams like Temple, Dayton or Minnesota it probably won't end up being enough to give us any chance at an at large bid. Particularly if one of the cupcakes sneaks up and bites us (or even gives us a close game). Whoever the hell came up with Milliken should be fired, if you are going to give us a D-III team or NAIA team or something like that at least make it someone like Malone who might bring some fans with them. You'll be able to hear crickets chirping in the JAR for Milliken. All in all I guess it isn't a horrible schedule. Definitly had hopes for a little more out of those last few OOC games, but apparently KD isn't quite ready to completely abandon the cupcake row schedules just yet.

I think that Columbus State and Texas are the only two schools who actually make $ off their athletic programs (i.e., football). Every other school in the country loses $. But I'm supposing that every school in the nation, OSU & Texas as well, essentially consider athletics an advertising expense. The last numbers I saw from about two years ago had only 6 athletic departments (not just football programs) operating in the black. I believe OSU was one of them, but its hard to remember right now. Not sure about Texas. I know Michigan at the time was operating pretty substantially in the red. In any event, when you consider how many schools are out there (over 300 alone in I-A basketball), the numbers are pretty staggering. This whole debate about operating costs and profits and losses for the athletic department is really pretty useless without factoring in the impact that athletics has on the University as a whole. I think the schools that most would define as having a "successful" athletics department have simply figured that out better than the schools (most of the MAC) who seem to be looking at the athletics department as its own seperate business that is simply run by the University and has no real effect on the school as a whole.

University athletic departments at any school do NOT make money. Never have, never will. Any of you out there who think that this is just a MAC problem or a small school problem are dilluting yourselves. Most years you can count the number of athletic departments nationwide that operate in the black on one hand. These are well documented facts. The success of an athletic department is not measured on a balance sheet, it is measured in the impact that athletics has on the University as a whole (enrollment, endowments, publicity, student morale, community support, etc., etc., etc.). Unfortunatly all fans ever hear about is this new multi-million dollar television contract or that new donor who dropped off a big fat check, or this line of revenue or that line of revenue. Nobody realizes that these departments are running in the red every year.

This may help confirm the speculation that Christiano Ronaldo was seen at Dix Stadium yesterday. Doug Martin is going all out to perfect his team's "flopping" abilities. Even bringing in the world's best coach. Apparently Martin is also heavily recruiting Anderson Varejao, although he may be backing off a bit now that "Wild Thing" sprained his ankle playing for the Brazilian national team...or did he???

I would say commit a felony, but....well.....this is Can't we are talking about.

He's also one rolled ankle away from starting his career at Tri C. And that is a problem why? Seriously though. I would love to get Ennis back here with some of the other talent we have on the roster over the next few years. But if it doesn't happen it doesn't happen. I'm just concerned about having another PG who can bring the ball up the court right now. You can have all the big, athletic monsters you want up front, but if you don't have a couple of capable players to bring the ball up the court and initiate the offense you won't be playing to your full potential.

Really? You have limited time under NCAA rules to be able to practice and this is what you spend your time on?

Add a December 18 date with Bethune-Cookman at the JAR. http://b-cuathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/s...skbl-sched.html The Wildcats finished last season at 17-16 with an RPI of 256 in the MEAC. Certainly looks like a cupcake game at this point.

This is just bizarre. Hard to figure out what is going on in the kids head with something like this. "Duh....let's see....I can have college paid for, play some hoops for a competitive team, maybe get enough attention to get a nice little contract overseas or maybe get a look at the NBA. Worst case I get a free degree. Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....I could try my hand in the music industry where odds are I will be chewed up and spit out before I get anywhere close to something that looks like success. I think I'll go with the music deal." Strange. Just strange.

Nothing concrete beyond that thread yet, but I think that thread defintley constitutes a "whisper."

No way these kids redshirt, after already sitting out a full season to gain eligibility. Again, IF everyone else sticks around, I just don't see where either of those guys are going to get significant minutes. I agree that having them sit out two straight years is less than ideal, but who are you going to take minutes away from at the 3/4 spots? Gilliam: Transfer with only two years left. Led his former team in scoring as a sophomore. Power and athleticism. Can also play SG, but is currently listed as a F. Diggs: Transfer who will likely see significant minutes if not start this season at SF. Cvetinovic: Fourth year player by this time next year who will presumably have seen major minutes his first three years. Can also play some C but is best suited as a 4. Egner: Mirrors a lot of the attributes you hear about with Harney and Tree. Long, athletic and aggressive. Probably more of a defensive stopper than Harney or Tree, and you know how much KD loves guys who play tough defense. Will have a year in the program at this time next year, even if he redshirts this year. Euton: Again, possible redshirt this year, but will still have a year in the program by this time next year. Versatile big man who can step out to three point range and knock 'em down. Green: Another possible redshirt this year. I'm being entirely honest when I say I don't know much about him.

