Baseball

I was all pumped up about going to the game against Duquesne between classes today.

Jim Fleming, head of the grounds crew, told his son and I that the game was called off due to temperature. Temperature? That’s BS. I’ve played baseball in colder weather than this.

Men’s basketball

Thanks goes out to ZipsNation!, who suggested this topic for the Rasor’s Edge…

When my favorite teams lose in the playoffs, I always look forward to next season.

It takes some of the sting away.

So instead of talking about how the Zips lost to Creighton on Thursday, “Rasor’s Edge” will look ahead to next season.

The Zips will return three starters next fall – guards Dru Joyce, Nick Dials and forward Romeo Travis. Guard Cedrick Middleton and forward Nate Linhart also will be back after playing well off the bench. However, Akron will lose much of its size since senior centers Rob Preston and Matt Futch will be gone.

Although the Zips would be good next year with just their returning players, what could separate Akron from the rest of the league is the addition of two players who were on last season’s roster yet did not play.

Guard Jimmy Conyers was coach Keith Dambrot’s top recruit from last season. A problem with his transcript kept him from playing. His shooting, athleticism and defense could make him the Mid-American Conference’s best player before he leaves Akron. He averaged 24 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists per game his senior year of high school in Baltimore.

Also, you may have seen a 6-foot-6 man with cornrows sitting behind the Zips bench at home games. He is Jeremiah Wood. Before his freshman year at Akron, ESPN analyst Dick Vitale named him his MAC Diaper Dandy of the Year. As a freshman, Wood started 26 games, averaging 9.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for the Zips. He has missed more than a year with a knee injury.

“A lot will depend on how Jeremiah (Wood) and Jimmy Conyers will fit into the system,” Dambrot said. “To me those are the biggest issues we’ll face.”

Wood will return, fully healed, next season as a junior, Dambrot said.

“He practices every day,” Dambrot said. “He’s probably physically better than he’s ever been here.”

The 2006 recruiting class looks promising, as well. Three high school players, point guard Darryl Roberts, power forward Chris McKnight and center Mike Bardo, have signed to play for the Zips.

Roberts is a quick point guard from St. Francis de Sales High School in Toledo.

“He had a really good year,” Dambrot said. “He can shoot the ball, handle the ball. He’s athletic and quick.”

Roberts’ offensive skills have made him one of Northwest Ohio’s best players for the past two years.

“He’s one of those kids that makes other kids look good,” St. Francis deSales athletic director Carl Janke said. “He’s not selfish.”

Dambrot projects McKnight, who is 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, to be a power forward.

“He’s going to be a tough player,” Dambrot said. “Physically, he’s stronger than Romeo (Travis) was when he got here. He’s got long arms and is good around the basket. He has a chance to be an impact guy in our league.”

McKnight averages 14.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game for Lancaster High School, which is near Columbus. He is shooting 61.9 percent on field-goal attempts.

“I think he’ll be a solid player at the MAC level,” said Steve Blackledge, a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch who has covered McKnight several times in the past few years. “He’s a much more valuable player than his statistics would suggest. He’s a warrior who plays very hard and physical. He’s got a 15-foot shooting range, but is more comfortable driving to the basket and banging with people.”

McKnight is leading Lancaster High School through the Ohio Division I playoffs. Lancaster will play Trotwood Madison in the state semifinals Friday.

Bardo also might help Akron in rebounding next season. Bardo, a 6-foot-9 player from Oak Hill High School, comes highly touted as a defensive stopper and rebounder.

“He’s very tough,” said Oak Hill’s head coach Mike Price. “He’s physical. He doesn’t mind banging people around or being banged around.”

Price and Dambrot agreed that Bardo could be a star if he improves his offensive game.

“He’s got a pretty big up side to him,” Price said. “His offensive skills will get better and better as he moves on.”

For a mid-major school like Akron, polished offensive post players are hard to find, Dambrot said. That means the Zips need to rely on projects like Bardo. About 20 other schools offered Bardo a scholarship, Price said.

“He’s just a quickly developing, strong kid who is very good defensively and needs work on offense,” Dambrot said. “We’re not going to get a finished product at that position. We have to project where they can go.”

Dambrot said he wasn’t sure who has the best chance to earn playing time next season. Playing time could depend on the play of Wood and Conyers.

“You never know who is going to be your best guy until you get him,” Dambrot said. “They all have a chance to play for us. A lot of it is opportunity.”

The five newcomers – Wood, Conyers, Roberts, McKnight and Bardo – should give Dambrot the most depth in the conference. Each position has a solid veteran and an underclassman prospect. Despite losing five of its last nine games this season, my optimism for the team is at an all-time high.

