Possible Late Additions

[wadszip]

I'll put this here (instead of the recruiting board) since signing day is right around the corner and Groce will likely have a couple spots to fill. I'm trying to see who may be on the radar.

 

I'll start with two guys I mentioned on other threads:

 

1. Frankie Hughes: He won't help next year, but guard is going to be a major need even if Antino has a change of heart and Noah decides to stay, since they are both seniors. Since he's from Garfield Heights and had interest in Akron out of high school, he could make sense. This one would not surprise me at all.

 

2. Kipper Nichols: Groce got him to Illinois after he asked out of his release just prior to enrolling as a freshman at Tulane (he was recruited to Tulane by fellow Cleveland native and former Kent Stater Anthony Wilkins, who is now an assistant at Tulane). Since Nichols, while not losing a year of eligibility, did lose a year by going to Illinois, so who knows if he wants to sit out another year. But it could make sense if he wants to leave Illinois to come back home and play for his coach from this past season. Nichols showed some promise (had a couple double digit scoring games this past year in Big Ten play). 

 

3. LePear Toles: This one has been discussed, but since he's another local kid, I wont' rule him out. Outside of a pretty vague CantonRep.com article the other week, haven't heard much lately on him. 

 

Then, there is:

 

4. Devon Andrews: This is a shot in the dark. If KD was still around, no way he touches Andrews. But with Groce, I would put him back on the radar, though, I've kind of lost track of what his path has been. He committed to Kent out of high school and to nobody's surprise was academically ineligible (then he had an arrest that clouded his future even more). But he seemed to still enroll at Kent at some point, but something happened where he went to a JUCO in Kansas, where he averaged 22-6-2 this past year. Anybody know what his situation is? Doing a google search and don't see anything definitive that he's heading back to Kent. He's a kid that has legit NBA-type talent.

 

5. Anthony Carmon: This is an even bigger shot in the dark, but the kid was such a talent at East Tech (along with North Carolina State's Markell Johnson led the Scarabs to the D1 Final Four a couple years ago). I read something out of HS he attended a JUCO (I think in Kansas). Then saw that this past year he was at Tri-C Metro, but can't find anything more on him. So who knows what his academic standing is, but if he's able to qualify, he has "John Groce at Akron" written all over him.

 

 

You can't watch that and with a straight face say that he can't play at Akron ... when Tavian Dunn-Martin got significant minutes on a team that won the regular season title.

 

After these Northeast Ohio kids, I wanted to look to see who Groce was recruiting at Illinois ... Looks like some intriguing names.

 

http://illinois.247sports.com/Season/2017-Basketball/Targets

 

I'm going past the "commits" and the "interested" category since those guys all look like high majors. But in the "looks" category, some 3-star kids that look like have other mid-major offers:

 

1. Charles Payton, a 6-6 SF out of Bloomington, Ill. (offers UIC and Illinois State)

2. Manny Peterson, a 6-8 PF out of Chicago (offers from Bowling Green and Green Bay)

3. Bol Riek, a 7-2 C out of Naperville, Ill. (offer from New Mexico State)

 

None of those three guys seem to be out of reach and it seems like Groce has some relationship with all three, since they were on Illinois' radar.

 

[wadszip]

BTW, since this came up right after the Carmon video from Youtube I posted. Here is Andrews:

 

 

Do not want to see him at Kent (but for his sake, do hope he can play D1 ball ... preferably at Akron).

 

Overall, I'm not surprised why Groce would see Akron as a position where he can either rebuild his stock or do what KD mentioned in the past .... actually stick around and build Akron into the "Gonzaga of the East." It's tapes like these that makes it laughable when OU fans say it is easier to recruit there than it is Akron ... Yeah, because Southeast Ohio has dozens of guys like Andrews, Carmon, Ivey, etc., every year in their backyard.

[wadszip]

Alright, one more. And this is another extreme longshot, but since Mark Gottfried was fired at North Carolina State, I'll put this out here (even though I think Kevin Keatts will definitely utilize his talent), but if for whatever reason it doesn't work out, here's Markell Johnson. Remember this kid was supposed to be a part of this year's recruiting class, but took summer courses to graduate early and reclassify to 2016, so these highlights are from junior year at East Tech. He averaged 4-2-2 as a should-be high school senior as a freshman in the ACC.

 

 

If nothing else, these clips show the type of athletes that Groce can potentially work just locally. Outside of a couple of exceptions, something that was a foreign concept for Zips fans under KD. But KD did get Ivey, who if you watch his HS tape, it should be no surprise that he looks to be a future All-MAC player. That talent was evident.

