wadszip

Shelby's quarterback was set to Row his Boat to Minnesota, but he decommitted yesterday and flipped to Virginia.

Wish I could say I didn't see this collapse coming, smh.

You bring up some good points, but Xavier is in Cincinnati, so not really "Dayton" that is supporting them. But when you consider the Cincinnati-Dayton area has the three schools you mention, plus UC (without clicking on the link, but I'm guessing is also over 10,000) shows that Southwest Ohio is more crazy about college basketball than Northeast Ohio. Part, of that, however, is due to the region not having an NBA team, and in Cleveland's (TV market) case an NBA team that has been among the top 5 most popular in the league ever since LeBron was drafted. Even in the four years LeBron left, the Cavs still were in the top half in attendance and had some of the highest local ratings in the NBA. In the LeBron years, the Cavs have always been in the top five in attendance and have battled the Spurs, Thunder and now Warriors for the No. 1 spot in local TV ratings. I'll have to look up what the Cavs' final local ratings were this year, but saw a couple months ago, they were pulling in something like an 11 share locally, which is about 110,000 TV sets a night ... on top of the 20,562 that go to every home game (and they play 41 of those). There's only so much time people in NEO want to dedicate to basketball, and largely the area has chosen to invest it with the Cavs, and can you blame them? Consistently one of the best teams in the league with the best player in the world being from right here in Akron. It just is what it is. With that said, I think there is still potential if Groce builds a product that wins and wins in an exciting fashion where they could bump up to 4,000-5,000 consistently. But as long as Akron is in the MAC and the Cavs are winning, the school simply will have an attendance ceiling it will bump into. EDIT: See B&G already pointed out Xavier.

There is a thread on it on yappi.com (high school football board). A couple of people are saying that three more freshman are leaving Hoban for East and two for Firestone. http://yappi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=302108

Collier is now at Akron East. That has to help the Zips' chances. East is going to be a problem next year. Hayes has definitely turned it into the "go-to" program for city kids.

Yeah, I wish Lane would've signed with the Browns. But the situations aren't all that different. The Browns have three guys set ... Corey Coleman (first round pick last year), Kenny Britt (let Terrelle Pryor walk for him in FA) and Ricardo Louis (who the Browns traded up, I believe, to get in last year's draft, though fourth round). True, even with the three "safe" guys, there is not a lot there. But they also did just draft Rashard Higgins and Jordan Payton last year (albeit late), but considering they didn't draft a WR this year, or bring any in as UDFAs, probably shows they like both guys enough to keep them around for another year. Then, there is the outside shot that Josh Gordon is reinstated. If the Browns do want to give the four guys they drafted in 2016 another year, along with Britt, it leaves one 53-man spot up in the air ... one that is filled by Gordon (in the maybe 20 percent chance he is reinstated). If Gordon isn't reinstated, Lane (or Natson) are competing against a bunch of UDFAs for the final spot. In Indy, it at least appears there is two spots open and they also will be going against UDFAs and one fifth-round pick, who is on his third team.

Looking at the Colts WR depth chart, seems like a good landing spot for both guys. Their top four is set with T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, Phillip Dorsett and Kamar Aiken, but after that it is nothing but guys who were late round picks or UDFAs: Chester Rogers, 6-1, 181, UDFA: Was called up from the practice squad last year and had 19 catches for 273 yards (also fumbled twice) Devin Street, 6-4, 190, 5th round (2014): Has been on three rosters. Has 10 career catches for 152 yards (lost one fumble) Quan Bray, 5-10, 186, UDFA: Had three catches for 36 yards last year (and for his career). Tevaun Smith, 6-2, 201, UDFA: Has played in two career games without a catch. Marcus Leak, 6-0, 209, UDFA: Has not appeared in any games. You figure the Colts will keep six on the active roster. I like Lane's chances of beating out four of those guys. Natson probably has little shot at making the active roster, but may show enough to land on the practice squad. Also, I see the Colts signed Trey Griffey (son of Ken Griffey Jr.). Was Torii Hunter Jr. in the draft? If not, they should sign him too. Actually, looked it up and see Hunter Jr. is now playing baseball.

