Transfer Portal 2026

[Blue & Gold]

 

[Zippy87]

Ladd follows Groce to Charleston. 

[NWAkron]

Josh Egner was 6'6" as well.

[Zippy87]

Ty Pence is an Akron Zip, from Illinois State. Just shared on his IG. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

Such a big get. 6'6" G that had 23 vs. Wake Forest in the NIT, 13 vs. Auburn in the NIT Final Four, etc. Comes from a winning program. LOVE this signing.

[Illini Zip]

Even though I find it amusing that a fellow Redbird is now an Akron Zip I have nothing to offer pertaining to Ty Pence. I have watched very little ISU basketball. I checked into a game and I remember thinking the pace was just so slow. I have become so accustomed to Akron’s fast pace. So the question I have is will Ty Pence adjust easily to the faster pace? Or is Ford not looking to continue the fast pace offense?

 

 

Edited 19 hours ago by Illini Zip

[clarkwgriswold]

22 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

Even though I find it amusing that a fellow Redbird is now an Akron Zip I have nothing to offer pertaining to Ty Pence. I have watched very little ISU basketball. I checked into a game and I remember thinking the pace was just so slow. I have become so accustomed to Akron’s face pace. So the question I have is will Ty Pence adjust easily to the faster pace? Or is Ford not looking to continue the fast pace offense?

I suspect Ford will follow Groce's lead and bring in the most talented kids (with character) he can find and adapt the system to his talent.

[Let'sGoZips94]

2 hours ago, Illini Zip said:

Even though I find it amusing that a fellow Redbird is now an Akron Zip I have nothing to offer pertaining to Ty Pence. I have watched very little ISU basketball. I checked into a game and I remember thinking the pace was just so slow. I have become so accustomed to Akron’s fast pace. So the question I have is will Ty Pence adjust easily to the faster pace? Or is Ford not looking to continue the fast pace offense?

 

 

 

Based on the personnel so far, I think Akron can play a multitude of styles and be successful. The concrete issue with last year's team was its true peak was a certain style and Groce didn't fully want to commit to that. 

 

This squad looks like it can beat you with finesse, physicality, speed, possession, etc. 

[Blue & Gold]

 

[Zip JD]

On 4/19/2026 at 7:25 PM, kreed5120 said:

 

I don't believe the others accumulated enough playing time to be graded.

 

Eric was obviously the big loss here. They actually graded him as a high major starter/mid-major all conference for next year, which to me checks out.

 

As I said before the percentiles are position based. Burton with a higher playmaker score doesn't mean he's a better playmaker than Eric. It just means he was borderline elite for a big in that category while Eric was good relative to other wings.

 

 

Wow, Hardman.  His slice looks like if you asked 100 people what they would do if they won the lottery and his mark on the pie chart is "Give it to Charity".  

[kreed5120]

9 minutes ago, Zip JD said:

Wow, Hardman.  His slice looks like if you asked 100 people what they would do if they won the lottery and his mark on the pie chart is "Give it to Charity".  

 

Yes, I think his offensive efficiency is probably even better than the graph shows. He has a very quick release and could get shots off at will.

 

The issue is when he wasn't making 3s he was kind of unplayable as he wasn't able to contribute in other ways.

[Let'sGoZips94]

23 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Yes, I think his offensive efficiency is probably even better than the graph shows. He has a very quick release and could get shots off at will.

 

The issue is when he wasn't making 3s he was kind of unplayable as he wasn't able to contribute in other ways.

 

He couldn't create his own shot which is what we saw vs. Texas Tech. He was completely bottled up. 

[Captain Kangaroo]

30 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

He couldn't create his own shot which is what we saw vs. Texas Tech. He was completely bottled up. 

To be fair, it wasn't just him. We were completely guardable with one man at every position. 

 

If we had someone that TT needed to double team, that would have freed Hardman for some open looks. But TT had no issues guarding us straight up.

 

To me, that's why the loss Nate and Okonkwo was a killer, and the loss of Sharrone isn't. Sharrone's too short to compete at today's P4 level (NCAA tourney). In the MAC he's fine, but in the tourney he gets exposed. All the Zips did. We needed to get bigger at guard this year. I think we did?

 

Eric Mahaffey (not Fr, but year 2, 3 or 4) is the type of player we need if we ever expect to win an NCAA tourney game. I don't know if that type will ever play at Akron again.

[NWAkron]

1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

He couldn't create his own shot which is what we saw vs. Texas Tech. He was completely bottled up. 

Bowen's greatest moment as a Zip was in Ypsilanti.

[Let'sGoZips94]

33 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

To be fair, it wasn't just him. We were completely guardable with one man at every position. 

 

If we had someone that TT needed to double team, that would have freed Hardman for some open looks. But TT had no issues guarding us straight up.

 

To me, that's why the loss Nate and Okonkwo was a killer, and the loss of Sharrone isn't. Sharrone's too short to compete at today's P4 level (NCAA tourney). In the MAC he's fine, but in the tourney he gets exposed. All the Zips did. We needed to get bigger at guard this year. I think we did?

 

Eric Mahaffey (not Fr, but year 2, 3 or 4) is the type of player we need if we ever expect to win an NCAA tourney game. I don't know if that type will ever play at Akron again.

 

Correct, it wasn't just Hardman, but we saw first-hand why his metrics from @kreed5120's site were so unfavorable. 

 

Nate wouldn't have required a double team. He wasn't overly athletic, quick, or threatening from deep. Okonkwo maybe down low but I think that's a stretch, too, considering he only averaged 2.9 ppg as a fully developed 5th or 6th year "senior" at Utah. 

 

Young will be missed for his energy, not his height, and we're seeing the future for Akron guards - taller. Tavari and Young got completely covered up by longer TTU players. We have now gone from 2 sub-6ft guards to 6'1" being our shortest (expected) key ball handler (Perkins at 6ft-even would technically be shorter but I'm not expecting a redshirt freshman to be relied on heavily, especially with Tahj/Wilson/Head on the roster). 

 

Eric is good and has a ridiculously high ceiling but he isn't the answer at this stage in his career. His game is still raw and his decision making is questionable at times. Not so sure Ty Pence will be much of a downgrade, if any at all. Athletically I'm sure there will be a little bit of a difference, but experience/decision making/etc. should all be upgraded with Pence given his experience. White is also a similar type player but with more physicality.