Possible Late Additions

[NWAkron]

Not to hijack the thread, but we are in a Zips bubble.  So I'm wondering if there's this type of recruiting excitement in Ravenna, Athens, or DeKalb.  I mean are we recruiting better than the rest of the MAC?  Are we being considered by players who would never consider the likes of  Miami (Ohio) or Ypsilanti?

[LZIp]

50 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Not to hijack the thread, but we are in a Zips bubble.  So I'm wondering if there's this type of recruiting excitement in Ravenna, Athens, or DeKalb.  I mean are we recruiting better than the rest of the MAC?  Are we being considered by players who would never consider the likes of  Miami (Ohio) or Ypsilanti?

I don't think we can compare yet since we are one of the few teams dealing with a coaching/roster transition. I believe we beat out Miami for Patton.

[Blue & Gold]

I don't ever remember being in this position at this point in the season. Sifting through a small # of high schoolers & a large # of potential transfers. It's interesting.

 

Might be a good strategy to employ more often - looking for previously highly-regarded recruits who are looking to transfer?

[Captain Kangaroo]

5 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Might be a good strategy to employ more often - looking for previously highly-regarded recruits who are looking to transfer?

It would be really risky, IMO.

 

Sometimes you get Rodney Coe, and sometimes you get Jelani Hamilton...

 

AD's don't give you 5 years to build a program now-a-days. If your program is at some level of being decimated (there are varying shades of decimation), then you go for the JUCO's & transfers. There's no alternative...3 bad/marginal years and you're gone. If you're a good HS recruiter at an established program, you should focus on the 4-year kid, while cherry-picking the one or two "non-traditional" kids that happen to fall in your lap every so often.

 

On a scale of 1-to-10, KD's departure...,maybe not just the departure, but the last 2-or-so years of his tenure...rated a 6 on the Decimation Scale. Not only did he bail after the eligibility of the team's top 2 players expired, he also obviously had a large mix of either dissatisfied players (Noah, Antino, and I think you can lump Josh Williams in that group too), and ultra-loyal ones like Hughes and TDM.

 

Misfires on kids like Agba and Gladden hurt too. It had been been a couple years since he recruited a "stud." 

 

I think Keith Dambrot saw the disenchantment... the graduation losses...and the lack of "impact" returning talent...and got the hell out of Dodge before "12 years of 21+ wins" turned into "14 years of 13+ wins."

 

I really wonder how Joe Akron will evaluate Year #1 of the Groce Era. Will he be intelligent enough to realize Dambrot bailed on him when his program's stock was at it's low point? Can he deal with a Zips basketball team that might uncharacteristically struggle for a while? Was Joe an "Akron Fan," or a "Dambrot Fan?"

 

I love the incumbent guys that have stuck with the Program. Bench guys like Utomi and Ivey have a fresh start and their chance to shine. I'm really intrigued to see what Groce and his staff can do to utilize Olijapoke's freakish athleticism. I look forward to seeing all the new faces taking the court @ the JAR.

 

Dambrot's time had expired. I don't think an entrenched coach of 13 years could bring the program back from where it was when the 2016-17 season's dust ultimately settled.

 

Keith Dambrot's departure was exactly what he wanted, and exactly what the Zips Basketball Program needed. Off we go!

 

Go Zips!

[Steve1982]

1 hour ago, Blue & Gold said:

I don't ever remember being in this position at this point in the season. Sifting through a small # of high schoolers & a large # of potential transfers. It's interesting.

 

Might be a good strategy to employ more often - looking for previously highly-regarded recruits who are looking to transfer?

It was under different circumstances and reasons but Fred Hoiberg lived off of transfers and JUCO's for years. He knew he wasn't going to get kids because of the glamorous location. At some point you have to know what you are.

[NWAkron]

To follow up on Capt Kangaroo, I think the fans who went to every single game and followed every away game knew there was a problem and are excited about this change (even with the 20+ wins and Mac finals).  That may not be 100% the case but the people I anecdotally find who are hesitant on Groce or are pro-Dambrot saw the superficial year in/year out stats and didn't see the deeper problems.  I was never a player or coach, but I could certainly sense there was a "team" problem especially with the three guards.  I also could visually see there was no bench for next year.  I know we've been over this in the other threads.

[akronzips71]

47 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

It would be really risky, IMO.

