Dan Hipsher

[GoZips]

Dan Hipsher, former University of Akron head coach is announced as the new head coach at University of Texas-Pan American.

Big Dan Gets A Gig

[GP1]

The subtitle of this thread should be, "Better them than us."

[Hilltopper]

Within 2 years, all the players will spend their whole time on the court waiting for "Thunder Dan" to stomp his foot and slam his clipboard. I wonder if they put a clause in the contract to muzzle Mrs. H?

[Blue & Gold]

He was a jerk. He had a very talented team and eventually seemed to make them all hate him.

Jimmal Ball

Jaimie Bosley

George Phillips

Ryan Andrick

Jawanza Moore

Did that talented group ever win a single game in the MAC Tourney?

I was glad when Ryan Andrick almost leveled him. "Thunder Dan" was verbally abusive. I'm all for free speech & what not, but you can only be verbally abusive for so long before someone lashes out physically.

[skip-zip]

He was a jerk. He had a very talented team and eventually seemed to make them all hate him.

Jimmal Ball

Jaimie Bosley

George Phillips

Ryan Andrick

Jawanza Moore

Did that talented group ever win a single game in the MAC Tourney?

I was glad when Ryan Andrick almost leveled him. "Thunder Dan" was verbally abusive. I'm all for free speech & what not, but you can only be verbally abusive for so long before someone lashes out physically.

I'll never forget when that whole group of Seniors in 2000 lost an opening round Mac tourney game to #13 Central Michigan at Rhodes Arena. What a way to cap off their careers.

I think Dan won 2 MAC tourney games in his entire career at Akron.

I love how the article claims that he mentored Keith. I guess they totally forgot about what Keith had done previously, and that his job at Akron was the beginning of his 2nd round of college coaching.

You guys are bringing some fond, old memories to the surface again. I'm quite surprised that Dan ever got a head coaching job again.

[ZachTheZip]

You guys are bringing some fond, old memories to the surface again. I'm quite surprised that Dan ever got a head coaching job again.

You hand around long enough as an assistant for a high-major (in name only, in Alabama's case), and eventually someone will offer you a head coaching job based on that alone. They were probably star struck. Reminds me of when Akron hired a certain football coach a few years ago.

[Dr Z]

Oldie, but a goodie.

[GP1]

He was a jerk. He had a very talented team and eventually seemed to make them all hate him.

Jimmal Ball

Jaimie Bosley

George Phillips

Ryan Andrick

Jawanza Moore

Where to go with this?

If this was a Motown group from the 60s (since I went to the Motown Musical on Broadway last week, I had to get that in.), this group would be called "Jimmal Ball and the Forgettable Four". The problem with Hipsher was he didn't bring good enough talent to Akron. The Zips didn't bring top notch talent to Akron until Zeke came to town. There was a smattering of good players, but never top notch players.

I could be totally off base, but other than Ball, there isn't guy on the above team that would get significant playing time mid season last year. Hipsher was such a bad judge of talent, he gave his two sons scholarships.

[skip-zip]

Where to go with this?

If this was a Motown group from the 60s (since I went to the Motown Musical on Broadway last week, I had to get that in.), this group would be called "Jimmal Ball and the Forgettable Four". The problem with Hipsher was he didn't bring good enough talent to Akron. The Zips didn't bring top notch talent to Akron until Zeke came to town. There was a smattering of good players, but never top notch players.

I could be totally off base, but other than Ball, there isn't guy on the above team that would get significant playing time mid season last year. Hipsher was such a bad judge of talent, he gave his two sons scholarships.

I think you'd have a hard time claiming that Romeo Travis - a MAC Player of the Year honoree - was not top notch talent.

I'd say that Hipsher was justified in giving one of his sons a scholarship. But, the other one was just plain awful.

[Zip Watcher]

A healthy Andy Hipsher, before his back injury, could flat out play. I'd still consider the pre-injured Andy one of the top 5 or 10 talents we've had in the JAR over the last 10-15 years.

[GP1]

A healthy Andy Hipsher, before his back injury, could flat out play. I'd still consider the pre-injured Andy one of the top 5 or 10 talents we've had in the JAR over the last 10-15 years.

I respectfully disagree. Sometimes when we look back on players, we think of them being better than they really were. Andy is one of those guys for me. There wasn't enough natural talent there to produce much of an "up side". It could be he didn't improve because of the back injury. It could also be he was as good as he was ever going to be right before the back injury. It's the sort of question we never know the answer to.

I'm enamored with the "current" talent level on the Zips team. I'd take Zeke, Tree, McAdams, Walsh and when he was on the team Diggs over Andy any day of the week. I don't think it would be hard to come up with 10 names better than him over the past 15 years. If he did crack the top ten, it wouldn't be close to five.

Andy was a solid player and I don't want to make it seem like I'm belittling him. Solid players earn you first round loses in the MAC Tournament. We now have star MAC players on the team who win the MAC Championship. There is a huge difference between the Andy Hipshires of the world and what we have now.

[skip-zip]

I'd take Zeke, Tree, McAdams, Walsh and when he was on the team Diggs over Andy any day of the week.

Zeke - Yes

Diggs - Yes

Tree - Absolutely

McAdams? - Are you kidding?

Walsh - Unfortunately, No. One of my favorite Zips players ever, but his total production, especially in terms of points, was well under what I expected from him.

[odhgibo]

I could be totally off base, but other than Ball, there isn't guy on the above team that would get significant playing time mid season last year. Hipsher was such a bad judge of talent, he gave his two sons scholarships.

