Blue & Gold

I wasn't able to make the MACC vs. Can't but I was able to chat online w/ a few others who weren't able to make the game and it was a blast! I think it's definitely worth keeping!

I don't think there's a man alive more well-fit for this coaching position than KD. Honestly. The planets alligned for him to land here, bring along Dru & Rome & J-Wood, and be personal friends w/ LeBron. He's a bright coach and a diligent recruiter who is passionate about his hometown and U. Good grief, we are so fortunate to have him at the helm of this program.

Thanks ZipsTrumpet! This quote is from the Canton Repository story:Another plus for the Akron program is his relationship with Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James. Dambrot coached James for two seasons at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, and they won two state titles together. James holds his basketball camp, AAU tournament and open gyms on the Akron campus. Dambrot also promised "big news" in terms of an Akron "affiliation with LeBron." "He's a very, very loyal guy," Dambrot said. "That's why I love LeBron." I wonder what the "'big news' in terms of an Akron 'affiliation with LeBron'" could be?!

I hope not!!! It also lists Sean Fobbs as a Senior. He's actually going to be a redshirt freshman. I also noticed it lists Andrew Johnson at 5-10, 215. That sounds more realistic that the 230 he was listed at earlier. There are but a handful of people IN THE WORLD who are as fast & quick as AJ and go 230. 215 is PLENTY!

Thank you seniors, you all are fantastic people and had fantastic careers! I'm proud that you represented our community with such class & competitiveness! You have certainly turned this program into something I would only have dreamed of about 15 years ago! I remember watching my first Zips basketball games with crowds at the JAR that were probably only a couple hundred strong. I would sit in the end zone bleacher sections and literally have almost the entire section to myself; maybe 4 or 5 others up there. A SG from Barberton named Tron Jenkins was by FAR our best player. The second best player on that first team I watched @ the JAR was JASON TAYLOR! Yeah, of the Miami Dolphins! He was a 6-6 center/powerforward; very athletic and strong, but not really a basketball player. Man, has the program advanced TREMENDOUSLY with you guys and KD at the helm!!! Honestly, you probably don't realize all that you've done and all that you've accomplished! THANK YOU!

I would love to see KD recruit a player that is ranked top 150 in the entire country, then Akron would truly dominate. Having a recruit that is one of the best in your state, doesn't necessarily mean he is a high impact player. The crop of players at that position could be particularly weak in that state during that year. I would also like to KD recruit a player hat is ranked in the nations top 20 at their respective positions.Well Ziplockbag....I guess you never took the time to check out my son Zeke Marshall 09 recruit..WHO by the way sir...has a 3 star ranking on Scout.com and is listed 19 in the 2009 class at the Center position. So having said all of this---you MAY want to rethink that above statement or perhaps do a "little more research" before blasting the recruiting efforts of UA. He is not ranked on Rivals (although they have a very interesting article about him on their site). And if I may say this...you might want to consider this has well....why only go after the "so called" highly ranked players? Consider the fact that Zeke is not blown up on the "scout" sites yet he is considered a major recruit for his class..AND RIVALS NOR SCOUT had ANYTHING...now say with me...NOTHING to do with it. I personally like it when a kid is not considered by "scouts" and "rivals" and places like that to be so important or worth their attention...although they are excellent players..why do I say this...because it provides a better opportunity for UA and other mid major schools to get top quality athletes without having to fight the "bigger" schools for them. Zeke LOVES being under the radar...less scrutiny from the "so-called" super intelligent, all knowing scouts and more of an opportunity to look at and really consider schools LIKE AKRON. Take a deep breathe ziplockbag and hold on...because it is getting ready to get (as my beautiful daughter says--CRACK-A-LACKIN) Sweet! I love that: "CRACK-A-LACKIN"! That's hilarious! CRACK-A-LACKIN-AKRON! We know Zeke is the real-deal and we think he'd look beautiful in blue & gold!!! "Humpty Hitchens with the ball at the top of the key; passes over to Roberts; Roberts back to Humpty; Humpty drives the lane and dishes off to Zeke; SLAM WITH THE RIGHT HAND!!! TWO POINTS! The Mid-American Conference trembles at the sound of Zeke's name! The crowd is going crazy, crying out 'ZZZZZZZZZZZEKE!!!'"

The common sentiment is that we all hope Jimmy Conyers sticks it out and comes back w/ the team next year. But just to throw this perspective out there, wouldn't it be better off for everyone if he'd transfer down? He could go to a school where he would get playing time and could really contribute (I hate to say this, but he hasn't really contributed anything all year; doesn't even take his warmups off anymore.) Jimmy does seem like a really nice guy, but awfully mentally fragile. Transfering down would be a healthy move for Jimmy. As for us, we'd get another scholly freed up and could offer it to someone who can play and contribute at this level. With the Conyers scholly maybe we could sign both Zeke and Reggie Keely next year?!

