Blue & Gold

Already excited

@Illini Zip, all good questions regarding LePear... I know this topic has likely been covered at some point and it doesn't belong in this thread. But since it's slow today maybe some of you will humor me and answer my questions about Lepear Toles. He is from your general area, has anybody watched him play in person, thoughts? I think he's a steal from the clips I see. There is no way he is a 2 star prospect in my opinion. He is 6'-6" with smooth guard skills. I see him playing 1 through 3, possibly the 4. Groce has used shooting guards and small forwards to initiate the offense in the past so it's not an impossibility for him to play the point. Tony Carr at Penn State, point guard - 6'-5", is a nightmare for small guards. Also, does anyone know why Toles went the military academy and junior college route? Grades perhaps? Did he have any good offers coming out of high school? Finally, does he have 3 years of eligibility left starting next year? I would appreciate any feedback, thanks. Yes, LePear is from Canton, which is a neighboring city to the south of Akron, less than 20-minutes away. I saw LePear play, oh, maybe four times while he was in high school. I always enjoy following the local guys, so I was hoping we'd sign him coming out of high school. His game reminds me of Eric Parrish. I'd say he's not quite as athletic as Eric, but a slightly better ball handler. He was always know for his outside shot in high school, but really started blowing up when he became more aggressive driving to the hoop. He's also a pretty good passer. As you mentioned, I'd like to see him try to run the point. He was part-time PG in high school, but McKinley had another nice guard named Darryl Straughter who was only 5'8" & was also an excellent PG so LePear usually played off the ball. LePear is a versatile player. He lets the game come to him & doesn't normally force things. Sometimes in high school I wished he had forced the issue more, but he's a good team player. In the state playoffs his senior year he finally developed the attitude of "Give me the d@mn ball and get out of my way." He led McKinley to the state quarter finals before losing a close game to eventual state champion Lima Senior.

This has ended up being an extremely difficult schedule next year. Away games at Nebraska Iowa State Northwestern Buffalo Ohio EMU K.ent Good grief. I'll be surprised if we make a bowl next year :/

It's undisputed that our top 2 rivals are Ohio & K.ent. I feel our top 3 rivals are Ohio, K.ent and Buffalo. I don't like how it's been hammered out that every year we either play all three at home or all three on the road. Wish we could mix those three up a little. (Though, I suppose driving the 10 minutes to K.ent isn't a big deal. Lol.) P.s. Remember when Miami was a pretty big rival... especially in basketball? I'll bet a lot of younger posters don't.

Jayvon Graves scored 16.

Going small ball to start the 2nd half

+1

I'm still in the mood for football. My basketball mojo hasn't kicked in yet. Hopefully by the Ohio game.

I think that was the point Balsy was trying to make. We could beat all three of them but still not have beaten a Top 25 team.

According to this December 4th Medina Gazette article, we're still not showing any interest in Wadsworth's Joey Baughman.

Good point. I hadn't considered that.

Rough sledding at K.ent right now

Well said. +1. Beyond tired of the blowout losses.

Here is an article from Just A Blog from Akron titled Why 2018 Will Belong to Zips Men's Basketball. It spells out a future rotation similar to what I posted above... only much better written than my little post. Lol.

I'm predicting we'll be fine next season. We lose DuVivier, but will add Hester & Loren Jackson. We also add Deng Riak down low & LePear Toles on the wing. PG: Hester, Jackson Wing: Ivey, Utomi, Parrish, Toles Post: Riak, Sayles, Poke I think we might redshirt Torrey Patton (who, once the game slows a bit, I think could be a good one), Cotton & Kostelac

A few seasons??

Watching ESPN3, Reghi simply said, "Groce decided to give him a DNP tonight." No additional information.

School's out, it's going to be -100 degrees out and we're playing Concord. Anyone venturing out to the game? The crowd is going to be nonexistent.

Have to remind myself how very young this team is. Duvivier really displayed great senior leadership down the stretch. Like CK mentioned, he's cold-blooded & wanted the ball in his hands at crunch time. I REALLY appreciate his demeanor and am happy that he's getting a year to mentor our young players. We played a lot better in the second half last night, but still haven't pulled out a road W. Typical of a young team. Once again, last night there were times we had 3 freshmen, one sophomore and one junior on the floor.

Time to see if we can shake off our 2nd-half road woes.

This is true. The only player who could have returned that I'm wishing was still here is Antino.

E-man didn't do much tonight. Think Sayles should start? I'd consider it.