Think bigger Than The MAC

[GoZips]

And, I am not referring to the one on top of his head. He does not have one. Actually, Elton is a nice looking middle aged man. Polite, too. Nice person.When Coach Keith Dambrot spoke up about "thinking bigger than the MAC" he was expressing the view of many coaches not just Zips coaches. There is a wholesale attempt taking place to raise the MAC in both football and basketball. To do this takes some amount of time. None of the coaches have a pocketful of pixie dust.To raise the level of talent and competition takes time. Several years at the very least to improve the talent level and also the competition level. Let us take each separately. First the talent level.The MAC as a general rule recruits two star athletes. This is true in both football and basketball. The occasional three star talent is a celebrated find. This post will address only men's basketball. As one poster noted, and I have on a number of occasions in the past, a recruit's talent varied between two and four stars. If a playeris non-committed and rated as a three star player his stock will rise or fall on what school he selects. Thus, Joe Hotdog, a solid three star caliber recruit gets demoted to the two star level if he selects any MAC school. His stock rises to four star if he signs with a Big Ten school. To remain at a three star level he would need to sign with a school in a "three star" conference such as the A-10 or the MVC or WAC. That is just how it works.Three MAC coaches stand out as top level recruiting and floor coaches. They are, Jim Christian at Cant, Charlie Coles at Miami and Akron's Keith Dambrot. These coaches win consistently with talent not a great deal better than the rest of the conference. On the next tier you find O'Shea at Ohio and Joplin at Toledo. There isa major drop off for the rest of the conference. True, a couple of newer coaches are still in their early stages, so let us not be harsh evaluating them.The three top coaches produce consistent winners. They are almost always in the hunt at the end. They constantly look to find the separation that identifies their team as a cut above. Some of this is done by seeking the best possible talent. Dambrot develops his talent straight out of high school. Character is an importantattribute to him. Christian and Coles frequently use JUCO players. Christian has a history of finding and playing kids that are not squeaky clean cut. Coles, like Dambrot, pretty much insists on quality character. Additionally, all three are passionate students of the game. Each has his own philosophy of tactics. Each is willing to adapt and to fit his style to the talent he finds. These are excellent coaches. Dambrot and Christian could move up to the next level if they so desire. Coach Coles is older and has had two heart attacks. Heis the most admired of the three. He is not likely to leave Miami until he retires. Retire, Charlie, we all love you and want you to enjoy a long life fishing.Talent. How do you get a three or even a four star kid to come play in the MAC. A lot of it is dumb luck. The kid maybe a local and his Dad went to a MAC school. Some of it is hustle and hard work. Some of it is growing a project kid. Most project kids never develop into all stars. What the coaches look for is the tweener kid or the kid who feel through the cracks. Several years ago under Bob Huggins a "tweener" named Marcel Boyce, a JUCO, was signed. Marcel gave the Zips two years of an incredible play. Those of you who remember him have to smile at what Marcel brought to the table.Marcel is an excellent player to talk about the "luck" factor. We see some of the bad luck in recent years. Darryl Roberts fails to graduate high school on time. Ronnie Steward tears up his hip in practice. Jeremiah Wood blows out his ACL. Marcel is the biggest luck or bad luck player in Zips history.At the end of his senior campaign, the Zips drew third ranked Michigan (the one seed) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Akron came the closest of any sixteen seed in NCAA tournament history to upset a one seed. The Zips lost by four points 68-64. Marcel scored twenty-two. Marcel was deathly ill with the flu at the time. He had to retire to the locker room several times during the game. At best, Marcel was fifty percent of himself. The Zips were ever so close to pulling it off. The other big bugaboo is out of conference scheduling. Tricky business known to blow up in a coach's face. Things to consider include: is the team young and needs seasoning and time to learn to play together; how important is a return game; is getting clobbered or even putting up a good loss on the road worth it; if you havea veteran team can you get the big fish to let you in his house? Fortunately in college basketball scheduling is rarely more than two years in advance. For Akron most of this year's games were fresh contracts or finishing a home and home series.While some MAC coaches find it a badge of honor to go on the road in early season and get their kids noses bloodied, other coaches prefer to ease into the schedule keeping loses to a minimum. Not much proof that getting beat up by a Kansas works. Ask Charlie Coles if it helped preparing for the Akron game.On the other hand, a gradual upgrade in the schedule seems to develop the players. Coach Gregory thought that Dayton was Akron's Louisville or Cincinnati. Perhaps it was. We know that the Zips were prepared and responded well. The other day the local ABJ beat writer laid an unfounded slam on the Zips. Tom Gaffeny wrote that the Zips are good enough to get into close games with quality opponents, but not good enough to win. I disagree. The grit and the talent is there. It just has to come together. This community has to believe they are "BIG" time in order to be big time. We can believe.Years ago the Zips were considered an excellent college division school. Few in the community wanted more out of the kids. There were bitter fights among board members over sports. A politically correct female was given the job of university president as part of deliberately holding the university back. More recently a mild mannered, non-sports background provost was tabbed to run the university.God bless him. He double crossed the bastards. Doctor Porenza wants this university to step above the MAC. And, under his leadership, I believe it will.

