wadszip

I agree with this 100 percent. Zeke has looked like a different player (or more like the Zeke we know he can be) since the Detroit game. Hopefully, the light has come on and he will consistently play up to his capabilities. I also think that it helps that he has another star in the making in Pat Forsythe challenging him every day. Having Pat here is going to be the best thing for Zeke's development, and having Zeke here is the best thing for Pat's development. You get both of them playing at a high level, along with Treadwell emerging as a potential force in the MAC, and this frontcourt is as good as it gets in college basketball. Now with the suspensions out of the way and the team getting into a regular schedule, it's going to be fun to see what this team does from here on out.

I've been critical of Dambrot in the past, but have always maintained support for him being The University of Akron basketball coach. I truly believe that he the a guy who can get players to come here that will allow this team to reach greater heights. But in order to do so, he really needs to stop with the "fans are spoiled card." Our fans are hardly "spoiled." I think the reasonable fans realize the good he has done, but expect a gradual climb (at this point, UA has been in stagnation as a good mid-major and nothing more). There is nothing wrong with expecting more out of this program. And that is not a situation unique to Akron. He could've taken the Duquesne job and found out really quick that expectations aren't really different between the two programs, just his leash would've been much shorter. He can get away from saying "spoiled" and all that matters is "the MAC" and get away with it here because he has as much job security as anybody. But just because he has that security, doesn't mean he should settle for that type of attitude. He needs to change his approach in that regard, which has always been my biggest beef with KD. And I say that understanding that he has challenges against him that make it tough, but instead of trying to fight through them, he seems to fall back on "we'll just beat who we are supposed to beat and it's a success" mentality. He needs to figure out what he's not doing that has this team starting slow every year, and not winning NCAA tournament games. I don't have the answer, and I'm not making $300,000-plus a year to figure it out. But schools with the same resources of Akron have proven that it's not an impossible feat. And to take it a step further, the fan support is there, relative to how this team has played so far. 2,600 on a Tuesday against a god-awful Pine Bluff team is not that bad (a top 25, 12-1 Notre Dame team played a slightly less bad IPFW team a night earlier and only had 6,500). 2,600 (which has been the low attendance this year) is a solid base to work with. But this product simply has not been one that "Joe Akron" is going to want to see. It's on KD (and him being what the second or third highest paid employee at Akron) to make this a product those fans want to see. This is a short snap-shot, but "Joe Akron" is out there. I was at the Dick's in Chapel Hill yesterday and went over to the college section, which is 4/5 Ohio State stuff. However, there was nobody looking at the Ohio State apparel, but there was myself, a little kid with his mom, two college-aged females and a college-aged male all sorting through the Akron gear (considering it was 5-6 racks worth of stuff, we were shoulder-to-shoulder) Maybe that was an aberration, but something I definitely noticed. I also noticed there wasn't any Can't State gear (even after the epic football season they just had). This was my first time going to Chapel Hill in over a year, but it still kind of surprised me considering its proximity to Can't State (at least in comparison to Fairlawn/Montrose, where I usually go to shop). Even in the mall, the Akron vs. Can't gear was at least 80 percent in Akron's favor. Of course, the OSU vs. Akron gear was 80 percent in OSU's favor, though (and the stores in the mall had an overall more college selection). Even with that, the retailers are going to who is going to bring them money. And just from that, it appears there is enough demand for stores to carry Akron gear locally (for example, Dick's only had OSU and Akron ... no ND, no Michigan, no Can't). Even the stores, like Champs, which carry a broader array of selections, still had Akron gear. Joe Akron is out there, "he" just needs to be lured in ... that means winning OOC big games and NCAA tournament games .. not being called "spoiled".

