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These numbers were in the paper a couple of weeks ago. If I recall, the 40-yard time was a "range" that could have possibly been as low as around the 4.3 area. A number of people there came up with different numbers, if I remember correctly. Tell me what you guys are seeing on this. Lets be honest, just about any NFL team would use a 1st round pick if they had someone available that was running a true and consistent 4.26.....don't you think? Either way, this appears to be a case where someone's postseason work has really paid off. Scouts certainly will rely on more factors than just the running/jumping numbers, but it appears as if he has raised his stock significantly. From what I hear, he also has something else going for him in that he lead the nation in passes broken up? He was certainly a solid corner for us for a few years, and I wish him luck. Honestly, I thought maybe Corner had a better chance than Tate to make it to the NFL. But, it looks like I will be wrong.

First of all, contracts don't mean anything. But, KD has said that he will stay if Akron will let him, and I believe that will be the case.I also agree that Can't has become a great arena for a coach who is ready for the mid-major level, and that won't change if Christian leaves. We need to start repeatedly knocking them off, if we want that to change.

Thanks for the post. That's pretty much been my opinion about next year. But I am pretty much predicting what this article says, but still hoping for the best.

It's good to mention this. We need to be careful, considering how much some of us are involved with the U of A.

Well...lets cut through the crap, and all of the mystery...and say this....I've been a huge supporter, in many way, of Akron athletics for over 25 years. This program has struggled mightily. Every time a few good players come in that seem to have the potential to improve the team, something happens. Frankly, I would have done whatever I could to save people like McCoy and Tokodi. It's just the continuation of a long pattern that just never ends, it seems. If this is the track that this coach has decided to take, unfortunately she might not be around long enough to see if her moves have been beneficial.It's just part of a very long, and sad, story.

That would be cool if they mentioned the U of A at some point.I'll say this....after seeing the picture of his dancing partner, it occurred to me that Jason has a pretty good life. Doesn't he?

Quickzips....thanks for bringing up a point that I can't recall ever being discussed around here...the size of our guards. Besides Bubba, I don't believe KD has had a guy of any size that can play the 2-guard spot. I know that Ced and Nick were right around 6', and Roberts, Steward, Sullivan, Hitchens, and McNees are right around that height, or smaller. Can this cause a problem going up against guys like Bramos from Miami? Sure can.I'm not sure if, down the road, we have the personnel to leave all of those guys on the bench in favor of playing someone like Jimmy at the 2-spot, but only time will tell. By the way, some of my old coaching buddies have seen Sullivan play many times, and recently saw Humpty at the state playoffs. They all seem to think that Humpty looks like he is ahead of Sullivan at this point, and will be able to play in the MAC much sooner. We'll see.

Huh?ZipsWin....why would "this team did better than most people thought they would" be an excuse??Secondly, unfortunately, Can't was clearly the best team in the East this year. So, the 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D theory is pretty much out the window. I only wish you were right about that.And yes, I agree with you, the Huggins team of 86 was the ultimate overachieving team. But, the point was simply that this team did a lot more than anyone thought they would at the start of the season.

Quickzips...that's probably a pretty reasonable assessment. If a couple of the new guys can come along fast enough to at least play a role on this team early enough in the season, I think our chances of being competitive once MAC play starts will increase. However, like I said, lets continue to hope for better.

It's simple. Freshman making an instant impact is a rarity in college basketball. It's a very optimistic viewpoint. And for the record, for the sake of my Zips....I hope you are right, and I am DEAD WRONG.I am merely stating the facts. It's a very hopeful prognosis, at best.

Quickzips...I do agree that the athleticism factor will improve. Sorry if I missed your entire point there.Zippy5...please don't put words in someone's mouth. I don't hope Akron losses. I'm a major supporter of Akron athletics, in many more ways than just being a fan who attends games. But, anyone who knows anything about college basketball would not consider a statement to be pessimistic when someone disagrees with a statement that appears to make the claim that incoming freshman, who have never played a game, will provide an instant upgrade from players who have provided the nucleus of one of the most successful runs in Akron basketball history. Disagreeing with a bold claim is not pessimism.

Blue and Gold...If you only go back to 1992, you might be too young to have seen guys like Joe Jakubick, Eric McLaughlin, Marcel Boyce, and Mark Alberts play for the Zips. But, if you add in Jeremiah and Romeo Travis from the more recent years, we've certainly seen a couple of guys that could make the "all time Zips" list. Buckzip...I know you are trying to make the point that the guards can easily be replaced. But if you read the ABJ today, you'll see that KD was playing the regulars a lot of minutes yesterday because the young guys weren't getting the job done. The truth is, Ced and Nick do far more to put this team in a position to win games than you are giving them credit for.As a final note, considering that we were picked to finish 4th in the MAC East, I would say that this team easily overachieved. And the fact that we saved our season with a few wins while Jeremiah was out was a remarkable achievement. These guys willed themselves to many, many wins this year with true grit and determination. They were fun to watch. I thank all of them for what they gave to the fans.