Whispers out of Athens, Ohio have SG Steven Coleman leaving the program. Coleman, a Junior, played 25 minutes per game and averaged 11 points per game early in the season for the Bobcats before going down with a season ending injury. He was expected to fill the void at SG left by the departure of Armon Bassett. Many fans felt he might actually be an upgrade over Bassett. If true this would be a significant blow to the defending MAC Tournament Champions.

Don't get me wrong, I love having some more size and athleticism on this team in the coming years. Having guys like Zeke, Gilliam, Diggs, Treadwell, Harney, Egner will, hopefully start to ease some of the complaints we have all had about our glaring lack of size and athleticism. I just feel that at the end of the day we have too many players whose size, skill set and position overlap each other. If all of these guys stick around (big if considering that at least one or two of them is going to be starting down little to no playing time for considerable portions of their college careers) I don't see how you get minutes for all of them. On top of that, if they all stick around, we are faced with having only 4 guards on the roster for a couple seasons and only one real PG on the 2011-12 roster. Brian Walsh is not a PG. I apologize if my initial post after finding out we were getting him indicated that he was, but he is not. He's a wing guard who primarily plays SG but can play some SF. In reading more about him, I seriously doubt we would want him taking on the lead guard role for us at any point. At this point I really think our 2011-12 roster will look something like this. PG-Abreu-Starts, will have to play 30+ minutes per night. SG-Walsh-Starts, plays exclusively as a SG around 25-30 minutes per night SG-Justice-Comes off the bench to spell Abreu at PG and Walsh at SG about 15-20 minutes per night SG-McClanahan-Sees occassional minutes at SG and SF off the bench. SF-Gilliam-Starts at SF, plays some SG depending on matchups, injuries, etc. SF-Diggs-Takes the primary backup minutes at both SG and SF. SF-Green-Sees occassional minutes at SF off the bench. SF-Treadwell-Redshirt PF-Cvetinovic-Starts at PF and sees occassional backup minutes at C. PF-Egner-Takes the primary backup minutes at PF and plays some SF depending on matchups. PF-Euton-Takes the primary backup minutes at C along with some PF. PF-Harney-Redshirt C-Zeke-Starts at C, will play 30+ minutes per night. I realize it is kind of ridiculous to be talking about 2011-12 rosters when 2010-11 hasn't even started, but right now our scholarship situation looks to be filled up for next season and it is certainly an "interesting" roster. As far as Tree goes, I've got no problem with us having the kid here IF he truly has his head on straight. From all reports, it sounds like he's finally found the necessary focus in his life and should be a solid student-athlete for us, but we've all seen situations like this turn for the worse before. I wish the kid nothing but the best in his Zips career, but you have to acknowledge that there is a certain amount of greater risk in taking on a kid who was academically ineligible to play for three years of his high school career.

I really have to wonder if one or both of these guys (Harney and Treadwell) will continue on their path as walk-ons. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to have all of these forwards on the roster and be so darn thin at the guard spots. For 2011-12 we would have eight of our thirteen scholarships taken up by 6'6" to 6'8" forwards (Diggs, Gilliam, Green, Egner, Euton, Cvetinovic, Harney, Treadwell) while only having one real PG (Abreu) and one C (Zeke) on scholarship. Something just doesn't add up in all of this.

Standards for getting in to college and being academically qualified to play are two very different things.

I will gladly eat my bit of crow on this one. Hopefully "Tree" is as good as advertised. Seems like a kid who has plenty of talent, just needed to go to the school of hard knocks a bit to figure out the importance of academics. Hopefully his head is on straight now and he can have a productive college experience with the Zips. That said, if this is our last scholarship for 2011 we have some problems. Alex Abreu is our only PG on scholarship. You can't even really make the argument that any of our other guards are combo-guards that can take the backup minutes at PG while also playing SG (see McNees). It looks like KD may be banking on having a transfer or two after this summer so that he can add a late PG to the class. Not sure I like that approach becoming a trend. I think it was necessary this year to make some changes to the roster, but I don't really want to see that kind of approach year after year.