 

Sometimes you get Rodney Coe, and sometimes you get Jelani Hamilton...

 

AD's don't give you 5 years to build a program now-a-days. If your program is at some level of being decimated (there are varying shades of decimation), then you go for the JUCO's & transfers. There's no alternative...3 bad/marginal years and you're gone. If you're a good HS recruiter at an established program, you should focus on the 4-year kid, while cherry-picking the one or two "non-traditional" kids that happen to fall in your lap every so often.

 

On a scale of 1-to-10, KD's departure...,maybe not just the departure, but the last 2-or-so years of his tenure...rated a 6 on the Decimation Scale. Not only did he bail after the eligibility of the team's top 2 players expired, he also obviously had a large mix of either dissatisfied players (Noah, Antino, and I think you can lump Josh Williams in that group too), and ultra-loyal ones like Hughes and TDM.

 

Misfires on kids like Agba and Gladden hurt too. It had been been a couple years since he recruited a "stud." 

 

I think Keith Dambrot saw the disenchantment... the graduation losses...and the lack of "impact" returning talent...and got the hell out of Dodge before "12 years of 21+ wins" turned into "14 years of 13+ wins."

 

I really wonder how Joe Akron will evaluate Year #1 of the Groce Era. Will he be intelligent enough to realize Dambrot bailed on him when his program's stock was at it's low point? Can he deal with a Zips basketball team that might uncharacteristically struggle for a while? Was Joe an "Akron Fan," or a "Dambrot Fan?"

 

I love the incumbent guys that have stuck with the Program. Bench guys like Utomi and Ivey have a fresh start and their chance to shine. I'm really intrigued to see what Groce and his staff can do to utilize Olijapoke's freakish athleticism. I look forward to seeing all the new faces taking the court @ the JAR.

 

Dambrot's time had expired. I don't think an entrenched coach of 13 years could bring the program back from where it was when the 2016-17 season's dust ultimately settled.

 

Keith Dambrot's departure was exactly what he wanted, and exactly what the Zips Basketball Program needed. Off we go!

 

Go Zips!

 

In 1966 we almost went all the way in D2, and had an All American (Bill Turner) who played in the NBA.

In 1967 we were horrible. Not just bad, horrible. There was no shot clock, and they actually played a game where they scored and then tried to stall the rest of the game!

 

In 1968 the new coach was Wyatt Webb, and he found Len Paul and Jinx Jenkins and Larry Quarles. The rest is history, some of the best years of Akron Hoops ever, trips to the D2 championships.

 

This is possibly going down as a rebuilding year, but I see good years ahead.

[akronzips71]

5 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

To follow up on Capt Kangaroo, I think the fans who went to every single game and followed every away game knew there was a problem and are excited about this change (even with the 20+ wins and Mac finals).  That may not be 100% the case but the people I anecdotally find who are hesitant on Groce or are pro-Dambrot saw the superficial year in/year out stats and didn't see the deeper problems.  I was never a player or coach, but I could certainly sense there was a "team" problem especially with the three guards.  I also could visually see there was no bench for next year.  I know we've been over this in the other threads.

 

This past year they just didn't seem to want it bad enough.

[NWAkron]

17 minutes ago, akronzips71 said:

 

This past year they just didn't seem to want it bad enough.

Apparently, Ivey did!

[odhgibo]

12 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

I think Keith Dambrot saw the disenchantment... the graduation losses...and the lack of "impact" returning talent...and got the hell out of Dodge before "12 years of 21+ wins" turned into "14 years of 13+ wins."

 

...

 

Dambrot's time had expired. I don't think an entrenched coach of 13 years could bring the program back from where it was when the 2016-17 season's dust ultimately settled.

 

Keith Dambrot's departure was exactly what he wanted, and exactly what the Zips Basketball Program needed. Off we go!

Cap'n K's whole post is excellent, but the portion quoted above is something I've been thinking for several weeks without being able to crystallize into a cogent thought.

 

I have to think that the now-departed coaching staff saw that they effectively would be starting over in 2017-18, replacing a majority of scoring and rebounding (and maybe assists) and having to implement a completely new offense (and maybe defense).  Doing so with a depleted roster and few immediate prospects for replenishment could not have looked like a fun task.  Worse, the 21+ win streak seemed likely to go by the wayside, ending the "consistent excellence" story that Coach KD like to relate whenever the opportunity presented itself.

