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It's easy to take pictures with the players and wear bracelets that say "Back the Zips" but now is the time to prove it. We obviously support the team on the court, but we also need to remind the players from time to time that we care about them off of the court as well. I've never met Demetrius Treadwell. From all accounts I've heard, he's a great, intelligent, passionate young man. He's been through a lot of adversity, at one point having to leave his public school to recover credits and get back on track to graduate high school. He came to Akron having to prove himself before anything else, and he did. Last season he missed the first few games because of a compliance error and he responded by delivering his best season yet, culminating in a dominating performance against OU en route to becoming MAC Tournament MVP. He came into this season with goals set high. He’s been selected preseason All-MAC by Lindy’s Sports, Athlon Sports, Sporting News and USA Today Sports and told George Thomas in an article posted only a little over a month ago that his personal goals were to “win a national championship and be the best player I can be.” It seems as if right now Demetrius is a bit lost and is at a crossroads in his life. Judging by his actions and his Twitter feed, he is frustrated and doesn't know what to do. It's at these times of adversity in life that we all need a support system to get us through. Let's be a part of that support system. If he quits basketball many opportunities go away. The possibility of an NBA career, the possibility of a career overseas, and most importantly, the possibility of earning his diploma from The University of Akron...it could all go away. While I'm hopeful in time that Tree will re-think things, return to the team, and continue on his path to these great accomplishments, I think now is a great time for us to get behind this young man and make sure he knows we support him. Treadwell is a big Twitter user - so if you're on Twitter, send him some positive vibes to @tall_ass_tree with the hashtag #BackOurTree. If you aren't, feel free to post a message to him on here and after we get some responses, someone can tweet the link to him. "Back the Zips" has taken on a new meaning now. It needs to be much more about attendance...it needs to be getting a young man important to us, our program, and our university back on track so he can go on to accomplish the incredible things he is capable of doing in life.

Over the past five years Akron has three MAC Titles and Ohio has two MAC Titles. Would I trade the extra MAC Title for three NCAA Tournament wins and a Sweet Sixteen appearance? I'd say so. The better question might be be would you trade our three MAC Titles for one MAC Title and an NCAA Tournament win.

Thanks for your kind words, I appreciate your posts as well. Some responses: - IMO 80% of national basketball fans only watch 1-2 games of most mid-majors all season. We're not on the level of a VCU or Gonzaga yet, but very few mid-majors are. I'm more interested at in-state respect. During our winning streak and national ranking, we were getting a ton of press in the local media and even led one Ohio.com writer to ask who would win between OSU and Akron. - Zeke being a legitmate NBA prospect and Tree potentially being a legitimate NBA prospect are both examples of our level of talent increasing. I love Romeo and Dru, but the only reason they got invited to play on the Cavs Summer League squad was because of their friendship with LeBron. Nobody ever looked at them as a potential NBA player. Love Nate Linhart as well, but I don't think anyone viewed him in that way either. Zeke was brought in to work out with several NBA teams, got a summer league based on talent/potential, and could have easily played in the D-League had he decided to. I just don't think his (or Tree's potential) situations are similar to Romeo, Dru, or Nate's. - I agree that being MAC favorites doesn't mean anything, but I think it's realistic to expect, barring serious injury problems, the Zips to be in the MAC Championship again this season. That expectation despite losing four starters is a big indicator of our incoming talent level increasing. And finally... I honestly would rather have near-dominance in the MAC over the course of almost a decade that one tournament win. I want both of course...but if you're making me pick, I'm going conference dominance. I love knowing every season has a great chance of ending up with a celebration at The Q. One NCAA win would be AWESOME, but isn't that a bit of a moral victory in itself...?

Whoops, good call...I'm not sure why I was thinking five...selling our boys short!

Absolutely. Last season, they: - Were ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in school history - Posted their best conference record since joining the MAC in 1992 - Graduated their best NBA prospect in 25 years. (Yes, I know, he didn't make it...but when was the last time we had a player that close?) This season, they: - Have another NBA prospect in POY-candidate Demetrius Treadwell - Are favorites in the MAC despite losing Marshall, Walsh, Gilliam, and Abreu - four of their five starters before Abreu's arrest - Have the chance to break Miami's record of consecutive championship game appearances if they reach their 6th in a row - Have four players in Aaron Jackson, Kwan Cheatham, BJ Gladden, and "Big Dog" Johnson who would easily crack many MAC team's rotations. Three of the four will likely redshirt Seeing them lose to St. Marys and Middle Tennessee sucked, but I'm not sure you can say this program hasn't made progress or that they've peaked under Dambrot. Sure, that elusive NCAA Tournament win hasn't happened yet, but this program is clearly better today than it was 5-6 years ago when the Zips were losing 5-6 conference games. Zips just need to take a step back, fix a few things, and start a big-time winning streak.

