Blue & Gold

And they're doing this to us without their 2nd-leading scorer. I'll tell ya, maybe it's good we're getting completely exposed like this. I was one of the ones who posted after the YSU loss that we were in for a disappointing season and that we weren't that good. Well, then we dominated the MAC. But that was fool's gold. The MAC was awful. It allowed us to continue the illusion of being a good team. This game is rightfully exposing our weaknesses and showing that we have plateaued and that this program is not moving forward. KD truly has to shake things up.

+1. Recruiting matters.

Gonna be a tough one. If Kwan's on we win. If Kwan's still in limbo we lose.

Thanks for the documentation, Hilltopper! At every turn it is reinforced that, if we're truly a D-1 program, we simply have to have a new facility. Otherwise, lets just play Walsh & Mount Union.

If ZippyRulz would be willing, I think he'd have to do it because he started this thread. Zach has done this in the past. I've got this list put together, but wouldn't want it on Page 4 (too hard to find & reference). Commits: Devanier Floyd, RB, 5-9, 200, Akron East Keyondre White, RB, 5-10, 210, Chaminade Madonna HS, Hollywood, FL Ronald Beasley, OL, 6-2, 280, West Port HS, Ocala, FL Offers: Daishawn Brimage, S/WR, 6-1, 205, Akron East Ramon Fields, OL, 6-4, 375, Akron East Dominick Covatto, DT, 6-3, 305, Cathedral Prep, Erie, PA Zach DiLauro, LB, 5-10, 210, Akron Springfield Cal Endicott, !B, 6-5, 190, Flushing HS, Flushing, MI Omar Fattah, LB, 5-11, 215, St Eds. Keye Thompson, LB/S/RB/WR, 6-0, 205, Barberton Joe Wilkins, WR/S, 6-2, 175, N. Fort Myers HS, FL Nate Bauer, WR, 6-2, 190, Hoban Ra'veion Hargrove, RB, 5-7, 175, Trotwood Madison Te'cory Tutson, ATH, 5-8, 160, Miami Southwest HS Keshuan Clarke, RB/SB, 5-9, 193, Western HS, Davie, FL George Bento, DE/TE, 6-3, 240, Jensen Beach HS, FL Andrew Cunningham, RB, 6-0, 215, Abridge Christian, Tampa, FL Demetrius Mayes Jr., DL/LB, Miami Northwestern, FL Davontae McCrae, DE, 6-5, 255, Miami Northwestern, FL Jimmy McKenna, DL/OL, 6-5, 250, Avon HS Brandon Derrow, DE/TE, 6-4, 230, St. Charles Prep/St. Francis DeSales Tye Evans, WR/DE, 6-0, 225, Nordonia

Yes. I don't wanna say better than Suggs, but bigger & faster. Suggs was special. DeVanier is my early dark horse pick to win Mr. Football next year.

This guy is an absolute stud. He's build like a tank & was the city 100m champion last year. Fast as lightning & hits the hole HARD. Amped!!

Akron Beacon: Zips buoyed by win over Houston, prepare for NIT game against Texas-Arlington Cleveland.com: Akron Zips look to continue road success at UT-Arlington

These are 21-year olds. They get into fights over pickup basketball on the playground. They don't like to lose at tic-tac-toe, let alone something in which they take pride & in which, for better or for worse, they find identity. It was a well-played, competitive, high-level basketball game. Jeesh.

Update: Jason's no longer a Zip. I wish you the best, Jason!

He's still not on the Spring Roster. But his twitter page definitely looks like he's still a Zip.

Btw, Jailyn Walker is only a sophomore. Whew! He's gonna be a handful over the next two years.

Which is strange to me. I started following the Zips closely the last year of the Coleman Crawford era (whatever year that was). For the longest time it seemed like the MAC was the conference of the 6'5" Power Forward. My initial impression would be that the conference, as a whole, has actually upgraded their mean talent level. But it sure hasn't resulted in NBA draft choices or NCAA Tourney wins.

Who did you hear was #2? And do you have any feel as to why? Maybe it's just one of those situations where a player wanted to go away to school? But I didn't hear any buzz whatsoever about Akron giving his recruitment anything more than a half-a$$ effort. Maybe it was a situation where Graves told them straight up as a sophomore that he wanted to go away to school? Idk, but I knew this guy was a special one while watching him three years ago. SMH. KD should have been on him like white on rice.

Article states Tommy can't throw till June. Kato was/is the QB-in-waiting, but Nick Johns is a physical specimen. This QB competition is going to be fun to watch.

And, yeah, I'm stealing a bit from the Winter Strength & Conditioning thread, but I thought we should probably start this one. Here is the updated spring roster

Hey, a spring ball article Are you ready for some football? Zips face some questions in spring practice after disappointing 2016 season

And Newman Williams to DT. Unless, of course, we want a 3-star recruit to just sit the bench for four years. That could be the master plan, I suppose.

^^That's not the entire interview. Here is the entire 10 minute interview. Says Big Dog's kinda banged up.

If we're going to renovate the JAR I don't think there's any way around this. And that's fine by me. We desperately need a more plush facility. As is, the JAR is embarrassing.