Blue & Gold

Look at this. Absolutely sick. Dude is built like a Mack truck. That's a 17-year-old?!?! Running a 4.44?!?! He's more built than I ever was. Crazy.

Now that you mention it, I remember hearing that too. I can't remember where. But if it was true I don't know when it would have happened, because I remember him playing his entire senior year up until the state semi-finals. I remember listening to that game on the radio & being disappointed they lost because I wouldn't be able to watch him play in the finals on t.v. Maybe he hurt his leg before his sr. year? I do remember he played football up until, IIRC, his junior year & was getting looked at as an OT. I can't remember. Man, time flies.

I went to the GABCA (Greater Akron Basketball Coaches Association) All-Star Game tonight. Before the senior all-stars played they had an underclassmen game (all juniors except for one very physically mature sophomore from Coventry named Jamond Hogg - at least the guy sitting next to me said he knew Jamond & that he was a sophomore. Idk.) Anyway, Pete Nance is as thin as a rail. But so was his brother at his same age. Both kinda late bloomers. But Pete's 6'9" and both athletic (coordinated) and extremely skilled, especially for his height. He can handle & pass the ball & has a nice stroke from 3. His shot is still inconsistent but his form is perfect & he's got perfect rotation on the ball. So I say give him another 2 years and he's going to be an absolute beast, just like his brother. (Btw, another junior that stood out to me was Hoban PG Collen Gurley. Excellent feel for the game & 6'2". Great looking player. Idk if he's getting any D-1 interest or not.) But anyway, cross your fingers for Pete.

Lol. Everyone improves. I'm saying he was a big catch when Dambrot signed him.

With the left!

And Floyd didn't play a lot as he was backing up Suggs. Suggs was the workhorse.

Why does Cleveland State exist? ?

I agree that with talent like that East should roll 99% of high school teams. But East reallllly was lacking at QB last year. Teams would 100% stack the box on them. I remember watching East play Ellet (or was it Buchtel...) and East had the ball on the 40-yard line but both teams were lined up like it was 4th and goal on the 1. All 22 players in the box. Lol.

Yeah, probably. But he was completely dominant in high school. Just not explosive and conditioning was an issue even back then. And Xavier offered him. So we beat out Xavier for his services & I thought that was a big deal for Akron. We don't do that too often. I was thrilled when we signed him.

Idk. Good question.

Yeah, but he was a big, higher profile recruit. He was 1st Team D-1 All-Ohio. I consider that kind of player pretty high profile. He single-handedly took his team to the state Final Four in Columbus. I remember Cincy fans talking about him on chat boards & they all really liked him but thought he wasn't quite explosive enough to get the offer from Cincy - even though the Cincy coaches gave him a lot of attention. It seems like they were about spot on with their assessment.

Big Dog was.

That's 100% me talking out of my I have ZERO inside information there. Pure speculation. But Big Ramon didn't play D-line last year.

Because of Ramon's hugeness, he only played one way (offense) last year. I'm excited UA wants him for DL, as he moves really well for a guy his size. I'd imagine this year Coach Hayes still only plays him one way - a guy his size isn't going to have the energy to give 100% going both ways - but might move him to DL (his future college position)? But my preseason prediction of Devanier Floyd for Ohio Mr. Football 2017 was contingent on Ramon playing OL. If East moves him to DL this year I get a mulligan.

This has been a concern and disappointment for me. Especially considering KD's history and ongoing relationship with the school & head coach, Dru Joyce II. Over the past 3 years we've struck out on 3 players who are difference makers: Jalen Hudson - signed with Virginia Tech. Henry Badley - signed with Butler. Jayvon Graves - signed with Buffalo. There is no acceptable reason to lose out on Graves to Buffalo. None. We have to look in the mirror and deeply re-evaluate things if we're losing a STVM kid to the Bulls. Jalen Hudson to VT & Henry Badley to Butler are much easier to rationalize... but those are precisely the kinds of players we have to sign to take the next step. We didn't lose out on them to Duke, Kansas or even Ohio State. And there they were on a silver platter at STVM.

This is an excellent interview. I didn't just want to tuck this into an existing thread. Good to hear community voices beginning to speak up on the need of a new arena.

I didn't think he was supposed to throw till June? ?

I hope you're right about Josh. He reeeeeeeally underwhelmed this year. He seems to be a step slow for this level.

Good call, Keener. That had to be MTB. I like it. He's bigger than Lane was. Plus he played WR in high school.

Agreed. He's under the radar right now after being Sugg's backup for 3 years. He's primed to absolutely explode this year. Fortunately he's got a lot of friends on the team. The coaching staff better keep in daily contact with him.

Ouch.

That blew.

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.