Let'sGoZips94

Yup, perfect analysis of how he fits. He had 19 pts vs Ohio State in the NIT. Capable of hitting the outside shot although not at a high clip (upper 20s percentage wise). He's a stronger version of Banks on paper.

He'll fit in just fine. Very efficient scorer - not as good of a shooter. Strong defense, too.

Good for Mikal - going home.

Essentially it's an analysis of gains through the Portal by conference. It's still relatively early on, but based on this, the MAC is doing well despite the volume of Portal-goers from the MAC.

Entering the Portal closes May 1st I believe but finding another program doesn't close. I could be wrong but there are still a couple thousand players in the Portal along with more being added daily.

Will be interesting to revisit this when all the dust settles.

Good call - you might be right. That was coupled with the comment that Groce's teams are typically built around guard play, correct?

It isn't fully done. Wentz said there's a full reveal happening in July(?).

Meaningful regulation without enforcement wasn't any better. The likes of Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio State, etc. have been all been doing this stuff - and much worse - prior to NIL. The Indiana and Kansas stories this offseason (paying $1M+ for players) are wrong, but overall the playing field is more level than it was before. The key to what Wentz talked about is that all things financially being equal, Akron is a notch above (minimum) their competition. The reputation of development and winning under Groce & co. is something we should be very proud of as fans and excited about going forward. Wentz confirmed this through networking during the 2nd week of the Tournament. His takeaway was how highly thought of Groce & his staff are in the college basketball community. Regarding the facilities, other schools may have newer buildings, but the amenities our facilities offer is on par with some of the best. The video capabilities in the practice facility sounds incredible (players can take video of their practice session and it's sent to coaches for review/feedback), high end sports medicine on site, and the locker rooms/lounge are top notch. These are where the players spend the most time. Wentz mentioned that a woman's team recruit from a P5 school said our facilities were way better than what she previously had at a P5 school. Wentz was asked his opinion of the roster and what his excitement level was. He was surprisingly hesitant to be excited and said he thinks they need 1-2 more pieces (which is what led into his answer @Hilltopper mentioned about 1-2 more players being added and announcements coming soon). He stated the program is building to be a 2nd weekend team in March Madness. Josiah Harris was targeted over guys that "fans would be surprised to hear." Not surprising based on what WVU fans said about him on Twitter. Incredibly high character and has strong abilities on the court. He, Okonkwo, and Wilson filled the initial 3 needs. Interesting coaching tidbit - Dustin Ford handles the defense while Groce handles the offense. Wentz mentioned there might be a shakeup in the coaching duties, but didn't say what.

Holy information. I LOVE Bud Wentz as a spokesperson for the program. He's tremendous. I HIGHLY recommend listening to it. We're not done in the Portal, according to Wentz, and some announcements should be made soon.

I've made points on here ad nauseam. It's a forum. Our guard play was the reason we were a 14 seed and lost by double digits to Creighton. It's worth hammering IMO. It's an observational opinion countering another statement. It wasn't political or Pro-Kent; no need to be confrontational. Go Zips 👍

I'm gonna defend @1981 grad. Scott & Thornton really struggled all year to provide any sort of positive impact on the offensive end, especially consistently. Scott came on stronger towards the end of the season, but it still wasn't stellar. Countering a statement that both played their role well isn't "negative" - it's simply not sugarcoating the situation. The role needed was a PG, and none of Tavari, Scott, or Thornton stepped up to fill that role all season. In fact, that role was so vacant that Tribble ended up filling it. That's NOT what Groce wanted.

The person who put this together is going to clean up his working spreadsheet with this data and make it public. I'll be able to answer your question better once I have that. Ohio is probably second to Akron with the addition of the Iowa State guard. That kid is probably going to be a pain in our ass. Ohio also hasn't really lost any production to the Portal.

That data is skewed by coaching changes. Indiana State, Canisius, Southern Illinois, UT Martin, FAU, Drake, and Pepperdine all had coaching changes. With the coaching change comes entire roster turnover.

It's rough for schools like CMU who have seemingly lost their entire team and don't have an established culture to sell to transfers. However, in the long run I think even they will have a decent pool of talent sitting in their chairs in the end. Interestingly enough, one of the comments mentioned that UMASS is in the Bottom 35 of losses. I'm sure that'll change, but I do wonder if the eventual move to the MAC after this season is having any affect.

Only 5 of the "losses" are P6s, although a lot of that has to do with coaching changes at mid majors. I truly believe the Portal will balance things out in the long run. Allowing P6 role guys the opportunity to get legitimate playing time at mid majors is a positive.

Ignore the quote.

Thank you very much for these photos and updates, Captain. Did you run into Ken Carman? How do the RBs look? We were spoiled last year with Lingard. How much of a drop off will we see this year, if any?

Ali's team won the game 86-80 but Freeman had a very impressive showing. Freeman: 11 pts on 5-6 FG and 1-1 3P; 5 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 TO; 28 minutes; +4 +/- Ali: 6 pts on 2-4 FG and 2-3 3P; 1 TO, 1 Block; 25 min; -1 +/-

Having the 7'1" Big East Defensive POTY is certainly going to help give you an advantage on the boards. Strength & conditioning had nothing to do with Kalkbrenner's height. Want to know what helps more? Defensive rebounding opportunities. Akron had 9 offensive rebounds to Creighton's 5. Akron had 17 defensive rebounds to Creighton's 33. When Creighton doesn't miss, there are going to be fewer opportunities. When we miss a ton, Creighton is gonna have more opportunities. The only thing exposed that game was us sucking eggs shooting wise, and Creighton had an all-time shooting game. Had Creighton shot a solid 40% from 3 (above national average), Akron would've had a good chance at winning that game.

UNLV, St Bonnie, South Dakota St, Bradley, Northern Kentucky, Gardner Webb - those were the non tournament/SBC Challenge opponents. Are we really not looking to at least match that?

Big news. The helmet communication especially should help make the overall product better.

Must watch tonight.

It was only a matter of time before corporations jumped into the Wild West. I actually like this moreso than random donors.