New Addition

[Dave in Green]

A little more info. It was previously discussed on ZN.O that 6-7 forward Allen Payne would have been a great addition to the Zips. But Payne ended up choosing between VCU and Auburn, and ultimately committed to Auburn.

Payne was second team D1 HS All-Ohio this season alongside another 6-7 forward, Demetrius Treadwell.

[Blue & Gold]

Good research, fellas. Props go out to gczip22!

[RACER]

when would this kid be eligble? we will be fine a pg this year.roberts,or mc neese an play the position.im not saying they are the best pg's in the mac.they are good enough to win with.mc neese would play point with roberts at sg.roberts could play pg if something happens to mc neese.hopedully the kid kd brought in can give us some pt at point guard. if he can

then we will be in great shape.if he his not ready to play then things become more difficult.

[johnnyzip84]

Zach used the following link to show where Frank Stams has been hired by STO. At the end of the link, there is confirmation of Demetrious Treadwell, now listed at 6'8", as a walk-on for the Zips.

Link

[Quickzips]

I will gladly eat my bit of crow on this one. Hopefully "Tree" is as good as advertised. Seems like a kid who has plenty of talent, just needed to go to the school of hard knocks a bit to figure out the importance of academics. Hopefully his head is on straight now and he can have a productive college experience with the Zips.

That said, if this is our last scholarship for 2011 we have some problems. Alex Abreu is our only PG on scholarship. You can't even really make the argument that any of our other guards are combo-guards that can take the backup minutes at PG while also playing SG (see McNees). It looks like KD may be banking on having a transfer or two after this summer so that he can add a late PG to the class. Not sure I like that approach becoming a trend. I think it was necessary this year to make some changes to the roster, but I don't really want to see that kind of approach year after year.

[Dave in Green]

Some conflict here as to whether Treadwell is guaranteed the last scholarship for 2011-12 or is a walk-on. I'm not sure that someone can be guaranteed an athletic scholarship until they are actually academically qualified.

[akzipper]

If he had orientation, wouldn't he have to be academically qualified?

[ZachTheZip]

Some conflict here as to whether Treadwell is guaranteed the last scholarship for 2011-12 or is a walk-on. I'm not sure that someone can be guaranteed an athletic scholarship until they are actually academically qualified.

He will be getting a scholarship. Or at least that's what he's telling people.

[Dave in Green]

If all the scholarships have been committed and the Zips are still offering, something's got to give somewhere.

[Quickzips]

If he had orientation, wouldn't he have to be academically qualified?

Standards for getting in to college and being academically qualified to play are two very different things.

[RACER]

i have seen this kid listed from 6'6 to 6'8. it's sounds like he has major small forward skills.he would be a tuff match up

for alott of teams in the mac.the major question is can he play defense.kd won't play anyone unless they can defense.

i give kd credit for bringing in this kid.i really hope the kid makes it.the question i have once again when can he play?

does he have to sit out this year? the only concern i have along with some other people is the pg spot.i think we will

be ok for next year.after that who knows.

[Quickzips]

I really have to wonder if one or both of these guys (Harney and Treadwell) will continue on their path as walk-ons. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to have all of these forwards on the roster and be so darn thin at the guard spots. For 2011-12 we would have eight of our thirteen scholarships taken up by 6'6" to 6'8" forwards (Diggs, Gilliam, Green, Egner, Euton, Cvetinovic, Harney, Treadwell) while only having one real PG (Abreu) and one C (Zeke) on scholarship. Something just doesn't add up in all of this.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I really have to wonder if one or both of these guys (Harney and Treadwell) will continue on their path as walk-ons. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to have all of these forwards on the roster and be so darn thin at the guard spots. For 2011-12 we would have eight of our thirteen scholarships taken up by 6'6" to 6'8" forwards (Diggs, Gilliam, Green, Egner, Euton, Cvetinovic, Harney, Treadwell) while only having one real PG (Abreu) and one C (Zeke) on scholarship. Something just doesn't add up in all of this.

I think you worry way too much about something that's -

A.) A huge positive

B.) Going to work itself out anyhow

We had Dru Joyce as our only PG for 4 years. It worked out fine. I'm sure we will get someone to spell Abreu. Be it an existing player, or a TBD newcomer.

Of the bigs you've listed above, one or more will not pan out for one reason or another. If by some miracle they all survive the next calendar year @ UA, it is a much bigger blessing than a curse. You can kick some serious ass in the MAC, and beyond the MAC (OOC), if you have depth with your bigs.