You were wise to add this proviso.

In spite incessant whining, Andrick could play. Put him on a team where he didn't need to play low post by himself, and he'd have been very good. Pair him with Zeke and Tree and you'd have seen something really fun.

Bosley could fill it up despite limited physical tools. He might have clashed with Coach KD, but he could score like no one the Zips have seen in a long time.

[GP1]

McAdams? - Are you kidding?

I respectfully disagree here as well. Long term, McAdams will be the better player. Forced to play more, he would be more productive in terms of stats. Since he plays on such a better team than Andy did and it was hard for him to get off the bench, his early stats aren't what Andy's were.

Walsh? Again, more and better players on the team now reduce a Walsh's ability to fill up the stat sheet.

[GP1]

In spite incessant whining, Andrick could play. Put him on a team where he didn't need to play low post by himself, and he'd have been very good. Pair him with Zeke and Tree and you'd have seen something really fun.

When would he have beaten either Zeke or Tree out for playing time.

Andrick worked his butt off, but I don't think he was the player either Zeke was or Tree is for the Zips.

Again, there were some solid first round MAC Tournament loss players on in the Hipsher years. We are now dealing with a team much more talented. I'm looking beyond the stats and trusting my eyes on this one. Maybe I'm the only one who sees how vastly improved this team is in the KD ear than the Hipsher era.?.?

[skip-zip]

I respectfully disagree here as well. Long term, McAdams will be the better player. Forced to play more, he would be more productive in terms of stats. Since he plays on such a better team than Andy did and it was hard for him to get off the bench, his early stats aren't what Andy's were.

Walsh? Again, more and better players on the team now reduce a Walsh's ability to fill up the stat sheet.

It's not that complex. He never took an assertive role offensively, and had plenty of opportunities. Then, somewhere along the line, he lost his confidence to shoot the basketball.

Love the guy, but he was far, far away from being an Andy Hipsher. And Reggie has an even much longer way to go to ever reach that level.

[odhgibo]

When would he have beaten either Zeke or Tree out for playing time.

Andrick worked his butt off, but I don't think he was the player either Zeke was or Tree is for the Zips.

Again, there were some solid first round MAC Tournament loss players on in the Hipsher years. We are now dealing with a team much more talented. I'm looking beyond the stats and trusting my eyes on this one. Maybe I'm the only one who sees how vastly improved this team is in the KD ear than the Hipsher era??

Andrick would've complemented Tree and Zeke, not taken minutes from either.

The MAC was far better then than it is now, so it's hard to compare the two teams. I hope to have some stats compiled on this in the next month or so.

[Lee Adams]

Oldie, but a goodie.

Unfortunately,Akron was snowed by the BS of BK. Lots of AD's have checked their common sense at the door when confronted with the possibility of saying no to a Knight, an Alvarez a Tressel etc,etc.

[Dr Z]

The MAC was far better then than it is now

That is the understatement of the thread!

[Hilltopper]

The Way Things Never Were: The Truth About the "Good Old Days"

[Zips Win!]

The most widely debated topic in UA hoops history over the last 20 years was Andy Hipsher's back.

Joe Dunn has nightly dreams about Andy to this day. Dude was pretty good, but not what everyone thinks he would have been if healthy...

In the end, Dan was yet another UA coach who hung on for NINE stinkin years at UA.

How was that even remotely possible?

[jupitertoo]

The most widely debated topic in UA hoops history over the last 20 years was Andy Hipsher's back.

Joe Dunn has nightly dreams about Andy to this day. Dude was pretty good, but not what everyone thinks he would have been if healthy...

In the end, Dan was yet another UA coach who hung on for NINE stinkin years at UA.

How was that even remotely possible?

It was possible for one reason: He followed Coleman Crawford.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Andrick and Tree would have been like Laimbeer and Mahorn. That would be a bad-ass front line.

That said, I was referring to pre-meltdown Andrick.

After the "fight," Andrick and Bosley were never the same players. The fire was gone. They gravy-trained their scholarships for the remainder of their eligibility.

[GP1]

In the end, Dan was yet another UA coach who hung on for NINE stinkin years at UA.

How was that even remotely possible?

It's our magic number. The administration could excuse away a lot of bad coaching for nine years back then. Since they really didn't know what to do, it was their only play. Since everyone in college athletics was flushing money down the toilet on new facilities, it all seem believable. Only now are we starting to understand what a pile of crap we were all fed and were glad to eat in the name of the "building process".

Faust stuck around for nine because if we just had the right facilities, he could do something with the program. Owens...same as Faust. BTW, we have better facilities now than then and we are worse...Isn't that what someone very, very high up at UofA really needs to be explaining to the public, in addition to why that person who caused the problem is still employed at UofA.

Hipsher...same as Faust and Owens. If he just had a better arena, who knows what could have happened. None of us ever know what could have happened, but we do know what happened. KD has the exact same arena as Hipsher and is more successful.

[Captain Kangaroo]

You hand around long enough as an assistant for a high-major (in name only, in Alabama's case), and eventually someone will offer you a head coaching job based on that alone. They were probably star struck. Reminds me of when Akron hired a certain football coach a few years ago.

Hipsher was a head coach at Wittenburg, Stetson, and coached the Zips for 9 seasons. He was also a top assistant at Alabama and South Florida.

Ianello was never so much as a coordinator in the Lingerie League or Pop Warner.

Completely different.