2024-25 Post Mortem and Looking Ahead to 2025-26

[AkronAlumnus]

3 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Rumor has it K State offered north of $1 million. 

😳😳

[clarkwgriswold]

Wow.  14 points and 5 rebounds per game in the MAC gets you north of $1M.  

[Let'sGoZips94]

13 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Wow.  14 points and 5 rebounds per game in the MAC gets you north of $1M.  

 

No - MAC POTY, 1st Team All MAC, and MAC DPOY are worth that if a team is desperate enough to make a "splash".

[Zippy87]

4 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Like I said, offensive game was probably the wrong verbiage. However, seeing the highlights, he has dribble-drive capabilities and he is more developed basketball IQ wise on the offense end than MMK. He looks to make backdoor cuts and make runs towards the hoop on baseline drives by his teammates. Scheming towards his explosiveness/athleticism is something I expect Groce to do, in addition to his put backs and clean ups. Let's say he takes 6-8 shots per game from these scenarios, which is a realistic range given his expected increased role at Akron vs Ohio State. If he's making 50% minimum, that's 6-8 pts; 60% is 7-10 pts. Add in some free throws, and you're not far off from Nate's more inefficient 14 PPG. 

 

You keep saying Nate was inefficient but are suggesting a guy who can't/won't shoot outside the paint and shot 38% at the FT stripe is going to come close to his production. 

[1981 grad]

I hope he does well at Kansas State but  my common sense tells me he will struggle against better competition on a daily basis.  Obviously the coaches at K State must think he can play at that level.   

[Let'sGoZips94]

29 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

 

You keep saying Nate was inefficient but are suggesting a guy who can't/won't shoot outside the paint and shot 38% at the FT stripe is going to come close to his production. 

 

Is there a point difference I'm unaware of between a dunk/layup and a turnaround 14 ft jumper? Otherwise, I did the math & projections in a previous post. Those projections are based on the volume increases we've seen with our other transfers. I'm not saying Evan has Nate's ceiling, but his averages shouldn't be far off from Nate's averages. 

[ewbrooman1]

4 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Rumor has it K State offered north of $1 million. 

Really? I guess I'm old and it's a brand new world. These guys are welcome to chase the money, but that doesn't mean I'm going to get excited about cheering for them here or wherever the go when all they do is play mercenary. That's not why I like(d) college sports.

 

I will add that at least Nate stayed here for 3-4 years.

Edited 15 hours ago by ewbrooman1

[Let'sGoZips94]

4 minutes ago, ewbrooman1 said:

Really? I guess I'm old and it's a brand new world. These guys are welcome to chase the money, but that doesn't mean I'm going to get excited about cheering for them here or wherever the go when all they do is play mercenary. That's not why I like(d) college sports.

 

Yup. Sounds like it's ~$1.5M and Kentucky had a similar offer to Nate. 

 

Agreed. 

[Zip JD]

If Nate goes to K State, it will interesting to see what he does.  He will get another shot or two at Zona.  

[clarkwgriswold]

I like Nate, appreciate his contributions and wish him well.  That being said, he very much benefited from the lack of dominant MAC players in winning MAC POY.  He had some great games for the Zips but when I look at the history of MAC POYs he's one of the least impactful.  

 

As I said, I like Nate.  He seems like a great kid.  I don't begrudge his decision to head to Kansas State for life changing money and I hope to hell he proves me wrong and has a million dollar year as far as accomplishments but I think he's a contributor as opposed to a standout in the Big 12..

[1981 grad]

54 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Yup. Sounds like it's ~$1.5M and Kentucky had a similar offer to Nate. 

 

Agreed. 

I am sure if TJ reads that it will sure give him a reason to test the open market.  That is the state of college basketball.

[RoyalBlu]

43 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

I am sure if TJ reads that it will sure give him a reason to test the open market.  That is the state of college basketball.

 

NATE had some 'credentials' and not just numbers beside his name. Kind of like winning an Oscar because you're in a great movie ... even though you are not the best actor. TJ has no comparqble credentials, and other than last season, showed no consistency to his game. He fits Akron's system perfectly ... but looking at the portal, there are MANY guards out there just like him.

 

 I say Akron has a better chance finding his replacement, than TJ has of finding a comparable winning situation like Akron. But hope the $$$ makes up for it.

 

 

Edited 14 hours ago by RoyalBlu

[zippy5]

Tavari still isn't in the portal 

[Zippy87]

4 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Is there a point difference I'm unaware of between a dunk/layup and a turnaround 14 ft jumper? Otherwise, I did the math & projections in a previous post. Those projections are based on the volume increases we've seen with our other transfers. I'm not saying Evan has Nate's ceiling, but his averages shouldn't be far off from Nate's averages. 