[Hilltopper]

And, I am not referring to the one on top of his head. He does not have one. Actually, Elton is a nice looking middle aged man. Polite, too. Nice person.When Coach Keith Dambrot spoke up about "thinking bigger than the MAC" he was expressing the view of many coaches not just Zips coaches. There is a wholesale attempt taking place to raise the MAC in both football and basketball. To do this takes some amount of time. None of the coaches have a pocketful of pixie dust.To raise the level of talent and competition takes time. Several years at the very least to improve the talent level and also the competition level. Let us take each separately. First the talent level.The MAC as a general rule recruits two star athletes. This is true in both football and basketball. The occasional three star talent is a celebrated find. This post will address only men's basketball. As one poster noted, and I have on a number of occasions in the past, a recruit's talent varied between two and four stars. If a playeris non-committed and rated as a three star player his stock will rise or fall on what school he selects. Thus, Joe Hotdog, a solid three star caliber recruit gets demoted to the two star level if he selects any MAC school. His stock rises to four star if he signs with a Big Ten school. To remain at a three star level he would need to sign with a school in a "three star" conference such as the A-10 or the MVC or WAC. That is just how it works.Three MAC coaches stand out as top level recruiting and floor coaches. They are, Jim Christian at Cant, Charlie Coles at Miami and Akron's Keith Dambrot. These coaches win consistently with talent not a great deal better than the rest of the conference. On the next tier you find O'Shea at Ohio and Joplin at Toledo. There isa major drop off for the rest of the conference. True, a couple of newer coaches are still in their early stages, so let us not be harsh evaluating them.The three top coaches produce consistent winners. They are almost always in the hunt at the end. They constantly look to find the separation that identifies their team as a cut above. Some of this is done by seeking the best possible talent. Dambrot develops his talent straight out of high school. Character is an importantattribute to him. Christian and Coles frequently use JUCO players. Christian has a history of finding and playing kids that are not squeaky clean cut. Coles, like Dambrot, pretty much insists on quality character. Additionally, all three are passionate students of the game. Each has his own philosophy of tactics. Each is willing to adapt and to fit his style to the talent he finds. These are excellent coaches. Dambrot and Christian could move up to the next level if they so desire. Coach Coles is older and has had two heart attacks. Heis the most admired of the three. He is not likely to leave Miami until he retires. Retire, Charlie, we all love you and want you to enjoy a long life fishing.Talent. How do you get a three or even a four star kid to come play in the MAC. A lot of it is dumb luck. The kid maybe a local and his Dad went to a MAC school. Some of it is hustle and hard work. Some of it is growing a project kid. Most project kids never develop into all stars. What the coaches look for is the tweener kid or the kid who feel through the cracks. Several years ago under Bob Huggins a "tweener" named Marcel Boyce, a JUCO, was signed. Marcel gave the Zips two years of an incredible play. Those of you who remember him have to smile at what Marcel brought to the table.Marcel is an excellent player to talk about the "luck" factor. We see some of the bad luck in recent years. Darryl Roberts fails to graduate high school on time. Ronnie Steward tears up his hip in practice. Jeremiah Wood blows out his ACL. Marcel is the biggest luck or bad luck player in Zips history.At the end of his senior campaign, the Zips drew third ranked Michigan (the one seed) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Akron came the closest of any sixteen seed in NCAA tournament history to upset a one seed. The Zips lost by four points 68-64. Marcel scored twenty-two. Marcel was deathly ill with the flu at the time. He had to retire to the locker room several times during the game. At best, Marcel was fifty percent of himself. The Zips were ever so close to pulling it off. The other big bugaboo is out of conference scheduling. Tricky business known to blow up in a coach's face. Things to consider include: is the team young and needs seasoning and time to learn to play together; how important is a return game; is getting clobbered or even putting up a good loss on the road worth it; if you havea veteran team can you get the big fish to let you in his house? Fortunately in college basketball scheduling is rarely more than two years in advance. For Akron most of this year's games were fresh contracts or finishing a home and home series.While some MAC coaches find it a badge of honor to go on the road in early season and get their kids noses bloodied, other coaches prefer to ease into the schedule keeping loses to a minimum. Not much proof that getting beat up by a Kansas works. Ask Charlie Coles if it helped preparing for the Akron game.On the other hand, a gradual upgrade in the schedule seems to develop the players. Coach Gregory thought that Dayton was Akron's Louisville or Cincinnati. Perhaps it was. We know that the Zips were prepared and responded well. The other day the local ABJ beat writer laid an unfounded slam on the Zips. Tom Gaffeny wrote that the Zips are good enough to get into close games with quality opponents, but not good enough to win. I disagree. The grit and the talent is there. It just has to come together. This community has to believe they are "BIG" time in order to be big time. We can believe.Years ago the Zips were considered an excellent college division school. Few in the community wanted more out of the kids. There were bitter fights among board members over sports. A politically correct female was given the job of university president as part of deliberately holding the university back. More recently a mild mannered, non-sports background provost was tabbed to run the university.God bless him. He double crossed the bastards. Doctor Porenza wants this university to step above the MAC. And, under his leadership, I believe it will.

