2025-26 Post Mortem and Looking Ahead to 2026-27

[clarkwgriswold]

I'm as disappointed as anyone that the Zips season has come to an end.  That disappointment is enhanced by the current state of college basketball and its impact on programs like the Zips.

 

That being said, I couldn't be more proud of the Zips program for reasons beyond their on court success.  Every player that's exhausted their eligibility in Groce's nine year tenure has left with at least one degree.  Every scholarship player except one who finished his career with the Zips has become a professional basketball player for at least one year.

 

Arizona, Duke, Michigan or another major conference team is likely to continue winning and add a National Championship trophy to its trophy case but I'd challenge any of them to match the above accomplishments.

[ZipForNow]

Article on Eric in ABJ: https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2026/03/21/eric-mahaffey-akron-zips-ncaa-tournament-march-madness-college-basketball-transfer-portal/89242985007/

[tolbob]

On 3/21/2026 at 9:14 PM, Reslife4Life said:

Yes it may be tougher for teams out of the horizon, big west, southland to win. But we have seen some “Cinderella-adjacent” runs in college sports this year with Indiana football and maybe we will see something similar with Nebrasketball

Indiana was Cinderella thanks to fairy godmother Mark Cuban who bought their team.  Too bad Wentz is no Mark Cuban, but then, who is.

[kreed5120]

11 minutes ago, tolbob said:

Indiana was Cinderella thanks to fairy godmother Mark Cuban who bought their team.  Too bad Wentz is no Mark Cuban, but then, who is.

 

It's not even a realistic comparison. If you compare the networth of Elon Musk to Dan Gilbert, Dan Gilbert might look "poor". Now if you compare Dan Gilbert to the average working person he's clearly rich.

 

Even without Mark Cuban's money in this scenario Musk is OSU, Dan Gilbert is Indiana, and the G5 is your average blue collar American. Indiana having success is no indication that other G5 can succeed because frankly Indiana has vastly more resources at their disposal by simply existing as a Big 10 school.

 

Edit: TV deal alone pays each B1G school ~$65 million/yr and that's not including any other league revenue. The next TV deal they negotiate I've heard estimates that it could top out around $100 million per school. Not really relatable to any MAC school TBH.

Edited Tuesday at 06:29 PM by kreed5120

[ZipsFan31]

Haven’t heard anything from anyone… retain Eric and Sharron, hope the redshirts and freshman can contribute and find a starting center and starting 2 guard. And I think we can 4peat! 
 

the question is do we go after a power 5 bench player or a D2 all American. 

[ZipsFan31]

Does anyone want to predict what Josh Henderson will be next season. I have never seen him play. We really need either him or Cody Head to be a 10 points 20 minutes a game guy next season. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

 

Uh oh.

[Let'sGoZips94]

 

[Westie]

Suddenly feeling very uneasy. Ugh. 

[clarkwgriswold]

There's a reason you don't leave Notre Dame or even DePaul for Butler.  It's not a step up.

[Zippy87]

I think Groce is pretty clearly a finalist and wants the job. Otherwise, he does what Holtmann and Shrewsberry did today and either directly or indirectly squashes it. 

 

If he does leave, I'd expect Ford to follow him there. It would be challenging timing for Akron, as they'd be limited to "second wave" options to be their next head coach. 

 

Pretty huge 24-48 hours coming for the near-term future of Akron basketball. 

[NWAkron]

17 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

There's a reason you don't leave Notre Dame or even DePaul for Butler.  It's not a step up.

a step up from akron I guess.

[clarkwgriswold]

10 hours ago, NWAkron said:

a step up from akron I guess.

Maybe, but not a huge one given what he has built here.

 

10 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

I think Groce is pretty clearly a finalist and wants the job. 

I don't think anything is clear.

[Zippy87]

49 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I don't think anything is clear.

 

I do think it's clear he has interest in jobs elsewhere. How much interest is uncertain, though. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

This is an area Akron needs to focus on. 

[kreed5120]

1 minute ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

This is an area Akron needs to focus on. 

 

I feel a big part of the problem is we're not going to be able to afford a 6'4" Tavari or a 7' Lyles. We would have to sacrifice skill for height.

[Let'sGoZips94]

2 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I feel a big part of the problem is we're not going to be able to afford a 6'4" Tavari or a 7' Lyles. We would have to sacrifice skill for height.

 

I think that's too broad of a take. 

 

You and a few others have been clambering for better defense, which more length would most likely lead to. 

 

Miami OH was long so it's possible to get longer. I'm simply saying this should be a focus.

[kreed5120]

6 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

I think that's too broad of a take. 

 

You and a few others have been clambering for better defense, which more length would most likely lead to. 

 

Miami OH was long so it's possible to get longer. I'm simply saying this should be a focus.

 

Yes, and I would say Miami sacrificed athleticism for perimeter height. They were also very undersized in the post, as can be seen by how they were bullied by UMass and Tennessee, so not sure if that's a terrific example.

 

I don't disagree that height is important. Just that other schools with deeper pockets are going to pay a premium for it. IMO if Tavari was 6'3" he probably gets similar offers to Nate in the portal when he put his name in. Maybe it's still worth sacrificing athleticism if it means we get taller. I'm more pointing out there will be trade-offs.

[Let'sGoZips94]

11 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Yes, and I would say Miami sacrificed athleticism for perimeter height. They were also very undersized in the post, as can be seen by how they were bullied by UMass and Tennessee, so not sure if that's a terrific example.

 

I don't disagree that height is important. Just that other schools with deeper pockets are going to pay a premium for it. IMO if Tavari was 6'3" he probably gets similar offers to Nate in the portal when he put his name in. Maybe it's still worth sacrificing athleticism if it means we get taller. I'm more pointing out there will be trade-offs.

 

Despite their lack of athleticism, they ranked 114th in 3P defense. 

 

I totally get there will be trade-offs, hence my season-long take that Akron's focus should be forcing teams to keep up with them in a high-octane offense because they weren't built for legitimate defense. I think many would be ok with increasing the overall average height, sacrificing a bit of the post-play still, and finding more of a happy medium across all styles. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Let'sGoZips94