GJGood

I am more excited for '18-'19 since all these transfers cannot play for the Zips until then.

.. I agree that the name CAN make a significant difference but is a degree from LSU really more presigious than one from Akron in most fields? I'd say it depends on the course of study and then what region of the country you are in.

I believe one of our NIT appearances came when we did not win the MAC regular season. I could be wrong but I seem to remember finishing as runner-up in both the regular season and in Cleveland but getting an NIT at large bid one year. Maybe it was before the NIT had auto bids though?

I admit with an NCAA or bust mentality it didn't and doesn't get us much. I do think getting an auto bid to the NIT is still a positive thing for mid majors in one bid leagues though. It clearly isn't the tournament we want to be playing in but its not a terrible consolation prize that should still provide quality competition and something to play for. Getting the 1 seed in the MAC at least guarantees we play in a tournament above the "better than not playing" CBI or CiT. I lnow it may not mean that much to some but I have enjoyed watching Akron beat Houston, Temple, and Florida State in the past. I wish it was in the NCAA but I still enjoy seeing the Zips defeat programs like those and the NIT bid earned by being the 1 seed in the MAC can provide those opportunities.

Is there a second group that may be ranked slightly below this? I just have trouble seeing guys leaving Duke and Kansas being willing to come to Akron and the MAC unless it would be a homecoming or something like that.

I do want him to feel some pressure to keep the 21-win streak going. We play 18 MAC regular season games and then would need to win three in Cleveland. You can go 21-0 playing just MAC schools and I'd love to see that happen. I get your point though. You want to see a tougher out of conference schedule. I want that too, just not by playing a gauntlet of top 10 teams or college basketball bluebloods so that we can get pummeled repeatedly. To me two or so of those types of teams is fine coupled with a middle of the pack big name conference school in there as well. I just never understood why when we're playing the conferences we usually see at home in the non-conference are the teams that we play the ones near the bottom of those conferences. Instead of playing a 8-24 MEAC team Coppin State why not play 25-9 MEAC team NC Central? I know its hard to get quality teams to come to Akron but is it that much harder to get NC Central to the JAR than it is Coppin State? if you are going to schedule teams from really weak conferences at least schedule teams near the top of those conferences when possible. That and we need to seek programs similar to our own for home and home series. I'd love to see us get a deal done with Belmont, Vermont, or Florida Gulf Coast. Also, the MAC needs to follow the trend of the "big boys" and get an annual conference challenge set up with another conference or round robin between conferences.

We all want a Mark Few or even Homer Drew with respect to willingness to stay with their "small school" but guys like that seem to make up only 1% to 2% of coaches outside the biggest 5-7 conferences. We came pretty close to that with KD. Given the odds it is probably not in the cards for us to be able to keep a highly successful coach around for a long time again in the next few hiring cycles. I hate that it is like that. I'd love to see it change but that is the current reality.

Any comment yet from Steve French?

I always am interested to see what early season neutral floor tournaments we can get into. I am not sure how much say the HC has in picking those. I know he can probably decline but how much politicking is done to get an invite?

An excellent recruiter who will be willing to dig deep to find the talent that fits his scheme A guy who has shown the ability not only to bring in talent but to develop that talent and have his players improve during their college careers Connected, as in somebody who has the connections necessary to hire the best like-minded staff necessary Ability to think outside the box and adapt to whatever may happen This list is why I like Steele and Stewart. I don't know much about McDevitt, Ja. Christian, Loyer or most of the other potential candidates other than what I have read here.

Why do I remember that as being in the Jim Christian regime for them? You may very well be correct as my memory of the timeline of some of the incidents may be a bit foggy.

I have not heard many opinions or talk on here about Travis Steele or Billy Donlon. I have always heard good things about both in the past and I know they are in that group of names that always seem to come up with each head coaching vacancy in the region. Any thoughts on these guys?

From what I have heard about Boals I don't know that he would be willing to leave just one year after becoming the head man somewhere. I think he may leave once the Stony Brook program is more established but not sure if he would go just 12 months in.

I want a guy who gets us to the next level and then realizes once we are there that we can continue to grow and that most potential moves become lateral or so close to it that it may not be worth uprooting everything. I know that is a pipe dream for a mid-major but I do think it is the ideal. That being said in a normal scenario we are nowhere near being in position to keep a successful guy for over a decade like we just did. The only hope of anyone coming in and challenging Dambrot's longevity and/or wins record would have to be an alum of the school that never wanted to leave or someone who views the Akron area as home and doesn't want to move away.

Fair enough

Not sure if the name has been mentioned here yet or not. Anthony Stewart current head coach at UT-Martin was an assistant at Ohio just a few years ago so he knows the MAC and the reputation of the Akron program. The Skyhawks have been near the top of the Ohio Valley Conference the last couple years.

I know I have heard a lot of good things about Travis Steele (Xavier) and Billy Donlon (Michigan), but would either be interested in taking over a top MAC program?

What about Travis Steele, Associate Head Coach under Chris Mack at Xavier?

This year the Zips were a 7 seed in the NIT, last year they were a 6 seed in the NIT. Looking at both brackets I see that we are not the only team that can make that exact claim. Belmont was the same seed both years as well. Maybe they should be high on our list of schools to pursue a home and home series with.

I always saw Hipsher as an average head coach. The program was better with him than it was with Crawford so I wouldn't necessarily lump those two guys together. To reference it in football terms I saw Crawford as Ianello-ish (although no one is truly as bad as RI) while Hipsher was more of a Lee Owens. Hopefully terry Bowden's program can get to the level of KD's at some point.

I think the MAC should try to initiate a conference challenge or two. Having a MAC vs. CAA or Sun Belt, or a round robin with multiple MAC-like conferences involved could be beneficial for all.

The Mavericks point guard looks like he may be one of the best we have played all season. He isn't immune to turnovers though. If we control the game inside and keep Neal from having a second straight great performance we will have an excellent shot at this one. I"ll probably be yelling "play some D" at my TV yet again for this one.

I seem to remember watching streaming video of a game once from NJIT and not believing that could be a home venue in D-1.

I'd be right there with you on the cheering habits if we played in a power conference. In those logically speaking you should probably want things not to go too well for your conference teams. In those power leagues if you do well you will reap rewards no matter the level of your conference rivals but you don't want them too good or it can hurt your own recruiting. For a mid-major, especially a perennial one bid but yet still truly mid- and not low-major, I think others in your conference doing well out of conference or making postseason runs is needed just to provide more validation to your own success when you have it. I generally will cheer for an Ohio, Buffalo, Miami, WMU, etc... when they make the Big Dance even if I am pained that it is not the Zips. I did, however, purposely leave a certain team that represents the MAC in the NCAA this year off of that list. An arch rival is an arch rival and we certainly don't need them getting more of a recruiting boost in our local area.

Hoping for a good solid game, especially for the seniors. It will be a tall order tonight. Just win and keep on playing! Its not like I can turn my attention to Akron baseball like I used to.