And those last two games were against potential tournament-caliber road teams (Creighton for sure, Detroit is better than its record shows, especially at home). I was going to post earlier that Walsh has to shoulder as much of the blame for this loss as anybody. He flat-out stunk today. This is coming from somebody who was the biggest Walsh supporter last year. I remember debating Chauncey's family member who posts here (sorry, blanking on the name) about that. But I call it how I see it. Chauncey, by an even wider margin than vice versa from a year ago, is outplaying Walsh this year (even if the numbers don't show it). Chauncey seems to be playing with a chip on his shoulder, and with confidence. Walsh always had the trump card (despite even if they were even in shooting) in the fact that he was aggressive on the boards. Just not seeing that this year outside of the first couple of games. And unfortunately, unlike last year, when we knew Quincy (starter or not) was going to eat up a ton of minutes at either the 2 or 3, this team just doesn't have as many options. Kretzer looks to be a nice developmental player, especially offensively, but is a defensive liability. That means, without Diggs, both Walsh and Gilliam really needed to step their games up. Right now, only Gilliam seems to be doing that. With all that said, I'm still not too overly concerned when it comes to Cleveland. Of course, these losses have taken out any possibility of an at-large chance, but that should've been a given after the Oklahoma State loss. Just win the MAC and see what happens from there (still think this team can play with anybody on a nuetral court). They just need to find the right rotations (that's on KD for sure). How I would do it: 1. Alex: Outside of foul trouble, needs 35 minutes a game. Yes, he has had some TO problems, but the drop-off between him and Betancourt is pretty pronounced. That's not a knock on Carmelo (he's a freshman ... and Alex is a top 30 or so PG in the country). 2. Walsh: He needs to pick his game up, but right now, still the best option the team has. Currently, if Diggs was available, Walsh is better suited sharing instant offense duties off the bench with Kretzer. (moving Chauncey to the starting 2 and Diggs at the 3). 3. Chauncey: See above. I really like what he's been doing this year. In a perfect world, he's played himself into the 2 role (where he will have to play beyond Akron), but he has to stay in this spot for now. The Zips just don't have any other option at SF without Diggs. 4. Tree: Easily, somebody who needs to start and play the majority minutes at the 4. He has the size, has above average ball-handling ability (compared to other college 4s) and is a dog on the glass. Plus, his game his far more than just put-backs (and I'd argue that even if his game was nothing but put-backs he still deserves the minutes). He is showing why he would've been a high-major recruit if it wasn't for his setbacks in HS. He needs to play 30 minutes per game. 5. Forsythe: This one pains me in a way, because I see all the potential in Zeke's game. But it's apparent that Forsythe, as a freshmen, is more skilled offensively than Zeke is as senior. OK, there is defense, where Zeke is a force. Thing is, Pat has shown to be almost a big of a force on that side. It won't happen because Zeke is the "name" player, but in a merit-based rotation, Forsythe is the better player (Zeke still has more potential, but if he hasn't shown it by now, will he ever?). Also, while Pat may not be as long as Zeke, he is more fluid moving (both offensively and defensively) and has a much better offensive game. Pat, simply, needs to play more. Even if that means cutting into Zeke's minutes (and no way do you cut Tree). That leaves the rest of the rotation as: 1. Zeke: Will still get his minutes because no way Forsythe can go 30 or so. Plus Zeke is one of the top 10 defensive centers in college hoops. And he's still good enough to offensively to be on the court, especially in the MAC. But the offense just cannot run around him. It just doesn't suit who he is as a player. A 20-20 split (depending on game circumstance) between him and Pat is probably the best for this team. 2. Harney: He hasn't improved much from last year, though still young experience-wise and he can he can slash to the bucket ... but damn, work on that ugly-ass set shot. But since he has the length (and slashing ability) to play either the 3 or 4, he needs his minutes (especially without Diggs). 3. Kretzer: The fact that he has already proven to be an instant-offensive guy from 3, shows he needs to continue to get minutes. By far, he is the best of the "true" freshmen on the roster. The more I watch him, the more I see him being a Jason Kapono-light. ... a tall, laterally-challenged defender, but somebody who needs to play, and have offensive sets drawn up for him to spot up and shoot. Simply, shooters who are 6-7 are not only a plus in the college game, but can carve out a niche in the NBA. It's early, but I like the way Kretzer is trending, and even if it's not starter minutes, he needs to be in the mix. 4. Carmelo: He has a bright future, but shouldn't be playing more than 5 or so minutes a game (yes, this team needs Alex out there that much). Still, the fact that Alex will need a break here and there, at least puts him in what I believe should be the 9-man rotation. If they had any other person capable of handling the point, I'd argue that Betancourt would benefit from a redshirt year. Love his quickness, but way too many holes in his game at the big-time college level right now. Let's see how this thing plays out in Cleveland. Mixed in with Ohio's struggles without Groce, the MAC is even more for the taking as it was preseason (when OU and Akron were considered equals). If this team gets hot, they can play with anybody. Don't jump off the ledge yet. This team still has the talent we all thought they had coming into the year.

