Two Good Zips B-ball Articles from GT

[Blue & Gold]

Well, I'm going to try to post two links from my Mac. Pretty sure they won't work.

The FIRST was posted on George Thomas' Zips Blog yesterday. Excellent, outstanding, thoughtful, critical piece of work. We haven't had someone write about the Zips this way in years. He dissected the MTSU game & was critical of the Zips rebounding and free throw shooting. He also mentions the Zips pressure defense.

Additionally, he notes his disappointment in only 2,700 showing for the game. He sarcastically remarks that the low attendance figure could be due to going up against the overwhelming excitement of a Cleveland Browns game. I love it!

The SECOND is a very nice article on Brian Walsh.

[Edit]: The links work!!!

[akronzips71]

I hope we don't lose PF. Rotator Cuff injuries are painful, from personal experience. I had a strain that did not require any actual medical treatment but I could not raise my arm above my head for a few weeks. He is younger and hopefully way stronger and can work through it.

[taxpayer]

Thanks for the head's up. Glad to see some local articles on the Zips; GT is right about the rebounding in the MTSU game.

The article on BWalsh was nice.

The previous games vs Oklahoma State, UNC-Ashville & PSU I thought our rebounding was fairly good but vs MTSU we were lacking. With that said, it was encouraging to see multiple Zips on the floor every time there was a loose ball.

[The Hip Zip]

Said it before and worth repeating. Mr. Thomas has done a great job of covering the Zips from day one. His takes are usually spot on and always well written.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Said it before and worth repeating. Mr. Thomas has done a great job of covering the Zips from day one. His takes are usually spot on and always well written.

If you want a reminder of the ABJ coverage quality prior to George, click here, and go to pic 5-of-13.

Who knew our linebackers handed off to our linebackers? Then again, it was Ianello.

[The Hip Zip]

If you want a reminder of the ABJ coverage quality prior to George, click here, and go to pic 5-of-13.

Who knew our linebackers handed off to our linebackers? Then again, it was Ianello.

Oh, how I do recall. Your one liner almost resulted in a coffee covered keyboard.

[Sergeant Zip]

GT article on ThinkBigger and how all 4 recruits are at least 6 feet 6 inches tall.

[Blue & Gold]

GT article on ThinkBigger and how all 4 recruits are at least 6 feet 6 inches tall.

Great article! I'd like to give a shout out to GT. A few days ago I emailed George & asked if he could give a breakdown of UA's recent recruits. Thanks George, this was a great article! Much appreciated.

Just wanted to let ZNO know we've got a responsive beat writer!

(I also asked if he might consider keeping tabs on the stats these guys put up this year & posting their box score lines on his blog. Often, trying to find high school stats/box scores online is pretty difficult. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place. So maybe we'll have occasional updates to look forward to.)

[GeorgeThomasABJ]

Great article! I'd like to give a shout out to GT. A few days ago I emailed George & asked if he could give a breakdown of UA's recent recruits. Thanks George, this was a great article! Much appreciated.

Just wanted to let ZNO know we've got a responsive beat writer!

(I also asked if he might consider keeping tabs on the stats these guys put up this year & posting their box score lines on his blog. Often, trying to find high school stats/box scores online is pretty difficult. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place. So maybe we'll have occasional updates to look forward to.)

Thanks for the idea and you're welcome.

[akronzips71]

WOW

A 6'9" who may still be growing and a 6"10"

And we have PF at 6'11 for three more years.

I think this can grow into a major program with this kind of size.

[Blue & Gold]

WOW

A 6'9" who may still be growing and a 6"10"

And we have PF at 6'11 for three more years.

I think this can grow into a major program with this kind of size.

And that 6'9" power forward - Kwan Cheatham - is a "stretch-4." From what I've read he's got a really nice stroke from 3. And he just recently turned 17, so he's very young for his class - huge upside. (We may redshirt him & let him mature physically for another year?)

[Dave in Green]

A little internet searching shows that Isaiah Johnson's Walnut Hills HS team is an early favorite to win the Ohio D1 HS championship this season, and that Isaiah is being ranked as the second team center on the preseason All-Ohio teams. First team center, generally rated the best pure HS center in Ohio this season, is 6-10 Maverick Morgan of Springboro. Ironically, Morgan just signed a letter of intent to play for Illinois after being recruited by none other than John Groce.

You can keep track of Isaiah's stats throughout the season on Cincinnati.com here.

Kwan Cheatham's Winton Woods team is considered one of the strongest in the Cincinnati area behind Walnut Hills and Moeller. Right now, Kwan is generally rated honorable mention in the preseason All-Ohio teams. With that big growth spurt from 6-3 to 6-9 and moving from guard to forward, no one is sure how quickly he will adapt to being super-sized.

