Football

Could Akron be bowl eligible but not play in December?

VanDelaySports.com says "yes" in its MAC Football Preview.

According to VanDelay, Akron will lose the MAC Championship, then have to fight with Northern Illinois and Central Michigan for the Birmingham Bowl.

Everything I have heard indicates the opposite. Akron's fan support in the Motor City Bowl basically clinches a bowl berth in 2006 if the Zips are 7-5 or 8-4, Mike Waddell told me when he was still in charge of external relations at Akron.

The 9,000 tickets Akron sold for the Motor City Bowl was the talk of many college football circles, many have told me. And since projected fan revenue is so important for bowl selection and the MAC now has four bowl tie-ins, it would seem Akron has a slightly easier road this year than before.

I don't mean to pick on VanDelay, because the rest of their predictions seem pretty feasible. The site places Luke Getsy and Kiki Gonzalez on its First-Team All-MAC. It also predicts a road victory for the Zips over Cincinnati (Sorry, Nature Boy).

Softball

Late is better than never … I guess.

GoZips.com finally acknowledged that coach Julie Wright bolted to be an assistant at Wisconsin. That is 22 days after Wright resigned.

In the press release, Wright gave the usual garbage "I'm leaving but I love Akron" quote. Here are her exact words:

"It is with a mixture of sadness and excitement that I leave Akron for Wisconsin. Akron is an exceptional institution with incredible backing for its student-athletes. From the facilities to the academic support, this Athletics department is truly doing things the right way. There is no doubt in my mind that Zips softball will continue its successful climb in the Mid-American Conference. I want to thank (Athletics Director) Mack Rhodes and (Senior Associate Athletics Director) Mary Lu Gribshaw for this wonderful opportunity and wish all of the coaches and student-athletes continued success and nothing but the very best."

Hopefully Wright enjoys her downward movement in college softball. In the meantime, Rhoades will look for her replacement.

This is what Rhoades had to say about Wright leaving:

"We thank Julie for the outstanding progress the softball program made under her leadership and wish her the best in her new endeavor."

I love Mack, but come on. Endeavor? She's not starting a small business or venturing into a new sport. She is taking a step back in her career, which seemed to be progressing nicely.

That is all for today's ultra-sarcastic Rasor on the Zips.

Men's basketball

After doing some more Web scouring, I found a couple more players that have an interest in Akron…

• Brian Williams, a 6-foot-9, 260 pound center from Cincinnati. I can't find much more on him other than his Rivals.com profile, which is basically useless. It does say that Cincinnati, St. John's, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are also in the running for Williams.
• Hakim McCullar, a 6-7, 220 power forward from Cincinnati. Other schools in the running include Dayton, South Florida, Miami (Ohio) and Oakland (Mich.).

You can add those players to this list of three other targets.

Football

The Zips are going after another receiver, Scout.com says.

B.J. Cunningham is 6-foot-1, 185 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds. As a junior, Cunningham was on the all-conference, all-district and honorable mention all-Ohio teams.

He has scholarship offers from Akron, Cincinnati, Miami (Ohio), Toledo and West Virginia. Michigan State, Syracuse, Indiana and Penn State are also options, Rivals.com says.

Akron has now offered scholarships to 31 players, according to Scout.com's list. To read about each of the other 30, scroll down on this page.

Football

For those of you who were on the fence about traveling to Penn State, this news may keep you in Ohio: The Zips/Nittany Lions game will be on ESPN2.

That makes a total of four nationally televised Zips games — if you count three ESPNU broadcasts (@ Ohio, @ NC State and vs. Buffalo).

This kind of news is how you reel in recruits. I'm sure coach J.D. Brookhart and staff are pleased.

Miscellaneous

The MAC put out a list of standards by which its schools must abide.

• Academically centered
• Inclusive culture
• Rules compliant
• Nationally competitive
• Externally recognizable
• Financially sound

At the meeting, the MAC honored outgoing Kent State President Carol Cartwright. I'm telling you this to set up a story of mine…

I received a scholarship for journalism a couple months ago. I gave a speech at this luncheon in which I talked a little about how I hate Kent State, and especially its fans.