I think it's safe to say that Groce was a big part of Ohio's success, and he can do some scary things at Illinois if he keeps the top Chicago kids in-state. And he recruited Chicago well (at least D.J. Cooper) while at Ohio. Fortunately, for the MAC overall, Jim Christian also had a lot of success in the league (even if was piggy-backing off of Waters and Heath). Hopefully, for the MAC's sake, Christian and Dambrot becomes the big rivalry in the league.

Dave, Thanks for putting this together. From clicking on those links, one thing that popped out was Kwan Cheatham's teammate, Ronnie Rousseau's first-game stats: 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting and 5-of-7 from 3. A quick good search shows he's a 6-foot, 155-pound junior who has interest from Dayton, Miami and Tennessee State (according to rivals). Could be a guy to keep an eye on for next year.

The soccer argument is apples and oranges. For one, like has been pointed out, the soccer team is annually nationally ranked and has won a national championship, on top of several other deep runs in the tournament. Secondly, the soccer program can bring in high profile, and highly-ranked opponents to town. Imagine if the basketball program could bring in schools like Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan, etc., attendance would be 10,000-plus for those game (if the school had a big-enough facility). But as good as the basketball program could become (making several deep runs in the NCAA Tournament), those type of schools still aren't coming to Akron, especially to play in the JAR. Look at Butler, the school has a rich history dating back 50-plus years, plays in a historic 10,000 seat arena and has played in two national title games in the past three years, still marquee teams aren't knocking down the door to play games at Hinkel. Granted, they can now get an occassional Ohio State (Thad Matta giving back to his former school) or a Louisville to play a game at Hinkel, they are still mostly relegated to playing the traditional powers at neutral court sites or in preseason tournaments (though they are invited to the bigger ones now). It's just tough for any mid-major to land marquee OOC home games in basketball, unlike the Akron soccer program. To me, the things holding back more people jumping aboard the basketball program are: 1. The campus environment - This isn't a problem the basketball program will solve, but a university-wide issue. The school is moving in the right direction, but still has a ways to go before it can match its MAC peers Toledo and Buffalo (in being large state schools located in mid-sized industrial cities) in establishing a true college feel. It's also way behind its other regional peers (Pitt, Cincinnati, Louisville). Akron only matches Cleveland State in that regard (and like Akron, CSU is making positive strides in shedding the 'commuter school" image). 2. The JAR - The team will never be treated like a big-time program locally playing in a glorified high school arena. The JAR isn't an attraction, even if the product playing there should be. This has been talked about to death, but the school needs to build a new arena to ever be taken serious locally. And it doesn't even need to be a cavern like the Convocation Center in Cleveland, but a modern 8-10,000 seat venue with great site lines and amenites is enough. I'd even be willing to go with 6-8,000 if that is all that is economically feasible. That's not ideal, but, IMO, shows how much any sort of upgrade is needed. 3. Winning - Again, this has been talked about, but just going to MAC championship games every year and going to the NCAA tournament here and there and losing in the first round, just isn't cutting it outside of the die-hards. Attendance was down significantly from 2008-10 due to the complacency of the program (despite two tourney appearances). KD, rightfully, started to change his philosophy after that, and it has brought a more fan-friendly product to watch, and last year attendance starting to trend back in the right direction due to those changes. However, this new product has to produce results this year to keep momentum on its side. Another MAC title game flameout, or even an NCAA tournament first round flameout, and suddenly the people who have started to buy in are back off the wagon, saying "typical Akron." And GameChanger, since you started this thread, thought I would weigh in on this. Fair or not, Zeke plays a big role in the future of this program, and whether the local fans will buy in (and make my No. 2 and 3 points more of a possibility). Now a senior, and a team leader, if he can put this team on his shoulders, play at the high-level his skill set shows he can, and helps this team make a run that the fans here realize can be made, he could go down as the person who transforms this program into one that is taken even more serious, not only in Akron, but potentially regionally (and nationally). Unfortunately, Zeke will be gone by the time it makes a difference fan-wise. Fortunately, he will be either successful on the pro level or in whatever avenue he decides to go post-Akron. Regardless, hopefully, you'll continue to support the UA basketball program.