I think we're going to be more than fine. Watching Humpty play last weekend, wow, I wish he was running the point for us today (let alone against Can't State)! And another member of the 'Nation, who had seen both Steward & Humpty play in high school, said he'd actually give Steward a slight edge over Humpty. Additionally, Steward has had a year to watch & observe & learn the system; I think we'll be awfully tough at PG next season. That will enable McNees to move to 2G and just worry about running off of screens and launching from deep, with Darryl Roberts giving us a great athlete off the bench. Linhart will start at SF w/ B.McKnight coming off the bench as possibly the best player on the team. C.McKnight will be a more polished and experienced PF and Sweich will instantly be one of the biggest C's in the MAC. I think we're going to be awfully good next year!PG: Steward, HumptySG: McNees, RobertsSF: Linhart, B.McKnightPF: C.McKnight, NikC: Sweich, BardoI'm thinking Sullivan, McClanahan & the big guy from Dayton will be redshirted next year. That would make Sullivan, McClanahan, the big guy from Dayton & ZEKE MARSHALL all freshmen at the same time! KD doesn't rebuild, he reloads!

Comparing big men and guards can be a little bit like apples and oranges, but I think that Jeremiah is the best Zips player I've ever seen. I've been following Zips basketball closely since around 1992ish (the final year of the Coleman Crawford era?) so that goes back quite a while and covers a lot of talented players. Congratulations on making your hometown proud, Jeremiah! We're sorely gonna miss you, Bro!

Interesting. Thanks!

The ABJ reported today that Dr. Howard Ducharme was removed as Chair of the UA Philosophy Department. Wow, this is a horrible move on UA's part as Dr. Ducharme is one of the most intellectually gifted men in all of NE Ohio. He's an absolutely brilliant graduate of Oxford University. I am an acquaintance of Dr. Ducharme and know from personal experience that he is great with students as he is one of the most humble, unassuming, unpretentious people you could ever hope to meet. In fact, he is so down-to-earth that he is more comfortable with his students referring to him as "Dewey," than as Dr. Ducharme.Does anyone have any inside info on this?I know that Dewey is a Christian man, and that he was discriminated against because of his religious beliefs at his former place of employment (the University of I'll Bite My Tongue.) I would hope that this is not the case here. Also, I know that Dewey really sticks to his philosophical guns as a resident ethicist at both Summa & General hospitals when a medical ethically gray area is encountered (mostly dealing w/ the continued care of partially brain damaged patients) and that has caused friction with insurance companies on more than one occassion. Just saying, if you know Dewey, you know this is bogus. UA is fortunate to have a mind (and personality) like his instructing at the U! So, once again, does anyone have any inside info on this development?

The FSU game was a great way for Dials to wind down his career and now the UMass game was terrific for J-Wood. Cedric also played more than solid in both games. They played great. Thank you guys! We love ya!!!

Thanks UMassFan! Nice post! It should be an exciting game! Like someone said before, we really seem to live by the three, die by the three. If we're hitting from the outside we're a very tough team, but if we're cold from behind the arc our offense really stalls. Also, we're running the show this year without a true point guard. Nick Dials, the blonde-headed guy you'll see running our point is last year's shooting guard. He's a much more natural shooter than disher. He also lacks the quickness one would like to have from a PG. He's taking one for the team this year.Enjoy the game!P.s. I guess you're probably thrilled that UConn was knocked out by San Diego last night?!

I like the move to RB for Williams. He's going to likely be an All-MAC corner and NFL prospect (probably not a prospect at RB), and Andrew Johnson will be the most talented RB in the MAC and also an NFL prospect. That being said, the game is won and lost @ the line of scrimmage, so hopefully the D-Line can stuff some people and hopefully our O-Line can open some holes! Additionally, I'm hoping against hope that Matt Rogers is head-and-shoulders above CJ at the QB spot. CJ was AWFUL last year. IMHO Rogers had better be MUCH, MUCH better than CJ was last year if we want to have a winning record this year.

I think we're going to be more than fine against Can't State next year. 1- they are losing both Q and Mike Scott, 2- we're adding Steven Sweich (he'll be the biggest player in the MAC) and 3- we're adding super athlets at the guard positions: Steward, Humpty & Brooks, that along w/ Darryl Roberts, which gives us an incredibly quick assortment of guards to both run the point & lock down Al Fisher. (I think we'll probably red shirt Alex Sullivan. Just looking ahead, I don't think KD would want Steward, Humpty & Sullivan to all graduate the same year.)

There is no way we lose to UNLV like that. We would have beat UNLV & made the 2nd round. That was UGLY.And yeah, I hope KD took a lot of notes while watching that debacle.

I honestly don't think UNLV looks any better than FSU did at all. I just think Can't's playing that bad. I wish we could play UNLV. This is pathetic. I hate this because I'm always trying to get my friends to follow MAC b-ball and I know their all watching this thinking MAC B-BALL MUST REALLY SUCK!!!

