The Dustin Ford Era

[Let'sGoZips94]

Barre 6'10"

Burton 6'10"

Christion 6'9"

Hammer Jr 6'7"

MMK 6'6"

White 6'6"

Pence 6'6"

Halligan 6'5"

Henderson 6'5"

Jones 6'5"

Head 6'3"

Staveskie 6'1"

Wilson 6'1"

Perkins 6'0"

 

Average height is 6'4".

 

Last year's average height for the 9 main contributors: 6'3" (this is with Tavari and Sharron listed at 6'0" according to ESPN.com).

 

It may not seem like much but that 1"+ is a big deal. This year's Sweet 16 featured an average contributing roster height of 6'5" - the tallest Sweet 16 ever. Akron was almost 3 inches shorter on average vs the standard of teams we strive to compete with. 

 

Better yet, this roster is more versatile in their skill sets. As much as Hardman saved our butt at times last season, he was largely a one-trick pony. I'm not seeing anybody like that on this roster at this point in time. 

 

Safe to say I'm excited. 

[kreed5120]

I feel some are fixated on positions, but the Zips will be playing a lot of positionless basketball next year so a depth chart is meaningless. This is how I imagine the starting 5 will play out.

 

Steveskie

Wilson/Head

White

Pence

Burton/Barre/MMK

 

Steveskie, White, and Pence I will pencil in as starters. The other 2 starters I think will be position battles.

 

Edit: If Hammer has a strong offseason and develops I won't rule out the possibility he starts. In that scenario it becomes possible White/Head are bumbed from the starting lineup.

Edited 13 hours ago by kreed5120

[ZipsFan31]

Agree it is Steveskie, Pence and White are on paper the top 3 offensive options. I am big fan of Wilson, Henderson, and Burton, being under the radar top options. 
 

We are positionless and deep. Hopefully 1 or 2 guys step up as Alpha options and a pecking order develops. As there is no clear leader. 

[Zippy87]

Staveskie and Burton were the only players who started all year for the previous teams. Pence began the season as a starter, but came off the bench for the final 13 games (he did play well). Hammer Jr. (14.2 MPG) and White (8.7 MPG) played but not significant minutes.  Wilson redshirted. 

 

We won't have many proven commodities to start the season, but there's plenty of talent and opportunity to show that talent. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

9 hours ago, ZipsFan31 said:

Agree it is Steveskie, Pence and White are on paper the top 3 offensive options. I am big fan of Wilson, Henderson, and Burton, being under the radar top options. 
 

We are positionless and deep. Hopefully 1 or 2 guys step up as Alpha options and a pecking order develops. As there is no clear leader. 

 

Don't rule out Head as well. He was a near double digit scorer at Lipscomb as a freshman and has good size at 6'3".

Edited 4 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[roopride]

Need scholarship chart updated.    Please add their heigth

[Zippy87]

I definitely expect a step back this season, but I expected one had Groce stayed, too. Tavari, Shammah, and Amani are all really tough to replace. With that said, I do think this team can be competitive in the conference, if for no other reason than I believe in Coach Ford. 

[clarkwgriswold]

5 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

I definitely expect a step back this season, but I expected one had Groce stayed, too. Tavari, Shammah, and Amani are all really tough to replace. With that said, I do think this team can be competitive in the conference, if for no other reason than I believe in Coach Ford. 

 

I think we also need to equally keep in mind that some of the other MAC programs are catching up.  Even without a decline in the Zips program, the competition is getting closer as they learn and adapt to the NIL era, an area where UA was in the forefront and got a head start on the rest of the MAC. 

[zippy5]

21 minutes ago, roopride said:

Need scholarship chart updated.    Please add their heigth

Illini Zip graciously updates this for us in his spare time, but he doesn't owe any of us anything 

[AkronAlumnus]

Sizable step back next season IMO

[roopride]

Agreed and appreciate Illini ZIP's efforts and forum content!!!

[Let'sGoZips94]

35 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Sizable step back next season IMO

 

There's irony in getting significantly taller but using "sizable" as the adverb for your step back prediction. 

 

Not sure how you're coming to that conclusion as well.