Captain Kangaroo

My take from the JAR Section 2B - Parrish's reasons for leaving? He wasn't a Groce recruit, he was a Dambrot recruit. Sometimes you aren't simpatico with a new staff and philosophy He bought into a program that was a perennial 20 game winner. I'm sure the team he played on last season wasn't at the competitive level he envisioned when he originally signed. He wasn't all that keen on playing defense. He got better at the very end of the year, but performance on the defensive end seemed to rub the coach the wrong way. I liked Parrish, and I think he'll do well wherever he ends up. His departure is a shame because he's a baller who probably just needed to mature a bit. For him, I think the Zips loss will be someone else's gain. Patton - One of Groce's late recruits who had no other offers at the Zips level. He was the best player we could get under the circumstances. And from his standpoint we were the best Program to show an interest in him. Hustler. Good rebounder. Took defense seriously. Good role player. A garbage man under the hoop that otherwise has a really long way to go on the offensive side of the ball. I think the writing was on the wall that his playing time would be limited as the new guys gained eligibility. If he wanted minutes, and to develop his offensive game, he needed a fresh start elsewhere. On the influx of transfers - I think in Division 1 sports today, athletic directors and fans want to win NOW. They don't give a new staff 5 years to recruit freshman and build a program the traditional way. The post-Dambrot Zips program was heavily gutted by transfers & graduations . Thank God for BCS transfer Duvivier. BCS transfers are a way to become competitive quickly. Like Bowden in football, when you inherit a decimated team, you need to win some games to attract recruits. So you need some talented, mature, short term "mercenaries." Once you begin winning, the transfers dwindle. I think this Zips basketball staff has a good pulse on the transfer "waiver wire" and had brought in some solid talent. I'd expect they'll get out of the transfer business soon. Groce doesn't really have a reputation for building his program on transfers. It's just a necessity based upon the situation he inherited. Again - just my opinion from 2B.

Judging from that video, Easton Wolf can hit! Hope he decides on the Zips.

But, holding out for a Buckeye offer...

If Tyler Cheese ends up playing for Limburg United, I’ll be purchasing my first ever Belgian League player’s jersey.

In addition to his photography, Dr.Z interviewed Coach Stroud after the spring game. Here's the resulting article. 2018 Brings Depth to the Zips Front Seven

A Raider blogger takes a look at Warren Ball

Why NOT?

Caleb Green should get some carries? The converted DB looked pretty natural at the RB position a couple weeks ago.

Tanner Curry Article BTW - when speaking to Bowden a few weeks ago he mentioned a West Virginia transfer (not Maverick) would also be in the mix for the long snapper position. I didn't write down the name...I'll remember at some point.

He needed his own thread.

This guy thinks Eastern Michigan has the toughest MAC OOC schedule? So NIU, or ours is easier?

We could play Arkansas Pine Bluff, Urbana, Malone and Binghamton if 4-0 were worth anything besides being the MAC November Champs.

Based upon our 2018 recruiting class, I'm not worried at all about 2019's. I might be worried about our defense in 2019...but not the recruiting class.

If programs like Colorado and Rutgers are still picking up meaningful players as of yesterday, I'm pretty confident Akron's remaining scholarships will be used on decent talent too.

Reinke played quite a bit yesterday, so I don't think Sampson has supplanted him. It was interesting to look at the defense yesterday and see that, at times, it was the exact same players at each position as last season. That continuity and experience has to pay big dividends for the Zips this year. Jean-Baptiste saw time at both tackle and end. He seemed to get in the backfield a lot. Worst case, he'll be a seamless replacement for Camera. But he appears to have the size and skills to do more. I didn't notice McGriff. I don't think he played? Wooldridge saw some time. Stewart saw a fair amount of snaps, but didn't make any noteworthy plays. The reinforcements I was thinking about were Brimage and Lewis/Scippio. Our thin WR situation opens the door for one or two of them to play this fall. Dixon is another young WR that will be in the mix. I didn't notice him yesterday.