Soon after my speech, I found out that Cartwright was in attendance during the speech. D'oh!

If you're reading this, Dr. Cartwright, I really meant no offense to you and your wonderful institution. But seriously, I hate a lot of its fans.

Men's basketball

I have gone over the football targets the past couple weeks. A co-worker of mine at the Indy Star reminded me that the summer is also a hot time for men's basketball recruiting.

So here is what I could dig up about some of the players Akron has interest in…

• Steve Swiech, a 6-foot-9, 240 pound center from Elizabeth, Pa. I remember coach Keith Dambrot telling me that Akron cannot get a polished big man. Well, Swiech (pronounced SWIK) looks pretty close to that. As a junior, he was on the Class AAA third team, scoring 26.8 points and 12 rebounds per game. The real shocker is that Swiech plays defense, too. He averaged 8 blocks a game. Scout.com ranks Swiech as the 19th best center recruit in the nation. The site also gives Swiech three stars, which would rank him higher than any Zips recruit in recent years. He recently underwent surgery on his pinky toe to fix a stress fracture. Akron and Duquesne are his only offers so far, according to Scout. Swiech also is interested in Kent State, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Penn State, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Xavier. Although Pitt has not yet offered a scholarship, the Panthers seem to be the frontrunner for Swiech.
• Kevin Johnson, a 6-5, 185 power forward from Chicago. I can't find much on this guy. Scout.com says he has offers from Akron, Ohio and Ball State. The site gives Johnson two stars, which sometimes is a euphamism for the guy not being important enough to rank.
• Jessie Bosnik, a 6-1, 185 shooting guard from Saint Mary's, Pa. Scoring 18.1 points per game, Bosnik made the Class A first team as a junior in Pennsylvania. Scout.com says Bosnik has plenty of teams interested in him, but no scholarship offers. Those teams are Akron, Colgate, Kent State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, St. Bonaventure, St. Francis, West Virginia and Youngstown State. Bosnik also has two stars. Check his Rivals.com profile to view Bosnik's other stats.

For the most part, most of Akron's targets — both in basketball and football — are above average at best. The Zips have not really been in the running for a nationally revered stud recruit in the past few years, despite solid recruiting classes from Dambrot and J.D. Brookhart.

Where am I going with this? Well, one of Akron's targets this year was a big-time player…

• Kosta Koufos, a 7-foot, 230 center from Canton. Rivals.com ranks Koufos as the 12th best player in the country, regardless of position. Despite his size, Koufos considers himself a power forward in college because of his shooting ability. Here's the kicker: Koufos verbally committed to Ohio State in late May. He had offers from Illinois, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan and Michigan State. Two schools had interest but had not offered: Akron and North Carolina. Oh well. It's still a good sign that Koufos would report that he had interest in the Zips to a national Web site.

Football

As Captain Kangaroo reported on ZipsNation.org, receiver Vincent Hill has verbally committed to play at Akron.

The 5-10 player from Fort Washington, Md. chose Akron over Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Temple, Virginia, West Virginia and Kent State.

Hill is the Zips second verbal commitment and also their second receiver, behind Jerome Royal.

Football

Receiver Jerome Royal from Cleveland Heights High School recently committed to play for the Zips, according to the Akron Beacon Journal's Gary Estwick.

Royal, who is 6-foot-2, also had offers from Eastern Michigan and Ohio. Many Big East, Big Ten and MAC schools recruited him, too, but Royal liked how Akron was first to show interest. Some of those MAC schools also include Ball State, Miami and Toledo, Rivals.com says.

• An announcement about the second recruit may be coming soon, said a moderator on ZipsNation.org — the famous Captain Kangaroo. Vincent Hill, a Maryland receiver who Akron recently offered a scholarship, has accepted it with a verbal commitment, Kangaroo said.

Track

For those of you curious about how Akron fared as a team at the NCAA Championships, like I was, GoZips published the results.

The men took 46th with John Russell and Tomasz Smialek scoring a total of four points. The women took 70th behind Ashley Kaufman's and Natalie Sako's performances, which gained Akron one point.

The men's 46th-place finish was best in the MAC. The women tied Toledo for the highest MAC team.

