1981 grad

Somebody that has more than one inbounds play in his repetoire of coaching skills!

If Groce gets the job, it would only be fitting if he brings in Brian Walsh as an assistant. Groce owes his success to Brian. If Brian made a 12 foot jumper instead of it rimming out, Akron goes to the NCAA in 2012. (Does it seem like Akron was snake bitten in MAC finals) Ohio does not make their sweet 16 run, Groce, does not get the Illinois job and make a million dollars. I also liked Brian as a Zip, a tall guard that could rebound and played tough defense. Somebody we could definately use as a coach.

I understand why Josh wants to go play with his brother. He has 2 years left of eligability. I understand why Dunn Martin wants to follow KD to Pittsburgh, he has 3 years left of eligability. However, I am still hopeful that Antino will stay after Akron gets a coach. He only has 1 year left of eligability and would have to sit out a year unless he has enough credits to graduate. Also, he has not announced a school so it does not look like he has a defininate plan on where he wants to go. Hopefully, after Akron gets a coach, he will give some consideration to staying. He would have the opportunity to play next year, add to his 1000 point career at Akron and finish out his senior year with his teammates. I really think this may be his best decision in order to further his playing career after he graduates Akron.

I just did a quick internet search on him and found this analysis from last year when N.C. state was looking for a coach. He is a home town guy who played for N.C. Ashville and was an assistant there for many years. http://www.backingthepack.com/2017/3/3/14807990/nick-mcdevitt-nc-state-coaching-search-basketball

Even if that was their plan, a tournament run in the MAC or NIT would improve their marketability greatly. Nobody threw in the towell.

I watched Kent play with UCLA, one of the top teams in the country for 35 minutes. Kent earned the championship, we did not give it away. The weakness on our team is that our guards were undersized, weak defenders, and could not slash to the hoop. If we were not shooting the 3 well, we were doomed and we did not shoot the 3 ball well in the MAC championship. There is no question the effort was there but we were just not good enough in the most important game of the season.

Did he indicate where he is going?

I wish Kd nothing but success in the future. However, afte thinking about Dambrot's decision to leave the program, I can't help but feel a little bitter about his leaving for the following reasons: He always indicated that Akron was his dream job and would never leave the program. Talked about using that statement as a selling point to recruits. All season talked about how Kwan and Big Dog graduated from Akron, could have gone anywhere but were loyal to the program. Always talked about building Akron as a successful mid major and becoming the Gonzaga of the East. The University treated him well making him the highest paid coach in the MAC, and honoring him when he became the winningest coach in Akron history. After learning that Antino and Josh were leaving the program as upper classman (don't know if this is true but has been discussed on this board) and losing in the MAC finals the last 2 years, I just get the impression the KD seemed to give up on the goals that he had set for our program. Even with all of the above, I still think he has been an asset the University the past 12 years and hopes that he finds the satisfaction that seemed to elude him here the past few years.

I think Antino is making a mistake if he thinks he can go to a bigger school and become a starter as senior, especially if he has to sit out a year. He had a great career at Akron. However, he was not a dominating guard on offense and did not look good in the MAC final or against Texas Arlington. All of our guards had difficulty getting through picks and defending the dribble penetration. If he goes to the next level he will be competing against bigger and stronger guards. I think he will have more success in a lateral move. Regardless, I wish him the best of luck and hopefully he will not regret his decision.

Senderoff kicked our butts in the MAC finals and had his team play great basketball against UCLA in the NCAA tournament. They were only down 5 points late in the second half. I also admire the guy on that senior night he started his bench and non scholarship senior players and also got them into the NCAA game the last minute. Our non scholarship player never saw the court after the MAC season started.

I had indicated in an earlier post regarding the 2016-2017 year, there were a lot of positives but at the end of the day I was not satisfied with this team. KD basically said the same thing. He was not happy with 27 wins and was looking for a change. You have to admire his honesty. During the season he kept saying when we were winning that these guys could play better and we had not seen their best basketball. Unfortunately, he could not get them to play their best basketball, especially when it counted. (Houston was the exception). I wish him the best of luck. Taking over a program like the Dukes there is a lot more upside. It sounds like he could not take another year of the same old same old.

My point being if our team was a tournament worthy team, we would have run the table or only had one lost. Further, we should have blown some teams out. If we had played in the Big Ten or other multi bid conference, I do not think this team would have had a winning record to qualify for an at large bid.