You can keep track of Kwan's stats throughout the season on Cincinnati.com here.

Aaron Jackson's Gahana Lincoln team is ranked second only to Westerville North in Central Ohio preseason D1 ratings. Aaron is being ranked as third team in the preseason All-Ohio teams.

You can keep track of Aaron's team box scores at dispatch.com here.

B.J. Gladden's Olympic HS team is currently ranked #2 in the Charlotte Observer's Sweet 16, which considers all of the HS teams in the Charlotte, N.C., area. B.J. is generally ranked among the top few dozen HS players in North Carolina.

You can keep track of B.J.'s stats throughout the season on charlotteobserver.com here. (Note: This link initially takes you to the girls basketball stats, and then you have to click on BBB for boys basketball).

[wadszip]

A little internet searching shows that Isaiah Johnson's Walnut Hills HS team is an early favorite to win the Ohio D1 HS championship this season, and that Isaiah is being ranked as the second team center on the preseason All-Ohio teams. First team center, generally rated the best pure HS center in Ohio this season, is 6-10 Maverick Morgan of Springboro. Ironically, Morgan just signed a letter of intent to play for Illinois after being recruited by none other than John Groce.

You can keep track of Isaiah's stats throughout the season on Cincinnati.com here.

Kwan Cheatham's Winton Woods team is considered one of the strongest in the Cincinnati area behind Walnut Hills and Moeller. Right now, Kwan is generally rated honorable mention in the preseason All-Ohio teams. With that big growth spurt from 6-3 to 6-9 and moving from guard to forward, no one is sure how quickly he will adapt to being super-sized.

You can keep track of Kwan's stats throughout the season on Cincinnati.com here.

Aaron Jackson's Gahana Lincoln team is ranked second only to Westerville North in Central Ohio preseason D1 ratings. Aaron is being ranked as third team in the preseason All-Ohio teams.

You can keep track of Aaron's team box scores at dispatch.com here. (Note: This link initially takes you to the girls basketball stats, and then you have to click on BBB for boys basketball).

Dave,

Thanks for putting this together.

From clicking on those links, one thing that popped out was Kwan Cheatham's teammate, Ronnie Rousseau's first-game stats: 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting and 5-of-7 from 3. A quick good search shows he's a 6-foot, 155-pound junior who has interest from Dayton, Miami and Tennessee State (according to rivals). Could be a guy to keep an eye on for next year.

[GoZips]

Dave,

Thanks for putting this together.

From clicking on those links, one thing that popped out was Kwan Cheatham's teammate, Ronnie Rousseau's first-game stats: 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting and 5-of-7 from 3. A quick good search shows he's a 6-foot, 155-pound junior who has interest from Dayton, Miami and Tennessee State (according to rivals). Could be a guy to keep an eye on for next year.

Quote from tripledoubleprospects.com: "Bottom Line: Flashy playmaking PG needs to learn the fine points of the game and add some bulk but he has a world of talent and the heart to be an impact player. "

If he were a shooting guard he would be relegated to low major status. However, as a point guard he might be a candidate

for a mid-major. His game has to be more than good shooting. Can he "see" the floor? Can he distribute the ball? Can he

play lock down defense? And, just as important; how good are his grades?

He certainly looks like one to keep an eye on at this time.

[Blue & Gold]

A little internet searching shows that Isaiah Johnson's Walnut Hills HS team is an early favorite to win the Ohio D1 HS championship this season, and that Isaiah is being ranked as the second team center on the preseason All-Ohio teams. First team center, generally rated the best pure HS center in Ohio this season, is 6-10 Maverick Morgan of Springboro. Ironically, Morgan just signed a letter of intent to play for Illinois after being recruited by none other than John Groce.

You can keep track of Isaiah's stats throughout the season on Cincinnati.com here.

Kwan Cheatham's Winton Woods team is considered one of the strongest in the Cincinnati area behind Walnut Hills and Moeller. Right now, Kwan is generally rated honorable mention in the preseason All-Ohio teams. With that big growth spurt from 6-3 to 6-9 and moving from guard to forward, no one is sure how quickly he will adapt to being super-sized.

You can keep track of Kwan's stats throughout the season on Cincinnati.com here.

Aaron Jackson's Gahana Lincoln team is ranked second only to Westerville North in Central Ohio preseason D1 ratings. Aaron is being ranked as third team in the preseason All-Ohio teams.

You can keep track of Aaron's team box scores at dispatch.com here. (Note: This link initially takes you to the girls basketball stats, and then you have to click on BBB for boys basketball).

Thanks, Dave!

[Dave in Green]

Per someone's suggestion, I started a new thread in Basketball Recruiting here with the player links from my post above to make it easier to find and track this information throughout their senior HS seasons.