I won't get too much into the student section crowd, because it's already been well stated on this thread ... that's it apathetic. Sad, but true. Part of it probably is due to Akron still being overwhelmingly a commuter school, and part of it probably has to do where the students are seated. Both are real problems that have to be dealt with, and there is no easy solution. The school, while making strides, is still a long way off from being a true "college campus". The easy solution is to move the students to the center of the court (best seats in the house) to get that attendance up. However, while some of the traditional basketball schools can do that because the alums/average Joes will still buy lesser seats up, that's not the case at Akron. The non-students who follow the Zips want those seats, but they are the seats being sold for profit. There just isn't the demand right now to alienate the paying public by shuffling them off to a different part of a sub-par arena. Personally, I think the university is doing as good of job as possible, under these circumstances. Anyway, as far as overall attendance, these first two games were encouraging. I'll spare the details, but the crowds that this team has gotten for the first two games of the year are right on par with last year (which was the best in the Dambrot era). Yes, having less than 3,000 is hardly ideal, but past history shows that it doesn't really matter who (realistic schools) comes to the JAR, those games aren't going to be well-attended. Go through the "big name mid-majors" that have come through the JAR early season ... Nevada (3,302), Temple (2,309), Dayton (4,059), Valpariaso (2,825), VCU (3,993), etc.. None of them draw well. Add Middle Tennessee State to that. Hell, Malone drew 3,300 a couple of years ago, for an example. Don't get me wrong, these types of games should be sold out (especially in a 5,500 arena), but realistically, Akron just isn't at that level. The most important thing to improve that draw is to not just be competitive in the MAC, but win a game or two in the NCAA tournament, something that has yet to happen. Until that happens, you can't entirely blame the students/general public for not buying in more. Overall, it does seem like people locally are slowly starting to buy back into this program. Drawing close to 3,000 on a Monday against a D3 team and on a Sunday (going up against the Browns) against MTSU is actually encouraging. There were years past that those types of games would be more around the 2,200 mark. Plus, the schedule shapes up nicely for the Zips to have a record year for attendance. ... and would be even better if, like the Middle Tennessee State game, two of the marquee upcoming OOC games weren't on Sunday's going up against the Browns. I give the school a pass on the Middle Tennessee Game since there was a good chance the Akron soccer team would be playing on Saturday (of course, it didn't happen, but no problem with the school being proactive). But scheduling the Cleveland State game on the same day the Browns are playing the Broncos is mind-boggling. Even though that game is at Denver and is a 4 p.m. start, you'll still see even less people willing to attend that as the MTSU game ... and this is a big regional rivalry. Put that game a day earlier, and it probably gets 4,000 or so. Even worse, the Princeton game the following week is heads up against Browns-Steelers. Who thought that was a good idea in this pro football mad area where 90 percent of the people root for 1 of those 2 teams ... and they are huge rivals? Those are actually two of the better OOC home games the Zips will get, but both will have attendances cut by 1,500 due to the date. Beyond that, however, it isn't that bad. In league play, the Zips will get Can't, Ohio, Bowling Green and Buffalo all at home on Saturday. I can see all of those games being close to sold out (Can't and OU for sure) ... maybe not Buffalo and BG. But last year, even NIU and EMU on a Saturday drew 4,300. You would think that Buffalo and BG will do better than that. Even Miami and Ball State mid-week should do reasonably well. CMU and WMU won't draw well, though maybe WMU won't be that bad if they keep winning (though that means maybe 3,500). Still better than the 2,500 mid-week Western draws from the past. The bottom line is this team has to win. The fan interest seems to be at the level when Dambrot first took over (and there was renewed optimism), but it can't just settle for making the MAC finals anymore. We saw what effect that had on attendance from 2008-10. This program has to do better than that to draw more, especially since you are playing at a sub-par arena like the JAR.

