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Many, many times. There's attendance record info. somewhere. We've even had over 40k. These all happened back in the Rubber Bowl days. There were actually effective promotions, and the community really looked at some of these games as "community gatherings". And interestingly enough, we drew all of these people despite crappy bench seating, unheated bathrooms, and long concession lines that people complain about so much today. It was a different, unspoiled generation of people in Akron. We were already D-1 in 1986. We just moved from D-1AA to D-1A. The "blank check" wasn't the case at all. Completely the opposite. We struggled mightily with resources, and were at a severe disadvantage to our competitors. The guys had to drive to the Rubber Bowl for practice. They had literally no training facilities. And despite the fact that we still played many road games on natural grass, it took another 10 years before we were able to even provide the team with a grass field for certain practices. The move to the "major" division of D-1 was a bold move. Nobody had successfully done it before. And we woefully struggled to even make minimal resources available. Huggins stayed here for 3 more years.

Yes, for a couple of years now, at least. He's really young. I don't even think he's 30 yet. I can see the emotional connection, but I don't know why else we'd consider a young staff assistant at a mid-level MAC school.

Anyone else notice the shirt with the "Z" logo on it that clearly says.....WINNER STAYS ?? Is that a coincidence? Or, a hint??

WOW !! Now, that's digging deep into the subject matter !!

Sounds like someone who attended too many Bernie Sanders rallies last year.

LOL...I wasn't expecting that response.

Like, we'll be able to do more without him around to "hold us back" anymore? You really think that there is a chance that this is what he was thinking?

Loyer would be an outstanding choice. A longtime Huggins asst. at Cincinnati. You forgot to mention that he also assisted Huggins here, and that he's an Ohio native. I'm just not sure if he's maybe been removed from this area, and from college coaching for way too long.

Wichita State's Conference - #12 Akron's Conference - #14 Do you really want to make the distinction that the MVC is "much better"? They don't let their weak conference stop them from going out and making their own lemonade. Akron needs to do the same

I never said that. I was responding to the poster, and said that I'd gladly take his scenario of 2-3 big OOC wins vs. caring about how weak the MAC was that particular year. Do you think Wichita or Gonzaga are crying about being in weak conferences?

If we "whored" ourselves out to 3 or 4 of those "road game only" programs and won 2 or 3 of them, I think that could have the makings of a dream season for Akron Basketball. It wouldn't even matter how weak the MAC was that particular season if you can accomplish that. Sign me up.

You're right there. That IS our reality once again. Kreed touched on the sobering facts above as well. We had a different situation that developed over 13 years, and we were very fortunate to have it. It was very unique for a mid-major school.

I'll be feeling a little sick today. I'm sure I am not alone. After sleeping on this, and not really having a chance yet to get much from anyone else involved or knowledgeable about the situation, here's a few thoughts about what we have here so far. 1) It appears that loyalty to his longtime staff, and everything they've done to grow the program further despite all of the late-season heartbreaks, was a big factor in the move. We can all argue about who is to blame, whether it be scheduling, etc., but I'm sure it was indeed weighing heavily on all of them. I can only wonder if anything would have been different if we would have returned to the tournament in either of the past 2 years. 2) On the other side (Duquesne), they had the right timing in terms of making a huge commitment to their program now, after several failed attempts to lure Keith in the past. 3) One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet: Does anyone know what happens now with the 5 years remaining on his contract? Will Duquesne simply buy us out?

As much as I want to sit here and hope otherwise, I unfortunately think that this is the sad reality that we all will wake up to today. If the situation was not as you describe it, I think we would have done more to make sure that Keith wouldn't be taken from us. Like I've said many times over the past couple of weeks, all I was being told was that we were doing everything we CAN to keep him.

No. But they only have a few choices. Go with him, wait to interview with the new coach, or check the nation for anyone looking for assistants. I'm not sure any of them have a chance at the job. And I don't think any of them are any more a potential head coach here than the other.

Their agreements with the University won't be renewed, unless the new coach might decided to keep one or more of them. But unless he has an issue with any of them, I'll assume that they will get a chance to go with him.

Yes, I think there definitely has to be some attraction for a coach to go to a program that's already successful, and has been successful for quite some time. It's far better than our situation the last 2 times we had to hire a coach, for sure.

Yes, Gilliam. But they did not come from Juco's.

Nyles Evans?

No, it's called Finding 50 Million Dollars

I'll say it again. Don't you think this represents a golden opportunity for Hughes to get another opportunity here under a new coach?

Exactly.

Aren't they automatically released if there is a coaching change before they arrive?

I'm thinking he'd see this as a renewed opportunity?

He started out rough, getting them back on track. But since then, he's had two 27 win seasons, and a 29 win season. We'd be EXTREMELY fortunate to get a shot at someone of his caliber.