Nick Harney 6'7" combo-forward from Benedictine? If so that news broke months ago. He's greyshirting this year to work on academics and hopefully become eligible in 2011-12. If this is who you are refering to we still have one scholarship left to use on a PG. If you are refering to someone else I am honestly quite puzzled. We have a wealth of forwards on the team in the long term with Gilliam, Diggs, Egner, Green, Euton, Cvetinovic and Harney and are glarringly thin at PG. I suppose if we are talking about a stud like Jakarr Sampson (who is from the Cleveland area despite attending St.V's in Akron) or Anton Grady from Central Catholic it would make some sense, but we would probably need to pull a scholarship from someone else in order to make room for a PG then. that is not who I am referring to...new name...high level talent I am exceedingly confused by this then. If he truly is "high level talent" from "Cleveland" who "will be on campus this fall" I am truly stumped. It would almost have to be a transfer or a de-commit from another school. Nobody shows up on searches of rivals, scout or espn that isn't already committed. this is certainly a unique situation...unless you're from the Cleveland area, you might not recognize the name...but, be assured, he is a Big East/high major caliber of a player...academics were an issue and other schools backed off and Akron will pick themselves up a very nice little prospect if he keeps his head on straight I don't like being played, and I think that's what's happening here. This fella has Big East talent, but no one outside Cleveland is aware of it. Yeah, and you should see the real estate I got for sale in Kansas. Plenty of room to anchor your yacht behind the outhouse. My B.S. meter is leaning that way as well. Kid is from the Cleveland area, has Big East talent, is 6'7", unsigned and is already registered for classes. Yet nobody on any of the three major recruiting services fit the criteria. I don't buy it. I'll gladly eat my fair share of crow if I have to later on, but this just doesn't smell right. Especially from someone who just registered this morning.

Nick Harney 6'7" combo-forward from Benedictine? If so that news broke months ago. He's greyshirting this year to work on academics and hopefully become eligible in 2011-12. If this is who you are refering to we still have one scholarship left to use on a PG. If you are refering to someone else I am honestly quite puzzled. We have a wealth of forwards on the team in the long term with Gilliam, Diggs, Egner, Green, Euton, Cvetinovic and Harney and are glarringly thin at PG. I suppose if we are talking about a stud like Jakarr Sampson (who is from the Cleveland area despite attending St.V's in Akron) or Anton Grady from Central Catholic it would make some sense, but we would probably need to pull a scholarship from someone else in order to make room for a PG then. that is not who I am referring to...new name...high level talent I am exceedingly confused by this then. If he truly is "high level talent" from "Cleveland" who "will be on campus this fall" I am truly stumped. It would almost have to be a transfer or a de-commit from another school. Nobody shows up on searches of rivals, scout or espn that isn't already committed.

Added video of 2011 Zips commit Nick Harney. Watching it gives you a pretty good sense of his game. Likes to get out in transition and knows how to finish around the rim. His athleticism has not been understated in any way. Seems to be pretty active getting his hands in passing lanes, initiating steals and making nice outlet passes to set up the fast break. Shows the makings of a decent little jumpshot, but not sure how reliable it is. It is always tough to get a good read on a prospect just from a highlight video, but Nick's video at least provides some insight into his play.

Nick Harney 6'7" combo-forward from Benedictine? If so that news broke months ago. He's greyshirting this year to work on academics and hopefully become eligible in 2011-12. If this is who you are refering to we still have one scholarship left to use on a PG. If you are refering to someone else I am honestly quite puzzled. We have a wealth of forwards on the team in the long term with Gilliam, Diggs, Egner, Green, Euton, Cvetinovic and Harney and are glarringly thin at PG. I suppose if we are talking about a stud like Jakarr Sampson (who is from the Cleveland area despite attending St.V's in Akron) or Anton Grady from Central Catholic it would make some sense, but we would probably need to pull a scholarship from someone else in order to make room for a PG then.

Getting Ennis back would be the ideal situation for the Zips IMO. He fits the gapping hole we have at PG right now, and his athleticism from the lead guard position would be a huge benefit.

By my calculations we have 12 players on scholarship for 2011-12 as of right now. NCAA allows for 13, so that would mean we have one more scholarship to give. Abreu Cvetinovic Diggs Egner Euton Gilliam Green Harney Justice Marshall McClanahan Walsh Zips will desperately need a PG with that last scholarship. Unless KD is going to continue this experiment of undersized SG's trying to man the point by giving Blake Justice the backup PG minutes, the only PG we would have on scholarship would be Abreu.