clarkwgriswold

If an unproven player from the MAC thinks he's going to make it in and A10, so be it. At best, the guys purportedly jumping ship will be serviceable players in the A10. Quite simply, if they were the types of players that were front line A10 talent, they'd have already been in the A10 or similar conferences. In summary, don't let the door hit you in the @$$. With a new coach, we may see a completely different approach to recruiting. A new staff, especially pressed by defections, may be more open to junior college players and transfers. I get that in middle age, KD may need another challenge. I wish him well with that. However, blaming it on the lack of MAC NCAA seedings is running from the challenge rather than taking it on. Stop settling for the Radfords and Coppin States and maybe you'll get a little more respect at the end of the season. I was always a KD supporter, but the record tells us the Zips may well have reached a ceiling under him and maybe, just maybe, a change expands their horizons.

Good call. He's a top notch recruiter.

How about an assistant from one of the top mid-majors the Zips aspire to emulate?

Oh hell, break the bank and go get Tom Crean.

I think the initiative stays in place, but you won't see LBJ camps and other basketball related appearances and support like we have.

...and some of our younger talent who came here to play for KD, is going to bail.

Especially if they have a protracted search.

Pretty well sums it up.

Good info. Though he was getting more. Net says- $258,968.

They're not going to pay well enough to get Groce or Boals. With our budget and facilities, UA is not much of an upgrade to Stony Brook right now. Whoever it is, they'd better expedite it as each day brings more kids that will transfer out.

Well, all of these well intentioned plans just went in the old $h!++er. We'll lose at least 2 or 3 kids with KD leaving.

I don't begrudge KD. He served UA admirably. Good luck. On to holding our breath with his successor.

Josh is just the first of the transfers now... With our facilities and budget, we're not a step up from Stony Brook right now.

Here comes the hire of someone you've barely heard of, from a small school on a streak. They're going to search for an up and comer.

There not going to pay enough to get Groce..

I'd hate to miss out on playing Northern Illinois.

Cheater Calipari makes $8 million plus bonuses. That's a start.

I'm so damn old I remember when King Rice was the top ranked high school guard in the country.

He'll figure it out when he doesn't see KD on the sidelines for the first game next year (on his TV). The ABJ article on KD leaving will be from wire reports.

I can't put a finger on it, but I'm not getting a good feeling about this. Let's hope it's gas.

Hmmmmmmm, we may have a winner!

I quoted this on here before, but in the words of Dennis Green, "They are who we thought they were." We knew their shortcomings but as long as they were winning, we were gleefully happy to look the other way and enjoy the run. When those weaknesses came to the fore in the last month of the season, they stung us like newly discovered flaws as we'd become so accustomed to overlooking them. There were many positives on the season. The emergence of Utomi and the growth of Ivey stand out. Big Dog carried over from his strong junior season to be the most dominant big man in the MAC. Kwan grew up as a player and may have been the team's MVP in the first half. Poke was a pleasant surprise, giving the Zips valuable minutes and energy despite playing out of position. Martin Dunn gave us depth at guard we didn't expect. Also, the kids were good citizens with no arrests or other embarrassing incidents. There were also negatives. Josh Williams had a difficult time getting on track. Aron Jackson regressed and nearly disappeared as a contributor. For spells, Noah posed too little of an offensive threat. Big Dog's free throw shooting was often atrocious. They continued to get beat repeatedly off of the dribble. Kwan's early season magic dried up late. All in all, it was a positive season. I hated losing 2 out of three to PCCC and that's my primary disappointment in the season. Looking back, I cant attribute the team's failures to any lack of effort. KD and the staff got as much out of the team as could be expected. Next year's team will be much more of a challenge as adjustments will have to be made for the talent.

Big Mike is the key to the Zips season. Poke can be a contributor, but he doesn't have the body to bang for extended periods. Even if Big Mike comes through, they still don't have a strong 4. I guess it's Utomi's job, but he's really more of a 3 and will never carry much of the rebounding load you hope for from a 4. A resurgence from Aron Jackson would be nice, but I don't think we can count on it after he regressed this season. I hope we see a more up tempo offense and some pressure defense, maybe even an occasional zone (gasp!) to mix things up. As a part of pushing the ball more, I'd love to see the ball in Antino's hands more.

Jordan Davis. Assuming he qualifies and has stuck around. I wasn't aware his game had regressed. We'll need all hands on deck from our bigs.

Only Josh knows why Josh is transferring. He may want to play with his brother. He may not like his spot on the depth chart. He may not like the Zips offensive scheme. He may hate the weather. Who knows other than Josh. Whatever reason it is from the multitude of possible reasons, that's the present nature of college basketball. All I know is that he volunteered at a youth basketball camp run by a friend, was great to everyone involved and the kids loved him. At the end of the day, he represented the Zips well and I wish him luck. As for the ZIps, if they were going to lose someone, I guess it's best that it was a guard due to their depth. Hopefully, as someone else mentioned, a big shows up in his place and with the McKinley kid can help bolster our thin group of bigs.