We need someone to spell Zeke for maybe 10 minutes per game over the next 3 seasons. That can easily be accomplished by an athletic 6' 8" guy. Especially in MAC play.

Could Zeke or Abreu suffer some season-ending injuries, or academics, and expose a lack of depth? Sure. But it's -

A.) statistically unlikely (in the last 6 seasons, who have we lost to severe injury or academics...Wood and Steward?)

B.) irrelevant, because we probably aren't doing any damage with back up PG's or C's anyhow. It's just our bad luck if something catastrophic occurs.

Smurf-ball is a thing of the past. KD has potentially formed the best roster I've seen at UA since the McLaughlin/Boyce/Buford/Roberts era of the mid-80's. Love it.

[Dave in Green]

Good perspective, CK. The Zips have gone from an abundance of smaller players to an apparent future abundance of larger ones. That's definitely not a bad thing in the basketball world! In fact, it just may make the Zips more attractive to a good PG recruit, and I'm sure that KD will find a way to loosen up a scholarship for the right PG if needed.

I personally don't spend much time worrying about the fine details. But I do enjoy the casual discussions and getting other people's viewpoints on ZN.O.

For example, I think it's worth noting that a PG becomes somewhat less critical if the bigs are all above average ball handlers. I don't know if that's the case with all of the bigs coming in. But I have seen it mentioned in various reviews that most of them are pretty good at handling the ball.

[akronzips71]

I will gladly eat my bit of crow on this one. Hopefully "Tree" is as good as advertised. Seems like a kid who has plenty of talent, just needed to go to the school of hard knocks a bit to figure out the importance of academics. Hopefully his head is on straight now and he can have a productive college experience with the Zips.

That said, if this is our last scholarship for 2011 we have some problems. Alex Abreu is our only PG on scholarship. You can't even really make the argument that any of our other guards are combo-guards that can take the backup minutes at PG while also playing SG (see McNees). It looks like KD may be banking on having a transfer or two after this summer so that he can add a late PG to the class. Not sure I like that approach becoming a trend. I think it was necessary this year to make some changes to the roster, but I don't really want to see that kind of approach year after year.

There was another guy in Akrons' past who had some HS "difficulties" and ended up with the Zips. His name was Len Paul. The rest is history.

(And anyone who ever saw him play knows he could have played ANYPLACE).

[Blue & Gold]

I really have to wonder if one or both of these guys (Harney and Treadwell) will continue on their path as walk-ons. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to have all of these forwards on the roster and be so darn thin at the guard spots. For 2011-12 we would have eight of our thirteen scholarships taken up by 6'6" to 6'8" forwards (Diggs, Gilliam, Green, Egner, Euton, Cvetinovic, Harney, Treadwell) while only having one real PG (Abreu) and one C (Zeke) on scholarship. Something just doesn't add up in all of this.

I think you worry way too much about something that's -

A.) A huge positive

B.) Going to work itself out anyhow

We had Dru Joyce as our only PG for 4 years. It worked out fine. I'm sure we will get someone to spell Abreu. Be it an existing player, or a TBD newcomer.

Of the bigs you've listed above, one or more will not pan out for one reason or another. If by some miracle they all survive the next calendar year @ UA, it is a much bigger blessing than a curse. You can kick some serious ass in the MAC, and beyond the MAC (OOC), if you have depth with your bigs.

We need someone to spell Zeke for maybe 10 minutes per game over the next 3 seasons. That can easily be accomplished by an athletic 6' 8" guy. Especially in MAC play.

Could Zeke or Abreu suffer some season-ending injuries, or academics, and expose a lack of depth? Sure. But it's -

A.) statistically unlikely (in the last 6 seasons, who have we lost to severe injury or academics...Wood and Steward?)

B.) irrelevant, because we probably aren't doing any damage with back up PG's or C's anyhow. It's just our bad luck if something catastrophic occurs.

Smurf-ball is a thing of the past. KD has potentially formed the best roster I've seen at UA since the McLaughlin/Boyce/Buford/Roberts era of the mid-80's. Love it.

Though I wasn't around Zips athletics back in the mid 80s, I agree w/ the rest of this post. I'm excited about the size & athleticism KD's assembled. Taking the liberty of moving Brian Walsh to PG, look at this lineup come 2011-12:

1G Alex Abreu 5-9 175

1G Brian Walsh 6-4 205

2G Chauncey Gilliam 6-5 235

2G Quincy Diggs 6-6 195

3F Demetrius Treadwell 6-7 ???

