kreed5120 Posted April 17, 2017 Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 5 minutes ago, zippy5 said: It's kind of like we're recruiting players that other teams also want. It's fun to follow What pretty much cost Groce his job at Illinois was he had a bad habit of finishing 2nd place in recruiting battles. Hopefully he can close at Akron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted April 17, 2017 Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 5 minutes ago, kreed5120 said: What pretty much cost Groce his job at Illinois was he had a bad habit of finishing 2nd place in recruiting battles. Hopefully he can close at Akron. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Nothing against our players, but how many of them had 1 offer? If not 1, we were usually their best offer. KD did an incredible job at finding kids that would fit well into his system, however he rarely ventured out into many recruiting battles. I'm happy to see some new ambition in this area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted April 17, 2017 Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 Amen. I was all for KD retiring here and naming the court after him. But this timing seems to have worked out perfectly for us; KD leaving just as Groce became available. Sometimes you've gotta be lucky, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted April 17, 2017 Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 3 minutes ago, zippy5 said: You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Nothing against our players, but how many of them had 1 offer? If not 1, we were usually their best offer. KD did an incredible job at finding kids that would fit well into his system, however he rarely ventured out into many recruiting battles. I'm happy to see some new ambition in this area I feel you were interpreting what I was saying incorrectly. I'm wanting us to target the best players we can get regardless of if they have 10 offers or 0 offers. I'm just reserving my excitement for when we actually get them to commit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted April 17, 2017 Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 4 minutes ago, kreed5120 said: I feel you were interpreting what I was saying incorrectly. I'm wanting us to target the best players we can get regardless of if they have 10 offers or 0 offers. I'm just reserving my excitement for when we actually get them to commit. Gotcha. To be fair though I think they had a top 15 class before he left and kids decommitted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rwbb54 Posted April 17, 2017 Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 31 minutes ago, kreed5120 said: What pretty much cost Groce his job at Illinois was he had a bad habit of finishing 2nd place in recruiting battles. Hopefully he can close at Akron. The other thing is he didn't win enough conference games. You can run the program as great as possible but you have to beat conference rivals to get the alumni/ boosters excited and behind you. Go back and look at what the AD said about Groce when he fired him. It was almost like he was introducing him instead of letting him go. Very positive about Groce. Just didn't win enough conference games in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mes102 Posted April 17, 2017 Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 25 minutes ago, zippy5 said: Gotcha. To be fair though I think they had a top 15 class before he left and kids decommitted I think Groce had the #1 recruiting class in the Big Ten for 2017, and top ten overall nationally? 10 minutes ago, Rwbb54 said: The other thing is he didn't win enough conference games. You can run the program as great as possible but you have to beat conference rivals to get the alumni/ boosters excited and behind you. Go back and look at what the AD said about Groce when he fired him. It was almost like he was introducing him instead of letting him go. Very positive about Groce. Just didn't win enough conference games in my opinion. I think the Illinois A.D. was feeling pressure because how well Northwestern is doing under Collins, and didn't want to be second in that Chicago Big Ten market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted April 17, 2017 Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 32 minutes ago, Rwbb54 said: The other thing is he didn't win enough conference games. You can run the program as great as possible but you have to beat conference rivals to get the alumni/ boosters excited and behind you. Go back and look at what the AD said about Groce when he fired him. It was almost like he was introducing him instead of letting him go. Very positive about Groce. Just didn't win enough conference games in my opinion. Better players in theory should lead to more wins. He finally was in position of landing that recruiting that narrowly eluded him years prior, but unfortunately for him it was 1-2 years too late. I've actually seen a number of Illinois fans wish they gave him 1 more year to see what he could have done with the players he had coming in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpsjugglerdude Posted April 18, 2017 Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 Pridgen is an Akron native. