Let'sGoZips94

Could also see Morrow. Regardless, we have some nice experience on the staff with a variety of connections around the country.

Thank you both. Miami OH is why I asked. Their attendance didn't really solidify itself until MAC season, so I wasn't sure if it included the first half of last year, too. Akron being $100k better than Kent is really something else.

Forgive my potential ignorance but is FY2025 for Universities the calendar year or the academic year?

Now that the roster is set, keep your heads on a swivel for schedule announcements. Curious to see what type of schedule gets put together.

Has Perkins' brother landed anywhere?

Hopefully one for Akron.

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.