Outstanding post GZ. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

[Zipgrad1990]

Good post! I don't mean to nitpick but Akron was a 15 seed in 1986 and the final score was 70-64. Akron was leading at the half 32-30 if I recall correctly.See:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_NCAA_Men...ball_TournamentAkron basketball does need to upgrade our SOS. I don't feel you need to play as tough of a schedule as Miami did though.

[skip-zip]

Zipgrad1990.....I'll add to that by saying that we won the OVC and played Michigan after Marcel's JUNIOR year, not his senior year. And he was also OVC POY. What an amazing feat for a guy who had just left junior college the year before.Unfortunately, Marcel lost out to McCann from Morehead State during his senior year as OVC player of the year. Or, he would have been a two-time recipient. The only two years he played here. That would have been mind boggling. I remember that 1986 team fondly, as I was still in school at the time. John Loyer (current Portland Trail Blazers assistant), Mike Dowdell (an Akron boy), and Eric McLaughlin (has his banner hanging in the JAR) in the backcourt. Marcel, Shawn Roberts, Russell Holmes (playing center at 6'-3") and Doug Schutz in the front court. It was an exciting time, coming out of nowhere to win the OVC, hosting and winning the OVC tournament in the JAR, and then playing a great first round game in the tournament. That was when people started to see the brilliance of Huggins. Putting a team together like that, when he was really left with very little when he took over.Great memories.

[Zippysgotagun]

As far as being close but not winning, I'll point (again) to foul shooting. So many games are won or lost at the stripe, and it's been plaguing us for quite some time now. As a team at the moment, we're shooting 68% from the line (220/322). That hurts a team. Against Dayton, we shot 76% and look what happened! We played a top 25 team in their house to 2 overtimes. When the free throws fall, usually your opponent does too.

[zipper]

I like the mention of Dr. P. He gets very little credit for our athletic successes of late and he deserves most of it. It was he who fired Helsel and then hired Thomas from Virginia and now Mack. It was also him who gave these two support, both financially and politically. He hires the kind of guys who get things done the right way, and buildings built - the fieldhouse project was dead in the water when Thomas got here, now it's built as well as our new practice fields on campus, and Mack has done a great job of keeping the stadium project moving and to fruition. He hires good people who know how to make things happen, both on the field and in the offices (except our current marketing....aaargh...but I digress).Proenza also gets athletics and what it does for a university. I have a feeling not all presidents do. So even though he's not a "sports guy", he understands and appreciates the intangible value strong athletic programs bring to the university and the community.I could not be more pleased with him as our president, from an athletics standpoint. Of course, he's worked a few other miracles outside of athletics on this campus, as well

[Blue & Gold]

I like the mention of Dr. P. He gets very little credit for our athletic successes of late and he deserves most of it. It was he who fired Helsel and then hired Thomas from Virginia and now Mack. It was also him who gave these two support, both financially and politically. He hires the kind of guys who get things done the right way, and buildings built - the fieldhouse project was dead in the water when Thomas got here, now it's built as well as our new practice fields on campus, and Mack has done a great job of keeping the stadium project moving and to fruition. He hires good people who know how to make things happen, both on the field and in the offices (except our current marketing....aaargh...but I digress).Proenza also gets athletics and what it does for a university. I have a feeling not all presidents do. So even though he's not a "sports guy", he understands and appreciates the intangible value strong athletic programs bring to the university and the community.I could not be more pleased with him as our president, from an athletics standpoint. Of course, he's worked a few other miracles outside of athletics on this campus, as well

Absolutely! Proenza truly understands the importance of a strong athletic program (football & men's b-ball) for the identiy and morale of a university and, consequently, the surrounding community. I can only wish the ABJ understood so well. Successful football & men's b-ball programs are the most effective marketing strategies almost any U can be associated with. With the exceptions of Ivy League schools and perhaps Stanford, a university's football and men's basketball teams are what give a university either positive or negative national-level name recognition. I believe Proenza firmly believes that every dollar spent on athletics is simultaneously a dollar spent on advertising/marketing.

[skip-zip]

Correction...Loyer was a scout for the Trail Blazers, and then an assistant coach for the Sixers. After playing here, he was also an Akron assistant under Huggins, and a long-time assistant to Huggins at Cincinnati, for those who have not followed his career.