Blue & Gold

A comment not specific to the Zips but college basketball in general: the transfer portal has made the coaches' jobs much more difficult recruiting wise. Are they going to have to recruit new teams every year? It may really lead to coaches kissing a lot of current players rear ends and ultimately that is not best for player development. Just some thoughts.

Another fantastic article from GT. Props.

What?!

Yep. I cheer for anyone who wears AKRON on their chest. But it's fun watching the young men develop & then tearing up for them on Senior Night.

This is what I posted on social media But I'll be more blunt here. This hurts. This hurts for us and for him. For us it hurts on a personal level in that Groce & Co. gave Ali his only chance and have poured 3 years into developing his game. Now some other program gets to enjoy the fruits of Groce's risk, faith, and labor, while we fans get yet another "what if" scenario. But more importantly, this hurts for Ali because I think he's gotten woefully bad advice. He would have been a team leader here for the next two years on a young team with fantastic locker room and on-court chemistry, enjoyed a luxuriously long leash from Coach Groce, would have continued to have plays drawn up for him, and would have gotten 40-minutes of PT a game if he wanted. He was a perfect fit for this culture and for this system. Good luck getting that anywhere else.

An ABJ article on Day One of Spring Ball! Props.

3 players from Cincinnati Taft on an unofficial visit. OL's Mysta Moore and Elijah Garnes, and LB Ronald Cutts.

I like the increased excitement around the program. This tweet was posted around 1/2-hour ago & already has 67 "Likes" and 19 retweets. Not Ohio State, but certainly better than we've been doing the last 4 years.

Thanks for posting that, @bigjim. I love watching those in-depth video breakdowns. They really demonstrate how football is the ultimate team sport & why they say QB is the single most important position in all of sports. That's a lot for any current Zips QB to absorb in one off season, isn't it? Maybe for you guys who've played ball at a higher level Coach JoeMo is using jargon you're already somewhat familiar with? Maybe the version of JoeMo's offense we'll run this first season will be greatly watered down?

Not in the slightest sense.

Wow, you are new to the Zips. The answer to your question is none. Not even the local Akron Beacon Journal. However, as far as the Akron Beacon goes, if you need to know anything about the Cleveland Browns or Columbus Buckeyes you are in luck!

What excellent breakdowns, @catdaddyp. THANK YOU!!

Indeed. And the MAC is a grind and the MAC Tournament is a grinder. So we don't get too cocky, it's good to remember that, in the MAC Tourney, we beat Buffalo after a Bulls last-second, potentially game-winning shot was a near-miss, and we beat Toledo by 8, while UT didn't help themselves, going 10-of-22 at the free throw line. Having said that, our D was national-level elite -v- KSUcks & UCLA, not letting KSUcks get into any comfortable offensive flow, while also keeping high powered Blue Blood UCLA discombobulated for most of the game. (If the refs didn't cheap-foul Enrique out of that game we beat UCLA.) Add to that young, sophomore-heavy roster the offensive fire power we're bringing in next year with our redshirted freshmen (and the fact they got to witness first hand how good we can be when we sell out on the defensive end of the floor) and I'd like to see us crack the Top 25 next regular season.

@catdaddyp, great post and glad you're here! Go Zips!

Neither do I, and I’ve been checking on a daily basis. Looks like everyone is staying. Jacob Tracey’s offer must’ve been provisional on someone wishing to transfer out.

Fear.

Michael Lewis is the new basketball coach at Ball Sweat. On my phone, can’t post link.

We may have just gotten another verbal commitment.

I am.

Would you consider Basile a "stretch-4", 'Meister?

I think we need a JUCO small forward in the 6'6"-6'8" range. We've got Wynn at 6'6" and Ali at 6'8", but other than that we're either guards or true post players.

Having said that, it looks like someone is transferring out if we're offering JUCO's. Jacob Tracey's offer wasn't listed yesterday.