Let'sGoZips94

I think it's the eye test for me. The quality of basketball in the MAC isn't very strong this year (heck, college basketball in general is harder to watch than usual). I don't look at Buffalo like I did a few years ago - capable of consistently beating teams outside of the Top 10. Toledo and OU aren't on that level either. The bottom of the MAC is as bad as I can ever remember, too.

The free throw shooting from that team... They were destined... They were the Chosen Ones... 😭

I didn't know where to post this, but this is somewhat of a "where do I expect Akron to be" thread... Caris LaVert just got traded to the Cavaliers. The 6'6" Columbus, OH, product will be a home-team player in Ohio for what was almost the 3rd time in his career. I say almost, because he signed his NLI to play for Groce's OU team before decommitting when Groce left for Illinois. Groce, at OU, had 3 NCAA tournament wins in 4 seasons. Following the 3rd win (which resulted in a trip to the Sweet Sixteen), Groce was hired by Illinois. That Sweet Sixteen team returned in 2012-13, and was poised to add Mr. LaVert to that already-successful squad. When he was hired away, I told my dad, "Thank goodness. Groce was about to build a dynasty at OU." COVID killed the quick momentum Groce had rebuilt at Akron. We were poised to make a run in the 2020 NCAA tournament (assuming we would've won the MAC tourney) with that incredible squad led by LCJ, Cheese, Banks, and X1.0. We had the guard last season in LCJ, but lost the supporting pieces (I'm assuming COVID put a damper on the recruiting process as well). Now we have some nice pieces, but are young and lack that killer guard. I think this upcoming recruiting class fixes that issue, and we'll have this same team for a couple years because of the COVID eligibility rules. Given this information and what we're seeing this season, "progress" to me looks like getting back to what we were building with the 2019-2020 team, which was similar to what Groce had built with his DJ Cooper-led squad at OU. That squad was able to land a commitment from a player of Caris LaVert's caliber. I want to see that here (plus the NCAA Tourney wins).

EDIT: I just realized I put this in a football thread. I apologize. There was a "Progress" thread I thought for basketball, and when I searched for it, this came up. Thought it was the basketball one. I was wondering why Moorhead was mentioned in a basketball thread, but figured it had something to do with overall success for the University. Whoops. Post has been moved to a basketball thread. Happy Monday. (Insert vintage tomato hitting face emoji)

This. I actually like the JAR from an atmosphere standpoint. The low ceilings and closer crowd create a LOUD environment when the JAR is hopping. The upper level seats on the sidelines could easily be brought in, connecting them with the lower level seats. I'd be interested to see how they bring the endzone seats closer in the upper level. One of the even bigger questions is how do they work around the support columns in the corners? Is it as simple as not including corner seating? Can the support be re-engineered? Ditching the awful bench seating in the upper level would certainly reduce capacity from 5500. However, how many of those seats can be regained with connecting both levels, especially in the endzones and maybe corners? Can we get to 6-6.5k with the JAR's footprint? I'd love to talk to a stadium engineer to see what they think is possible. Keeping the JAR means the city loses out on some events, similar to what Canton is able to host. But that's the city's problem. Long story short - I like the JAR for a college atmosphere. Just make it better (if possible).

A new arena could happen if football turns around (both performance and attendance). Until then, I'm with @1981 grad - I don't see it happening. COVID killed college basketball as a whole, especially Akron & the MAC.

Expanding on @NWAkron, Miami used to have a strong, consistent basketball program under the late, great Charlie Coles. He was always on the sidelines wearing a red sweater. But the sweaters didn't stop there. They were a staple in Cleveland for the MAC tournament, as it was a sea of red sweaters worn by older Miami fans during Miami's inevitable quarterfinals appearance in Cleveland. Brick U is my nickname for the school, to further demonstrate the amount of money involved with that school. Harvard of the MAC.

15 pt. game. What's the T for?