3F Nick Harney 6-7 215

4F Josh Egner 6-7 200

4F Dakotah Euton 6-8 230

C Nik Cvetinovic 6-8 230

C Zeke Marshall 7-1 225

A potential starting 5 could well look like:

PG 6-4 Brian Walsh

2G 6-6 Quincy Diggs

3F 6-7 Demetrius Treadwell

4F 6-8 Dakotah Euton

C 7-1 Zeke Marshall

Dang, that's all NBA height right there. Way to go KD!

[72 Roo]

I will gladly eat my bit of crow on this one. Hopefully "Tree" is as good as advertised. Seems like a kid who has plenty of talent, just needed to go to the school of hard knocks a bit to figure out the importance of academics. Hopefully his head is on straight now and he can have a productive college experience with the Zips.

That said, if this is our last scholarship for 2011 we have some problems. Alex Abreu is our only PG on scholarship. You can't even really make the argument that any of our other guards are combo-guards that can take the backup minutes at PG while also playing SG (see McNees). It looks like KD may be banking on having a transfer or two after this summer so that he can add a late PG to the class. Not sure I like that approach becoming a trend. I think it was necessary this year to make some changes to the roster, but I don't really want to see that kind of approach year after year.

There was another guy in Akrons' past who had some HS "difficulties" and ended up with the Zips. His name was Len Paul. The rest is history.

(And anyone who ever saw him play knows he could have played ANYPLACE).

Great point 71. I absolutely loved watching Len Paul play. He humiliated everyone who tried to stop him. One of the greatest Zips ever to wear the colors. Find as many like him as you can KD.

[Quickzips]

Don't get me wrong, I love having some more size and athleticism on this team in the coming years. Having guys like Zeke, Gilliam, Diggs, Treadwell, Harney, Egner will, hopefully start to ease some of the complaints we have all had about our glaring lack of size and athleticism. I just feel that at the end of the day we have too many players whose size, skill set and position overlap each other. If all of these guys stick around (big if considering that at least one or two of them is going to be starting down little to no playing time for considerable portions of their college careers) I don't see how you get minutes for all of them. On top of that, if they all stick around, we are faced with having only 4 guards on the roster for a couple seasons and only one real PG on the 2011-12 roster. Brian Walsh is not a PG. I apologize if my initial post after finding out we were getting him indicated that he was, but he is not. He's a wing guard who primarily plays SG but can play some SF. In reading more about him, I seriously doubt we would want him taking on the lead guard role for us at any point. At this point I really think our 2011-12 roster will look something like this.

PG-Abreu-Starts, will have to play 30+ minutes per night.

SG-Walsh-Starts, plays exclusively as a SG around 25-30 minutes per night

SG-Justice-Comes off the bench to spell Abreu at PG and Walsh at SG about 15-20 minutes per night

SG-McClanahan-Sees occassional minutes at SG and SF off the bench.

SF-Gilliam-Starts at SF, plays some SG depending on matchups, injuries, etc.

SF-Diggs-Takes the primary backup minutes at both SG and SF.

SF-Green-Sees occassional minutes at SF off the bench.

SF-Treadwell-Redshirt

PF-Cvetinovic-Starts at PF and sees occassional backup minutes at C.

PF-Egner-Takes the primary backup minutes at PF and plays some SF depending on matchups.

PF-Euton-Takes the primary backup minutes at C along with some PF.

PF-Harney-Redshirt

C-Zeke-Starts at C, will play 30+ minutes per night.

I realize it is kind of ridiculous to be talking about 2011-12 rosters when 2010-11 hasn't even started, but right now our scholarship situation looks to be filled up for next season and it is certainly an "interesting" roster.

As far as Tree goes, I've got no problem with us having the kid here IF he truly has his head on straight. From all reports, it sounds like he's finally found the necessary focus in his life and should be a solid student-athlete for us, but we've all seen situations like this turn for the worse before. I wish the kid nothing but the best in his Zips career, but you have to acknowledge that there is a certain amount of greater risk in taking on a kid who was academically ineligible to play for three years of his high school career.

[Captain Kangaroo]

SF-Treadwell-Redshirt

PF-Harney-Redshirt

No way these kids redshirt, after already sitting out a full season to gain eligibility.

[MaxZIP]

Can't State always has a starting 5 that are in the mid 6’ range. They out muscled us last year for sure and they are always throwing other MAC teams around. The MAC isn’t the NBA. An athletic team of 6’5”-6’9” guys could dominate the MAC plain and simple. We have a luxury and a tailor made mismatch in Zeke if he adds enough strength to fend off stronger players down low. We could have a mismatch if a true point guard could exploit the holes in “big” MAC lineups. I think KD is on the right track finding the most athletic guys first and potentially filling in the gaps with guys that are going to rely on technical skill vs. size. Get the size and athleticism first and let the point situation sort itself out.

