Quickzips

I wouldn't worry too much about the Pitt crowd. They're probably more threatened by Zeke's decision than anything. They assumed they could have him any time they wanted because he was the highly rated recruit from the area and they are the biggest program in the area. That they didn't land him kind of shakes their world up a bit.

If he's got his act together academically I'd LOVE to have Chambers. 2 more years and we lose Chris McKnight to graduation. Chambers would be a kid who could probably come in and take over that spot if we didn't have anyone else to (by the way we are recruiting I would expect us to have a player in place already but you never know). Plus you know Humpty already has some good chemistry with him.

Another nice article, this one with some Momma Zeke quotage.http://w3.nbebasketball.com/index.php/zeke...s-college-home/

A 7'2"-7'3" center with strength and athleticism. Man I can't wait to see him in uniform. Zeke could be the first legitimate NBA caliber prospect we've had on the roster here in a long time. How huge would that be for Akron if he could lead us on a couple of NCAA tourney runs and then catch on in the pro's. I'm getting WAY ahead of myself here, but I just can't help it. This is a program changing kind of day. I can hear French now, "Humpty pushing the ball up the floor, blows by two defenders, no look pass to Zeke inside who throws the hammer down on top of <insert name of Can't's latest JUCO big man with a bad attitude>"

McKeesport Post Gazette articlehttp://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08130/880525-49.stm

I've been checking out some of the Pitt message boards over at Scouts and Rivals and I've got to say it's kind of humorous. These guys had been doggin Zeke left and right up until some of the recent AAU tournaments where he was pretty impressive. Then all of a sudden the tune changes. Only problem is the Panther contingent gets a swelled head and assumes that just because they extended an offer to Zeke that it's only a matter of time before he accepts. Now there is a LOT of head scratching and flip flopping going on. I find it all rather humorous.As I said in the other thread. Welcome to the family Zeke.GO ZIPS!

We all know the Zips are gonna be young this year and there may be some growing pains, but when I look at what we have for a team down the road I see no reason we shouldn't DOMINATE the MAC for years to come. This is gonna be a team that should make some deep tournament runs in the coming years.Hitchens, Sullivan, B.McKnight, Sweich, Zeke, McClannahan, Cvetinovic, Steward, McNees, Bardo, Parrish and at least for the next couple years you can add C.McKnight, Nate, Conyers and Roberts to the equation as well. I don't really see any position that we are gonna be thin at. Good time to be a Zip.

You don't know how big a smile came over my face when I came in here and saw that posted. Congrats to everyone involved from the Zeke and his family to everyone involved in the basketball program. From everything I've heard this is gonna be a perfect marriage of player, coaching staff, family and team. Welcome to the family Zeke.GO ZIPS!!!

Many college campuses are dead on non sports weekends as many kids go home. Many major schools when kids are out tend to have some empty seats for an otherwise sold out game, because students are not there do to breaks. UofA does not have the corner on being dead onthe weekends.They might not, but you have to remember, kids aren't used to having the stadium on campus either. How long is it gonna take for them to figure it out and stay on campus on football weekends? If Basketball is any indication it might take quite a while. Ofcourse basketball usually doesn't come with tailgating either so who knows. All I'm saying is those on here that think that the stadium is immediatly going to draw 10,000 students each and every home game may want to curb their enthusiasm just a bit.

One of the things people are forgetting in all of this discussion. This campus looks like a nuclear fallout zone on the weekends. Even the students who do live on campus go home for the weekends. Now maybe that is gonna change some with the stadium and tailgating and the like on campus, but we aren't gonna become a residential school with thousands of students on campus all weekend overnight.

Ok maybe I'm WAY off on my thinking here but...Don't these programs have to offer a kid before they can commit? Isn't there something in the NCAA bylaws about when you are allowed to start extending scholarship offers to people? I mean, I can say that I'm gonna go play center for Kansas next year but it doesn't mean a thing if they don't offer me, right? Can someone explain this whole recruiting process to me and how it is that these kids are doing this???