Groce's motivational speeches have to be something like this... "Y'all ain't nothing, man. Y'all think since you almost beat OSUcks and won a few games since that you're something? Y'all ain't nothing. Y'all actually suck. But... We can out-effort our opponents. And that is the key to victory."

Did we fix our size deficiency (especially in the trenches)? Yes. Did we replace the top skills guys we lost? Yes. Is this coaching staff capable of out-coaching the opposing staffs, minimizing the skill/experience gap that's possibly left? Yes. 6-6. Minimum. Let's Go Zips.

Tribble playing a very nice aggressive yet controlled game stop far. Freeman is an absolute monster on the boards. Garbage second foul call on him.

Good for the Beacon for highlighting Freeman's season-long dominance.

Freeman is so special. One of the announcers thinks he could go to the NBA. He needs to get bigger and more refined for that to be realistic, but he does have 2 years left.

Guthrie has a vision for this University, at least athletically, beyond the MAC. It's a beautiful thing.

I like how 247 allows users to sort by Transfer, HS Recruit, and Overall. "Transfer" is so much more important now for G5 than it is for P5, so it's two different scoring standards (HS vs. Transfers). Transfer & Overall are what I like going by now.

We're still 10th (MAC) & 123rd (Nationally) for HS Recruits, but the Overall is more important in my opinion, at least for G5 schools. The Open Portal (immediate eligibility) is a gamechanger.

Looking at 247, there have been a few updates... - Marquell Darnell was added, raising Akron's class average rating to .8220. - Tyhler Williams, Charles Kellom, and Kiawan Murphy are all still N/A, which I'm not sure will change at this point (although it should, especially Williams). - As of this morning, Akron is 7th in the MAC in Overall (Recruits & Transfers) points. - Nationally, the MAC order is: Canada (66), Miami OH (84), Toledo (96), PCCC (100), NIU (102), CMU (103), Akron (105), Balls (106), BUGS (119), WMU (121), EMU (126), OU (136). - Of note: Jackson State (68), Coastal Carolina (86), Liberty (88), Louisiana Monroe (134); no MAC school landed a 4* Recruit It cannot be stated enough the job this coaching staff did to pull together a near top-half-of-the-MAC & near top-100-nationally class in just 2 months when the majority of schools had both signing periods to bring guys in. I also don't believe we'll be done adding transfers. Spring Ball will shake fruit out of the trees, and we're a perfect landing spot.

What. A. Hire.

Interesting. Seems like there might've been some 2023 work during this stretch, as there was the 4* tweet, and another assistance coach mentioned one or two more guys. Makes sense, and I love the efficiency. Very happy with this class in just two months of work from this staff. Well done gentlemen!

Good catch. Darnell boasts a .8326, which is above our class score and gives us another 3 star.

During this little break, I checked out 247. - We are now 10th in the MAC with a class rating of .8202. - Tyhler Williams is still a No Star, and his profile has not been updated with the ASU offer. I expect both to change. - Our National Recruit Ranking is 123, but when looking at the Overall list (which includes transfers), we're at 107. - Piggy-backing off the previous point, the Overall MAC rankings go as follows: Buffalo (65), Miami OH (88), Toledo (96), KSUcks (99), CMU (100), Balls (103), NIU (105), Akron (107), BUGS (116), WMU (118), EMU (126), and Ohio (141). EDIT: OU is now at 142. The list of 150 schools includes FCS, and OU is behind several FCS schools. Wow. - Of note (as a barometer): Jackson State (Coach Deion Sanders) is at 75 with a Five Star and a Four Star; Liberty is at 87; Coastal Carolina is at 85. - Keep in mind, most of our competition had their coaching staff in place prior to this off-season, so they had Commits/LOIs during the early signing period. What JoeMo & Co. have done in 2 months is quite impressive. Looking forward to any afternoon news (WHO IS THE POTENTIAL 4*?!).

Even our Walk Ons are P5. 😂

None of the known transfers are 4*. There is supposedly a 4* commit in some capacity according to one of the coach's tweets.

It's been so long since we've had this many sweets. The sugar rush is real.