Westie Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 (edited) This season is great and will continue to be great. Love this team. Given that, how worried are you that Groce will head for a bigger program on the heels of a 25- to 27-win season? Holtmann is almost certainly out at Ohio State and there will be other vacancies no doubt. Michigan is dreadful too. Would hate to see him go but …. Edited February 7 by Westie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 8 minutes ago, Westie said: This season is great and will continue to be great. Love this team. Given that, how worried are you that Groce will head for a bigger program on the heels of a 23- to 25-win season? Holtmann is almost certainly out at Ohio State and there will be other vacancies no doubt. Michigan is dreadful too. Would hate to see him go but …. Zero. I'm not saying Groce won't leave for one of the bigger jobs, but my only concern is whether or not we make it into the Big Dance and win a Tourney game. After this year, the program resets anyways. A lot of question marks regardless of Groce's employment. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 It seems Groce moved all the chips to the middle of the table trying for 1 last magical ride while you have a talent like Freeman on the roster. If Akron makes noise in March, Groce could gain attention. If not, next year will be a rebuilding year regardless. Although, with how bad the MAC is a rebuilding year still might be able to get you a 3rd or 4th place finish in the MAC. Regardless, I'm going to enjoy this run while it lasts. It will probably be a while before we see a talent like Freeman on Akron's roster again. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 Right now I am concerned with the fact we have too much trouble inbounding the ball. On a positive note, I am feeling much better about my last concern which was that we couldn't break a press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandZip Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 Just trying to enjoy this season while we’re in it. If we do make the tournament and make big waves, maybe Groce will stay and be able to get even better recruits and transfers. Or, maybe he’ll leave, then maybe we could use the new name recognition to get another good coach. I wonder if Dru Joyce III would be in for a reunion if we offered him the head coach position. Talking out of my behind here, but as others said, we will be rebuilding after this year no matter what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 Unless Groce leaves, this program doesn't "rebuild." We'll be a MAC favorite next year if he's here 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 Here's a bonus concern, Amani Lyles fouls too much. But on a positive note, he moves well with or without the ball and has a nice shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyRulz Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 (edited) 22 hours ago, Westie said: This season is great and will continue to be great. Love this team. Given that, how worried are you that Groce will head for a bigger program on the heels of a 25- to 27-win season? Holtmann is almost certainly out at Ohio State and there will be other vacancies no doubt. Michigan is dreadful too. Would hate to see him go but …. I don't think the other Big10x2 schools would look beyond his stint at Illinois. Maybe BE or AAC. At this point, Akron should be an attractive job to a good number of highly qualified candidates. Edited February 8 by ZippyRulz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoyalZIP Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 TOS to Akron? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csims0917 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 (edited) Why he’d stay: He seems to love Akron and the zips His kids go to Ohio schools with his oldest playing for revere Hes under contract til 2030 at about 600K a year He’s got a great recruiting class coming in Great alumni who support him at Akron and stay connected with the team Seems to have a decent relationship with the AD. Considering the extension Seems like he prefers the mid major level and the smaller scale compared to when he was a coach in the Big 10 Why he’d leave: Bigger money from a P5 or higher mid major Little to no chance of a new arena. A renovated arena at best Will be coming off his best team ever full of seniors with high character and potentially an nba draft pick Proven ability to keep players from leaving through the portal as well as getting people from the portal to come to Akron I’m in the middle with Groce. I’m still leaning to him staying and maybe that’s just the bias but overall my mindset is enjoy one game at a time. Cause this season is amazing and I want to enjoy every second of it Edited February 7 by csims0917 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 48 minutes ago, ClevelandZip said: Just trying to enjoy this season while we’re in it. If we do make the tournament and make big waves, maybe Groce will stay and be able to get even better recruits and transfers. Or, maybe he’ll leave, then maybe we could use the new name recognition to get another good coach. I wonder if Dru Joyce III would be in for a reunion if we offered him the head coach position. Talking out of my behind here, but as others said, we will be rebuilding after this year no matter what happens. I get the connection to the University, but no thanks. He has no head coaching experience. He's an assistant coach on the 11th place team in his conference. What's attractive about the hire? That's not to say he can't become a good coach, but nothing he's done inspires confidence that he could keep the ball rolling. I would much rather poach an up and coming coach from an OVC, Horizon, or other smaller fish conference. The other option would be if a Groce type candidate is available. Someone who had prior success at the mid-major level, but couldn't get it done at a P6 school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 For the sake of continuity and given that he's been a part of Groce's success, I'd be okay with Dustin Ford taking over the reins if Groce left and he wanted the job. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandZip Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 1 hour ago, kreed5120 said: I get the connection to the University, but no thanks. He has no head coaching experience. He's an assistant coach on the 11th place team in his conference. What's attractive about the hire? That's not to say he can't become a good coach, but nothing he's done inspires confidence that he could keep the ball rolling. I would much rather poach an up and coming coach from an OVC, Horizon, or other smaller fish conference. The other option would be if a Groce type candidate is available. Someone who had prior success at the mid-major level, but couldn't get it done at a P6 school. That is fair enough, I was mostly just spitballing an idea there. My rationale was that he’s LeBron-adjacent, which could (MAYBE) help with recruiting, plus he’s learning the ropes from KD. I totally agree it would be nice to have a proven coach fall into our laps like with Groce, or try to recruit from a lesser conference. Though, unfortunately with the way the MAC is looking this year, we are starting to look like a lower conference. Hope this trend does not continue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 38 minutes ago, ClevelandZip said: That is fair enough, I was mostly just spitballing an idea there. My rationale was that he’s LeBron-adjacent, which could (MAYBE) help with recruiting, plus he’s learning the ropes from KD. I totally agree it would be nice to have a proven coach fall into our laps like with Groce, or try to recruit from a lesser conference. Though, unfortunately with the way the MAC is looking this year, we are starting to look like a lower conference. Hope this trend does not continue. The WCC has largely been a garbage conference with just Gonzaga to tout. St. Mary's has grown to become a strong challenger, but overall the conference has not been great historically. We are a version of Gonzaga for the MAC. 2 decades of always being at or near the top of the conference. The conference has a comparably great media deal with ESPN & CBSSports, a terrific relationship with the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to host, etc. The Akron job will be an attractive one until it isn't (see Buffalo). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 (edited) 25 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: The WCC has largely been a garbage conference with just Gonzaga to tout. St. Mary's has grown to become a strong challenger, but overall the conference has not been great historically. We are a version of Gonzaga for the MAC. 2 decades of always being at or near the top of the conference. The conference has a comparably great media deal with ESPN & CBSSports, a terrific relationship with the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to host, etc. The Akron job will be an attractive one until it isn't (see Buffalo). I still think the Buffalo job is a pretty good one. They just whiffed badly when replacing Oats. The jury is still out on the new guy. They have shown a commitment to actually invest in basketball, which alone makes them a top 4 or 5 job in the MAC. The main reason the MAC has gotten so bad is the other 7-8 programs have completely given up on trying to run a competitive program. Akron this year is having a good year. Toledo lost a lot of talent to graduation, but still managed to put out an okay team in a rebuild year. Kent is having a down year. Ohio made what seemed like a good hire at the time, but hasn't panned out. Those are the programs that actually try to win in MAC basketball. Edited February 7 by kreed5120 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 3 hours ago, LoyalZIP said: TOS to Akron? who?... what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandZip Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 53 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: The WCC has largely been a garbage conference with just Gonzaga to tout. St. Mary's has grown to become a strong challenger, but overall the conference has not been great historically. We are a version of Gonzaga for the MAC. 2 decades of always being at or near the top of the conference. The conference has a comparably great media deal with ESPN & CBSSports, a terrific relationship with the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to host, etc. The Akron job will be an attractive one until it isn't (see Buffalo). Good points. I would definitely love to see the program have anywhere near the success of Gonzaga! I hope we start getting more fans in the JAR. OK crowd for a Tuesday last night but if I can make it down from Cleveland, I would hope more local people can start showing up so we can help get some momentum and more investment behind the program so we can start competing at an even higher level. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 23 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said: who?... what? It's a Bobcat Attack inside joke. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westie Posted February 7 Author Report Share Posted February 7 Good stuff all. I just want to see UA pop up in the bracket and look forward to March Madness. I think Groce is the guy to navigate this group through three games in Cleveland. Fun times. Hang a banner and make the dance! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomzip Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 I keep playing the mega millions as I would make a nice down payment on a new arena lol 😆 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 3 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said: For the sake of continuity and given that he's been a part of Groce's success, I'd be okay with Dustin Ford taking over the reins if Groce left and he wanted the job. All of my kidding aside, I think this would be the way to go if Groce ever left Akron. But everything in my gut says he stays put. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted February 8 Report Share Posted February 8 my concern level that Groce will be gone by next season is 10 on a 1,000 point scale. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipsrowdy88 Posted February 8 Report Share Posted February 8 At this point if JG leaves I will have no ill will and nothing but an incredible amount of thankfulness. Will it suck? Is it possible? Both yes. Would I blame him? No. He's had chances to leave and hasn’t, Akron fits him well. The school loves him, he seems to love the school. IF he leaves, I want Ford as our next guy! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted February 8 Report Share Posted February 8 19 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said: For the sake of continuity and given that he's been a part of Groce's success, I'd be okay with Dustin Ford taking over the reins if Groce left and he wanted the job. I didn't really think of that possibility, but I wouldn't be against it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted February 8 Report Share Posted February 8 If John Groce leaves maybe Zach the Zip will start posting again? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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