 

What 2017-18 holds and whether the future is as bright as initial indications seem to suggest remains to be seen.  What I can't prove, but strongly suspect, is that both will be at least as good as they would've been had not the change been forced on UA.

[roopride]

So all the announcement happen on Thursday/Friday before the weekend visits? Anybody else in this weekend?

[Blue & Gold]

23 minutes ago, roopride said:

So all the announcement happen on Thursday/Friday before the weekend visits? Anybody else in this weekend?

Good point.  And what does Groce tell the players who've yet to visit campus when they finally arrive?  Will they cancel the visits?

[clarkwgriswold]

I really like what Groce is doing.  More than once, I heard our previous coach reference the Zips guards small stature and say they wouldn't have been able to get those kids if they were bigger.  I'm not sure whether he was prematurely resigning himself to the fact he couldn't reach a little farther, or whether it was reality, but I'm happy to see Groce not coming to the same conclusion. 

[Joe Akron]

On 4/28/2017 at 1:09 PM, Captain Kangaroo said:

I really wonder how Joe Akron will evaluate Year #1 of the Groce Era. Will he be intelligent enough to realize Dambrot bailed on him when his program's stock was at it's low point? Can he deal with a Zips basketball team that might uncharacteristically struggle for a while? Was Joe an "Akron Fan," or a "Dambrot Fan?"

 

 

Hey Capt, the name is Joe AKRON, not Joe Dambrot..

 

I'm used to the struggle of NE OH sports teams, even if U of A bball hasn't been in that group very often.

 

Fred said it best:

 

We cheer the Akron Blue and Gold,
We cheer as the colors unfold.

We pledge anew, we're all for you,
As the team goes crashing through,
Fight! Fight!

 

[Jalapeño Zippy]

On ‎4‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 8:20 AM, Blue & Gold said:

Good point.  And what does Groce tell the players who've yet to visit campus when they finally arrive?  Will they cancel the visits?

 

Malcolm Duvivier, grad transfer from Oregon State was in this weekend. He'd be immediately eligible and would help solidify one of our weakest positions going into 2017-18. He'd be a wonderful get.

Edited May 1, 2017 by Jalapeño Zippy

[Blue & Gold]

26 minutes ago, Jalapeño Zippy said:

 

Malcolm Duvivier, grad transfer from Oregon State was in this weekend. He'd be immediately eligible and would help solidify one of our weakest positions going into 2017-18. He'd be a wonderful get.

I agree 100%, but we don't have any scholarship to offer.  Correct?

[LZIp]

Maybe Eubanks is a candidate to transfer/not receive a scholly? He red-shirted as a junior and was a walk on per Verball commits.

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/craig-eubanks

Edited May 1, 2017 by LZIp

[Jalapeño Zippy]

Not sure. I've heard mixed reports on Eubanks...I've heard that he's a walk on and that he is a scholarship player....so I don't know for sure if one is open or not. Either way, he's probably the one that is most likely looking to transfer.

 

Good digging LZip! Post confirms what I've heard.

Edited May 1, 2017 by Jalapeño Zippy

[LZIp]

4 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

We are at 13 scholarships without Eubanks.

-  Aaron Jackson

- Ivey

- Hester

- Loren Jackson

- Utomi

- Riak

- Isaiah Williams

- Olojakpoke

- Patton

- Parrish

- Sayles

- Kostelac

I count 12.

[kreed5120]

5 minutes ago, LZIp said:

I count 12.

I deleted after recounting

 

Edit: I had it posted for 2 minutes before deleting and already had 2 comments. Nice to see this level of activity during the offseason.

Edited May 1, 2017 by kreed5120

[Let'sGoZips94]

So we have 1 scholarship available for Malcolm Duvivier, if he so chooses to come here?

[zvillezip]

Loren Jackson just signed from the Beach

 

http://gozips.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/releases/20170501nxi04f

 

[tpsjugglerdude]

Duviver would be great for the last scholarship. It will be tough to beat out Georgetown for him though. 

[Hilltopper]

Eubanks was a scholarship player last season. 

[UAZip0510]

I can confirm Eubanks is a scholarship player.  We are at 13 unless someone else leaves.  I've been tracking the roster on the original post of this thread.

Edited May 2, 2017 by UAZip0510