zipsrule Posted July 25 Report Share Posted July 25 3 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: I'd imagine LCJ is a key part of the practice facility opening festivities. That would be cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted July 25 Report Share Posted July 25 There is a big Basketball reunion dinner on Saturday night at the student center. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZipsFan31 Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 Anyone going to the open practice tomorrow? Deciding if I should call off work or not in the afternoon… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 1 hour ago, ZipsFan31 said: Anyone going to the open practice tomorrow? Deciding if I should call off work or not in the afternoon… I'll be there 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewbrooman1 Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 4 hours ago, Hilltopper said: There is a big Basketball reunion dinner on Saturday night at the student center. About which there has been little detail that I've seen except how much tickets/tables are. 🙄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZZZips Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 9 hours ago, Hilltopper said: I'll be there I'll be there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 9 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said: About which there has been little detail that I've seen except how much tickets/tables are. 🙄 I'll agree with that one. What is a "basketball reunion"? Is Eric McLaughlin coming back? If Enrique Freeman is making a showing, wouldn't you think it'd be worth mentioning? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akzipper Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 Anyone who is going, please post pics! The practice courts look awesome from the few shots I've seen, but I'd love to see the whole place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 (edited) 11 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said: About which there has been little detail that I've seen except how much tickets/tables are. 🙄 The dinner tomorrow night will feature many former players and coaches. Bob Huggins, Jim Tressel and Enrique Freeman just to name a few. Several players are flying in from overseas to attend. Keith Dambrot will hopefully be there if he can clear a few items off his schedule. This event is being run by alumni, not the athletic department. Guthrie agreed to help the organizers with some marketing and to secure the venue. The only official athletic department event is today's ribbon cutting ceremony for the new practice facility that starts at 3:30 pm. There are currently 220 people registered for tomorrow night's dinner. There is also a reception being held tonight at Prime Vine Winery. Please RSVP before arriving. Again, other than the ribbon cutting, all events are being run by alumni, not athletics. Edited July 26 by Hilltopper 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 Today's ribbon cutting ceremony is open to anyone who wants to attend. Please park in lots 8, 9 or 10. There will be a practice session starting at 3:30 and the ribbon will be cut at 4:30. I would imagine some of the former players will be in attendance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewbrooman1 Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 3 hours ago, Hilltopper said: The dinner tomorrow night will feature many former players and coaches. Bob Huggins, Jim Tressel and Enrique Freeman just to name a few. Several players are flying in from overseas to attend. Keith Dambrot will hopefully be there if he can clear a few items off his schedule. This event is being run by alumni, not the athletic department. Guthrie agreed to help the organizers with some marketing and to secure the venue. The only official athletic department event is today's ribbon cutting ceremony for the new practice facility that starts at 3:30 pm. There are currently 220 people registered for tomorrow night's dinner. There is also a reception being held tonight at Prime Vine Winery. Please RSVP before arriving. Again, other than the ribbon cutting, all events are being run by alumni, not athletics. Thanks for the details. Some of it could/should have been communicated much earlier. Good to see they're expecting a big crowd. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 Can’t make the open practice 😕 Someone please give a detailed account! 🙏🙏 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted July 27 Report Share Posted July 27 5 hours ago, Blue & Gold said: Can’t make the open practice 😕 Someone please give a detailed account! 🙏🙏 They had a short scrimmage. Harris looked great. Young will give Tavari a good push for the point guard spot. Gray is a bull of a basketball player. 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted July 28 Report Share Posted July 28 There were several panel discussions at the reunion dinner tonight. One of them featured Len Paul, Steve McNeese, Eric McLaughlin and Bob Huggins. There was another group that included Jim Tressel, Bud Wentz and Charles Guthrie. The final group was John Groce and Enrique Freeman. Joe Dunn was the moderator and interviewed the panelists. There will be another reunion on July 26, 2025. Mark your calendars now. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted July 28 Report Share Posted July 28 On 7/26/2024 at 8:29 PM, Hilltopper said: They had a short scrimmage. Harris looked great. Young will give Tavari a good push for the point guard spot. Gray is a bull of a basketball player. Any other player evaluations and/or observations out there? Beuller? