Dr Z

Stunning news. Just imagine if they go back and dig up that old tweet of him in an Akron hoodie. OMG!

Lakers select Larry Nance Jr. Nance Jr.'s draft stock rose rapidly in the final days leading up to the draft, so much so that he snuck into the first round. He's a 6'8 power forward who stayed all four years at Wyoming and averaged 16.1 points as a senior. He averaged seven rebounds, shot 51 percent from the floor and even hit a few three-pointers at a 31 percent rate, although he doesn't immediately project to be a shooter from behind the arc in the NBA unless he can extend his range.

“The rules have changed to where you could only have two players from one college team on each of the summer league teams,” Dixon said. “That sort of made it difficult with only so many Division I players available to have the kind of competitive league you are looking for." Source: Pitt cancels summer league.

More coverage may be added when the event gets closer. We are 72 days away.

I would offer these two Under Armor wearing kids before Ken+ or Toledo does. They rep Under Armor every day.

LINDSAY SCHNELL writes about the technology of recruiting in college football. (FULL ARTICLE) Technology has brought college athletics a dizzying number of new, swanky devices and practices, gadgets and formulas that increase performance and efficiency. And in recruiting, it’s made coaches’ lives a lot lighter—literally. “It used to be, you talk to a kid on the phone, then you send him something in the mail,” Whitcomb says. “Now, he can look at the app, at all the updated stuff we have, on his iPad while we’re on the phone.” JumpForward developed and launched a native mobile app that automatically logs coaches' calls to prospects, eliminating the need to track them with paper and pen. Compliance apps often send push notifications to coaches and administrators warning of potential NCAA violations, like if a coach is about to exceed his limit of phone calls. “Websites are dying,” says Max Allen, the director of football new media at Iowa. “Social media has taken the place of websites—and millennials don’t know of information being delivered any other way.” I know Akron has an app to give potential students a tour of the campus and current students schedules, calendars, news, etc. I would image recruiting has something.

A league that tries to avoid shootouts. (similar to ZR post above) While I enjoyed world cup last year, 2009 was my last college soccer game I will pay attention to until the kickball competition to decide a game is altered. I realize some enjoy it. I do not.

A couple of quick takes from the interview: • No specific date for an AD to be hired, should be between 3 weeks and 3 months. HAS to be the right guy. • New arena should happen in 3 to 5, maybe 7 years. • Has to be improvements to the JAR. • As a fan, he would be shocked if coach Bowden didn't reach a bowl game this year. • Being an AD is not his long term goal. Thanks for posting SZ!

Game time is 7 pm ET.

Zips lose three star area (Bedford) recruit to Pitt. Chawntez Moss verbally committed to Pitt on Sunday afternoon. Rated the 83rd-best running back in the nation and 47th-best player in Ohio in the Class of 2016, Moss also held scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Akron, Can't State, Miami (OH) Ohio, Toledo, Bowling Green and others.

The Cavaliers may have lost in the Finals, but LeBron James‘ return to Cleveland was the most important event in the franchise’s history. To commemorate the Cavs’ season, which involved making the Finals despite injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, Nike has taken out a full-page ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer recounting the season, with a twist. Here’s the full advertisement: Phil Jackson not a fan.

NEO Best Craft Brewery. 1. Great Lakes Brewing Co., Cleveland, 28.47 percent.2. Fat Head's Brewery, North Olmsted, Middleburg Heights, 27.63 percent.3. Platform Beer Co., Cleveland, 9.26 percent.4. The Brew Kettle, Strongsville, 8.57 percent.5. Portside Distillery and Brewery, Cleveland, 7.83 percent.6. Brick and Barrel, Cleveland, 4.43 percent.7. The Cleveland Brewery, Cleveland, 4.38 percent.8. Hoppin? Frog, Akron, 3.42 percent.9. Thirsty Dog Brewing Co., Akron, 3.19 percent.10. Lager Heads Brewing Co., Medina County, 2.83 percent. Who's going to try the new JoPa beer?!?! Will any Zip fan alter the art for the 2017 game?The Duquesne Brewing Company says Monday it's rolling out a brew honoring the late Penn State football coach. The Vienna-style lager available in mid-August will come in 12-oz. cans featuring Paterno's image and accomplishments. The brewery says it's working with Paterno's family on the beer. A portion of proceeds will go to charities they support.

