Captain Kangaroo

He could have been run off the team. Or, he could have been given a frank assessment of his basketball future at the MAC level (his PT last season would be similar the what's in store for him in 2017-18 @ UA) and been given the choice of staying or leaving. Nice kid. I wish him well.

Too bad his brother was a decent basketball player. Wish he played the tuba or something...

It really seems like mid-major basketball programs are becoming a minor-league system for the "majors." I blame the "Sports Management Degree." Before the "Sports Management" degree became en vogue, you'd annually be sweating-out a few key basketball or football player's grades/eligibility. Now, not only are the players grades fine, but they're graduating in four, and sometimes three years? What a paradigm shift... In football, the transfer rules seem to favor mid-majors, as the bulk of the grad transfers are P5 benchwarmers looking for an opportunity to see the field any way they can before it's too late. In basketball, the transfer situation is predominately reversed. Mid-majors are getting the shaft. Of course, only if you've recruited good players.

Is Brian Bell?

Ok Malcolm, we need ya! Whatcha waiting for?

I went to State College 3 times to see the Zips. I had a blast each time. Many fun on-campus bars. There was one that sold cases of Rolling Rock bottles...you bought your "box-o-rocks," and opened them yourself on an old-school wall-mounted opener that was strategically placed on a post next to each table. Man was I hungover the following morning...one of my all-time worst ones. We tailgated in a field that was like the Rubber Bowl lot, but 100X larger. You could set up tents...kettle deep fryer...friends could all park together...it was great. They gang-rape you for on-campus hotels at Penn State...and usually mandate a 2-night stay... but if you split it between a few couples or buddies, it's not so bad. Well worth the extra cost to stay on-campus and party there at night. I don't know if I'll go this year...but if I do, it'll be a good time.

Dylan Meeks video and info

Woodson aside, between Ramart, Nelson and Johns, we'd better have a starting QB for the next couple years, or someone really f'd up. If we have an open scholarship, we need a Coe, Grice, Marcus, Capi...etc. Hopefully not a QB.

Big Dog was dominant, and durable. He has as good a senior season as I've seen at UA. He was awesome.

Odd to hire a 68 year old softball coach as your new football coach. Was Wistercill somehow involved?

https://twitter.com/hashtag/HesterGotHops?src=hash

Long Beach State Transfers

If by "none of us expected..." you meant "I didn't expect...", then you'd be closer to correct.

Hudson's Ben Gedeon (Michigan) goes to the Vikings in round 4.

The one thing we'll probably never know is - how many were planning to leave had Dambrot stayed? I know the answer isn't "0."

Apparently he was unwelcome @ Duquesne?

It would be really risky, IMO. Sometimes you get Rodney Coe, and sometimes you get Jelani Hamilton... AD's don't give you 5 years to build a program now-a-days. If your program is at some level of being decimated (there are varying shades of decimation), then you go for the JUCO's & transfers. There's no alternative...3 bad/marginal years and you're gone. If you're a good HS recruiter at an established program, you should focus on the 4-year kid, while cherry-picking the one or two "non-traditional" kids that happen to fall in your lap every so often. On a scale of 1-to-10, KD's departure...,maybe not just the departure, but the last 2-or-so years of his tenure...rated a 6 on the Decimation Scale. Not only did he bail after the eligibility of the team's top 2 players expired, he also obviously had a large mix of either dissatisfied players (Noah, Antino, and I think you can lump Josh Williams in that group too), and ultra-loyal ones like Hughes and TDM. Misfires on kids like Agba and Gladden hurt too. It had been been a couple years since he recruited a "stud." I think Keith Dambrot saw the disenchantment... the graduation losses...and the lack of "impact" returning talent...and got the hell out of Dodge before "12 years of 21+ wins" turned into "14 years of 13+ wins." I really wonder how Joe Akron will evaluate Year #1 of the Groce Era. Will he be intelligent enough to realize Dambrot bailed on him when his program's stock was at it's low point? Can he deal with a Zips basketball team that might uncharacteristically struggle for a while? Was Joe an "Akron Fan," or a "Dambrot Fan?" I love the incumbent guys that have stuck with the Program. Bench guys like Utomi and Ivey have a fresh start and their chance to shine. I'm really intrigued to see what Groce and his staff can do to utilize Olijapoke's freakish athleticism. I look forward to seeing all the new faces taking the court @ the JAR. Dambrot's time had expired. I don't think an entrenched coach of 13 years could bring the program back from where it was when the 2016-17 season's dust ultimately settled. Keith Dambrot's departure was exactly what he wanted, and exactly what the Zips Basketball Program needed. Off we go! Go Zips!

Grad transfer Additional info This kid would be perfect for us. Hope he has a great visit.

I'm sure Groce knows about him from his time in Illinois. Physically, he looks like a drop-in replacement for Antino. #9-rated PG in Illinois is pretty impressive.

A Final Collins Note

Antino was a gritty player. Not afraid of the big stage. He was a spotty 3-point shooter who struggled to finish at the rim. His defense was marginal at best. Marginal assist guy too. Overall, and above-average MAC guard. But eminently replaceable. I look forward to using transferring his scholarship to a young, skilled player who wants to be a Zip.

Good for him. Making it out of Youngstown and ending up in South Florida is beyond Dorothy going to Oz.

He's late!

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