Zach, CBS' overall rankings are from nfldraftscout.com ... CBS bought them out a couple years back. If you go to the aforementioned link, you can find their rankings all the way back to 1999. For example, they did miss on both Antonio Brown and Julien Edelman. They had Brown the No. 37 rated WR (he was the No. 22 picked in the draft) and they didn't have him in consideration as a draft pick, though he was the top solely rated UDFA WR. Edelman was ranked No. 56, and again wasn't on their list of even being in draft consideration. With that being said, it's hard to accuse them of throwing together rankings. The site, overall, is probably as "accurate" as any. After all, they rank a top 1,000 prospect list and the database probably has 2,000 draft eligible prospects in it per year (if not more).

Skip, thanks for the correction on Potter. Knew it was a prep school in Florida. Though in his case, I remember reading that he was a good student at Mentor, so him going to a prep school wasn't simply for college qualification reasons. As for Kostalec, I won't claim to know what his situation was, but will just add that just because he went to prep school as a "fifth-year" senior, also doesn't automatically mean he had academic issues out of high school, especially coming from Cathedral-Latin. Kind of like JUCOs, there is a stigma around prep schools (especially for the fifth-year guys) that they only go there to get a basic college qualifying mark. For Kostalec, I'm guessing it was for more exposure than not being able to qualify. If that's the case, it was better for him to come to UA as a "freshman" and still has five to play four, instead of going to a JUCO and using a year of eligibility to get noticed.

I deserve to be killed for my post and the reason I was so cryptic was because I really couldn't believe it. But, actually, the info I got was "good." The person who knew couldn't exactly tell the person who told me the specific name of the player in question (to cover his own ass), so he tried to give him a softball-sized hint ... It just so happens there are too many first-round picks floating around NE Ohio to keep track of, lol.

And to add a little more, IMG, the sports agency law firm that purchased IMG Academy, was founded in downtown Cleveland. ... For a LeBron angle, when Rich Paul (LeBron's agent) branched off on his own, he kept his headquarters at the IMG building in Cleveland. IMG Academy (and agency) got their starts in the country club sports but have definitely branched out to be powers overall in athletics (baseball, basketball and most recently football). On a similar note, somebody (sorry I didn't go back to look to see who) asked about Spire Institue and how it and IMG operates. Essentially in the same way, Spire is just emulating what IMG Academy has established in Florida. Both offer world class athletic facilities (IMG originated in tennis/golf and Spire in track and field) now both offer wide-ranging sports, college-prep education (both pre and post HS graduate) and cater to students who want to pursue college/pro athletics. ... Though I believe the academics at IMG are far above what Spire offers since it is way more established (I believe Spire just started offering college prep courses within the past 5-6 years)... and probably why guys like Micah Potter (Mentor) and Kostelac (Chardon Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) opted to go there to finish high school instead of Spire, which is like 20 minutes up the road from either. Really, from what I understand, neither are different than most other prep schools outside of the fact they started as athletic first and branched into academics, where as other started as academic first and branched to athletics.

Actually I was, which is why I was cryptic. I'm also glad it wasn't Trubisky, because I've been a big advocate of the Browns drafting him (though preferably not at No. 1, because I think they can land both Garrett and Trubisky). Long story short, the person who told me was told by somebody who knew the ID of the person (now confirmed as Gareon Conley) "was a local guy, but not from Cleveland." He didn't know Conley was from Massillon, so thought the person who told him meant Trubisky (Mentor) since the other first round local guy is Marshon Lattimore, who is from Cleveland (Glenville). The person who knew was trying to tell him without telling him and was assuming Mentor=Cleveland ... and Glenville obviously=Cleveland. lol, on another note, I've been pretty adamant about Northeast Ohio still producing enough talent where a program up here (be it Akron or Kent) could do some serious damage if it was ever able to elevate itself to the point where it could be a destination for top local talent. I guess this, in a way, is proof. In all but maybe 3-4 other areas, as soon as you said "it was a local guy," it would make it obvious. In this case, it just narrowed it down to three.

A lot of talk of Trubisky now going No. 1 Thursday to the Browns ... hopefully his draft stock doesn't plunge in the near future.

