The Dustin Ford Era

[kreed5120]

You heard the man.

 

 

[Reslife4Life]

33 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

You heard the man.

 

 

This is a good reminder to reorder my soccer tickets

[Blue & Gold]

Joe Dunn 👇

 

[kreed5120]

I don't really follow the news of Twitter or X or whatever it's referred to these days. Any word on support staff other than Morrow?

[Let'sGoZips94]

With the announcements from Young and Mahaffey, here is what we're looking at...

 

Graduated

Amani Lyles

Shammah Scott

Evan Mahaffey

Tavari Johnson

 

Portal

Eric Mahaffey

Sharron Young

 

Returning (for now)

Chabi Barre (6'10" F; R-Jr)

Rich Brisco (6'8" F; R-Fr)

Ognjen Stankovic (6'8" W; Fr)

Josh Henderson (6'5" G; R-Fr)

Marvin Musiime-Kamali (6'6" W; R-So)

Zach Halligan (6'5" W; R-So)

Cody Head (6'3" G; R-Jr)

Bowen Hardman (6'3" G; Sr)

Tai Perkins (6' G; R-Fr)

 

HS Incoming

Devan Christion (6'9" F)

RJ Jones (6'4" G)

Jashawn Ladd (6'4" G)

 

 

Some thoughts...

 

1) It'll be interesting to see if any of the HS commits de-commit, which would be risky for them in the NIL/Open Portal landscape

 

2) In terms of maintaining the culture, Halligan and MMK are the most important. They've each been here ~3 years, they know the expected effort, they've seen what the program can do for players, and they seem to be great teammates. 

 

3) What's currently remaining is actually quite respectable. There are several question marks of course (skill, experience, etc.) but that's pretty good size - especially in the backcourt - with several scholarships to offer still. 

Edited Friday at 07:24 PM by Let'sGoZips94

[Let'sGoZips94]

Looks like Josh Henderson is staying. He reposted a Dustin Ford tweet and also just followed me on X. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

5 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

I don't really follow the news of Twitter or X or whatever it's referred to these days. Any word on support staff other than Morrow?

 

 

 

[ZipsBBjunkie]

Just now, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

 

 

That’s a super strong add. Head coaching experience on the back end and the bench can’t be underestimated. It’s a trend right now and in my mind huge for a first time HC

[kreed5120]

Just now, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

 

 

D2 has probably been an underutilized resource for us. I don't know anything about Todd May, but perhaps he can help direct us to some sophomore or juniors at that level who can be immediate helps.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Just now, kreed5120 said:

D2 has probably been an underutilized resource for us. I don't know anything about Todd May, but perhaps he can help direct us to some sophomore or juniors at that level who can be immediate helps.

 

He had a winning record as Concord's HC in 10 seasons or so, and they've been on our schedule at least a couple times. I like the hire and like you said, bringing someone in that knows the D2 level could be advantageous in finding undervalued talent. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

Interesting connection. Love that there's familiarity. 

 

[NWAkron]

45 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Interesting connection. Love that there's familiarity. 

 

Zipped Up seems to have the inside track and intimate knowledge of Akron football and basketball.

[Blue & Gold]

I like Robby Pridgen & it looks like he's staying on board. GoZips.com still lists him as an assistant coach, his X bio still has a Zips logo, & he 'liked' my Zips-related tweet last night.

 

Mike Allen is still listed as an assistant coach, as is Terry Wiegand.

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, Blue & Gold said:

I like Robby Pridgen & it looks like he's staying on board. GoZips.com still lists him as an assistant coach, his X bio still has a Zips logo, & he 'liked' my Zips-related tweet last night.

 

Mike Allen is still listed as an assistant coach, as is Terry Wiegand.

 

Something doesn't add up here. We would now have more assistants than when Groce was coach. 

[kreed5120]

I just don't think the website is completely updated yet.

[Let'sGoZips94]

I believe this is the father of Tai Perkins, or at least someone related to him. I'd imagine Tai is staying.

 

 

[AkronAlumnus]

Glad we got all the “what are they saying” graphics about Dustin out of the way—BC player retention tells a different story: now 0/3, and arguably those were the three worth keeping.  So glad UA rushed him in!! 

[zippy5]

4 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Glad we got all the “what are they saying” graphics about Dustin out of the way—BC player retention tells a different story: now 0/3, and arguably those were the three worth keeping.  So glad UA rushed him in!! 

Where did the three we lost commit to?

[UAZippers]

2 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Glad we got all the “what are they saying” graphics about Dustin out of the way—BC player retention tells a different story: now 0/3, and arguably those were the three worth keeping.  So glad UA rushed him in!! 