This is horrible! UNLV doesn't even look that good - Can't just looks absolutely HORRIBLE! What on earth?! they've really let UNLV get comfortable in this game. They'd better tighten things up real quick, 'cause this is making us and the rest of the MAC look pathetic.

Have you forgotten McClanahan @ 6-5? He's a SG .. nominated for McDonald's game ..Very true! That's a great SG height! Actually, I thought Jimmy Conyers was going to play SG for us, but KD seems to like to play him at the 3-spot. Do you think he'll do the same w/ McClanahan? It's hard to image McClanahan being as naturally athletic as Jimmy is.We also have another walk-on named Eric Coblentz who was 2nd Team All-Ohio D-II last year (from Lake High School). He's 6-2 as well. Maybe 6-3. But I'm not sure he's quite athletic enough to get a lot of minutes at this level though. But he can really shoot the ball.

Isn't this guy good enough that he'll get a ride somewhere? Hard to imagine a D1 first teamer not getting some looks for NCAA D1 scholies .. even low major.Not sure that walking on here is the best thing for him. Lots of talent in the backcourt .. on scholie.I've heard that he had some discipline issues last season - and may have been kicked off the McKinley team, thus the transfer to Timken. So, not knowing what the discipline issues were, they may have been rather severe for him not to have any offers on the table.The reason I'm following Johnie Davis' recruiting (or lack thereof?) is that he's a 6-2 shooting guard. I'm really excited about the guys we're gonna have in the backcourt over the next few years, but they may be a little on the short side: Humpty @ 5-9, Sullivan @ 5-11, Roberts @ 5-11 and Steward @ 5-10. We're gonna have McNees @ 6-2 and Rydell Brooks (walk-on) @ 6-2, but I'm just thinking maybe we could really use another D-1 All-Ohio 6-2 SG, especially if we could happen to bring him into the fold as a mere walk-on w/ the potential of a future scholly?

Here's an article from today's ABJ (3/20). Malone College hosted last night's Summit vs. Stark County all-star game. Summit defeated Stark by a count of 108 - 101. But once again, Johnie Davis sounds like a hidden talent just begging to be asked to walk-on to the Zips' squad! Here's the quote about Johnie from the article:"Stark County was led by Johnie Davis of Timken, who was named the Stark MVP with a game-high 29 points and a handful of highlight dunks."We could have used an athlete like that in our backcourt THIS season! Give him a chance KD!!!http://www.ohio.com/sports/16844021.html?page=all&c=yThe article talks about the girl's game first, so you'll have to scroll 1/2 way down to see the boy's story.

Unfortunately our "local" media is not local.Fortunately (due to the internet?) I don't know of many people without gray hair that even watch the local tv news anymore.

Oh, and by the way, 2 years ago Darryl Roberts was ranked as the best PG/Lead Guard in the state of Ohio and KD signed him. Last year Ronnie Steward was considered the best PG in the state of Ohio and KD signed him. This year Humpty Hitchens is considered the best PG/Lead Guard in the state of Ohio and KD got him. Two years ago PF Chris McKnight was 1st Team D-I All-Ohio, as was his brother Brett @ SF last year. Additionally, Steve McNees was 1st Team All-Western Pennsylvania two years ago (I believe Pennsylvania gives out seperate honors for the western & eastern portions of the state) as was Steven Sweich last year.Additionally, current Zip recruit & high school senior Alex Sullivan was named to the D-I All-Ohio 2nd Team, but this is actually a huge accomplishment because Sullivan played on a team where he was generally the 1st, 2nd and 3rd option to put the ball in the basket, so every team that they played all year long was solely focussed on shutting down Mr. Sullivan and no one could ever really keep him from scoring the ball.Yeah, the elite-level high school talent that KD is loading up on is unprecedented in this programs history!

Quickzips is spot on. I am a paying member of Rivals.com, but it is ONLY for fun. Their basketball star rankings are absolutely awful. ESPECIALLY in basketball - there are just far, far, far too many players for these guys to have much of an idea of what they're talking about. For instance, Humpty Hitchens was 1st Team D-II All-Ohio and a finalist for Ohio's Mr. Basketball award. In the Ohio D-II championship game against Toledo Libbey he shined brighter than did 5-Star William Bufford, who won Ohio's Mr. Basketball award. Bufford's a beautiful player with tons of up side, but on this particular day I would have taken Humpty 10 times out of 10. Another example: a local player that I am intrigued by is Canton Timken's 6-2 SG Johnnie Davis. He was 1st-Team All-Ohio D-I, but neither Rivals nor Scouts even has a single word about him. So take those star rankings with the proverbial grain of salt. It's fun when a player that signs w/ your program has 3 stars next to his name, but it's really for fun; doesn't mean a lot. the recruiting info you'll get on this website is priceless compared to what you'll get on either Rivals or Scouts. And it's free!

Now that I read the article again, nowhere does it mention that Ray Chambers is awaiting his standardized test results. I must have read that elsewhere.