Let'sGoZips94

We're done now aside from a walk-on.

Thank you as always @Illini Zip

Basketball 101 says points isn't the most important statistic for a PG. How does he set up the offense? How does he get his teammates involved? Does the ball move around when he's the floor general or does it die in his hands? When you take the most shots in the entire conference, you should score a lot of points. Now, him being 4th all time in assists is a better measuring stick, but all too often we saw him go LeBron/MJ iso on offense or take ill-advised shots in the paint, especially the second half of the season. Once we went away from All Gas No Brakes, his game shifted and the offense sputtered. Hard to say if last year happens if he's not here. The what if game can be played all day. Fact is he was and we 3Peated. Now he's not here and we will see who steps up into what roles. Prior to 2025-26, nobody knew if TJ was capable of being an All MAC PG. A lot of those question marks are surrounding this team right now with so many new pieces. I do not understand the negative outlook on next season. We won the MAC in 2024, lost an NBA player to the NBA draft, proceeded to win another MAC Title, lost the MAC POTY to Kansas State, and proceeded to win yet another MAC Title. Whatever formula Wentz & the staff have cooking deserves our trust. They've earned it. Ford hasn't been the HC but he has been the right hand man the entire time. For as many games as we won last season, there were a lot of complaints about our lapses and weaknesses, particularly on defense and in the post. We've solved those on paper. We're much, MUCH taller and deeper at the taller positions. Can we execute? We shall see, but the blueprint is in place to be a top, if not THE top team in the MAC again and our size/athleticism should match up better with out of conference opponents. Trust Ford, his staff, and Wentz. 2 of those guys especially have earned it. Go Zips.

I used to think that, but diving into the stats - especially his shooting volume - has changed my tune. Not to mention his 4 pts in the NCAAT was rough. Very much appreciate everything he did for the program, but the reality of his impact is a little overblown. He was much better at the being of the season than the end. How do you not agree we're better at center? Young was replaced. Shammah was always going to be tough to replace because in addition to nearly 13ppg, he had the clutch gene and mental fortitude to step up in big moments. We shall see if anyone can fill those shoes. Our guards were recreated in the aggregate, to steal from Moneyball. The sum of our guards shouldn't be much of a drop off if any, and the improvement will be seen in the front court.

I'm not sure Tavari to Tahj is a drop off. Tavari averaged 19.7ppg but also took the most shots for a player in the MAC. He averaged 5agp and shot 37.3% from 3P. Tahj averaged 17.3ppg and averaged half a shot less per game than Tavari. He averaged 4.1agp on a worse team (who knows how many assists he would've had with better shooters around him) and also shot 37.3% from 3P. We're picking up 2-3 inches at that position which is huge considering how many shots Tavari had blocked/altered. We've improved at SF IMO. Pence/White/Hammer/MMK most likely isn't a drop off and is certainly deeper. C is absolutely improved. We had Evan Mahaffey playing out of position at C 90% of the time last year and Amani disappeared completely at times. They were undersized in 99% of the matchups. We have 2 6'10" PF/C's and can flex MMK/White/Hammer/Pence as a PF/C as a luxury instead of a necessity. I don't want to rip last year's squad but personnel wise, we weren't built for how Groce wanted to play. This team is much more malleable/matchup proof. It's going to come down to execution. I don't know how anyone can say we're definitively going to be worse.

There's irony in getting significantly taller but using "sizable" as the adverb for your step back prediction. Not sure how you're coming to that conclusion as well.

This is where we're at in college athletics. The Big 12 will likely die as a result of this.

Those attributes will fit right in, especially with a 6'7" frame.

Don't rule out Head as well. He was a near double digit scorer at Lipscomb as a freshman and has good size at 6'3".

6'7" guy walk on named Fenrique Reeman?

Barre 6'10" Burton 6'10" Christion 6'9" Hammer Jr 6'7" MMK 6'6" White 6'6" Pence 6'6" Halligan 6'5" Henderson 6'5" Jones 6'5" Head 6'3" Staveskie 6'1" Wilson 6'1" Perkins 6'0" Average height is 6'4". Last year's average height for the 9 main contributors: 6'3" (this is with Tavari and Sharron listed at 6'0" according to ESPN.com). It may not seem like much but that 1"+ is a big deal. This year's Sweet 16 featured an average contributing roster height of 6'5" - the tallest Sweet 16 ever. Akron was almost 3 inches shorter on average vs the standard of teams we strive to compete with. Better yet, this roster is more versatile in their skill sets. As much as Hardman saved our butt at times last season, he was largely a one-trick pony. I'm not seeing anybody like that on this roster at this point in time. Safe to say I'm excited.

Not sure where you're drawing the comparison between my expectations of the football and basketball programs. Akron is a top regional destination. For as good as the program is on the court, Akron itself has a lot of limitations that knock it down a few pegs for the masses. Regardless, I think Akron knocked it out of the park with this class. Part of the reason Todd Simon has struggled to have W/L success is because his Portal classes lack a clear system and execution. Akron's struggles last year came when they tried to play a certain system they lacked the personnel for. Sounds like we'll play a similar system but we'll have the personnel this time around. How often has Akron had 4 capable, athletic wings at 6'6" or taller? Add in 2 6'10" C and some solid guards - Akron is going to be a major threat with this roster assuming they can execute. Hammer will likely be a bench/rotational piece and should have much improved numbers. North Texas was 230th in possessions per game. Akron was top 80. Go Zips.

Hardly underwhelming. Adding a fluid, athletic 6'7" F to this roster is exactly what we needed. His production may not be there on paper, but Shunnar isn't going to suggest him if he doesn't think there's a higher ceiling than what has been exhibited thus far. I like that there's familiarity with his game on the staff and we're super deep now at the 3/4 which is something we haven't been able to say maybe ever.

This is what Wentz retweeted. 6'7" F from North Texas. Looks like he'll be following Shunnar. He was JUCO prior and his JUCO numbers were nice. Scored in the mid to upper 20s often. 14mpg at UNT last year, but did have some nice double digit performances late in the season as he got more opportunity. Nice addition with even more height being added to the roster. We're DEEP at the 3/4 spot.

🙂