Captain Kangaroo

Thanks for taking the time to post the video and info. With the exception of one or two people, everyone appreciates it.

To each his own. To the basketball junkie, beating UTEP carries some weight due to their place in basketball history. They play in their own 12,500 seat arena, and have a former NBA guy as their coach. I stand and by my audacious statement that it would have been nicer to have beaten UTEP than UMES.

Nice win again by the Zips tonight. Not a program-defining monster tournament win, but with the cards they were dealt, they got 2 W's on UTEP's court. The 2nd of which was without our starting point guard (would you have given your left nut for this guard depth after Five Pound Friday?). Awesome to see Antino get an MVP trophy in his home state. Bet he didn't expect something like that when he committed to Akron? Hopefully the minutes and experience gained by "Bruiser" Hughes and TDM pay some dividends in MAC play. Of the non-starters, they are the ones making the most of their minutes. Aaron Jackson has also done a nice job. I love this team's chances against anyone in the MAC. As long as Kwan and Big Dog stay out of foul trouble. And as as a side note - as crappy as UTEP is this season, it would have been nice to see the Zips waxing them on the ESPN ticker tonight. Kind of like if we'd have beaten that team masquerading as Ohio State in the NIT last season. It's nice to beat a "name" regardless of their existing state. Go KD! Beat BG and overtake RB! Safe travels Zips, and we'll see you in 2017!

Boy UTEP must suck. Bring on Maryland...Eastern Shore. Nice win by the Zips tonight. Any win 1,000+ miles from home is a good one.

We wouldn't. But YSU wants a home-home, 2-year contract. And MAC schools won't play @ YSU. So - we won't play YSU. If YSU wants to play the Zips, they should move to 1-A. Problem solved.

By conference rule, MAC schools are prevented from playing away games at 1-AA stadiums. Akron last played YSU when the Zips were an independent. Or prior to when the rule was enacted. I forget which. FWIW - Kent also hasn't played @ YSU for around 20 years.

Paraphrasing an old philosophical thought - "If a ticket is available on-line, and no one wants it, does it make a sale?" Other than the Kent game, no one wants to buy extra Zips tickets.

When the Zips played West Virginia a few years ago, at the beginning of the game the Mountaineer announcer got on the PA and told everyone they were free to move anywhere they wanted. I had a great view of that debacle. I think Abreu was suspended.

I guess I would have to ask the question - what would make anyone think the Zips football program would have the success that YSU, or NDSU, or App State or Georgia Southern or Marshall enjoyed during their 1-AA hey days? Based upon what I've seen over the past 30 years...a pretty relevant statistical sampling period... I'll guess the Zips would have been nothing more than minor playoff contenders, with more losing records than winning ones. At the 1-AA level: YSU had Tressel, who won multiple championships. We had Dennison...who was a decent coach. YSU's losing began when Tressel left. And mysteriously kicked back in when he returned (yeah, he's not the HC, but that's irrelevant). A better, more realistic question regarding the fate of UA in general and its football program would be - what if we'd hired Tressel instead of Scarborough? Tressel seems to know what it takes to win football games. And YSU's overall prospects are also trending upward since he became President. Akron blew it every which way possible when it let Tressel walk. UA had the the cure to cancer in their back pocket, and flushed it down the toilet.

Looks like a great fit for a team that loves to throw the deep ball? Sign him up!

Even if we get a big center, we'll be incredibly small next year. If no big is available, hopefully we can find a Jeremiah Wood-type power forward that can rebound like a center.

Because they won't come to Akron to play, and MAC programs don't play away games against 1-AA opponents.

Illinois offered Kato on January 8th 2016. So does that mean they were settling for him? Recruiting ends in February. I'm not panicking in mid-December. Hell... half the HS QB's "committed" in December will probably flip come February. Scads of 5th year transfers out there too.

Hopefully Steve McNees got some revenge and dunked on someone.

Penny makes her debut on ZipsNation

In honor of playing Marshall this week, please add a photo of your favorite "Marshall", like:

If it happened, you'd have to believe it would be held in Cleveland. No way Gonzaga plays in the JAR. Maybe Gonzaga Pine Bluff or West Gonzaga State would, but not Gonzaga.

In 8 seasons he's gone from Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders to Head Coach @ Florida Atlantic. He may be at Mogadore by 2024?

Pretty cool stuff. I think every Zips fan that posts on this board has differing opinions on coaches, players, marketing, conferences, scheduling... but everyone is united in their common dream to see that level of student/fan enthusiasm for Akron's athletic programs.

Meh...we have the same thing at Akron. Ok, instead of tents it's cardboard boxes...and instead of students it's the homeless...but other than that, we got it. I like the Zags Marketing angle of placing a couple cute girls in tents to draw male students to the games. I bet that would work in Akron too.

The keys to. Zips win are: Big Dog stays out of foul trouble. We need him to play 30 minutes. Big Dog can't play more than 30 minutes against this level of competition. If he does he'll relive the Ohio State game, where he was completely gassed and missed his last 76 free throws. We we need the Kwan that hits 6-9 on threes, and not the Kwan that hits 1-11 threes. He needs to have a big night. Can Big Mike, Ace and O-Poke give our bigs a rest by playing some quality minutes? Our guards will be fine. They're deep and battle-tested. Antino always lays tough in big games. Our bigs need to show up tonight.

The Zips have a bit of a track record beating the tripe of the PAC-12, including USC and Oregon State in recent years. After watching the Washington/Gonzaga game...we'd beat the Huskies too. Man are they bad.

Can't wait to see Big Dog battle this guy.

I'd kill for a RB that has good vision. We really lack one.

KD has got to find some PT for this kid. When I first saw him I thought, "Kid seems like a really raw Ibitayo? Maybe, in 2-3 years, he can grow into a serviceable player if he puts on some weight and works hard." Upon further review - he reminds me a lot of Marcel Boyce. Boyce was the last Zip ever drafted by the NBA (back when there was a 6th round). He was rail-thin, but could jump out of the gym, block shots... he was a great help defender. He was also a dangerous 3-point shooter. Obviously, Boyce's offensive side has no correlation to Olojakpoke. But just as Boyce relentlessly swatted balls back in the faces of future NBA players like Charles Smith and Roy Tarpley, 'poke's combination of athleticism, energy and anticipation is gonna do the same for the Zips over the next 3.8 seasons. Defensively, the kid is a "Freshman Boyce." Olojakpoke's hops are awesome, his help defense and shot-blocking is way better than the next best Zips' historical comparison - Quade Milum. He hustles...did anyone see the block he had last night where the loose ball was kicked-out to the right elbow ...and Olojakpoke sprinted instantly to the elbow and smothered the ball handler? The kid has biceps the diameter of pixie stix, but in limited action he's displayed unbelievably soft, strong hands around the rim. We have a glut of 3-point marksman on our roster. We need someone to play "garbage man," play defense and clean the glass. This kid..."Marcel Boyce Lite"..."Louis Orr Jr."..."Baby Rodman"...whatever you want to call him...he looks like a offensive project. But defensively...rebounding-wise...he's way ahead of where Ibitayo or any similar player was at this time. I look forward to seeing him develop, and seeing how KD utilizes him from here-on-out in 2016/17. He's gonna be a electric difference-maker!