Let'sGoZips94

Jim Tressel promised the committee free tattoos for this to happen.

The cost is $27,500, to be exact, and I don't know what additional expenses there are. I agree recruiting is where the money would be better spent, assuming we find shooters. Still disappointing we aren't getting the younger core more experience.

Having followed these teams from a betting standpoint since January, this is a solid non-P5 field. San Jose State has the MW Player of the Year. Southern Utah and Southern Indiana can score with the best of them. Indiana State, Cleveland State, and Tarleton would be excellent competition. And let's be honest, we'd all love a shot at Duquesne.

CBI field is full of teams that would've given our younger players worthwhile experience. Would be interesting to hear the reasoning...

Mr. Coach of the Year only preached one side of the ball all season and it bit them in the butt hard with their inability to execute defensively when it mattered in the title game. Shocking. Kowalchoke loves those NIT banners and participation trophies. Legitimately can say I would not like Carry in an Akron uniform. I'd maybe tolerhate him, but that's about it. Part of what we hail about Groce's Akron squads is the character level and how the young men that wear the Akron Blue & Gold conduct themselves. Akron's pep band wear polos & khakis, while PCCC's pep band wear wrinkled t-shirts. Akron players typically carry themselves well, while PCCC's players are punks that look for the camera constantly. 14 miles separates the two schools, but the contrasting differences are way further apart.

Tribble was in the gym and worked HARD. MANY videos posted by him daily in the gym. That's not the issue. It's strictly a mechanics issue that is too engrained in muscle memory, and that's ok. We don't need him to be a shooter. He just needs to continue to work on his handles (which are more than adequate), finishing at the rim, defense, and passing. He's not a hinderance on offense when we have 2-3 other players on the floor that can shoot. Freeman, Tribble, and 2-3 guys who can shoot is perfect.

Here is the marketplace. https://opendorse.com/akron-zips?athlete_page=2 As far as commercials/ads, I don't know where that information can be found. I know I've seen X and Freeman in at least one each. The NIL money most talked about are the P5s when they get involved with a car dealership or something that pays hundreds of thousands if not more. It's basically a salary for playing (insert sport but mostly football) at (insert school here but mostly P5). What will throw a wrench into this for athletes is if the stars like Jaxon Smith-Njigba continue to collect massive amounts of money and not play. Otherwise, the key with NIL was opening up the opportunity for these young adults to earn an income on the side - i.e. YouTube revenue, merchandise/clothing, cameos, etc. That's what was broken about the NCAA system. These kids were unable to earn any sort of side income. Take a look at Linguard's profile on that marketplace linked above. Coming from Florida, they probably gave him the masterclass on how to maximize the financial opportunity. $170 for a sales pitch, for example. Good for him, and good for these young adults.

If they can find a group as pathetic, classless, and douchey as this current group of Lightning Chickens, props to them.

Enrique has at least one NIL deal. I forget what he advertises for. X as well.

Toledo against Dayton last year. And this was only because Dayton's arena was being used for the "play in" round of the Dance.

Anybody know if there are any NIL possibilities for Freeman that would maybe sway him to stay if he's thinking about leaving?

Part of his recruitment was LCJ. I don't see a guy of similar stature leaving when he has seen his build thrive under Groce.

Courtesy of our favorite Illinois import, @Illini Zip. Personally, I think one or both of Kobe Mitchell and Garvin Clarke are transfer candidates. Prather, Tavari, Nate, Dawson, and Tribble are a formidable backcourt. I would expect Groce to find another veteran PG to bring in via the Portal, should a spot open up. As it currently stands, this is our front court (*AS LONG AS FREEMAN RETURNS*)... Enrique Freeman - 6'7" SR (one of the best Forwards in the country) Sammy Hunter - 6'9" JR (stretch 4) Amani Lyles - 6'7" SO (raw but showed promise; plays bigger than 6'7") Prince Mosengo - 6'8" RFR (I think a stretch-style forward?) Darrion Baker - 6'7" FR (McDonalds All American nominee; from the highlights, can do a little bit of everything) Marvin Musiime-Kamali - 6'6" (I think a stretch-style forward?) Our front court is quite deep and versatile looking at the above. I wouldn't put it past Sammy to develop into a better complimentary piece to Freeman in the post (stronger, better rebounder, etc.). Same with Amani Lyles. I'm not entirely sure a 7 footer is needed. I watch what Groce and his staff have done with Freeman's development, and it's fascinating. They've taken an undersized big, and equipped him with an arsenal of quick moves in the paint to get around bigs. It's a total mismatch against 99% of the bigs we face. The same thing can be done with the rest of the front court. This team was missing shooters more so than a big man IMO. I also look at Groce's OU teams, and I think the tallest player was 6'9". The difference: they had Cooper, Kellogg, Keely, etc. - legitimate threats from the perimeter and basically anywhere on the floor. We needed that. Hankerson, being advertised as a 3 & D guy, often lacked the 3 part. Dawson never played because of the injury. Tribble just is what he is offensively (he's an awesome Zip, and one of the heartbeats of the squad). The rest of our guards were liabilities this year. If we had one more shooter, we win last Friday, we win last night, and we'd be playing tonight. Interested to see if we accept an invite to a postseason tournament to get the young nucleus on this team some more experience, and X some more tape for the pros (overseas; pro tip, X, file your taxes correctly). It is only appropriate to finish this post with a prayer. Let us pray... Dear Basketball Gods, May the winds blow in the direction of Freeman staying and playing one more year in the Akron Blue & Gold. May the offseason bring us a cold-blooded shooter, and may this team be blessed with health and strength development. And to avoid sounding greedy, I will not ask for Tribble to develop a jump shot. Amen.

Not surprising move by Buffalo. Also, go Toledo.

Debatable. I know the Zips are going to play hard, play D, and never give up. As long as the talent gap isn't too big, the system wins most nights. We'll see what this offseason brings, but in Groce I trust.

See my post above. Groce's criticism will get louder next year if the pieces aren't there. This year was a bit of a wash for me with the departures and Dawson injury.

What are the odds LeBron steps in quietly and makes this go away?

I don't think he's immune from criticism. I agree he needs to recruit better. However, he had 2 key pieces from last year's team suddenly leave, and our 3rd best player tore his Achilles prior to the season. Hard to retool on the fly like that. Now, the class with Nate Johnson and Kobe Mitchell looks quite underwhelming at the moment. That's a gap, but as the team was constructed to finish last year, Johnson and Mitchell weren't expected to have as big of roles as they did this year - at least not by need. I love this team. Heck, all of JG's teams are lovable. They're phenomenal to root for. They represent Akron as well as anyone ever has, if not better. They do need more talent, and I expect Groce and company to find that talent. I think your criticisms are fair, but there are also some uncontrollable circumstances that led to the open door for those criticisms.

Groce didn't have the horses this year. Missing a piece of 2. Bummer.

This needs to be back within 10 by the 8 minute mark, or it's ovaaaa... X needs to get his head out of his butt, Hankerson needs to make crisper passes, etc. It's a guard game and our guards are crapping the bed.

Hankerson has represented Akron well character wise, but I never want to see another transfer from a garbage MAC school again. They spend 4 years learning poor habits with minimal big game experience.

Again, Can't State has a half that goes their way, yet they're only up 4. The more disciplined, mentally strong team will win and that's Akron.

Don't give them any ideas; they're probably not above that.

Pathetic effort so far, especially defensively. 34 points with 6 minutes to go.

Need to start matching physicality. Then again, that would probably be a foul on us.