Blue & Gold

💯💪 *Disclaimer: The "Z" is a registered trademark of The University of Akron Athletics Department and should not be construed as an endorsement the Russian war effort against Ukraine. 🤪

I had heard from someone that Cam Wiley looked an awful lot bigger than his listed 180. Well, this article states Cam is 6-2, 215 (with breakaway speed!). Now that's more like it! I was worried about a RB who was 6-2, but only 180. 215? Now we're talking! Go Zips!

With the commitment of Sammy Hunter, our roster is already looking good, but we still need one more legit wing to try & fill some of Ali's big shoes. PG: X..................Clarke......... Tavari Johnson G: Tribble.........Kobe G: Dawson.......Nate W: Wynn.......... P: Freeman.....Hunter Point Guard: X is set in stone as the starter & may be a preseason All-MAC selection. Clarke was coming on at the end of the year getting big (and productive) minutes in big games. I think Tavari Johnson will redshirt (a minority opinion on the board - I think he'll need a year in the weight room). G: I think Kobe will be a starter come MAC play. He'll likely be our #1 shooter from the jump next season and he's had a year to acclimate to the intensity of D1 ball. Tribble's lack of an outside shot still worries me. I think that come MAC play Tribble will be bringing great energy and leadership off the bench. G: I like Dawson in the starting lineup. He's a junkyard dog and has a nice outside shot. I think he'll hold the starting spot over Nate... for at least this year. (I think Nate will be our best player and face of the team after X & Freeman graduate.) W: Gaping hole here. We need a strong wing who can come in and start from Day One. P: Hunter is the Stretch 4 we were looking for. He and Freeman could see a lot of time on the court together as he'll compliment Freeman much better than Aziz did. If we could run 3 guards with Freeman & Hunter on the court together it'd be great. But we still need a true 6'6"-ish wing, IMHO. EDIT: I forgot to include incoming freshman Ryan Prather. He's a 6-5 guard. At 6-5 could he add to our depth at wing?

Ouch. Lonisia Brewer transferred to Toledo

Same. I like saying “Once a Zip always a Zip,” but that is always in reference to graduates or to those who transfer because they want to transfer down due to lack of PT at this level. It does not apply to someone who was supposed to be a cornerstone of the team going forward and decides to bolt. Don't let the door hit you…

He didn't do much at Ole Miss, but let's see what Groce & Co. can get out of him, because he had offers from Auburn, Arkansas, Colorado State, Kansas State, WKU & Oklahoma coming out of HS, so the coaches saw something in him. Maybe he just needs a change of scenery? I found this encouraging article from after he verballed to Ole Miss. (It also has a nice video where you can really see his skill set.) The article says his prep school played the North Carolina Tarheels and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish the summer before his senior year of high school where "he put on a show", scoring 20 points with 10 rebounds against North Carolina and scoring 19 points with 9 rebounds against Notre Dame.

Word on the street is that Murphy had surgery this offseason, so isn't participating in Spring Ball. He should be a T when he gets back, moving either Williams or Daniels back to G.

From Coach JoMoe in today's posted video, the starting front four are Victor Jones Curtis Harper Devon Robinson Julian Richardson

He mentioned those 1st Team DL as being Curtis Harper (Syracuse transfer), Victor Jones (Wyoming transfer), Devon Robinson (Miss. St./Memphis transfer), and Julian Richardson (Arth recruit).

6’9” STRETCH 4 🙏🙌🙏🙌 (😂)

On my phone but we just got a transfer from Ole Miss! Look for a retweet from Rob Fulford 💪💪

Well, at least it’s 16 more than last year.

Alanna Carter surprises me. She was a R-freshman who was beginning to get some playing time.

You’re probably right about that. Now tat I think about it, I doubt his feet are quick enough to keep up with a lot of switching. That’s one thing that was so nice about Ali, 6-8 & could guard on the perimeter.

I’d take him.

Greg Tribble also retweeted Ali's announcement. So our guys are sticking with him which is nice to see. They must understand the strictly business side of this better than I do. I think I'd be miffed (like I am) that we had such a potentially strong, young nucleus ready to return & Ali blew it up. Wouldn't you be upset at that if you were on the team?

Just going off pathos, not logos, to me Butler feels like a good fit for Ali. Haven't they struggled lately and are "rebuilding?" This is probably better for him than going to an established team & trying to fit in.

Still no movement on the Verbal Commits dot com front. 😕

Yesterday we beat WMU 10-6 🙂

^^That announcer sounds just like the RubberDuck's Jim Clark.