Wisconsin: Big loss for the Zips. The Badgers are consistently one of the most underrated teams in the BCS. They get overlooked in the Big 11 because of teams like Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State, but they are always a top 25 team. I'd be happy if the Zips can keep this one reasonable. 0-1Syracuse: Chance for another road BCS win against a crummy low level BCS opponent. Let's face it. Syracuse stinks. If the Zips don't get too rattled in Madison and they've got a little pep in their step they could come in and take this one. I'll be optimistic and call a win. 1-1.Ball State: Arguably the best team in the MAC headed into this year. That program has really turned around and they have a really great QB out there. Even being at home I don't expect much from this game. Zips lose. 1-2.Army: Call it paranoia from that debacle at the Rubber Bowl a few years ago in the rain, but I hate playing Army. They might not be the powerhouse they once were, but they are a proud bunch of guys who play hard. The Zips could easily lose this one if they take it for granted. Still, I'll be optimistic again and call a Zips win. 2-2.Cincinnati: I know a lot of people will look for this to be a winnable game for the Zips. We're at home and Cincy doesn't have a great football tradition. However, Brian Kelly really has that program on the right track. The only glimmer of hope I see for the Zips here is the fact that Cincy is trying to replace their starting QB and we all know how difficult a job that can be. Still, Cincy has a lot of firepower. Zips lose. 2-3.Can't State: Throw a coin in the air. You'll have just as much luck predicting the outcome of this one. Rivalry game. On the road. Two teams that are in about the same place to be honest. Who knows what happens here. I hate to do it, but I give Can't the edge based on them being at home. 2-4.Bowling Green: Another one of the expected top programs in the MAC heading into this year. They seemed to turn their fortunes around some last year and are once again headed in the right direction. It pains me to keep doing this, but BG wins. 2-5.EMU: The perenial doormat of the MAC. EMU is improving, but they still aren't a good team. The Zips outta be able to handle this one. 3-5.Bye Week: Bye is a tough matchup for the Zips. They always seem to give us a hard time. Still I think we pull this one out. 3-5.Toledo: Which direction is this program going? For a long time they were the class of the MAC, but they have tailed off bigtime. Zips are at home for this one and coming off of a long rest I like our chances. Zips win. 4-5.Buffalo: A couple years ago you could chalk this one up as a win (even though Buffalo usually gave us fits you could count on them collapsing in the end). Not anymore. Turner Gill is one of the top young coaches in D-I and this program is on the rise. This team can give us fits. I expect a loss here actually. 4-6.Ohio: I can never figure out this program. If they don't look good and I expect us to win they seem to step it up and beat us. If they look good and I expect us to lose they seem to lay an egg. Losing McRae hurts them some and I think it gives us a window of opportunity. I'll get optimistic again and call a Zips win. 5-6.Temple: Another program very similar to Buffalo in that it's on the rise. We should have a chip on our shoulders from last year, but at 5-6 and most likely out of contention for any MACC or Bowl bid will the Zips show up to play spoiler? I say they do and come in and give Temple a little payback. 6-6.So there you have it. 6-6 with wins over Syracuse, Army, EMU, Toledo, Ohio and Temple. Nice way to finish the season with 2 wins and a little bit of hope headed into Infocision.

Real simple, kick out Temple (or better yet Can't).

Like Zen said, it depends a lot on how the team is doing. I'll take it one step further though. It depends on how the team does during those first couple seasons when the stadium is still new. That is going to be the most critical time for this program in terms of fan support. Obviously you expect big crowds during the first season and even into the second season as people are gonna be excited about the shiny new stadium. A lot of those people are going to be either casual Zips fans that maybe make it to a game here or there but don't really care much or they will be people who have never been to a game before. The stadium is going to get them to the game. The product on the field HAS to keep them there. Like you said, the newness of the stadium will wear off. During that newness time you've got to have a quality product on the field that has some staying power. That way when the newness wears off there is still something there to keep all those new fans coming back.

No offense or anything, but this is about like saying "why would the Cavs want another Lebron James, they already have one." Well yeah, but if one makes the Cavs as good as they are now just think what two would do.When it comes to big men it seems as if you can never really have enough. Especially if they are talented. Heck I'm sure KD would LOVE to have the problem of finding playing time for two talented 7 footers. Ohh and btw. Congrats to Zeke on all the accolades. From the sounds of it they are well deserved.

KC is about as close to a perfect fit for Jabari as you can find. They don't have a lot to right home about at WR, so he should get at least a shot to compete for a roster spot. With his size and skill set I almost wonder if KC wouldn't consider switching him to TE and grooming him as a backup and maybe even an evenutal replacement for Tony Gonzalez.

This whole thing is very unsettling for me. Regardless of who is right, Coach Kest or the individual players, when half a dozen players and three Conference All-Freshman team players leave the program in the span of two years, something just isn't right there. I have no idea what it is, but this situation better get straightened out sooner rather than later.