Akron comes in at No. 70. That's a decent spot, though I believe they could be a top 50 team this year. Ranked right below Akron are Temple, Nevada, Virginia Tech, Central Florida (consolation prize after Saturday's beatdown), Vanderbilt and Lehigh, Iowa and Connecticut. On the downside, they have Akron projected as an NIT team, so another national publication that doesn't believe the MAC will be a two-bid league. Overall, the write-up on the team was pretty solid.

I'm not going to lie, I was going to post something about Farmer when he was arrested back in May, hoping the Zips would go after him if he was cleared. I didn't know for sure if Tree and Harney were close with him, but I figured Tree probably was because I believe Farmer is orginally from Euclid. He may be too much baggage at this point, but if Farmer does get out early and dedicates himself on using this as a learning experience, I wouldn't be against bringing him in. I still don't necessarily believe he is a bad guy (though I don't know that for certain either), but after reading about the case, it sounds he is a kid (or young adult if you want to be technical) that made a horribly stupid (and violent) mistake and he will be paying for it.

Way to rain on my parade. I didn't know that. I guess I don't pay enough attention to which school are playing in what event, but it seems like some the power schools had been playing in the same events every year (or a lot more than once every four years).

Fair enough, and I tend to agree, though the number of schools that fit your description is tiny, and most are your traditional basketball blue-bloods so that skews that. It narrows the schools down to Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Ohio State, Pittsburgh and Utah State. Obviously, Duke, Kansas, Ohio State and Pittsburgh are major conference teams with huge arenas (outside of Duke, but that is a very unique situation) ... And at least in Ohio State's case, you can argue that their 15,000 crowds are pretty mellow. Gonzaga is a basketball-only school that is located in a fairly large city Spokane (roughly the size of Akron) and it doesn't have any other nearby sporting competition ... the Zips have Cleveland State, Can't State and most notably the Cavs (especially when LBJ was there, and now things are looking up for them with Kyrie Irving) all drawing basketball fans in the region. So, comparing Akron to Gonzaga is also apples to oranges, IMO. ... And that doesn't even take into account that Gonzaga has achieved 10 times more success than the Zips. That leaves Utah State and Akron as the two who are comparable. ... Both are large public universities (almost identical in size ... though USU is much less a commuter school than Akron) who both play outside major conferences and also have FBS football programs. Here is what Utah State drew last year at home: Utah State (10,270 capacity) vs. BYU - 10,270 vs. Southern Utah - 10,068 vs. Denver - 10,056 vs. Utah Valley - 10,141 vs. Seattle - 9,337 vs. UT-Arlington - 9,666 vs. St. Peter's - 9,959 vs. Can't State - 10,059 vs. Fresno State - 9,010 vs. Nevada - 10,270 vs. Hawaii - 9,870 vs. San Jose State - 10,270 vs. Louisiana Tech - 9,643 vs. New Mexico State - 10,067 vs. Montana Tech - 9,657 vs. UC-Santa Barbara - 10,048 vs. Idaho - 10,178 vs. Cal-Bakersfield (CIT) - 2,141 vs. Idaho (CIT) - 2,460 vs. Loyola Marymount (CIT) - 3,546 vs. Oakland (CIT) - 2,092 vs. Mercer (CIT) - 6,154 I didn't know what to expect when I started looking it up. Though, I was a little surprised at how well attended their games were. Definitely, way more support than Akron, as none of their regular season games drew less than 9,000. Very impressive. Just from looking at the fall-off from regular season games to the CIT (which Utah State hosted), it shows that: 1. USU has a ton of student ticket holders. 2. Expectations are very high (as the CIT is a who cares event.). 3. Also, like Gonzaga, there isn't much outside competition for sporting events in Logan, Utah (which is in the northern part of the state, 80 miles from Salt Lake City), which makes drawing fans easier. Overall, Akron definitely should inspire to be more like Utah State, which is attainable. The bottom line for Akron, though, is winning ... and winning big (IE, multiple MAC regular season and tourney titles, winning NCAA tourney games). There is just too much competition in this region, for what is still a commuter school, to draw a Utah State-type following without winning big. This year could be a step in that direction. This is a put up or shut up year in many ways. Zeke's senior season, tons of national pub, coming off the first MAC regular season title and nearly another NCAA tourney appearance (and Ohio's run in the tourney, I believe, legitimizes how close Akron was last year to putting a run together). I think a reasonable goal is to sell out the Ohio and Can't games and then draw about 4,000 for the other home games. Doing that could be a major step in getting a new arena. And while the JAR can't be the blame for all the attendance woes, going back to what you said to begin with, of the schools that have strung 20-win seasons together for the past seven years, all have arenas that are light-years ahead of the JAR ... there has is some correlation. Even with that, if this team can't draw an average of 4,000 per home game this year, maybe a new arena isn't the answer, or most the economical way for the school to use its resources. It really can't be understated how important this season is for Zips basketball. If the team performs to what it is capable of, and if the fans buy into it and show up, it could be the springboard to a new arena.