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpsjugglerdude Posted April 18, 2017 Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 Robby Pridgen played at St. V and was teammates with Maverick Carter. Here's the Lebron connection for those worried about that. More info: http://rmucolonials.com/coaches.aspx?rc=707&path=mbball 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted April 18, 2017 Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 (edited) On 4/17/2017 at 11:10 AM, mes102 said: I think Groce had the #1 recruiting class in the Big Ten for 2017, and top ten overall nationally? i know this has come up before, and was commented on. If it's true, then I'd say that they must have felt really, really negative about his ability to coach the team if they got rid of him in the middle of a golden situation like that. On 4/17/2017 at 11:10 AM, mes102 said: I think the Illinois A.D. was feeling pressure because how well Northwestern is doing under Collins, and didn't want to be second in that Chicago Big Ten market. Why would they care how he was doing compared to Northwestern in Chicago if he had a #10 or better national class? This all just doesn't add up for me. Edited April 18, 2017 by skip-zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted April 18, 2017 Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 13 minutes ago, tpsjugglerdude said: Robby Pridgen played at St. V and was teammates with Maverick Carter. Here's the Lebron connection for those worried about that. More info: http://rmucolonials.com/coaches.aspx?rc=707&path=mbball Very, very interesting. I often wondered how much LeBron would care about the Zips after all of the guys he knew from Akron High School basketball were gone. So, now I wonder even more now that Keith is gone. If he has a relationship with Robby, I'd say it's possible that it could keep him connected to our program in some way. I hope. I guess it now looks like a really good move on our part to get him so involved in the Academic side of the U of A in a big way before Keith departed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted April 18, 2017 Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 3 hours ago, tpsjugglerdude said: Robby Pridgen played at St. V and was teammates with Maverick Carter. Here's the Lebron connection for those worried about that. More info: http://rmucolonials.com/coaches.aspx?rc=707&path=mbball Good stuff. Thanks. It is probably safe to assume that Pridgen is the reason the Williams brothers are at Robert Morris.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted April 19, 2017 Report Share Posted April 19, 2017 37 minutes ago, LZIp said: It is probably safe to assume that Pridgen is the reason the Williams brothers are at Robert Morris.. Very strange sometimes how this game works, isn't it? Got one brother to commit, got the other to follow, and then he bolts for his own upgrade opportunity. This is why everyone in the coaching profession knows each other. It's the same at the lower levels too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akzipper Posted April 19, 2017 Report Share Posted April 19, 2017 16 hours ago, skip-zip said: Very, very interesting. I often wondered how much LeBron would care about the Zips after all of the guys he knew from Akron High School basketball were gone. So, now I wonder even more now that Keith is gone. If he has a relationship with Robby, I'd say it's possible that it could keep him connected to our program in some way. I hope. I guess it now looks like a really good move on our part to get him so involved in the Academic side of the U of A in a big way before Keith departed. I think deep down LeBron would want anything 'Akron' to succeed. Not just UA, but the city in general. I would think most people would feel the same way about their hometown (well except for maybe our last head coach). He's always been supportive of Zips football and really has no ties there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K92 Posted April 19, 2017 Report Share Posted April 19, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, akzipper said: He's always been supportive of Zips football and really has no ties there. Edited April 19, 2017 by K92 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K92 Posted April 19, 2017 Report Share Posted April 19, 2017 (edited) Edited April 19, 2017 by K92 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K92 Posted April 19, 2017 Report Share Posted April 19, 2017 That's what you get when you search Google Images "LeBron James Ohio State football". That is a small portion of what you get. Here is what you get when you search "LeBron James Akron Zips football". This and a bunch more pictures of him at Ohio State games. I just hope he will keep up his support for Akron Zips football since KD ain't around any more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted April 19, 2017 Report Share Posted April 19, 2017 I'm going to guess he will still be involved, but not as involved as before. Even with Dambrot being gone, he has connections with the university through his foundation. I foresee him still lobbying Nike to give Akron a favorable apparel deal and I still see him tweeting stuff out when Akron basketball does something newsworthy. Akron will also be able to use his likeness for jerseys and bobbleheads or whatever else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z.I.P. Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 And now we can all ask once again: "Who is Cole Pittis" I'm looking forward to meeting the new DBO as we get closer to the Diamond Head Classic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z.I.P. Posted April 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 Cole Pittis was an assistant at Eastern Florida CC this past season -- which is where former Akron guard Niles Evans played. Not sure if they have any more prospects that he and Groce may be interested in, but here is this year's roster if anyone has time to research. http://efsctitans.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/roster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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