72 Roo

My opinion is that Groce will leave for a better position right before his kids go to high school because once in HS he may not want to pull them out. Knowing the family man he is I think he cares about their experiences and does not want to disrupt those years by moving. His son is 12 BTW. There are big reasons for him to stay for the time being. Such as: He loves his players and he has great teams coming for the next 2-3 years He wants to build a legacy here before he goes He likes the area and the passion of the fans He likes working for Guthrie and Miller. They are all aligned Guthrie will refurbish the JAR, bringing more seats and students to the lower bowl, taking out the plexiglass barrier, redoing the floor, bringing collapsable seats out over the track on all sides. Guthrie will do that within 2 years Groce has lobbied for a separate practice facility which he will get this summer I believe all these things will keep him here for a while, but in the end he still wants to coach at a school that will allow him to win a national championship. That's why I believe he will leave one day.

In Groce's comments at the post game presser he mentioned that the success of the Akron program was one of the reasons that he WANTED to come here after Illinois. That got me to thinking of the hiring of coach Moorhead. JoMo also said he WANTED to be at Akron. If you recall a couple of years ago Louisville made a big run at Jared Embick. Despite more money Jared didn't go because he too WANTED to be here. Coach Mitchell has also built a top 25 track program here and despite other schools pursuing him he WANTS to stay at Akron. Our AD Charles Guthrie also WANTED to come here. My point is that regardless of the greed and arrogance of the P5 schools Akron is a great place to be, in fact it can be an appealing place to be and we should take pride in that. Groce, Moorhead and Guthrie will all probably move on one day. I think it is appropriate to stop and enjoy what may evolve into the golden age of Zip sports. We have coaches who want to be here. We have an administration that expects and fosters performance. We have good facilities. That's a winning combination. Add to that a fan base that, while limited, is growing and is excited. Many of the posters and readers on ZNO helped keep the flame glowing. For that we all should be grateful. Your efforts are paying off. None of these coaches would want to be at a place that doesn't care. ZNO cares! Go Zips!

Thanks from all of us. you did your job well 🏆

God Lord that was great to watch again! Hope it happens tonight again.

Class and Kent Correctional Institute are mutually exclusive. Truly punks in their program, but we have to beat them to shut them up. Don't you relish the thought of PCCC having to live with the loss we will give them tonight for a whole year! Destroy the Flushes! Go Zips!

Thanks Hilltoppers. I used the code and got 4 tickets. Coming to the game with my wife and another couple. I plan to scream my ass off. Beat Kent! Go Zips!

lllini Zip, thanks for your thoughtful reply. I asked for objective insight and you gave me just that. Everyone else gave me excuses. My point in raising these issues is to identify areas for improvement. The two players I mentioned do have great abilities and I'm glad they are Zips. Being a Zip they are my players. But why can't we discuss opportunities for those players to improve their games? That does not take away from what they do well, it only makes them better. As they improve so does our team.

I listened to the postgame show on WHLO and Joe Dunn named Ali as his second half offensive star of the game. I have a hard time with that because Ali also had 7 turnovers in the game. Some of you on this board are closer to the team than I am and I have to ask why does Groce tolerate Ali's TO's and dribble-dribble-dribble? I'm serious. I hope there is some logic other than he sometimes gets real hot. The color analyst for the game had never seen Ali play before. Yet he mentioned repeatedly, starting in the first half, that Ali's dribbling was hurting Akron more than helping. Personally I'd gibe more time to Wynn and Dawson who I admire for growing as players. My second question is why does Groce allow Tribble to drive into the paint with no avenue to the basket only to throw up a crap shot or leave his feet with nowhere to go or turn it over or have no chance to finish at the rim. We can't win playing like that. When he drives he rarely dishes off to an open teammate. What it boils down to me is that he does not create opportunities/space for other players or himself. When we play within ourselves we are a hell of a team. I hope that team emerges this weekend. Help me out here guys and gals. Go Zips!

In lieu of the Russian atrocities in Ukraine I think you have a good idea, but only for a limited time. For 30 days we should cancel the letter 'Z'. Beyond that I give it _ero chance of succeeding.

We had a good spring start against Cleveland State. Jared is high on this team. Another reason to be excited is that more defensive help may coming from Europe over the summer.