I still think that, while it's a "neutral court" game, the fact that the both the Zips' point guards are from within 50 miles of San Juan (and Alex being from right outside San Juan) is going to be huge for Akron. I can't imagine a scenario where the Zips won't be the de facto home team in every game they play down there with the locals. ... Being "Underdogs" with two local players in the mix. I bring that up again because, while the espn article gives the Zips love, it doesn't mention that aspect. From looking up the rosters of the teams in the field, no other team has one player from Puerto Rico on their roster. ... let alone two ... both of whom are basically from San Juan. I wish I could make the trip down there to add to the Latin atmosphere that I'm sure will greet this team. Personally, I hope Akron can make the PR tip-off an annual event. For one, with either Alex or Melo conceivably being around for the next four years (and that doesn't take into account whether KD will mine the island for another player in that time), it's a venue where the Zips can play top-notch competition in a place where the bulk of the fans should be rooting for the Zips. That's not going to happen in Akron, even if there is a new arena. Teams like Oklahoma State, Tennessee and NC State still aren't going to come up here (unless the game is at the Q). Might as well take advantage of this advantage the Zips have. Secondly, I need an excuse to visit San Juan in the coming years ... just can't make it work this year, lol. Lastly, It's a great recruiting tool. Puerto Rico produces some very good talent that is often overlooked by the bigger schools (Carlos Arroyo and Juan Berea have carved out nice pro careers, including several years in the NBA, and went to Florida International and Northeastern, respectively). And kids from Puerto Rico obviously should be interested in Akron, not only because of Alex and Carmelo, but lets not forget that Northeast Ohio (though mainly in Lorain and Cleveland) have one of the largest Puerto Rican populations in the U.S. at around 150,000. ... though the PR population in Summit County is growing pretty rapidly as well. It just makes too much sense right now for Akron to try to make this thing an annual event. Plus, I imagine the people in San Juan who put this together would be receptive. After all, they are trying to sell tickets. Unless you get a field of Duke, UNC, Kentucky, etc ... the best way to do that is to have a team that the locals can get behind.

I agree with what you said about Ohio. But if we can get a new arena, it will be better (even if it's not bigger) than the Convo. Matching the atmosphere may not come as quickly, though. However, while I hate the JAR as much as anybody, lets not get too carried away. Are the home crowds great? No. Are they worst? No. Just in Northeast Ohio, Can't, YSU and Cleveland State (unless they host Butler, which won't be happening anymore) are worse than Akron. Lets not forget 4,400 showed up last year to watch the Zips play a god-awful Northern Illinois team, and it was a pretty loud crowd despite the game being a laugher. At the same time, that NIU game was somewhat of an abberation considering it was one of the highest attended games of the year, something I still don't get (maybe there was some sort of promotion, can't remember). Anyhow, with the buzz the team will be getting as the season comes closer, I think crowds like that NIU game could be the norm this year. If so, while it won't be confused with Rupp Arena, would easily be No. 2 in the MAC (and I believe Akron was still No. 2 in MAC home attendance last year). If you want to imagine "mellow" and "quiet" just look at some of the box scores from other MAC schools. ... For example, 644 crazy fans packed EMU's 9,000 seat Convocation Center when Can't visited Ypsilanti last year (at the time was a pretty big game for EMU, considering they were in the MAC West race and hosting a school many outsiders still believe is the flagship school for MAC basketball). I don't want to waste my time looking it up, but I remember seeing a Northern Illinois home MAC game from last year that drew something like 278 people. Granted, those are examples on the other extreme, but they still are "college arenas".