• Here is another Buchtelite story about Wood from the Buchtelite, written by Vincent Dorsey.
• Here is a Mike Hixenbaugh story about former Zips player Nick Meyers, who is now playing in the International Basketball League.

Football

… college football had a 64-team tournament. CollegeFootballNews.com says Akron would’ve gotten a 13 seed. Alabama would beat them in the first round.

• No. 14 Northern Illinois lost to Auburn.
• Bowling Green, Miami and Toledo also participated as 15 seeds, losing to Notre Dame, Oregon and Miami-Fla., respectively.
• No. 16 seeds Western Michigan and Central Michigan lost to Ohio State and Penn State, respectively.

That would be quite an accomplishment if the MAC could land seven teams in the postseason.

Football/Men’s basketball

CollegeFootballNews.com also gave out awards for the schools with the best men’s basketball and football combinations. Akron was No. 36 in that list, above all other MAC schools. Miami was second in the MAC at No. 48 overall. Northern Illinois (68), Toledo (72), Kent State (79), Ohio (83), Temple (86), Buffalo (96) and Bowling Green (100) round out the top 100.

Seeing how college sports basically comes down to those two sports for most people, being No. 36 is quite an accomplishment. Five years ago, I would be shocked if Akron broke the top 100. Now the Zips are above a majority of the big-conference schools.

Men’s basketball

I just got off the phone with coach Keith Dambrot. We talked about this year’s recruits. That will be my column tomorrow. I’ll post it on the blog tonight as soon as I can.

Golf

Here is your first-ever blog entry on Golf. That’s funny because I actually was on the high school golf team.

Anyhow, the Zips first 2006 tournament saw Akron finish 16th out of 19 teams at the El Diablo Intercollegiate tournament.

No one played particularly well. Sophomore Ryan Gutowski shot 14 over in the three-round event for Akron’s best individual score.

Baseball

Akron’s losing streak extended to 11 games today as the Zips lost to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 15-9.

Starting pitcher Pat Watt got rocked in two innings. He gave up seven runs.

The Zips will play their first home game on Tuesday against Duquesne at 2 p.m. They also will play a weekend series against Ball State at Lee Jackson Field starting Friday at 3 p.m.

If you have a chance, stop by and see what it’s like to watch a college baseball game. Hopefully it will be warmer than low-40s, which the Weather Channel is predicting. I’ll be interested to see what Matt Newhouse and the AK-Rowdies do for baseball.

Tennis

Michigan State shut out Akron 7-0 Saturday. The Zips are now 4-8.

Akron will play at Bowling Green Friday to open MAC play.

Softball

The Big Red Softball Tournament in Lincoln, Neb, was partially cancelled due to bad weather. Before that, Akron had lost two games in the Big Red.

The Zips (6-9) will play six games in Oregon next weekend.

Men’s basketball

Kent State lost tonight to Pittsburgh 79-64 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Before you say it - no, the Zips would not have done any better.

Pitt’s seven-footer Aaron Gray dominated the Flashes with 17 points and 14 rebounds. The game showed how far away the MAC was from big-conference teams this season.

It probably was coach Jim Christian’s final game at Kent. A reputable source told me Christian is as good as gone, probably to his alma mater, Rhode Island.

Like I wrote a couple weeks ago, Kent State’s program looks like it’s going downhill. I’m not saying this out of jealousy or any other stupid reason Kent State fans want to make up. When you lose four seniors, two scholarships and possibly a coach, you can’t expect to win another MAC Championship.

Football

If you look ahead to next winter, you’ll see that Akron is competing with the big boys for almost every recruit.

That is a good sign. A very, very good sign. At this point, it’s hard to rank the players because they still have another year of high school. However, for these players to have interest in Akron, along with Texas, Ohio State and West Virginia, is really saying something.

Here is the list of players with interest in Akron. Compare that with players for Kent, Miami and Toledo. To me, Akron stands out from the MAC, but draw your own conclusions.

In the meantime, Akron has begun its spring practices. GoZips.com outlines some of the position battles to watch…

• The POSITION: Backup quarterback; MATCHUP: Chris Jaquemain vs. Carlton Jackson; RASOR’S PICK: I haven’t a clue. Both players were redshirted last season. Jackson came in highly touted athlete from Florida. Jaquemain was a star at Mentor.
• THE POSITION: Starting running back; MATCHUP: Alex Allen vs. Dennis Kennedy; RASOR’S PICK: The edge has to go to Kennedy, a sophomore who averaged 2.9 yards per game as Brett Biggs’ backup in 2005. Some people believe Allen might have more talent. Whoever wins the job will almost certainly share time with the other.
• THE POSITION: No. 2 receiver; MATCHUP: Johnnie Long, Brandon Williams, Jermaine Lindsey; RASOR’S PICK: Long began to get more reps toward the end of last season. He was a solid receiver. It looks like he might get most of the playing time to start the season, but his job security won’t be high.