If anyone attended the scrimmage and wanted to share their thoughts, let's try it in this thread. Here's what I saw... The scrimmage began a little late, with the action starting a little after 9 am. Thankfully it was held indoors. Appropriately kicking things off was a session with the various kicking candidates who rotated attempts starting at roughly 30 yards, and extending out to 50. O'Leary and Gasser alternated, and then Fitschen and newcomer David Albert took turns. O'Leary looked strong. Gasser was short from 50. Fitschen is a lefty who's been around a while. Looks like he's got a really powerful leg. Albert hit one from 50. I don't know what that all will mean come September, but those are the names presently in the kicking battle. Kato and Alex Ramart split virtually all the QB snaps. Drew Hodgson saw very limited action. They wore red jersey's, so they couldn't be hit. The offense/defense portion of the scrimmage began with the offense basically at the 20 yard line, running 8(?) plays each, and then moving back to the 20 and re-starting with the other QB. The 2nd half of the scrimmage was devoted to red zone plays, again alternating QB's. Zips fans should be pretty excited about their 2018 QB situation. Both Nelson and Ramart looked eminently capable of running the offense. As expected, there were a lot of designed running plays with Kato. Ramart, while not the runner, acquitted himself well when he had to use his feet. Said Bowden after the scrimmage, "As much as we're excited about Kato, we haven't really talked about how excited we are about Ramart. He's 6' 3", 215 pounds and in addition to his passing, he runs the ball well. He's not a typical "Louisville type" running QB, but he's big and strong. I liken him to that Florida Atlantic QB (Jake Driskel). A smart runner with good size that drives you crazy if you don't account for him. It's exciting to have two guys who have now been with our program a little while, that can play the game like Kato and Alex." Both Ramart and Nelson showcased strong arms. Ramart threw a nice deep ball the MTB on his first possession that would have been on the money, had Traylor-Bennett not been held. He later had a deep one to Kwad that was dropped. Kato's best deep toss of the day resulted in a 30+ yard grab by Andre Williams. Williams took a big stem forward in solidifying a starting position. He showed sure hands, and looked comfortable catching balls along the sidelines and in the slot. He's also very elusive after the catch. Said Bowden, "We saw as a back up last season that Dre was going to be something special." Ramart threw the only INT of the day. Under pressure, he tossed a ball into traffic that was picked by Bubba Arslanian. A name to watch on the defensive side of the ball is Andy Jean-Baptiste. The 6' 5", 267 pound JUCO transfer looks like he'll make an impact in 2018. Dylan Meeks saw some time at defensive end. Jamal Davis had an active day. Said Bowden, "He's still learning to play with his hand down, but he's got as much talent as anyone on our team. He could've had two or three sacks today if the quarterbacks weren't wearing those red shirts. Sampson on the other side, he's got some real ability too. We've just got to continue to grow them." When asked about the goals of this scrimmage, and the spring overall, Bowden said "I told our coaches I want to find the top eleven guys on offense and defense. and then we need to find those next eleven. We're evaluating the talent level of the team, and identifying which guys we can count on in the fall." Bowden also said it was a good time to experiment with some different looks on both sides of the ball. "We're trying a few different things ...just throwing some plays and formations up against the wall and seeing what sticks." One of those trials looked to be lining true freshman Keyondre White in the wildcat as the potential successor to 2017 short-yardage specialist Manny Morgan. On White, Bowden said "He's 233 pounds...we haven't had a runner like that for a while. He's got those big hips and he's tough to tackle. He's got a place here for sure." Bowden also mention he's following the track exploits of Devanier Floyd, "He's 220 pounds and ran a 10.9 the other day." Abe Alce also enters the picture this summer at 250 lbs, so the 2018 Zips will definitely have a different, more physical look in the backfield. There were only two scholarship running backs available today. Keyondre White and Van Edwards shared the load on the ground. Former DB Caleb Green got a few carries at RB too. He actually looked pretty good. ZipsNation medical specialist Dr. Z reports Deltron Sands is 75% healed, and will be ready to go for the fall. The Coach spoke in general terms about the scrimmage when he stated "We saw some guys today that made some plays...we didn't know those guys could do what they showed." But it was clear he was caught by surprise at the physicality of Maverick Wolfley's (West Virginia transfer) play from the H-back position. With Kobie Booker out for a family commitment, and Newman Williams out with a meniscus issue, Wolfley took the opportunity for extended playing time to steal the early Saturday morning show and provide a rude awakening to multiple would-be tacklers. The biggest roar from the sidelines came when Wolfley steamed up the sideline and completely flattened a Zips CB. If you like hard-nosed, old school football you're going to love watching Maverick Wolfley play at InfoCision over the next four seasons. Another surprise was the play of former QB Nick Johns, who caught several mid-range passes (1 TD) from the H position. At 6' 3", 230 pounds he was a favorite target for both QB's today. Former Zips defensive coordinator (under Lee Owens) Joe Trecey was once again seen coaching along the sidelines? In addition to Akron, he's had stints as defensive coordinator at Cincinnati, UCLA, YSU and some other schools. Word on the street is he's not going to be the Zips DC, but will be a defensive position coach. Alvin Davis was a healthy scratch today. Jest is back and looks to be in better condition than his freshman season. So the overall takeaways from today's scrimmage? We have a deep, veteran defense. We're a little thin at WR, but reinforcements are coming. And MTB will shake off the rust at some point. We have two great young QB's. The depth at H-back might get the Zips playing some 3 WR + TE sets this year? Maverick Wolfley is a beast. We got out of the scrimmage healthy. Apologies if there are any errors above. The scrimmage was very fast-paced, with no time outs. The seating in the Stile Center is very low, and it's tough to see the action when it's far away. It was tough to keep up at times.