 

 

 

[Blue & Gold]

Great post, WadZip.  My two favorite topics on ZN.o, football and basketball recruiting.

 

I don't have anything to add.  I'm keeping my eyes on LePear Toles.  I saw him play in high school a number of times & think he's being very under-recruited.  He's a better talent than TDM was.  If we could swap LePear for TDM's scholly, I'd be a happy camper.

[LZIp]

Good stuff Wadzip.You left out Jeremiah Tilmon though.....

 

 

[kreed5120]

I'm not one to really speculate until I at least hear some rumblings. I've yet to hear anything. I imagine a lot of that has to do with the fact he's trying to acquaint with an entirely new pool of candidates. Any word on who will be on his staff?

[ZIPS96]

Carlton Bragg, did not work out at Kansas so he's transfering out.  Groce almost had him at Illinois.  We might have a shot with him now.

[LZIp]

36 minutes ago, ZIPS96 said:

Carlton Bragg, did not work out at Kansas so he's transfering out.  Groce almost had him at Illinois.  We might have a shot with him now.

if that happened...WOW

[clarkwgriswold]

1 hour ago, ZIPS96 said:

Carlton Bragg, did not work out at Kansas so he's transfering out.  Groce almost had him at Illinois.  We might have a shot with him now.

I'll personally drive him here from Manhattan, Kansas.

[K92]

4 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I'll personally drive him here from Manhattan, Kansas.

Who's going to drive him from Lawrence to Manhattan?

Edited April 6, 2017 by K92

[odhgibo]

I was thinking the same myself.  Lol.

 

CWG's heart is in the right place at least.

 

Don't tie a dog to the bumper.

[tpsjugglerdude]

6 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I'll personally drive him here from Manhattan, Kansas.

He's already back in Cleveland finishing his semester online,

[clarkwgriswold]

My bad.  Doh.  That's Kansas State!

[MDZip]

31 minutes ago, odhgibo said:

Don't tie a dog to the bumper.

Yep, you know what the penalty for animal cruelty is in that state?

[Z.I.P.]

2 hours ago, MDZip said:

Yep, you know what the penalty for animal cruelty is in that state?

Only if the animal can be legally hunted!   

[clarkwgriswold]

Note to self- don't hook leash to bumper/ keep dog away from sandwiches.

[MDZip]

15 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Note to self- don't hook leash to bumper/ keep dog away from sandwiches.

If there is anyone who would be aware of this it would certainly be you.  

[clarkwgriswold]

30 minutes ago, MDZip said:

If there is anyone who would be aware of this it would certainly be you.  

Live and learn MD.  Live and learn.

[mes102]

 

[wadszip]

11 minutes ago, mes102 said:

 

FWIW, Donnal is from the Toledo area (but that could make the Rockets tough to beat if he wants to come to the MAC).

 

Groce, though, probably knows him as well as anybody.

 

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400839257

 

BTW, looking at that box score. Groce was also done in by his former recruit (Caris LeVert)

Edited April 7, 2017 by wadszip

[zipinnc]

1 hour ago, mes102 said:

 

Didn't Chase Jeter go to HS with Noah?

[GJGood]

2 hours ago, mes102 said:

 

Is there a second group that may be ranked slightly below this? I just have trouble seeing guys leaving Duke and Kansas being willing to come to Akron and the MAC unless it would be a homecoming or something like that.

[zipinnc]

David Bell is leaving TOSU. 6'10" soph from Garfield Heights.

http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20170407/mens-basketball--backup-david-bell-leaves-buckeyes

 

[Z.I.P.]

Just now, ZIPS96 said:

Carlton Bragg, did not work out at Kansas so he's transfering out.  Groce almost had him at Illinois.  We might have a shot with him now.

There's an interesting note:  @HighmajorScoop tweeted in response to a 'X' fan that Bragg is a likely mid-low major transfer.  Not sure what to say to that.  Has his stock sunk that low after a decent 1st year at KU?

[mes102]

1 hour ago, zipinnc said:

Didn't Chase Jeter go to HS with Noah?

Correct.

 

 

54 minutes ago, GJGood said:

Is there a second group that may be ranked slightly below this? I just have trouble seeing guys leaving Duke and Kansas being willing to come to Akron and the MAC unless it would be a homecoming or something like that.

Donnal being from Toledo area, Jeter went to same high school as Noah, and Bragg being from Cleveland and Groce recruited Bragg, I can "maybes" from this list...