Let'sGoZips94

Are people comparing Riak & Poke because of their tall-yet-slender build? Or have people seen Riak play and he is every bit as awkward with the ball as Poke is? Regarding the open scholarship, I really hope it goes to a true PG, regardless if it's a transfer or freshman recruit. We need a floor general - made evident by Duvivier being thrust into the PG position instead of his obviously natural SG role - and I don't know what to make of Cotton with his seemingly constant doghouse troubles, nor do I know much about Loren Jackson. I wouldn't be upset if it went to a big, though.

First of all, thank you for putting this together. I don't think it's too early with only a couple weeks in this season. I'm interested to see who stays in the off-season, and who departs. I think there are one or two players who might be asked to leave, and one or two players who might leave on their own, neither of which is source based but more of a hunch. Regarding the projected starting lineup, I would flip Poke and Sayles. I think Sayles is going to start most of next year. I also think Toles and Parrish will get a fair amount of starts, which could be promising because I think the starting lineup you are projecting is pretty strong. Next year is night-and-day compared to this year depth wise already: 4 C/PF and 8 SF/SG/PG. That's great depth with talent (hopefully) throughout the roster. A couple questions I have... - Is it confirmed that Poke will be allowed to continue to play basketball? - Do you think we will redshirt someone from this year? - Why do you think a transfer is more likely than a freshman recruit? Common sense answer to this one is because we are so young, but I don't want to assume. Edit: Speaking of transfers, looks like we just offered this guy on 2/14. http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/shane-gatling

I hope the athletes don't sue. The athletes, especially the big time players, have a duty to know the rules of recruiting as well.

It's called development. I said he has a foundation of moves (referring to his post moves), which he does. Did you see him split the double team for the layup yesterday (I still would like to see a replay; I don't believe he traveled)? We have never had a freshman big man with offensive post moves like he has. He doesn't quite play up to DI speed yet, but again, he should continue to develop and I think he will be a force. He peeves off every single big man he plays against, and you don't do that unless you have some sort of physical ability and talent, raw or developed. Poke might not be the answer long term, but he plays hard and gives us another body to spell KLac. Sayles is the one I have my eyes on to be a star PF, with Riak hopefully being a stud center. Let's see what Groce brings in this year and next year.

How about Balls blowing out Toledo by 28?

Duquesne with another loss (4th in a row), this time by 7 points to St. Joe's (12-14). 64.7% from the line.

Scheduling P5 teams like Kentucky, Illinois, etc., is perfect. Beatable with name recognition. I fully expect to win some of these, too.

I agree with most of this, but aside from a big freshman, our next tallest guy is 6'6" right now. I think by saying, "we need some tall guys," that could be referring to anybody taller than 6'6". We have two 6'9" guys hurt and a 6'10" transfer that's sitting out. That will definitely help. We need the depth inside. KLac commits some stupid fouls, but I also wonder if his game is altered by having to play less physical due to our lack of depth at his position right now. He can't play as freely. I also wouldn't says he'snot helping us at all. He had two big blocks yesterday that helped keep us in the game. His offensive production leaves something to be desired, but he has the foundation of moves to be a force in years to come. We definitely just need more skilled depth. We're throwing out a makeshift, majority-freshman roster game in and game out, hindered even more by injuries. I fully expect to see a big step taken next year with the transfers, a full year's worth of recruiting, and current player development. We've been blown out in a couple MAC games, but have given the majority of the MAC everything they can handle. We have to keep everything in perspective this year. Most of these MAC squads are in their 4th+ year of their coach and system, and we're everything they can handle most of the time with a decimated roster and in the first year of a new coach/system. It sucks to lose to Can't, but it's promising that we were a couple baskets going our way from knocking off the team that returned 95% of its MAC Finals roster, a roster that beat us in those finals, with what we have at the moment. Great effort yesterday, and we'll get them at home. Go Zips, and be thankful every day that you aren't a Can't fan/grad.

I was watching College Gameday and the talking heads were trying to make it sound like this investigation is ridiculous. They were saying how this has been going on for a while, and that in a billion dollar business, more people should be getting paid, yada yada yada. I'm not holding my breath, but I hope the NCAA destroys all of these major programs, and the feds tell them they're not allowed to jump ship to create their own league. Make College Basketball Great Again.

Has Cotton played in the second half?

INTERCEPTION DUVIVIER!

They have several.

OFFSETTING TECHNICALS?! WHAT DID PARRISH DO?!

Looks like they might be assessing a technical to him.

It's not just that we lost, it's how we lost. The effort wasn't there, which is inexcusable. Hey, I would love to win 20+ games and NCAA Tournament games. I've never said it's an either/or; I don't believe anybody has. But during all of those 20+ win seasons, how many NCAA Tournament wins did we have?

Awesome.

Accidental double post.

Much like our different views when it comes to "success" (consecutive 20+ win seasons against mediocre teams vs. NCAA tournament wins), I view losing to our rival in the MAC tournament final with the effort we gave - or lack thereof - as embarrassing. Who did Can't lose from that team that put them at 6-7 in the MAC?

Wow.

The score doesn't tell the full story. We came out flat, lacked 100% effort & hustle, and lost a game we had no business losing. I remember it being incredibly frustrating to watch. UTA was also embarrassing, you're right.

It was flat out embarrassing to come out as flat as we did against our rival in the MAC Tournament Finals on national tv. I'm hoping for different on Saturday. We're a scrappy bunch a majority of the time, so I wouldn't be surprised if it got chippy.

Did you not understand my response? As it has become cliche to post "blessed" every time an offer is received or a commitment is made, it might have become cliche to mention the consecutive 20+ win seasons.

Success to a certain point. It's subjective. He didn't just work with those future NBA players; he founded the school that is (or was; haven't checked any high school rankings in recent years) a top prep school in the country. These kids come from high school. They pay attention to top high schools, and Huntington Prep is on there. And it's not absurd to compare. Dambrot had LeBron, but never developed anyone else who played in the NBA. Fulford developed Wiggins, Dieng, etc.

I forgot about that. I hope he sent Dambrot a basket of muffins with a "Thank you" card for choking in the MAC Tourney Finals with ZERO effort.

- Yes, because look at this through the eyes of a 16-18 year old. How do you think they view a coach that was thought highly enough of to be hired by a Big Ten school? - What do you mean what's happening right now isn't going to help either? Anybody with half a brain can see what he's working with, but he's been-there-done-that at this level with OU, and that's all he has to use as an explanation. "I took OU from the bottom of the MAC to a winner in the NCAA tournament by my second year. By my fourth year, we were in the Sweet 16, a shot away from the Elite Eight. Akron has a foundation of consecutive 20+ win seasons which we can build on moving forward to take that next step, and you would be a vital asset in taking that next step." - The long string of 20+ win seasons is somewhat valuable. It gives a foundation of success at Akron that Groce can use to build upon. But from the eyes of a 16-18 year old, winning in the MAC is what it is. Having a coach that has won in the NCAA Tournament and coach at a Big Ten school, that is the next level we need. Also, we have Rob Fulford. What an asset he is in recruiting and development. To be able to say one of our top assistant coaches founded Huntington Prep and was instrumental in the development of players like Andrew Wiggins and Gorgui Dieng, that's huge. And if there is any doubt that matters, look at the connection between Dambrot and LeBron. It's no secret that was a key in recruiting for him.