Here too! At 8:30 am the team has a lot more energy than me.

Would Ivey stick around if there wasn't a strong probability of success next season? Or, if he didn't have confidence in Groce? I'm with Jimmond. I think we'll be much more talented and deeper next year, and by season's end we'll be in the hunt for a finals appearance.

I would contend that, just because Hipsher and Crawford didn't win, KD shouldn't be considered our "ceiling." KD was a good guy. Very good MAC recruiter. Good MAC coach. And in the MAC, being somewhere between good and very good will get you in the Championship game more often than not. Just look at all the crappy coaches with full scholarship benches that couldn't beat the crippled Zips this year...it doesn't take John Wooden to get to the MAC Championship game. Huggins won at Akron in the 80's. His body of work then, and beyond shows he was the best Zips coach in the JAR-era. His tenure was short (5 years) but the guy has won big-time wherever he's gone. Against the best-of-the-best competition. Any AD would take Hug over Dambrot. The oft-maligned Hipsher had some good years too. But unlike Dambrot, the MAC during Hipsher's tenure was brutal. Bonzi Wells, Gary Trent, Brandon Hunter, Wally Sczerbiak, Tamar Slay, Antonio Daniels, Theron Smith ...the MAC was pumping out some NBA talent back then.

Senderoff wants the field of 68 expanded

Akron - The Rodney Dangerfield of the MAC #DefendingEastChamps

Bizarre rationale for leaving your team? Seems more like he was searching for an excuse. He just wants a bigger stage to showcase himself for the NFL draft. All the better for the Zips. He's a good player.

Capacity-wise, the JAR is fine. It's just an bush-league facility. Bad sight lines, and high school gym seating. No loges. No beer sales. At $60 per season ticket, it's worth it as-is. But before I die it is my dream to sit in a revamped JAR, in a soft-cushion seat that angles towards mid-court, with a beer, watching the Zips. I think I paid $200/seat this year? I'd pay $500/seat in the re-vamped arena.

Faust is BACK!

Scott Cross' most-recent 3 seasons: 2015-16 24-11 (.686) 13-7 3rd (SBC) 2016-17 27-9 (.750) 14-4 1st (SBC) 2017-18 21-13 (.618) 10-8 4th (SBC) I don't see how they fire the guy? Perennial 20-game winner, UTA Alum...wife is a UTA alum.