I said "If" it has been proven it was an isolated incident ... IE, going to take some looking into his background both pre and post-jail.

I'll throw this one out there from the Eddie Reece thread on the recruiting board. Former Garfield Heights (class of 2012 standout) Tony Farmer is rated the 4th best JUCO prospect in the nation. He has a lot of baggage ... was sentenced to three years in prison out as a senior for a domestic incident with his girlfriend. If has proven that was a one-time mistake, I wouldn't be against giving him a second chance.

The No. 4 guy on the list, Tony Farmer, is the former Garfield Heights standout, who was a top 60 or so national player in the Class of 2012 but went to prison for a domestic incident as a senior in high school. Not sure how toxic he is due to that incident, but he was a for-sure high-major prospect coming out of high school.

Do we know what those circumstances were? The presser was at 11 a.m. on a Thursday. Maybe the reason Antino only briefly stopped through was because he had a class to get to. I don't know if that is the case, but I think even Joe Dunn alluded to that possibility during his radio show that day. The fact that Antino is still (even if it's only a 5 percent chance) considering returning, I doubt he seriously only showed up to the presser with the intent to show up Groce.

Bridges can be rebuilt. And maybe you have some inside knowledge that (admittedly) I don't, but I think the guys who have not wavered would accept Antino back if he decided to stay. I think they would ultimately realize he's a player who can help this team and bury whatever hatchet there is right now.

And a program, unless they are losing players left and right like Akron, was extremely young last year and would return its top 9 players in terms of minutes played. I have no doubt that Antino would get minutes at LSU, but I very much doubt it would be the 35 he would get next year in Akron.

Have you heard a timeline for him? He's visiting LSU this weekend, correct?

Switch Ivey and Utomi and I think you are on point. IMO, Ivey is a 1 or a 3 due to his slashing ability. Utomi, now that there is no way he plays as an out of position 4, is a natural 2. His high-arcing jump shot is basketball orgasim when that goes in (which it does at a high clip). Sales isn't a 5, but between him/Jackson/Williams, somebody will likely have to play some minutes there (barring a JUCO). But, IMO, may not be a horrible thing since this team (especially under Groce) will thrive next year if it can get up and down the court.

Lol, I wouldn't mind at all if Sonny tweeted that after hanging up the phone after accepting a spot on the staff. This is a great sign. Sonny (hard to believe how old I am, remember playing ... badly ... against him in summer league back in the 90s), now he is basically the dean of Cleveland area high school basketball. His voice carries a ton of weight.

Since Josh, TDM and Hughes have already declared their next destination, they are 100 percent gone. Noah was quiet early but announced his intention to transfer after the Groce hire, so have to think he is out. Antino, while being a bit more on the fence (and a lot of good reasons to return, especially since Noah seems gone), is probably 95 percent gone.

I agree with that, which is why I put the (though that will likely change) in it. A true PG has to be the biggest need for this team, along with another post (though this team is playing small ball even if another PF/C type is brought in). So we are on the same page. But even if Groce can land one PG, there will still be some minutes that will have to be picked up and, Ivey, as this roster looks, is the only proven option. So, even if it isn't full-time, think he will see some minutes at that spot ... and if Groce plays a style we think he will, not the worst scenario. Overall, I do agree, once it shapes out, things will probably be: 1. JUCO 2. Utomi/Dalton 3. Ivey/Parrish/Sayles 4. Jackson/I. Williams 5. Poke/JUCO I have a feeling Groce will take at least one (maybe two transfers who have to sit). He probably also lands at least one high school player who could fit in somewhere next year.

I wouldn't say he isn't a ball handler, though I do agree he does dribble too high. At least for me, though, when in crunch time, he wasn't somebody I dreaded seeing handling the ball (especially since he became one of the team's best foul shooters, if not the best). And going back to my scenario, it's not like Westbrook is going to be mistaken for say, Kyrie Irving in ability to have the ball on a string, but Westbrook can dribble well enough that when he starts moving forward it's impossible to keep away from the rim. Now, I'm not saying that Ivey is Westbrook. At the same time, I'm also not saying the MAC is the NBA.