After last night and hearing Dambrot speak, I think Gladden and Jackson will redshirt. Forsythe, Treadwell, Harney, Diggs, Betancourt, Johnson, Cheatham, Kretzer, McAdams, Evans form your 10 man rotation, with Ibitayo spending a lot of time on the bench

I may be in the minority here, but I'd prefer one of Cheatham/Gladden/Jackson getting minutes over Deji. 1st Unit Forsythe Treadwell Harney Diggs Evans 2nd Unit Johnson Kretzer McAdams Gladden or Jackson Betancourt OR Johnson Cheatham Kretzer McAdams Betancourt

Yes, I understand that (I'm a season ticket holder). I'm just saying - although it's one game, they were a Playoff team.

Yes, that was the Playoffs. The two aren't even comparable.

The good news is Buzzfeed is free so you can make a much better list, pickup hoops included!

Good one. Not enough Fritz Nagy references?

LINK

He ain't come to play SCHOOL he here to play BASKETBALL Sincerely, Cardale Jones

Anrio, we hardly knew ya...

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The river last caught on fire in 1969 - 44 years ago. The Cleveland city government defaulted on loans in 1978 - 35 years ago. The decrease in population has been seen in several cities across America, including Akron. Making fun of Cleveland for things that happened decades ago is like making fun of LeBron for choking in the 2011 NBA Finals - neither is really relevant anymore.

The argument has never been that he hurts the program. I don't know anyone who has ever said that. The debate is the signifigance of his impact on this program. Big difference. You know what's best for this program? Highlighting the incredible job Keith Dambrot, Rick McFadden, Terry Weigand, and Charles Thomas have done and continue to do for the Zips. Ask Zeke why he landed in Akron, and I'm sure he'll tell you it was because of the relationship he built with the coaching staff, how they made him feel at home, how the University itself was attractive to him. Ask Demetrius Treadwell and Nick Harney who took a chance on them when they were just high school kids with raw basketball talent in danger of dropping out of high school...who got them on the right path academically so they could get to UA...who made sure their academics continued to stay on track so they'd be eligible to play for UA and have a shot at a better future for themselves. Ask Tree specifically who helped him become the player he is today - a MAC POY candidate with a shot at the NBA if he keeps improving. Ask Alex Abreu and Carmelo Betancourt who made multiple trips to Puerto Rico to recruit them. Ask Pat Forsythe who made sure, when he wanted to be closer to home, that he didn't end up in Can't or Athens or Cleveland. Ask Quincy Diggs who stood by him when everyone else was willing to give up on him as both a player and a person. Those who hold the belief that LeBron's impact on the program is overstated, like myself, don't do so because they don't like LeBron James or because they don't want LeBron James around or because they don't think he helps a little bit. They do so because they know how much the coaches have done and continue to do to make this a successful program. These men have taken the program to heights never seen before, and have done so while sometimes being ridiculed by their own fan base. They never stop working, making personal sacrifices along the way. They know why we're so successful, and why the recruits we have secured have come. The best thing for this program is for the fans to give more due to them...to stop giving any more than just a small bit of credit o the program's success to a guy who shows up at practice from time to time. I do hope LeBron keeps coming to practice, and would love to see him increase his influence with our program. But as long as Dambrot, McFadden, Weigand, and Thomas stick around, we're going to continue to have great success, no matter what LeBron James does.

Not to spark this discussion (again), but why, if someone feels LeBron's impact on the program is overstated, does it automatically make them a "LeBron-hater" due to that opinion? Isn't it possible that they may just have a differing opinion? Maybe you should paint people with such a broad brush.

I do, and LeBron's impact is severely overstated. He helps, but not nearly as much as people make it out to be. This topic =

We're comparing Zeke to Ben McLemore, Trey Burke, and Dion Waiters now? There's a reason those guys get a pass - track record. Burke was the MVP of the NCAA Final Runner-Up. McLemore averaging 16 per night as a freshman for Kansas. Dion Waiters was an All-Rookie team selection in the NBA.

Hopefully Zeke's camp is already looking for his next landing spot...when a player isn't getting any floor time in the Summer League, his chances of making that team's roster are almost zero.

Does insider's name rhyme with Beke? Just kidding of course. Hope this is accurate - hated seeing Zeke in his warmups all game.

Fake picture? Need more to prove it's real?

His camp not returning to UA when he said it would is certainly related to UA, IMO.