 

Any player who isn't a true post player who can't shoot outside of the paint is going to be limited offensively. Can he slash and score some buckets at the rim? Sure. Can he do what Nate did in the MAC Semis or Championship? I highly doubt it. Suggesting there isn't a big drop-off offensively from Nate to Evan is just disingenuous IMO. We can be optimistic but still realistic. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

19 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

 

Any player who isn't a true post player who can't shoot outside of the paint is going to be limited offensively. Can he slash and score some buckets at the rim? Sure. Can he do what Nate did in the MAC Semis or Championship? I highly doubt it. Suggesting there isn't a big drop-off offensively from Nate to Evan is just disingenuous IMO. We can be optimistic but still realistic. 

 

I'm not sure you've read a single one of my posts outside of the original one you replied to haha.

 

Go Zips. 

Edited 11 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[kreed5120]

5 hours ago, RoyalBlu said:

 

NATE had some 'credentials' and not just numbers beside his name. Kind of like winning an Oscar because you're in a great movie ... even though you are not the best actor. TJ has no comparqble credentials, and other than last season, showed no consistency to his game. He fits Akron's system perfectly ... but looking at the portal, there are MANY guards out there just like him.

 

 I say Akron has a better chance finding his replacement, than TJ has of finding a comparable winning situation like Akron. But hope the $$$ makes up for it.

 

 

I will add Nate has P5 size, strength, and athleticism. At Akron this year he was asked to run the offense, which led to him forcing up several bad shots a game and 1-2 bone head turnovers a game. I by no means am an expert on KSU, but I can't imagine they're bringing him in to be the guy who shoots 10+ fga per game. They probably see him more as a 3rd or 4th scoring option who can defend the opposing teams top guard.

 

If you look at Nate's freshman year, when we had Castaneda and Freeman running the offense and Nate was just a role player, Johnson shot 50% from the field and 42% from 3. They're probably hoping that asking him to do less will lead to him returning closer to those percentages. I'm not saying that will be the case.

Edited 9 hours ago by kreed5120

[kreed5120]

12 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I've been in and out the last 2 or 3 days.  Have we seen anything official yet on Tavari?

 

The portal closes Tuesday. I'm not sure if that means players have 1 or 2 days left to enter their names. Either way I'll be holding my breathe.

Edited 9 hours ago by kreed5120

[Zippy87]

9 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

I'm not sure you've read a single one of my posts outside of the original one you replied to haha.

 

Go Zips. 

 

I have, you just made a poor original claim and won't concede that. It's all good. 

 

Go Zips indeed. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Zippy87

[1981 grad]

14 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Yup. Sounds like it's ~$1.5M and Kentucky had a similar offer to Nate. 

 

Agreed. 

Do you think with Akron losing 2 players, we raised the amount of money we are paying our players to keep them in Akron?

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 minute ago, 1981 grad said:

Do you think with Akron losing 2 players, we raised the amount of money we are paying our players to keep them in Akron?

 

That's certainly a possibility, although I haven't heard that other players outside of Tavari are looking to "cash in". My hope is this means we can attract better-than-expected talent with the funds that have seemingly become available with the departures. 

[zippy5]

I wonder how the market has affected any of our NIL commitments. I've seen deals fall apart the last couple of weeks with investors being down big money and afraid to deploy more capital at the moment 

[kreed5120]

13 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

I wonder how the market has affected any of our NIL commitments. I've seen deals fall apart the last couple of weeks with investors being down big money and afraid to deploy more capital at the moment 

 

In the case of Nate, probably not much. The top 20-25 P5 teams are spending an estimated $7-$10+ million in NIL. The Toledo Blade article had other MAC coaches guessing Akron was set to spend ~$1 million. That means Nate received more from Kansas State than Akron had to spend in total, assuming that ~$1.5 million is accurate. 

 

As for Nate, it's hard to blame him. $1.5 million for him at his age is pretty life changing. If he's smart with the money and invests the bulk of it, he should be fairly comfortable for retirement by the time his European basketball career comes to an end.

[Let'sGoZips94]

42 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

I wonder how the market has affected any of our NIL commitments. I've seen deals fall apart the last couple of weeks with investors being down big money and afraid to deploy more capital at the moment 

 

Keep in mind that part of Akron's NIL is a post-Akron-career partnership (if I've understood what has been mentioned previously). Unless a player is getting life-changing money like Nate & presumably Okonkwo have, Akron's total NIL package is pretty attractive if someone is willing to commit and be loyal to the Zips. 

[AkronAlumnus]

 

[Let'sGoZips94]

6 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

 

 

There it is. 

 

I would not worry much about a mass exodus.