Coach Dambrot and Coach Kest get contract extensions

[ZachTheZip]

http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/...extends_co.htmlYes! Thank you Mack Rhoades for still doing your job even when you're on the way out.

[PB1719]

Can you beleive they haven't signed JD to the same contract???

[Dave in Green]

While I appreciate all of the other sports, my main interest is men's basketball. Of course the cynical view is that we see on an almost daily basis that longterm contracts are torn up and coaches either leave for a better deal or are kicked out for not delivering as expected. But this announcement still has meaning in the sense that, as of today at least, UA has faith in KD for the long run and vice versa. We fans can only hope that this continues for the long run, as it will mean that KD and UA are continuing to deliver what's important to each of them, which I think is a vision of what we fans want to see.

[skip-zip]

I like how Keith mentioned "Top-25" in his remarks. That needs to always be the goal. Getting near that mark is the only thing that's going to ensure at-large bids, and avoid a disaster like we had in 2007. And I hope we start doing what we need to do, scheduling-wise, to put us in position to approach that goal. I think we're doing all that we can by continuing to boost Keith's contract as he continues to show signs of long-term success. We all know that the day will likely come where that success could attract offers that are far out of Akron's reach to equal. But until we get to that point, giving him some reasonable raises that we can afford, as he shows continued success, is really all that we can do. I must admit. As I have watched what has mostly amounted to a poor women's basketball team since the early 80's, I haven't had much hope. But, I made posts on here last season saying that I really believed, for the first time, that I have seen signs of hope. It didn't result in a lot of wins. But I've been around many losing basketball teams that showed me that they were "competing", but not "playing like they could win". And there's a big, big difference between the two. I believe I'm seeing a different Akron team now, and they do have talent, and I think it's deserving of an extension for Kest to see if the trend continues.

[Dr Z]

Impressive at Akron:In his five seasons at Akron, Dambrot's Zips have a 115-51 record. The wins are the most among Mid-American Conference schools and 28th highest nationally.Most important at Akron:Last year, he led the program to a 23-13 record, its first-ever MAC Tournament championship and first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1986.

[MDZip]

I think perhaps the most impressive thing about Keith in the writeup that you don't necessarily think about is that the Zips have been in post-season play 3 of the last four years and the one year they weren't was the year that most of us thought would have been most likely. That's pretty impressive when you think back on all lof the years of D-I basketball.Coach Kest certainly is showing signs of upgrading the program. While it didn't show in a ton of wins this year, how often do you kick off most of a team and then improve in the number of wins the following year? She has earned some addtional time for sure.And coach Jones has the team playing well too. Add in coach Porter, coach Engle and coach Mitchell (heck, even tennis is looking up) and Akron seems to have a very solid set of coaches worth trying to lock up for a while.