The original Zipper overshoe was a product of BF Goodrich. I think the university is reluctant to support the Zipper name because of the opportunity to it be misused which was the reason the name was shortened to Zips.

Just a little bit of sarcasm my friend. All I saw in it was a chance to be a smart ass. Many times that comes easily for me.

I like it. It makes a clear statement as to who we are and what we stand for. Far better than script Akron.

Also add to that granite hard bench seating for GA's.

Over the last many years UA has had terrible marketing. I believe Guthrie knows this and wants to fix it. I also believe he has bigger issues to deal with for now, but he will get to it. The guy is smart and aggressive. He will be here for a few years before he gets a better offer. During that time he will better the situation.

Absolutely hate to see Jacki go, but wish her all the best. She is a great talent as a color commentator. Insightful, appropriate for the moment and relatable. I hope we see her back in NE Ohio soon as I consider her one of our own. Have fun Jacki!

You may be right, but I will take a different view and say it is a result of how the university works with donors. In short it is pee poor. Their communication is horrible, they do not follow up on promises and they are rigid in their thinking. Perhaps under Gary Miller that will change, but it is painfully slow. The development dept does an average job, but the faculty and academics want to be left alone to do things as they always have. They have little shown evidence of flexibility to meet the desires of major donors.

Lebron has been distancing himself from UA after he made a major contribution to the college of education which later was renamed the Lebron James Family Foundation School of Education. Sometime after that he started his I Promise chapter at Kent and guaranteed free education to those who finished. Something happened behind the scenes to pee him off with UA.

Speaking of gushing over the Zips the color guy must have had drugs on that pizza he was eating. He said Ali was 1st or 2nd team all-MAC. He never once touched on his 10-15 seconds of dribble-dribble while backing his defender into the paint only to take a horrible shot or turn it over. What was he watching?

I asked Guthrie about our logo change and he said he wanted a new logo in place before opening kickoff for football. Any new logo would be on our new field and in all Zip uni's for next year ('22-'23). If that is the case decisions will be made soon. Wait and see.

I get the eye patch!

Make that "escape him". Damn spell check.

Pul-leez GP1, don't encourage him! There is only so much of the Meister that a Zip can take. As an AD we could never except him. As a commissioner he could begin to plot world domination like Dr. Evil! I happen to know for certain that he has a hairless cat.

This is one of the best analysis of our team this season. I'll add one more point to it though. My point is that Groce knows all this too and he is at his wit's end on how to bring out the full potential of this team. We are at the end of the season. A time when Groce's teams have come together and started playing their best basketball. This team is not doing that. They are probably as good as they are going to get. They know it, Groce knows it and we see it. I don't fault Groce or the staff. They are doing the best they can. It's on the players when we continuously see poor passing, questionable defense, turnovers, launching 24 footers while completely guarded, looking for their own shot, poor foul shooting and lack of growth. Next year will be better. Groce will get the players he needs, but this year is what it is..... we can beat anyone, we can lose to anyone.

We did talk about how Joe feels about the program and its future. Insiders say Joe feels the program will make a quick turnaround and be competitive. He feels, according to my source, that players in the transfer portal will be interested in Akron because of the issues you stated i.e. staff relationships, system of play, early playing time. But there was more that warmed my heart. Simply, it's his belief Akron is packed with potential to dominate the MAC. We've got the stadium, indoor field house and hungry fanbase. He loves the alignment with president Gary Miller, the board of trustees and AD Charles Guthrie. They all have a common vision and it's focused on winning the MAC. Joe also is still pissed off regarding his treatment at Mississippi State, at which he never enjoyed the alignment he values. That drives him to show them (MSU) and his peers that he can lead a dominant program. I have such a good feeling about the new era of Akron football that we are entering. Joe will probably gets offers from other programs, but I feel he will only entertain Pitt or Penn State, due to proximity to family and size of program. If he gets those offers he will have been fabulously successful at UA and hopefully we will be able to keep success going. This is all my opinion so take it with a grain of salt. I am so excited. When football is successful all Zip sports will benefit. Bring it on! Since I have written permission from BigJim I'll close with In Joe We Trust.