[Quickzips]

SF-Treadwell-Redshirt

PF-Harney-Redshirt

No way these kids redshirt, after already sitting out a full season to gain eligibility.

Again, IF everyone else sticks around, I just don't see where either of those guys are going to get significant minutes. I agree that having them sit out two straight years is less than ideal, but who are you going to take minutes away from at the 3/4 spots?

Gilliam: Transfer with only two years left. Led his former team in scoring as a sophomore. Power and athleticism. Can also play SG, but is currently listed as a F.

Diggs: Transfer who will likely see significant minutes if not start this season at SF.

Cvetinovic: Fourth year player by this time next year who will presumably have seen major minutes his first three years. Can also play some C but is best suited as a 4.

Egner: Mirrors a lot of the attributes you hear about with Harney and Tree. Long, athletic and aggressive. Probably more of a defensive stopper than Harney or Tree, and you know how much KD loves guys who play tough defense. Will have a year in the program at this time next year, even if he redshirts this year.

Euton: Again, possible redshirt this year, but will still have a year in the program by this time next year. Versatile big man who can step out to three point range and knock 'em down.

Green: Another possible redshirt this year. I'm being entirely honest when I say I don't know much about him.

[Dave in Green]

It's awfully tough to make informed estimates about so many different players we haven't even seen play yet at any level. Some of these guys are going to show up looking like college players, and some are going to look like they're still in HS. We just don't know how fast they're going to mature, and how they'll fit into KD's system versus the systems they've been playing under with other coaches.

As far as redshirting Treadwell, all reports indicate that he's already physically mature, and will be more so in another year. When you think about it, it's absolutely stunning that a guy who was ineligible to play basketball for his first three years in HS was dominant in shooting, rebounding and blocked shots from the first game of his only season. How many HS players in Ohio history have played only one season of HS basketball and made D1 second team all-state? As long as his grades and behavior permit, I see him as having potential to be a major force at UA from his first day of sports eligibility, and not likely to redshirt.

I really don't know where that leaves everyone else. I think there are a lot of tall, talented players in UA's near future, and some are going to end up executing better under KD's system and earn more minutes. If they all stick with the program, the guys who play longer minutes in games will not have an easy time in scrimmages against a talented group of subs! It may be the perfect group of players for a 10-deep regular rotation.

[72 Roo]

If treadwell does redshirt it will be for one of two reasons, maybe both. First, he needs time to learn how to study and keep his grades up, and second, he will need to learn how to play defense the way KD wants it played. KD may also want a year to see if he is serious about paying the price to be a D-1 student-athlete before KD gets his hopes up. I guess that makes three reasons. Just my two cents, but I think for a change they make sense.

[Blue & Gold]

Will Harney and Treadwell be able to practice with the team this season?

[gczip22]

Will Harney and Treadwell be able to practice with the team this season?

I can say with 100% certainty that Demetrius Treadwell will not redshirt, and will have no problem getting minutes

also, I would expect Chauncey Gilliam to play a significant amount of minutes at the 2

I wouldn't get caught up in the "this guy is a 1, this guy is a 2, etc." line of thinking...there are a good number of players on the roster who have decent ball handling skills

you might want to look at it more like there will be 2 different line-ups

line-up 1:

Guard

Wing

Wing

Post

Post

this line-up would likely be the one you will see with Abreu in the game running the lead guard spot...he will have 2 wings (Gilliam, Diggs, Treadwell, Walsh, Justice, McClannahan, etc.) it could be any 2 of those guys, you don't have to pigeon-hole one as a "2" or one as a "3"...where they are offensively will be determined by the scheme and who they match-up with defensively will be determined by who is on the floor...the old numbering system for basketball (especially for mid-majors) is arbitrary and I don't know of many coaches who follow it

line-up 2:

Guard

Guard

Wing

Wing

Post

this line-up is more what you will see if Abreu is not in the game...go smaller and do the ball handling by committee...the 2 lead guards will look more like combo guards, which could be any of McClannahan, Walsh, Abreu, Justice or even Gilliam...then any 2 of the remaining wings to go along with Zeke, Euton, or any other bigs...it is pretty important, however, to have one of the wings listed be a combo forward, which is exactly what Treadwell is...much like Brett McKnight this year...someone who can defend a forward or smaller post and play around the perimeter

this is all assuming there isn't any attrition in the offseason and Coach Dambrot doesn't bring in another guard...if that happens, I would expect line-up 1 to be used much more often