After thinking about this situation, KD decided to leave for another program. Does anybody want a coach who does not want to be here? He is not making a jump to one of the big conferences, the salary although more is not astronomical, and he is going to a program that is not a name program and he will be rebuilding. I want a coach that wants to be here. Akron has not been to the NCAA the last 4 years, there is no question he is frustrated, and he is looking for a change and an opportunity presented itself. I agree with Skip Zip that if we get into the NCAA this year or if we made a run in the NIT, KD would be staying. However, we got killed in the second round of the NIT playing terrible basketball and I am sure KD was embarrassed that he cannot get his team to perform. KD mentioned the dysfunctional locker room a couple of times during the season. Last year we did the same thing, lost our conference finals and played horrendous basketball at Ohio State. We had a great win in Houston but that was not enough to make this a successful season. This is mere conjecture, but maybe KD was just getting tired of the same type of season and was looking for a change. Finally, I disagree with the post that KD is leaving because the MaC is only a 1 bid conference. Akron had a chance to be an at large team in the NCAA. During our winning streak, we were getting votes in the polls. If we did not lost at Ohio, Kent, Bowling Green and then at home to Miami, we would have gotten an at large bid if we had only lost the conference final. Our team was not good enough to get an at large bid. I don't care what conference you are in, if the team does not play great basketball, it will not get an at large bid. Being in the MAC gave us an advantage of not playing top teams each week. We faded at the end of the past 2 seasons and have nobody to blame but ourselves.

I am sure that these students are surprised and devestated by the news. Before everybody gets upset, let the dust settle. I cannot imagine these guys want to sit a year without playing basketball or at least find out who the new coach will be.

If he transfers he would have to sit out a year. I wonder if he knows that. I also wonder if he even communicated with KD. Time will sort this out.

I am not surprised but I am a little disappointed. How many times has he indicated that this was his dream job and that he was never going to leave. In a weird way, if our soccer coach would have given Robbie more playing time at the end of the season, Robbie does not transfer and KD stays in Akron. I do not believe he would have left if Robbie plays his last year at Akron.

Or hopefully in another 5 years

I thought you were joking. Sadly, you are not!

I hope I am wrong but I say he is going. Wants to watch Robbie play soccer in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh guy on the radio said he refused the job 3 weeks ago and now he is interested. The fact that Robbie transferred to a Pittsburgh school is too coincidental. By the way, I hate the name of this topic. We should have started a new one.

With Robbie transferring to a Pittsburgh school, Josh leaving, the Dukes making renovations to their arena, and 4 years of not making the NCAA tournament, it may be tempting. I do not think it would be good move since in todays climate if you are a new coach and are not successful immediately, it seems like you could be gone and looking for another job. KD is firmly planted in Akron and could stay here till he is 65. We have had a number of MAC coaches move to bigger and better things. Have any of them lasted?

If you had to sum up this season, were you satisfied with the team or frustrated? It has been a week since our last game and I thought this would give everyone an opportunity to comment on the season. I think there were a lot of good things that happened this season. I have never been more impressed with our offense than when we played Marshall, a good team that lost to Middle Tenn in their conference final. We set a record for wins, KD became Akron's winningest coach, we won 2 tournaments and won a post tournament game even though it was an NIT win, it was a good away win against a top 50 team. Kwan, Big Dog and Jimond had great seasons, more than anyone ever expected going into this year. During the year we saw some solid play from Noah, (I thought he stepped it up toward the end of the season) , Antino (best defending guard), and Josh. The Bench had some solid play with Utomi going crazy in some games, Dunn Martin and Poke (amazing dunks and blocks). However, like a gambler who wins a lot but is always hoping for the big win, I feel some frustration with this season. We lost the NCAA invitation to Kent with a sub par game in the final, just like last year. (Kwan and Big Dog never made it to the NCAA because of a 4 year drought.) We had very few if any wins against top 50 teams. Most importantly, the last game of the season against Texas Arlington was a major disappointment where we were blown out of the game. (Last year we played poorly at Ohio State). Once again if we would have won our last game we would have had a home NIT game. Overall, I feel like the team underachieved when it counted the most, the last game at Kent and at Texas Arlington. If we play a good game and lose, no problems. If this team could play with Gonzaga and Creighton, we should beat Kent at the Q and have a competitive game with Texas Arlington. My last point is the most important, KD is a great coach and brings in great student athletes into the program. As an alum you have to be proud of that fact. I liked hearing the students on the radio and seeing them on the TV on the KD show. Best of luck to Kwan and Bid Dog in their future careers.

Good luck to Josh. He was a great student athlete. Unfortunately, on this team we have too many guys that like to shoot the 3 and not enough guys that can penetrate and create their own shot. Hopefully, he will find a program where he will have a unique skill set.

Maybe KD should show opposing coaches a tape of tonights game when trying to schedule. Who would not want to schedule us?

We played Creighton and Gonzaga without looking outclassed. Last year we played Villanova well for most of the game without looking outclassed. Tonight we were never in the game.

As I look at the Akron bench, not sure the non scholarship guys are even at the Arena.