Anyone else a little miffed that the tone of the article kind of treats us (and really all of the MAC schools) as kind of an afterthought. I know we should be used to this by now, but it's almost like we're a D-2 school. Like, ohh yeah Illinois and Purdue are interested and so is ECU, ohh yeah and then there are those MAC schools like Akron. I dunno, just rubbed me the wrong way I guess.

I've got serious questions about whether our coaching staff as it stands now should be around much longer, but I have to say, I HATE this idea that somehow number of wins is determinative of JD and his staff keeping their jobs. For me, I'm as much concerned about seeing things being corrected. Learning from mistakes. I wanna see our entire recruiting class take the field for practice over the summer. I wanna see a drastic decrease in players being benched and suspended for undisclosed reasons. I wanna see in game adjustments. I wanna see our team consistently have success against mobile QB's. I wanna see less penalties. Take care of some of that stuff and the wins will come.

The wishbone offense discussion comes from a sarcastic remark that I made in my above post that is based off of my utter disdain for out of date and/or gimmick offensive or defensive schemes.

What? A 4-2-5? What the heck is going on with our coordinators anymore. I'm getting really tired of these stupid gimmick schemes. On both sides of the ball. Pretty soon we'll start bringing back the wishbone offense.

I'm looking forward to Hitchens suiting up, but I've got to say, I'm worried about the numbers I keep seeing from him from the charity stripe. 3-7 in this KY/Ohio All-Star game and I know he missed some FT's late in the State Championship game. I seem to remember the announcers in that game saying he was somewhere in the low 60% range on the season shooting FT's. With all the trouble we've had over the last couple season with missed FT's this worries me. That said, Humpty is EXACTLY the kind of pointguard we need. Quick, confident, can create his own shot or set up others and the kid has straight icewater running through his veins. The last few seconds of that State Championship game were a thing of beauty. Every time I see the game listed on STO I try to watch it again.

I'm confused. The first link says he is 6'2". The second one claims he's 6'4". Whats the deal here? Either way, to lead his team in rebounding from that height when the second article suggests they had a lot more height on the team. Thats kind of impressive.

I agree that he's well spoken. He is, after all, a university president. My point is that for some 17 year old 30 ACT kid, there's no impact or connection in listening to Dr. P run down a couple of points of pride in a 30 second spot, regardless of any cool graphics that are utilized. Those Michigan and Ohio State spots that I mentioned above really drive home a message--come here and be something special! And they do it in very creative ways. What can Akron do to reach through the tv and grab the attention of some honors student who might not think of considering Akron and get him to take the next step and check out the university's website or wikipedia article or ask his counselor about the school.Who is our most famous alumnus? Who is our most prominent faculty member? These are things that should be highlighted. Now, I don't know if the current commercials are the result of Dr. P's ego or the result of the producers' lack of imagination. Just saying, we could do better.I think it's a little unrealistic to think that ANY 30 second spot is going to grab the attention of a 17 year old w/ a 30 on the ACT. The best spot in the country may only do enough for the kid to go online later and look up a little bit of information on the school. Which brings me to another point. Our website is a total joke. The mainpage hasn't changed other than the picture on the side in the 6 years since I was a 17 year old looking at colleges. The site is not user friendly by any means. Information is strewn about with no real logic or order and a lot of it is insufficient to describe what it is that someone is looking for. Above any other advertising campaign we might be able to do. Getting the University website at least on par with what a good site should look like would do wonders for this institution.

Personally I've yet to see a commercial for a College or University that doesn't suck. They are all pretty much the same in my experience. Step one, have some narrator talk about all the great things the university has to offer. Step two, show some nice buildings and happy students. Optional step three show some of the more famous alumni. Step four repeat goofy catch slogan and beg people to come to school here. It's the same thing from every college and university from the big time BCS schools right down to the University of Phoenix Online.As for other advertising opportunities, well we definitley leave some to be desired there. It aggravates the hell out of me going down Market and seeing billboards for BG or seeing buses lined with Can't state logo's. Part of the problem is that in general the community just refuses to get behind this University. You aren't going to change that, at least not overnight. The other part of the problem is poor decision making in terms of where to allocate advertising dollars. I love the big "Roo Town" banner on the practice facility, but is that really helping us out more than a bunch of smaller billboards spread throughout NEOhio for the same amount of money would have? I think not. As far as LP taking the lead in some of the commercials, I have no problem with it. He's well spoken, passionate about the University and he doesn't look hideous on camera. I've seen and heard a lot worse from spokesmen.