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted July 28 Report Share Posted July 28 Link to Ohio.com photos from the reunion- https://www.beaconjournal.com/picture-gallery/sports/college/zips/2024/07/28/photos-akron-zips-mens-basketball-reunion-bob-huggins-enrique-freeman-indiana-pacers/74578692007/ 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipsrule Posted July 28 Report Share Posted July 28 4 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said: Link to Ohio.com photos from the reunion- https://www.beaconjournal.com/picture-gallery/sports/college/zips/2024/07/28/photos-akron-zips-mens-basketball-reunion-bob-huggins-enrique-freeman-indiana-pacers/74578692007/ That's good stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted July 29 Report Share Posted July 29 1 hour ago, zipsrule said: That's good stuff. It was nice to see that Grizzly Adams made it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 Roo Posted July 29 Report Share Posted July 29 A few thoughts on last night's basketball celebration and reunion. The event was the brainchild of Karl Schwarzinger, former 70's player and huge supporter of Zip basketball. The night sold out. Tickets were $100 each plus fees. Approximately 220 were sold, but not attended. It was a class event. I asked if the proceeds were going to NIL. Karl said no, but they would go to the program. The team showed up. They are a great group of guys. Groce once said if you go to Akron you have to buy into our culture because we don't change for you. These players have bought in. They are very athletic and because of that, and no dominant low post player, for now, Groce said they will play faster and emphasize transition. All have bought into defense. Josiah Harris came over and introduced himself. He is very personable. I asked him how he liked the team and he was very optimistic they will keep Akron at the top of the MAC. I asked him why he came to Akron. He said he liked the program, Groce, the tradition and it got him closer to home (Canton). He loves the new practice facility. He thought it was equal to what he had at WVU. Tressel was there. You could not get to him as all the old, deep pocket supporters were always surrounding him. When he spoke he was typical Tressel. Joe Dunn asked him to comment on the changing world of college athletics. His answer was 5 minutes long and he said zero. My friend leaned over to me and said "that is why the media in Columbus called him the senator. He talked and talked and said nothing concrete." Huggins was asked to describe how he built Akron by Joe Dunn. Hugs answered he got guys who wanted to get better and would play defense. That's it. He has lost weight, but he now looks like a recluse or hermit: beard, long hair, slicked back. At my table were three players who played for him. To a man they all loved him as a coach and said he made them better every day. Bud Wentz talked. I thought he and Len Paul were the best speakers of the evening. Bud said he is having more fun with Akron basketball than any other time in his life. He said our NIL will aid in retaining players, not poaching them. Akron was one of the first schools to set up a collective. Bud contacted the lawyer who set up the first collective he knew about, for Arkansas baseball, and learned all he could about doing it right. His enthusiasm for the program, the coach and our future are very high. Len Paul, perhaps the best player to ever play for UA, spoke more from the heart. He said if he had it to do all over again he would still go to Akron. He loved Wyatt Webb and his teammates. Brian Westover, a 6'8" center on one of Len's teams told his wife that the reunion with his teammates was one of the best moments in his life. Len actually left a school in Texas to come to Akron. When Wyatt called him he was already in Texas but said send me a ticket and I'll be on your team. The rest is history. Guthrie was very circumspect about leading an athletic dept in these changing times. He noted he is talking more with lawyers that anyone else. He believes the MAC is the best place for UA. Our focus would be conference championships, not trying to find a seat with the big boys. He noted the AD's and presidents do not want to get into player bidding wars, which we will not win. Instead Akron needs to focus on retaining players thru offering a place that cares about them, builds personal relationships, gives them great facilities and educates them. He told me later NIL will play little role at Akron. Football has little, if any, NIL money to offer. Basketball has what it needs to hold our players. Finally, other administrators feel we need to be ready for a G5 championship. This was not said in any remarks by the speakers. There were many other speakers like Steve McNeese, Eric Mclaughlin, Dr. Climon Lee and Enrique Freeman. All talked glowingly about their time at Akron. Thru the eyes of these former players you realized we have a special place at UA, despite all its challenges. The last speaker was Groce. He captured the crowd. His thoughts on continuous improvement got you excited for the future. We were listening to someone who was ready to move the program still higher. And he knows how to do it. Another night like this is already scheduled for the last weekend in July 2025. The focus on using this weekend for all teams to reunite will be emphasized. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyRulz Posted July 30 Report Share Posted July 30 It's nice they extended that graciousness to Huggins; I hope he's finding a better path forward for himself. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted July 30 Report Share Posted July 30 13 hours ago, ZippyRulz said: It's nice they extended that graciousness to Huggins; I hope he's finding a better path forward for himself. I believe Groce has connections to Huggy beyond the Akron coaching connection. When I spoke to Groce at the ice cream social years back he mentioned that he had just been with Huggins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandgold Posted July 30 Report Share Posted July 30 21 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said: I believe Groce has connections to Huggy beyond the Akron coaching connection. When I spoke to Groce at the ice cream social years back he mentioned that he had just been with Huggins. I wonder how much that actually had an impact on us getting the WVU transfers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted July 31 Report Share Posted July 31 Illinois under Groce played Press Virginia once and it did not go well. 😔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.