Captain Kangaroo

A nice post-season honor for him...

I think everyone has had their say, and we're waiting for the staff and roster to be filled-out. Meet and greet is over. Time for "real" Zips basketball news.

I take into account the quality of the education. You want a nice name on your diploma. To each his own.

The University of Akron.

I could pass up getting my @ss whipped for a full season in the SEC. LSU is pathetic. With Noah leaving (allegedly), the Zips are Antino's best option. He can be the starting PG for a full season. Groce's aggressive style fits Antino's strengths.

Groce is very well connected. If there are quality HS senior kids out there, he will get them. I don't see any chance that he panics and grabs a bunch of JUCO's an grad transfers just to fill a roster. If JUCO and grad transfer kids are the best available players then sure, sign them. But I'm not giving up on acquiring some impact 4-year kids too. Dambrot left Groce with a bit of a mess. But it's also a blessing that we won't have any malcontents on the roster. The players that stayed are all-in, and those that didn't want to be here will depart. That bodes well for team chemistry next season, and allows Groce to implement his system a little easier.

I want Robotham to stay. He's an outstanding kid, and outstanding representative of UA. Beyond that, he's a senior 4-year starter with upside. I still don't think we've seen Noah's best basketball. I think a guy like Groce will be a breath of fresh air for Noah and rejuvenate him.

MTSU may have figured it out.

Yes, and there were about 60 of them left over. They were delicious, as advertised! Brought one home for the kid. Loved it.

I think any comments on Dambrot's winning percentage are irrelevant - he left Akron. He's gone by his own choice. He didn't want to be here any more. We now have a coach that wants to be at Akron. So I like him.

I don't think any incumbent player that wants to stay with the team is not welcome to stay. I'm only referring to the kids who've expressed an interest in transferring, or graduating early. Groce is giving them, and their families, time take a step back and assess the situation before making a final decision.

Having been on the job for only 2 days, he was really just focused on the kids presently on campus. Once he gets a determination on their status, he'll know how many scholarships he's got to offer. I think things will become a lot clearer over the next week.

I stopped down at the EJ Thomas meet-and-greet last night. The downside was it was poorly attended. The upside was being able to spend a good amount of time talking to Groce. The guy barely knows where the JAR's located, so it wasn't really the time nor the place to ask who'll be the starting point guard next season, or who's going to round-out his staff. The conversation was "casual." He was very gracious with us. After talking to our group for an extended time period, Larry Williams had to pull him away to speak to some of the other attendees. I think he would have talked to us all night if Williams wouldn't have interjected. He said his #1 priority was getting to know the existing players, and trying to "recruit" them to stay with the Program. The signing day is April 12th, but he's giving the kids some extra time recover from the coaching changeover and make a well-thought-out decision...to an extent. He mentioned "three weeks" as the max time before he needed an answer. Based upon the tone of our conversation regarding Antino, there's a chance he sticks around once the emotions subside. He met with the team yesterday, and is meeting again with them today. I asked if he had any idea regarding the players abilities, and said he'd watched the Zips final two games in the MAC tourney. I assured him that the sparse turnout at EJ wasn't indicative of the Zips basketball following, and that we'd had 7,000 Zips fans at The Q only a couple weeks ago. He didn't seem concerned, as he knew of our respectable game day crowds from his time at OU. It was more of an event to make the guy and his family feel welcome. I think once the dust settles, he'll prove to be an approachable guy, The next 2 weeks will be fun...certainly the most intriguing basketball recruiting period since Zeke's. And the coaching staff formation will be fun to keep tabs on as well. It was fun to catch up with a couple other ZipsNation members that I had't spoken to in a while. And the University put out a really nice spread of food. Although it was a cold, crappy Thursday night I had a good time, and left with the feeling that our Basketball Program is in better shape than it was had Keith Dambrot stuck around for another season.

Is TDM sweating a little bit?

I'm dubious it was a good 10 minutes...

Antino's slightly more "committed" than TDM.

"Dambrot left Akron to be the head coach at Duquesne. He had been the head coach at Akron from 2004 to 2017 and an assistant with the Zips since 2001." No wonder Dambrot made so much money...he held two positions!

I hope we don't need to poach Robert Morris' recruits. That would be a bad sign.

If you asked me how many NCAA Tournament games Dambrot would have won if he coached at Akron another 13 years...I'd say 0.

Winning championships in any league with a relatively equal playing field is tough. MAC programs have an equivalent budget, talent pool, etc. And Dambrot was always at, or near the top of the MAC. He's a good coach. No one can deny it. But Groce is a different guy with different strengths. And those strengths have translated to consistent post season successes. That is something that eluded Keith Dambrot for 12 years. I will trade a MAC regular season championship for a 3rd place regular season finish and a nice post-season tourney run any day of the week.

I think you also felt Rick McFadden should be the next Zips coach? Compare McFadden's resume to Groce's. McFadden - Akron assistant. Groce - Butler, NC State, Ohio State assistant. Head coach - Ohio and Illinois. In the 5 years Groce made the post-season (not including this season, where an interim coach finished the NIT), he's won at least one tournament game 4 times. Had he coached in the NIT this year, it would have been 5-out-of-6 seasons that he not only made the post-season, but advanced beyond the first round. MAC regular season titles are for Dambrot. Groce has consistently won where Dambrot rarely did...in the post season. I love the Lolla/Porter parallel drawn by MDZip. I think the Zips upgraded with Groce.

I think one can spin the numbers to suit whatever side of the fence they'd like. I see a lot of people harping on Groce's 2011-12 3rd place finish in the MAC East. But they ignore the fact that he won 29 games that season. Dambrot won 22. People say OU got lucky, winning the MAC tourney when the Zips missed an open 15-footer. But they ignore the 2009 NCAA-qualifying Zips, who were bailed out by Brett McKnight's miracle save & toss to Humpty for a buzzer-beating three that saved Dambrot from losing to the #12 seed Toledo in the opening round. See what you want, I guess.

Seems to have a connection to Robert Morris? Maybe Josh Williams hasn't played his last game at the JAR?

Someone posted a comparison of Groce and Dambrot's 2009-10 thru 2011-12 records. Dambrot had a slight edge in overall wins. Groce had a "blow-Dambrot-out-of-the-water," landslide edge in post season success. It was also surmised that Dambrot's overall win total advantage may have been bolstered by a comparatively weak OOC schedule. Someone once called Dan Hipsher "Bobby Knight, without the wins." Groce could be "Keith Dambrot, WITH the wins"? Only those pesky post-season wins of course.

I recall when Huggins left for Cincinnati, he recommended Anthony Buford stay at Akron. Buford may have been the best basketball player in Akron history, so it was admirable that Huggs didn't try to poach him. Buford stayed for his Junior season, and then transferred to Cincinnati for his Senior year, where he was the starting 2-guard on their Final Four team. Different era I guess...