1981 grad

In the beginning of the year he looked decent for a first year player. Reminded me of Big Dog his first year. He then hurt his back. After he came back he did not do much. I thought he was not fully recovered but who knows. I did notice that when he was injured he was always the first one off the bench congratulating the team so I did like his team spirit in the beginning of the season.

Is Hughs following Dambrot? Considering that he hardly played this year, it would be foolish for him to transfer and then wait another year to play. He is a big guy but did not show much last year because of injury. I just wonder if he would get that many offers.

Thanks for sharing that. It is impressive that Antino's decision to consider leaving Akron was not a knee jerk reaction to KD deciding to leave. The players have a right to be upset with KD since a big part of his pitch to them was that he was not leaving Akron. If Antinos goal is to play in a big 5 conference, he will be competing against bigger and more athletic guys to get playing time. He has to realize that it is risk since he may not get the playing time coming into a new program. If he wants to play pro ball in Europe as many other Akron athletes, the safer move would be to stay with Akron where he is guarenteed playing time and is already part of the system.

Thanks for posting the video. I find it amazing that a guy that was just fired can be that thankful to the school that just fired him. I think it is great that he indicates academically his team did great in the classroom and that he had great relationship with his players. I am very impressed with this guy. He indicated that he takes responsibillity for his team, his record, and did not have any excuses. I hope he gets the job and I am optimistic for the future if he is our coach.

I saw him on the roster but he did not play. Did they red shirt him this year. Is he a scholarship player?

He just brought in a great recruiting class before he was fired, http://www.fightingillini.com/news/2016/11/17/mens-basketball-groce-and-staff-reel-in-top-10-recruiting-class.aspx?path=mbball He has MAC experience, can recruit, took Ohio to the sweet 16, and probably will be hesitant to go to the next level after his experience with the Illini so he should be here for a few years. I hope this happens soon so he can talk to our players and start recruiting since he will have at least 3 players transferring and some open scholarships.

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.