Let'sGoZips94

Good job by Groce & co. on getting in early with this kid. Hopefully it means something to him in the future. Kid looks promising.

The A Roo ghosted into the foundation is pretty cool.

Nobody's perfect.

This looks like someone used the default font in Word and just change the text color for the A.

He is one of our biggest assets. Matt Kaulig is awesome.

The turf got sad with all of the losing. Winning is the cure. It's scientific.

No doubt. Will be interesting to see what the improvement to the class is after we win the MAC. 😉

Interesting. First of all, another NY guy. Second of all, after we offered him, he took unofficial visits to Washington and Oregon, two PAC12 schools. No offers from either, but as a Class of 2023, he could get additional interest despite his commitment to Akron. I wonder if he's a diamond in the rough; will be interesting to follow.

On my phone and not sure how to embed the link/photos, but here is an awesome Matt Kaulig post for the University of Akron All-Sports Summer Open. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mattkaulig_gozips-activity-6942120313321095169-_Q6i?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=android_app

It certainly wasn't for the 1 fan on the "away" side in recent years.

Found this when looking at Jean Louis's tweet. Former Akron DE's Grandson Offered

5'10" 165 lbs. He had offers from CMU, BG, UMASS, and Temple. Looks like there might been some P5 interest early on, but no offers. His Twitter says he's the #1 WR in NY. I would imagine he has a connection with Ferri - Cuse was interested.

That's almost as many times as another Dolphin has reached out to Akron personnel. 😅 This is awesome and will only help recruiting.

Most of our best players ARE transfers. I think we're safe 😅

*Again

Literally one of his first photos as our AD was at a soccer match promoting the program. Anything other than the sentiment you shared is erroneous (to quote the Rowdies). What are the rules with our MAC membership overall and our membership as a soccer program? Can we jump ship and flip the double bird to the MAC? Are there repercussions? The MAC has never done anything for us in any sport. That Sun Belt conference looks appealing.

Ryan Day: We need ~$13M to keep current roster in place. Might be out of the local tattoo parlor(s) budgets, but I'm sure they can scrounge it up.

Al Michaels wore a sleeveless tank top on the Pat McAfee Show. The show is called Cutoffs and Coffee, so I think it would've been acceptable to wear an Akron cutoff.

With a smaller number of teams in the MAC, does this mean there are more openings for OOC teams on the schedule?

I have somewhat fallen out of the loop with Akron Soccer recruits since COVID. How do Hardin's rankings compare to recent classes?

Nice depth piece for the LB corps. Very little I could find in a quick search on other interest.

Please. After the P5s and some Mountain West/American Athletic Conference QBs, these guys put the rest on the wall and threw darts at it with an IPA in their non-throwing hand, giggling like school girls at the thought of doing one of these with Arch Manning on it when Texas joins the SEC.

Technically, yes. 😂 However, I included Dawson in the sentence slot for the 3&D part, but hardly differentiated the two. I had Tribble slotted more as the 2 Guard; he's like a S&D - Slasher & Defender. Better off the ball on offense, and on the ball on defense. Odd, but I am a huge Tribble fan due to this oddity and his energy.

Now that we have a full roster, I am incredibly intrigued by which players get redshirted. We're too full. This is the deepest Zips roster that I can ever remember. A Snapshot - 4 incoming freshman - 2 guards: one is an all state player in Illinois (Johnson); the other is 6'5" and received offers from Wichita State, Rhode Island, etc (Prather Jr). - 2 stretch 4s: one was 1st team all state in Ohio for DII (arguably the best basketball division in Ohio), averaged 20+ ppg, and played for one of the most prominent AAU programs in Ohio (Lyles); the other has outstanding tape and looks like he could be Ali Ali or better (Prince). - 2 transfers - 1 guard with double digit scoring potential, plays D, and has quite a bit of experience (Hankerson) - 1 forward, who looks more like a PF and comes from a P5 program (Hunter) - 2 redshirt freshman guards will make their true collegiate debuts this year. Both were prolific scorers in high school, and seem to possess solid size (Mitchell & Johnson). - For returning guards, we have X and Clarke at the Point, with Tribble and Dawson playing the 2 Guard/3&D roles. - Returning fowards is the one and only Enrique Freeman, who will have his jersey in the rafters at some point. This is the shortest team we will have seen Akron put on the court since Groce's first year, and then maybe prior to Dambrot? But it will undoubtedly be the most athletic we have seen. I am fascinated to see who gets redshirted. I am fascinated to see the rotations. I am fascinated to see the offense.

We're so close to PCCC, sometimes their education gets in the Akron water. The effects aren't permanent, just temporary paralysis of above-basic thought. Gets one of us every once in a while. One suggestion, maybe you could put the previous year(s)'s recruit in the blank slots. i.e. For 2024, there are two blank spots, so it would be "2023 Recruit" in both, and so on. Or leave it blank so Can't State fans can't crack the code. Your call, @Illini Zip. Thank you for doing this for the board!