I'm a KD fan, but I certainly don't think that it's wrong for someone to argue that we've had some absolute meltdowns late in games under his tenure. The Miami MAC Championship game last year, and the road games at Can't and Winthrop this year are two more games that immediately come to mind.

"Steward, Roberts, Hitchens and Sullivan should all come in and provide a major upgrade in that area."Quickzips...you must be the ultimate optimist. You're talking about three guys who have never played a game of college basketball, and one guy who the coach could not trust for more than a few minutes in a key game being a MAJOR UPGRADE over a couple of guards that have been major pieces of a backcourt that has had 3 of the most productive years Akron Basketball has ever had?WOW

Quickzips...that's exactly what I said in my post...."rarely". But let's hope it happens, for our sake.

Guys...believe me....this is a dangerous thing....We are talking about GUYS THAT HAVE NEVER PLAYED A SINGLE MINUTE OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL when referring to people that will help us win next year. That rarely happens at this level. Any major contributors will likely come from guys who have spent significant time on the court.So, will it be Nate? C or B Mac? Roberts? McNees? Bardo?If at least a few of these guys do not emerge as major contributors, at the start of next season, it will be at least mid-season before we become a competitive MAC basketball team.

Well...I guess anyone can criticize all they want. It's their right. But, all 3 of these guys were MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS to this season, in different ways. As much as I think guys like the McKnights, and Nate are developing, we are going to have to replace 3 MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS. And that is not easy. Dambrot has his work cut out for him. The "everyone except Jeremiah craps down their leg" comment is ridiculous. First of all, Dials and Middleton are the guys who even put us in that position to begin with, and Dials is the only reason we even made it to this game. And secondly, if you want to look closely at the last few minutes, it was Jeremiah's late turnovers that were the most costly.

Besides the point guard issue, a couple of other things got me. And they are not anything new.1) The number of times we give up offensive rebounds that lead to 2nd shot opportunities. And that won't get any better with Wood graduating.2) Other teams (like UMass) who had guards that were quick enough to penetrate and get shots off in the paint. Some quicker defenders at the guard positions will be helpful in the future. As far as the final play goes, because we had already trimmed the clock down under 10 seconds, we had to take a 3 pointer. And someone had to get a shot off, and Jeremiah was the only one to get it. If we had worked it a little sooner, an easy 2 pointer might have been a better option. But once our guards were hanging around the 3=point line all that time, everyone ended up gettting blanketed. From what I saw, it didn't even look like Jeremiah even had anyone near teh arc that he could have even passed the ball to at that point. If anything cost us there at the end, it was a couple of turnovers that Jeremiah had that put us in that position. I;ll forget about it. These guys fought hard, and it was a fun game to watch.

Thanks UMass Fan. After all of the idiotic posts we get on here from opposing fans, this is a breath of fresh air, and a true gesture of sportsmanship. If only our neighbors to the East understood the terms "class" and "respect".We look forward to a good game.

Don't get me wrong. I want a new QB too. But, if I am thinking about what JDs tendency might be, I would think he might lean towards giving CJ, his most experienced QB, another opportunity.

uakronkid....I have to agree with you. We have a great running back from Miami with only one year of eligibility, and a very thin secondary where we can plug in a great athlete like Williams. And I am sure Williams will still be returning kicks, which was where he made his biggest impact last year.As far as the QB position goes, does anyone really honestly feel as if anyone other than Jacquemain will be the starter at the beginning of the season?

I probably should have added that point......I just cannot root for Can't, regardless of how I felt about whether a Can't tournament run would, or would not help us. Mostly because of some of the recent actions of some of their fans. It was just so much fun watching those guys get their butts kicked. And furthermore, I thought about all of the agony that it must have been causing for their fans.I also like the fact that they have further exposed their problems with turnovers. That, coupled with the fact that they will be much thinner in the frontcourt next year, makes me more optimistic that we haven't lost any ground to them. Heck, we've won 4 of the last 7 games against them anyway. Hopefully our people were watching them fall apart in this game, and the reasons why they fell apart like they did. It was a fun afternoon.

I believe that we have a lot more to gain by Can't being eliminated like they were. The UP side of Can't advancing in the tournament is the respect it could bring to the conference as a whole. But, the DOWN side is that Can't would gain significant visibility, which could further aid their recruiting significantly. That would NOT be good news for us. I'm perfectly happy with the conference not earning further respect this year, when I weight it against the seperation Can't could get against us by having a great showing. Our first priority should be that no team from our division get any kind of advantage, and continue to give us a good chance of winning our division every year. I fear that Can't could have really put themselves in a position to continue to pull away from us if things went their way in the tournament again. And I am glad it didn't happen.

I think we know that pressuring Can't's guards is effective. But, I heard a KD interview recently in which he implies that pressuring on defense that much really takes a lot out of your players. Maybe he is right, and he knows his team. But I am also thinking that the reality is that we don't have the personnel that a team like UNLV has to be able to pressure them like that.I must say....I enjoyed every minute of that game I don't think that there is any doubt that the MAC would have been a two-bid conference this year if anyone other than Can't had won the MAC tournament.

Not to take anything away from Hitchens....but have we all forgotten about Ronnie Steward? Everyone seems to be pretty high on him as well.