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clarkwgriswold

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21 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

CMU has a head coach now. They only have 1 scholarship players on the roster so this will be a year 0 build situation.

 

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/more-colleges/2025/04/14/central-michigan-to-hire-andy-bronkema-as-new-mens-basketball-coach/83086164007/

 

They're going the Drake/Ben McCollum route. Interesting. 

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45 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

They're going the Drake/Ben McCollum route. Interesting. 

 

Solid hire for the school and the situation. If CMU is committed to an old school 5-year plan the Chippewas should ultimately have some level of success. Upper Michigan has more than its share of talent as the plethora of success D-2 programs show. CMU is the kind of place where area kids from that region are not likely to jump ship (NIL/Portal) as quickly as others. Establish the program, then fill in with the portal; 2-3 years then solid MAC program. It's been done there before.

 

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The article stated CMU is near or at the bottom of the MAC in NIL. Probably the only way for them to succeed is being able to identify D2 players who are overlooked and then landing them. I wouldn't bet on him succeeding unless financial support steps up for the program, but he's probably the type of candidate that gives them their best chance.

Edited by kreed5120
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1 hour ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Parks still available? Saw he was heading to Toledo but he hasn't posted anything

 

There was only one tweet mentioning this and it was an Ohio State fan. I replied to the tweet asking where they got this information and they haven't replied yet. 

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19 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

There was only one tweet mentioning this and it was an Ohio State fan. I replied to the tweet asking where they got this information and they haven't replied yet. 

I just looked at this profile and he has been battling injuries his entire career at Ohio State.  High risk and high reward if he can stay healthy.

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1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

There was only one tweet mentioning this and it was an Ohio State fan. I replied to the tweet asking where they got this information and they haven't replied yet. 

 

He hasn't posted anything on his personal accounts, either. 

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I'm not even sure if I'd want him. He played 8.3 minutes a game and only averaged .9 boards. The person you'd be asking him to replace averaged 18.2 minutes and 7.2 boards. If you multiply Parks stats by 2.2 to account for the minutes disparity, he'd average 1.98 boards a game. Heck, even Okonkwo's 2nd year at WVU he averaged 3.2 boards while playing 11 minutes so that's a fairly apples to apples comparison since the minutes and level of competition is more level.

 

How big you play is often more important than how tall you are. We saw that with Freeman as a prime example for a number of years. Just because Parks is taller doesn't make him better. I would hope that we could find better even if it means bringing in another 6'8 PF to play C.

 

Edit: All that said, I trust whoever Groce and his staff decide to bring in.

Edited by kreed5120
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40 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I'm not going to lose sleep over Parks.  I'm not sure he's a very good fit with the up tempo nature of this squad.  We already got the better Buckeye.

 

Strictly a roll-of-the-dice player at this point. Nice if you can get him - AT THE RIGHT PRICE - but I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Style of play, especially for bigs, is an issue, too. And not sure if he is an Akron fit their, either.

 

There are still post players out there. And don't forget, price comes into play now as well. Personally speaking, especially when it comes to a post player, I want to be comfortable with what I'm paying for. Guessing Akron/Groce are the same.

 

Sad that college basketball has come to this. But it is the new normal.

 

Edited by RoyalBlu
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1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

Kam Craft to Georgia Tech. He announced yesterday, but I just noticed it. So much for the return to Miami like the Redhawk faithful were praying.

 

That's a good fit for him. They have zero expectations athletically so when he gives up game winning floaters with the worst possible transition defense, they won't hate him. 

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One thing is clear ...

 

MAC basketball should be a lot different next season. Only time will tell if it will be better.

 

Ohio has made major inroads getting both size and proven 3-pt shooting out of the portal ... UMass has also added size to go along with a juco PG ... BG has gotten a quality player to return and added some size ... Toledo has added some perimeter experience and some unproven size ... Miami has lost some key pieces, but return as much as anyone in the league plus a stellar recruiting class ... CMU has a new coach from D-II, and has brought several of his former players/recruits with him ... Kent lost a trio of proven 4-year players (that might be a MAC trivia question/answer soon enough) but is still to be heard from re: portal pickups or new prep recruits.

 

Of course now Akron has lost 3 starters - late - off its MAC title team to the portal. Actually 4 if you count Harris, who was starting before he was out with an injury. But returning youth/depth and a solid recruiting class should keep the Zips at the top of the heap -- with time and $$$ to help add to the roster as well.

 

Different, yes. Better, who knows.

 

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12 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Payton Sparks is back in the Portal.

 

So is Ra'Heim Moss. 

 

Neither has eligibility remaining as of now, but some are speculating (hoping) that the house settlement will give everyone 5 years of eligibility instead of the current 4. They're entering the portal in case that happens.

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29 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Neither has eligibility remaining as of now, but some are speculating (hoping) that the house settlement will give everyone 5 years of eligibility instead of the current 4. They're entering the portal in case that happens.

 

Yup. Why do we even have eligibility restrictions anymore? Just let them play college ball for as long as they want.

 

(This is sarcasm by the way)

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