People have been saying that it was likely that Sharron and Eric would enter the portal this offseason for months, whether Groce was here or not. Bowen is the only one that I am confident would have been here if we didn't lose our coach. I'm sure he will get a pretty good offer to go be a sharpshooter off the bench somewhere, so good for him.

 

This is the world we live in. Players move every offseason; its time people get over it. 

[exit322]

4 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Glad we got all the “what are they saying” graphics about Dustin out of the way—BC player retention tells a different story: now 0/3, and arguably those were the three worth keeping.  So glad UA rushed him in!! 

 

Akron is a mid-major.  Those are three players that are very possibly going to get paid actual P5 money (at least enough of a chance to review it).  You could have hired John Calipari with Rick Pitino as his top assistant and they were all entering the portal.

 

That's how it is.  You hire the guy to keep the program going as best you feel they can without worrying about individual players, because in today's world they aren't staying here.

[akzipper]

9 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Glad we got all the “what are they saying” graphics about Dustin out of the way—BC player retention tells a different story: now 0/3, and arguably those were the three worth keeping.  So glad UA rushed him in!! 

 

Yup. These guys were asked to say something positive about a former coach. It's all so forced to create some hype around a program that will be going through a significant rebuild. 

 

On social media we saw overwhelming support from both current and former players when Ford was hired. Yet some of those same guys decided to bail on Akron almost immediately.

 

Words mean nothing. 

[AkronAlumnus]

13 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

Akron is a mid-major.  Those are three players that are very possibly going to get paid actual P5 money (at least enough of a chance to review it).  You could have hired John Calipari with Rick Pitino as his top assistant and they were all entering the portal.

 

That's how it is.  You hire the guy to keep the program going as best you feel they can without worrying about individual players, because in today's world they aren't staying here.

It’s easy to play Monday morning quarterback when we don’t know who actually expressed interest or what they brought to the table. I’m also not convinced those players would have left under Groce—there’s really no way to know. In my opinion, retention was Ford’s biggest selling point, especially given that he has no experience as a college head coach. But just like we can’t say whether players would have stayed for Groce, we also can’t assume they would’ve been retained under a more experienced head coach with some national success maybe just slightly more likely.

Edited 19 hours ago by AkronAlumnus

[exit322]

5 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

It’s easy to play Monday morning quarterback when we don’t know who actually expressed interest or what they brought to the table. I’m also not convinced those players would have left under Groce—there’s really no way to know. In my opinion, retention was Ford’s biggest selling point, especially given that he has no experience as a college head coach. But just like we can’t say whether players would have stayed for Groce, we also can’t assume they would’ve been retained under a more experienced head coach with some national success maybe just slightly more likely.

 

They'd all have entered the portal.  Akron is a "have not."  That's how it works now.

 

You are, however, correct on the first point - who did express interest?  Would it be better?  Maybe...but those three guys were entering the portal no matter who Akron hired (or even if Groce stayed).

[AkronAlumnus]

Just now, exit322 said:

 

Maybe...but those three guys were entering the portal no matter who Akron hired (or even if Groce stayed).

There's our fundamental point of disagreement. *^

[Let'sGoZips94]

4 minutes ago, akzipper said:

 

Yup. These guys were asked to say something positive about a former coach. It's all so forced to create some hype around a program that will be going through a significant rebuild. 

 

On social media we saw overwhelming support from both current and former players when Ford was hired. Yet some of those same guys decided to bail on Akron almost immediately.

 

Words mean nothing. 

 

Are the parents/family members who have also expressed excitement for Ford being forced, too? Who on the team voiced support for Ford and has left?

 

3 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

It’s easy to play Monday morning quarterback when we don’t know who actually expressed interest or what they brought to the table. I’m also not convinced those players would have left under Groce—there’s really no way to know. In my opinion, retention was Ford’s biggest selling point, especially given that he has no experience as a college head coach. But just like we can’t say whether players would have stayed for Groce, we also can’t assume they would’ve been retained under a more experienced head coach with some national success.

 

There were 12 players on the roster with remaining eligibility. 5 have entered the Portal, one is Connor Groce, and another was likely mutual (Brisco). So far, we've retained 70% of the players we've wanted to, barring any other Portal entries. In today's world, that's a highly successful retention rate. In addition, we actually WANT open scholarships to be able to bring in guys that might fit Ford's system better. After all, he is his own coach now. 

 

You're also completely undervaluing his coaching experience. He's been an assistant under one of the better coaches in the country for the better part of 2 decades. He is largely credited with the development of one of - if not the best player in Akron history in Freeman. Players love playing for him. Those are legitimate selling points. 

 

 

Any substantial level of negativity at this point is a choice rather than reality.