Leave a comment if you have an opinion about who will win these jobs and the other vacant positions as well.

Men’s basketball

I strongly believe that if this game were played in Akron, the Zips would win. Heck, if you gave the Zips another day or two off, they would win.

Tonight, they couldn’t rebound. They couldn’t play man-to-man defense. They couldn’t shoot. All of those are symptoms of fatigue. Flying across the country and playing two games in two nights will cause plenty of it. Anyone who says Keith Dambrot is a bad coach deserves a Matt Futch elbow to the face.

This may be a let-down for some of you. Don’t let it be one. Akron will come back much stronger next season. Jeremiah Wood and Jimmy Conyers will bolster the starting lineup. Dru Joyce and Romeo Travis will four-year starters. Nate Linhart and Cedrick Middleton had great seasons, considering their age. And who knows about these recruits?

The men’s basketball and football seasons ended in similar fashion. Both teams lost games they probably should have lost to end the season. Both teams were coming off big wins. Both teams accomplished feats not seed in decades at Akron. And both teams should completely eclipse their predecessors.

Despite the loss to Creighton, the state of the Zips is strong.

Men’s basketball

Akron will try to win its second-straight NIT game tonight. Despite that, this is still considered the first round of the NIT. Here is some reading material.

• Before you ask, No. 2-seeded Creighton is a Jesuit school in Omaha, Neb.
• Tom Gaffney, aka the best Zips beat reporter in years, wrote about how Creighton is ticked off about being snubbed from the NCAA Tournament, despite a 39 RPI. Now the Bluejays (19-9) say they are playing for their 20th win. I don’t know how a team will be motivated by an arbitrary statistic, but whatever.
• As posted earlier, the Buchtelite’s Mike Hixenbaugh wrote a preview/NIT column.
• The Plain Dealer wrote a brief on the game. Don’t bother unless you’re really bored sitting at work.
• The Omaha World-Herald reports that starting point guard Josh Dotzler’s status will be a game-time decision. He partially tore a ligament in his right knee and hasn’t played in a month. Dotzler is averaging 6.4 points and 4.2 assists per game.
• For scoring, Creighton relies on senior guard Johnnie Mathies (13.4 ppg) and junior center Anthony Tolliver (13.2 ppg). Tolliver, who is 6-foot-9, also pulls down 6.6 rebounds per game.
• Here is GoZips.com’s preview. If you love stats, this is the place to go.
• Danny Sheridan says Akron is a 4.5-point underdog to Creighton.
• Other oddsmakers say Akron will lose by 5 or 5.5.
• I think the Zips will win. Creighton is good, but what are they really playing for? They are accustomed to the NCAA Tournament, much like Temple. An NIT berth is a failure for that program. Keith Dambrot’s Zips will play just as hard as if it were the NCAA, just because it’s been so long since Akron has been in the postseason.

Men’s basketball

Here is Mike Hixenbaugh’s column about the Temple game and the upcoming contest against Creighton.

Also, if you haven’t read Terry Pluto’s column from today, I suggest it. The Beacon Journal sent him to the game in Philadelphia.

My Akron/Creighton preview will be posted by tomorrow afternoon.

Men’s basketball

Akron won its first-ever Division I postseason game tonight at Temple, 80-73.

Quade Milum was the story of the night. He scored a career-high 13 points. It also sounded like he was in on every defensive play.

Darryl Peterson had 17. Nick Dials had 17. Romeo Travis had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

The game’s biggest hoop was Dru Joyce’s driving layup with 10 seconds left. When given the opportunity to tie the game at Ohio, he missed it. Not tonight.

Joyce’s layup took the game went to overtime, where the Zips grabbed an early lead and kept it.

Akron’s win finished John Chaney’s storied career as Temple’s head coach.

Hopefully, it will not be the end of Mardy Collins’ career. After a supposed neck injury, Collins was taken out on a backboard. NBADraft.net has Collins as the 11th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft.

Officials stopped the game for 20 minutes following the injury, which occurred with fewer than 30 seconds left in overtime. Travis and Dials sunk free throws to seal it.

The Zips will play next Thursday in Omaha, Neb., against Creighton, the No. 2 seed in Akron’s bracket. The game will start at 8 p.m. Eastern time. At this point, no television or Gametracker will be available.

The ZipsNation Index (ZNI) stands at 72 as of 9:30 p.m.