Middle Tennessee State checks in at No. 82. They should be paying a visit to the JAR this year ... and deserve payback for the beatdown they gave the Zips last year in Murfreesboro. I wonder how high the Zips will be ranked in this poll? The Zips have gotten a lot of preseason national love from what I've seen so far, but considering MTSU is at 82 and they return four starters from last year's team (though they did lose their top player), I have to think the Zips will be coming in the next week or so. Hopefully, I'm wrong about that and the Zips check around 50-60 (which I personally think they should be).

George, Thanks for confirming this. I heard it a couple days ago, but didn't see anything online about it. From the short highlight tape available, Ericksen looks like somebody who can develop into a very good collegiate center.

I'm no professional talent evaluator, though I follow recruiting pretty close and watch a lot of highlights. I'll say that I definitely think your son will be playing college football somewhere. He has a great motor and a nose for the ball. Those are two things you can't teach. I see you mentioned that he is now playing OLB. That will be the best thing for him. I know this was only a sophomore highlight tape, but he doesn't look like a DE, but at a school like Springfield, he probably is one of the biggest players, hence they put him on the line. With the move to LB, he should develop more playing in space. To me, even with two more years left to grow, it looks like LB will be his position at the collegiate level. FWIW, my advice to your son is to keep working hard and improving. If he does that, I think he should definitely stay on Akron's radar. I'll be rooting for him to blow up in the next two years and then him keeping Akron on his radar.

I haven't seen this anywhere, so maybe somebody can verify this. But I was told today that Carrollton High School center Stephen Ericksen has committed to Akron. He is listed at 6-4, 265. Here's what I pulled up on him: Trying to break down highlights of a center is way beyond my expertise. But he gets the ball to the QB quick and accurately on the shotgun snaps, and he seems to do a good job of engaging his defender. Also looks to be a legit 6-4, 265. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recr...Ericksen-137413 His Rivals profile shows an Ohio offer, but no mention of Akron. He was also a Canton Repository's player of the week last year ... in basketball. So, he must be a good athlete. http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x14199...tephen-Ericksen If he did indeed commit, congrats to him. From what I can tell, he seems like he would be a solid pickup.

I missed your reply the first time around. The Norton kid looks decent (and didn't the QB in the highlights transfer to Firestone?). He should stay on Akron's radar, if nothing else. The Coventry tape didn't show much, but no way is the Headrick kid being looked at by Michigan or Texas, let alone Akron. Not trying to knock him, but Wadsworth's Jack Snowball barely got a Miami (Ohio) offer ... the only D1 school to offer, and very late. Even a grainy, two-minute video shows that he is no Jack Snowball.

I'm going to bump this, with an edit adding Kareem Hunt to the mix.

Just doing some google research and here is some stuff I found on Pat. This is an article from the game I saw where he dominated against Michigan State recruit Kenny Kaminski: http://www.sportsink.com/259/2969/forsythe...na/Default.aspx Pat was a senior the same year that Strongsville had Iowa recruit (and All-Big Ten freshman) Aaron White. Plus, Strongsville also had Ray Hamilton, a 6-6, 250 pound kid who accepted a football scholarship to Iowa. Sounds like Pat also dominated that game before getting into foul trouble: http://thepostnewspapers.com/strongsville/...-bbb-2-6-stumpf Or, how about this one. The NOC was absolutely loaded when Pat was there. On top of Kaminski and White, Garfield Heights was led by Penn State recruit Trey Lewis and top-100 recruit Tony Farmer (Farmer is a senior-to-be this year and is ranked in the top 100 in the country but was arrested for kidnapping and robbery in May). Brunswick lost this game, big, but not due to Pat not showing up. Again, he dominated. http://www.examiner.com/article/tony-farme...e-and-brunswick He seems like a kid that plays his best on the big stage. One last thing. Forsythe was a more heralded prospect than Strongsville's Aaron White. All White did last year in the Big Ten (which was regarded as the toughest league in the country) was this: http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/m-bask...te_aaron00.html