The MAC consistently provides some untraditional routes to an NFL roster. Kristjan Sokol's journey from Albania, to the MAC (UB), now to the NFL (SEA). (Rolling Stone Article). Sokoli is the first Albanian-born player to ever make the National Football League, and only the 13th player to ever be drafted from the University at Buffalo. And from the moment the Seahawks picked him in the sixth round and he got on the phone with offensive line coach Tom Cable, he went from being a college defensive tackle to an NFL center, a position he has never played before. Another (LT Walton CMU) position converted MAC player tying to crack a roster. Walton is a converted offensive lineman who is still very rough around the edges in terms of technique along the defensive line. Watching his film shows an extremely athletic lineman who relies on instinct and athleticism over technique and responsibility.

You must not follow the Columbus State twitter account, I think they sent out a congrats to the Zips, #TeamOhio.

Don't read too much into "right now"...I was told by the staff that we are going to see a much different offense than last year. None of them described it as "pro-style." You did not see this offense in the spring game.

Most artists don't produce masterpieces every single time. I posted what I thought was a good one. Led Zeppelin released 'Coda'!?!?

In all fairness, BZ used to criticize Ted Williams when he struck out.

I'm assuming you didn't watch part 2 of the interview I posted above? Ken Berger from CBS Sports asked him that specific question, LBJ's answer, "I don't enjoy it...it was needed" If you haven't watched it, I suggest you do. It's pretty easy to read between the lines as to what he is suggesting if you weren't able to figure it out before the finals started.

Should be interesting to see all the numbers come in later to see the "Lebron James Effect" Scott Raab gives reason to hope highlighting Akron's native son's season.

Nice article. Maybe now we can actually start some real marketing. "Burns said the Cavs contacted him during the first or second playoff series to see if UA was interested sponsoring a T-shirt for Game 6 of the Finals. Burns had established a relationship with the team when, as vice president of external affairs for the University of Toledo" On a game note, I'm disappointed the Cavs lost, but happy I don't have to watch Delly chase Warriors around the court anymore. Painstaking. I agree with LeBron after the game when he said "we ran out of talent"...perfectly stated. I've always thought this was one of the hardest things to do in sports. I think LBJ handles it better than most. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya2VNqgR_2I Adam Schefter humor

I thought there would be more comments on this interview. Oh well, good try SZ, I appreciated it. * Tom says he made the decision to leave. * Admits he didn't know a whole lot about Akron when he took the job * Funding model is the biggest challenge as an AD at Akron and most schools * Zips need a new arena, and the city, county, and biz community need to come together to make a downtown arena * Learfield (where he is going) is like IMG, he will be selling their services to AD's across the country AD Scoop

Thanks for posting. Good interview. Highlights: * Tom says he made the decision to leave. * Admits he didn't know a whole lot about Akron when he took the job * Funding model is the biggest challenge as an AD at Akron and most schools * Zips need a new arena, and the city, county, and biz community need to come together to make a downtown arena * Learfield is like IMG, he will be selling their services to AD's across the country

Right..sort of. Hopefully we can luck into that situation again. Set your sights HIGH. “So the guy says, ‘I’m calling on behalf of the University of Akron. Would you be interested in the job?'” Bowden leans back in his chair. He told me he’d had his eye on the Akron job for several years, though it is an odd job for anyone to covet: Before the school chased Bowden, they went after a former Zips player and assistant coach named Paul Winters, who led Wayne State to the Division II national championship game last season. And Winters chose to stay at Wayne State instead. Only then, Bowden says, did he get the phone call from the search firm. “So I tell him, ‘Yes, I’m interested,'” he says. “And the guy goes, ‘Really?'”

A national AD search will begin by the end of this week. Anyone have an idea of who is doing the searching?