Debate over

[Dr Z]

Nick Dials Transfers To Akron Men's Basketball Team

Guard played freshman season at Ohio State last year.

June 22, 2004

AKRON, Ohio - Nick Dials, a transfer from Ohio State, has accepted a men's basketball scholarship to attend The University of Akron for the fall semester, head coach Keith Dambrot announced Tuesday.

Under NCAA transfer guidelines, Dials will sit out the 2004-05 season, but will have three years of eligibility remaining beginning in the fall of 2005.

"Nick is a perfect fit for our program," Dambrot said. "He is the ultimate winner and was a player we really wanted out of high school. He has excellent skills and tremendous knowledge of the game."

As a freshman at Ohio State last season, Dials, a 6-1, 175-pound guard from New Haven, Ohio, appeared in 19 games, starting nine times, and averaged 4.5 points, 2.1 assists and 1.4 rebounds as the Buckeyes finished the season 14-16. He attended OSU last fall as a walk-on, but was awarded a scholarship just prior to the start of the season. Dials came back from an injury suffered early in the season to earn a starting role.

A decorated prep cager, Dials attended Willard High School where he was named Northern Ohio League, Ohio District 6 and Ohio Division II Player of the Year as a senior (2002). Also a first-team All-NOL selection and Associated Press All-Ohio pick, he averaged 27 points, 5 rebounds and 5.9 assists in his final season with the Crimson flushes. He also led the NOL in scoring and foul shooting (132-of-154, .857) in 2002, finishing his prep career with 2,180 points.

Willard finished with a 21-0 record, including a 14-0 mark in conference play, in 2002 en route to the league title, the sectional and district championship and an appearance in the regional semifinals.

A prolific shooter, Dials connected on 63 percent of his shots from the field and was true on 42 percent of his attempts from three-point range during his senior year of high school. Those numbers made him a McDonald's All-America nominee and earned him MVP honors in the 2002 Ohio North/South All-Star game as well as in the Ohio/Kentucky All-Star game.

Dials also lettered as a wide receiver on the Willard HS football squad, being an honorable mention All-NOL pick as a member of the program that harvested Akron senior quarterback Charlie Frye

[Zipsfan]

I don't know much about Dials but his HS stats are impressive and he earned a starting position on a mediocre Columbus State Junior College team. I am excited to have him on the team.

Is there still a chance to have Schifino join the squad also?

[Guest Guest]

Willard's Dials leaves Ohio State for Akron

By Larry Phillips

Gannett News Service

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WILLARD -- Nick Dials isn't leaving Division I basketball or his home state.

The Willard High School graduate transferred from Ohio State to the University of Akron, Zips coach Keith Dambrot announced Tuesday.

"Nick is a perfect fit for our program," Dambrot said. "He is the ultimate winner and was a player we really wanted out of high school. He has excellent skills and a tremendous knowledge of the game."

A phone message to Dials was not returned Tuesday. The 6-foot, 170-pound guard played 19 games as a freshman for the Buckeyes this season. He averaged 4.5 points, 2.1 assists and 1.4 rebounds.

Dials was a walk-on, but earned a scholarship based on his play in the pre-season. When coach Jim O'Brien refused to renew the scholarship on more than a year-to-year basis, Dials balked and then announced his in-tention to transfer.

According to Olen Dials, Nick's father, San Francisco, Boise State, Southwest Missouri State, New Orleans and Miami of Ohio were also considered.

"He wanted to stay close to home and when scholarships are limited, that limited his options," Olen Dials said. "About two weeks ago he went up (to Akron) for an unofficial visit.

"This last weekend he came home and took me up there. We toured the place together and while I was with him, he decided that was the best place for him to go."

O'Brien has since been fired at Ohio State after admitting to paying a prospective recruit. That launched what figures to be a lengthy NCAA investigation with sanctions and scholarship reductions among possible penalties that could be levied against the program.

Although Ohio State is reportedly courting Texas Tech coach Bob Knight, who had a slew of kind words for Dials after a January game against the Red Raiders, the sophomore-to-be decided not to wait for the new coach to be hired and possibly renew his scholarship.

"That probably weighed on his mind a little bit, but Nick's dream is to play in the NCAA tournament and I told him I don't think Ohio State is going to do that in the next two years at least (because of possible NCAA probation)," Olen Dials said.

Olen Dials said he is unaware of anything that would constitute a violation during his son's stay at the school.

All that is past tense as far as Nick Dials is concerned.

"I'm all smiles, it's paid for," Olen Dials said. "As a parent that's a big thing. I just told him to make his decision where he wanted to play basketball and if it's paid for that's OK with me."

Dials must sit out next season as a transfer student. Although he will attend classes at Akron beginning in the fall, he won't be eligible to play for the Zips until the 2005-06 basketball season.

He completed his freshman year at Ohio State, and will be a redshirt while he sits out next season as a transfer student. He should have three years of eligibility remaining when his playing career resumes.

Dambrot was the head coach at Ashland University for two years starting in 1989, and later coached at Central Michigan. Dambrot was hired at Akron on March 10 to replace Dan Hipsher. Last season the Zips were 14-14 overall, 9-10 in the Mid-American Conference.

[Zipsrifle]

Man, what do they feed those kids in Willard? Frye and Dials from the same small school.

[Captain Kangaroo]

"Nick's dream is to play in the NCAA tournament and I told him I don't think Ohio State is going to do that in the next two years at least (because of possible NCAA probation)," Olen Dials said.

1.) I like the fact that his dream is to play in the NCAA tourney, and he felt the Zips are his best avenue to do so.

2.) It is funny that the column writer actually took the time to call Nick's dad and get some insight to the whole thing. If David Lee Ann Morgan or Ellen Alexander (you know them...they're the beat writers for the Zips basketball program) had any journalistic skills they would have done the same. Instead...they cut-n-pasted the info from GoZips.com. How do they keep their jobs? They must have caught their editiors their secretaries?

[Z.I.P.]

Hooooweee! Dad, you said it all! This sets the tone for Akron's 2004-05 recruiting and the MAC season. Akron is now established as a program that people attend because they want to go dancing. Now THAT is why Keith Dambrot was placed at the helm.

However -- I wonder if this places Schifino completely out of the picture. Since he has just one year to maintain a scholarship, is the Dials grant the last one remaining for 04-05? Maybe. Can anyone give confirmation?

Maybe, with the probation, OCSU will be looking for opponents. Let's make them a home-and-away offer.

[Zip Watcher]

I think it's best to make sure we play quality non-conference opponents that don't bring down our RPI. Perhaps we should offer them a 2 for 1. 2 in the Jar.