I saw him one time in high school. Granted, it was only one time, but it was arguably the best game he ever played. It was a big Northeast Ohio Conference game against Medina (who was led by Michigan State recruit Kenny Kaminski). Pat absolutely dominated and Kaminski did nothing (that was also the only time I saw him play too, and I wasn't overly impressed, but that's a different topic). IIR, Pat had something like 25 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocked shots and Brunswick pulled out a win on a Forsythe basket at the end. He did all his work in the low block and was unstoppable. Though, Medina's front line wasn't huge, especially since Kaminski, who was Medina's biggest player at 6-7 or 6-8, was more perimeter-oriented. However, from what I remember, Pat also looked good running the floor. I wouldn't say he's the athlete Zeke is, but at the same time, he's not Mike Bardo. I'd say he's a mix between the two. He has the skill around the rim that Mike had. But unlike Mike, who's skills couldn't cut it at the next level due to the lack of athleticism, Pat's a good enough athlete where it should translate at the MAC level. I'd say worst case, Pat becomes John Edwards when he was at Can't. Best case, he develops into a better offensive and rebounding center than Zeke (though I don't think he will ever be the defensive force Zeke is due to lacking the freakish wingspan). West Virginia and other high-majors recruited this kid (like they did Zeke, too) for a reason. Hopefully, he is granted a hardship waiver because he and Zeke really compliment each other well. Then throw in Tree and this front line could be scary to deal with.

Why did you have to be so cruel to bring up that 2008 game? That should've been Akron getting the chance to ultimately play Ohio State in the NIT title game ...lol. I forgot Travis Ford was the coach of UMass then. Beating Oklahoma State will be tough, but hopefully their fans will be too caught up in football to travel to Puerto Rico. Add in that our starting point guard is from San Juan and our freshman backup PG is from 50 miles from there, at least it should be a defacto hometown crowd for Akron. Best of luck to UMass in Puerto Rico. Maybe we can piss everybody off and get a rematch of the 2008 game in the finals (I think that is where we would meet).

There does seem to be a double-standard ... IE, Zeigler to Pitt. No doubt if Zeigler tried to go to Akron (or any other MAC school) it would be shot down. However, this situation is way different. We're talking about a kid who comes from a single-parent family (raised by his dad who has very little vision). If someone wants to argue, how is blindness a hardship? Here's why. Being that his dad is legally blind, he's probably living off of disability. Getting him even to Morgantown is an expense that they probably can't continue to afford. Also, that doesn't take into account where his dad's eyesight will be in two years. If it's decreasing by the year, he may not have another year to wait in order to see his son play. You add all that up and a hardship waiver seems like a no-brainer. I'd argue the same thing if he decided to go to Cleveland State and not Akron.

Dave, Just wanted say, good stuff as always. Appreciate the insight.

That is true. Though, one thing that could be in Akron's favor is that Forsythe's high school coach, Joe Mackey, is well-connected in the Cleveland-area high school basketball scene. His father, Joe Mackey Sr., who also was a high school coach, started the Omni Fitness Center in Middleburg Heights, which for a long time was the place where out of town NBA teams used to practice before playing the Cavs. Plus, at least when I was in high school (which, admittedly is now 15 years ago), the Omni was where a lot of the top high school players in Cleveland would work out. So, the Mackey name carries some weight in Cleveland. And it seems like Mackey is still heavily involved in Pat's well-being. WVU may want to play nice on this transfer as to not burn any future bridges in Cleveland, an area I'm sure Huggins will continue to recruit. Overall, regardless of how upset Huggins may be in how Pat informed him of the move, it may be in in WVU's best long-term interest to make Pat's transition to Akron as smooth as possible. That doesn't even take into account that this situation is exactly why the NCAA has written in the hardship waiver rule. Nothing would surprise me with the NCAA, or even Huggins, but I'll estimate that there is a better than 50 percent chance Pat is eligible to play this year. That's just my opinion, though.