Let'sGoZips94

I disagree. I think Antino, Utomi, and Ivey were the 3 best players on the team, and consistently the 3 best. The other players may have thrived statistically more, but that's largely due to the system. Again, I don't think it was a great system. Now, if we do indeed lose Antino, that hurts. Again, I disagree. Buffalo had 1 or 2 players that we did not match up well against, and that was again, due to the system - specifically the part that didn't stop dribble penetration. Kent out-efforted us. EMU, no. OU, Hell no. I think some of you need to go back through some of the game threads. You'll find LOTS of quotes along the lines of... "Josh Williams is too slow for this level..." "Noah seems lost and absent..." "Where is Kwan?" "Ivey is our best player..." "Utomi needs to be in there more..."

1. I don't think we lost a whole lot in those two. Unlike others, I don't put a whole lot of stock into the awards like the MAC POY and All-MAC teams. The MAC was GARBAGE this year, and the only reason Big Dog was POY was because of Dambrot's system, which more or less hindered our ability to succeed at times throughout the year. Plus, Kwan pulled a Mike Napoli disappeared in big moments. 2. We were head and shoulders above the MAC talent wise. Aside from Kwan and Big Dog, we lost a bench player in Hughes (who knows what he turns out to be, but he wasn't a contributing factor last year), an undersized backup PG in TDM, Josh Williams who many said was/is too slow for this level, and Noah who hasn't been the same since his injury. Antino isn't a confirmed loss. We maintained Ivey, Utomi, Eubanks, Jackson, and Poke so far. Plus, our incoming recruiting class is largely in tact I believe. 3. I am also one of those people who believes Dambrot's ceiling was reached, and I don't believe he was THAT great of a coach. I am appreciative of the foundation he laid here at Akron, but too many times we were out-coached, and I think Groce will win games that Dambrot lost simply due to coaching. 4. We are still in the MAC. People need to stop treating the MAC like it's the ACC. Mid-level MAC schools smack around the Radfords of the world, but a drop from a top MAC school to a low/mid-level MAC school is greater than losing what we did. What prevented us from Dancing wasn't talent - it was a better game plan, effort, desire, and heart, AKA coaching.

Ummmmm... No. They shouldn't. Our so-called "6th Man" was/is being recruited by LSU, so there should still be talent on this team (by the way, what is the rumor mill saying about Antino?). I also fully expect Groce to pull in guys that are head and shoulders above anything Adrian/Coppin State/Radford can recruit, even on short notice and late in the process. If these teams are even on the schedule, and if the games are close with then... 1. Dambrot's coaching ability is being WAY underestimated and he really should've won the National Coach of the Year award year-in-year-out 2. Dambrot's recruiting ability is awful and I will pray for Duquesne

I'm not. We're "poison", remember?

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/christian-lorng

So based on these potential recruits, is it safe to say the days of 5'7" PGs are over? Clemons seems to have nice dribble-drive ability and fantastic vision. I like it. Christian Lorng is a 4-star recruit, with interest from Missouri. I wonder if Coach Fulford was the one recruiting him?

Love the size! Would be nice to steal a recruit from KD.

Despite his frustrating fouls throughout the season, I really enjoyed watching him play. You can tell he tries and puts 100% effort into every play.

1) Because there is no "retaining" a person that was under contract through, what, 2022? 2) Because they can be pissed that he's not here, but that's not the University's fault, so why is the University being punished? 3) If the University makes the change, yes. But the University did not make the the change themselves. And Captain Kangaroo nailed it. It's probably more like $, not $$$.

Looks like Chapman has slimmed down to a more athletic body type.

So in the end, the University saves money with Dambrot leaving, and the ceiling is higher with Groce. I like it!

Not one sided at all. Dambrot, the coach that recruited them to Akron, bolted for Duquesne just a week or two ago.

He ran Huntington Prep. That's going to be fascinating to follow, to see if Akron can build a pipeline from that school.

Antino is receiving offers from LSU and NMSU, yet Dambrot had him as our borderline 6th man, and we didn't win the MAC Tourney. Does something seem wrong to anybody else? When do these transferring decisions need to be made by?

If I remember correctly, Noah was considering transferring after his freshman year before his knee injury. I will miss his character on and off the court as he represented the UA well, but he's not a good fit for Groce's system. Tino needs to stay now. He can thrive in Groce's system, too. You're not going to be seeing Big Dog's anymore for a while. Groce will bring in high motor, athletic players committed to running and playing in-your-face defense.

At 6'4" he's an undersized forward. Wherever he ends up, I hope he works on his handles.

Akron won the MAC Tournament 3 times, with only 1 of those 3 wins coming as the 1 seed. So what did our "high level" of winning more games get us? 1 MAC tourney title?

So the $350k for the first two years is confirmed. Wow. Well done by the Athletic Department to get a quality coach to sign a University-friendly contract. Incentive-based contracts are my favorite - earn your money.

As long as Bragg keeps his nose clean, I have no problem with him coming here - IF he comes here. Kansas is a troubled program, full of bad character that gets bailed out because of the basketball-first mentality. Maybe if he is surround with better people, he will be fine. We'll see. To echo Zippy5: this really is fun.

Indiana State, Illinois State, and Northern Iowa are all upgrades from the MAC, but I'd rather make a jump to Conference USA or AAC. Get me there, Bowden and Groce!

I thought that was an excellent presser. Yes, lots of your typical cliches, but I thought there was a lot of personality and commitment as well. Now I'm interested to see who he can bring in recruits wise.

Groce went with the PC answer, but man, I would've loved for him to say, "If we keep this 21 win streak going, we're going to earn it."

He's bringing up LeBron's Homecoming quote about "Nothing is given; everything is earned."

Groce mentioning being up on the ladder with his kid at the Q a couple years back. Ouch.

Bottom right corner, roll over the screen, and there's a little sound button with a slash through it. Click that.