Football

Akron has offered Maryland receiver Vincent Hill a scholarship. Hill is 5-foot-10, 174 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.47. Someone from OhioVarsity.com posted this news on ZipsNation.org. Apparently Hill was a top performer at a recent camp at the Field House.

Scout.com only lists Hill as having interest in Marshall and Pittsburgh. Rivals.com adds these schools: Akron, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan State, North Carolina, Rutgers, West Virginia, Temple and Kent State.

The person from OhioVarsity.com also posted a link to some pictures from the camp. You can also catch up on summer happenings in the MAC by reading this story on MACReportOnline.com.

Football

The Zips will enter this season with two juniors on top of their depth chart at safety: Chris Brown and Chevin Pace.

Two years from now, coach J.D. Brookhart (I pray every night he's still here then) will have to replace both safeties. There's a good chance one of them will come from this list of recruiting targets…

• David Arnold, a 6-foot-1, 183-pound safety from Copley High School. You may remember Arnold from the Beacon Journal's enterprise feature on him a couple weeks ago on A1. Gary Estwick's story told about the legions of schools who are contacting Arnold, and offering him a scholarship. In the story, Estwick wrote Brookhart sent Arnold letters telling him he could help propel the Zips to being on of the elite mid-major schools in the country. Scout.com says that list includes Akron, Illinois and Syracuse. Other schools of interest include Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana and Purdue. Rivals.com adds Minnesota and Notre Dame to that list. A recent journal entry in the ABJ includes Toledo, Boston College and Penn State, without mentioning Akron. Arnold, who runs track at Copley, has a 40-yard dash time of 4.47 seconds. At this point, it seems like Illinois is the favorite, but if Michigan and Ohio State step up their pursuit, who knows?
• Phillip Sheridan, a safety from Drexel Hill, Pa. Scout.com does not list his size, weight or speed. Rivals.com does not mention Sheridan at all. All I know is that Temple and Akron have offered him a scholarship, according to Scout.com. Florida, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Rutgers are other teams of interest.
• Trenton Hughes, a 5-11, 170 safety from Virginia Beach, Va. Yep, another recruit from this area. It seems that the coaching staff is establishing a strong recruiting base in this area, to go along with its Florida connections. That's good. Anyhow, Hughes runs the 40 in 4.53. He has offers from Akron, Syracuse, Kent State and Wake Forest, with interest in Maryland, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Rivals.com lists Hughes as an "athlete" who runs a 4.4. The site adds East Carolina and South Carolina. Hughes also competes in the long jump in high school, according to the Virginian Pilot.

As for cornerbacks, senior Reggie Corner and junior Davanzo Tate will start next season, with sophomore Brandon Anderson and senior Dionte Henry as backups.

Brookhart may need a corner as a backup in 2007. Here are his recruiting targets at that position:

• Chris Rucker, a 6-1, 185 cornerback from Warren. Akron is the only offer for Rucker, who runs a 4.5 in the 40 and intercepted five passes last year as a junior. Schools of interest include Pittsburgh, Indiana, Kent State, Minnesota, Purdue and Syracuse, Scout.com says. Rivals.com actually lists Rucker as a wide receiver, which is where Rucker may project in college. He also had six touchdown receptions as a junior. A story on Scout.com says Pittsburgh is the early favorite.
• Lester Bell, a 5-11, 170 cornerback from (you guessed it) Virginia Beach, Va. Bell runs the 40 in 4.43, Rivals.com says. Bell has offers from Akron, East Carolina, Kent State, Syracuse and Wake Forest. Other schools of interest include Virginia and Virginia Tech. Rivals.com adds Maryland to the list.
• James Butts, a 5-10, 172 cornerback from Norfolk, Va. He runs the 40 in 4.5 and has offers from Akron and Boston College. Other schools are Florida, Maryland, Penn State, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Clemson and Notre Dame should also be included, Rivals.com says.

We shall see if Brookhart's Virginia Beach plan is as effective as his Florida recruiting last year.

Track

Coach Dennis Mitchell certainly had high expectations for his athletes in yesterday's NCAA Championship finals.

So high, four All-Americans is not enough.

"We were trying hard to bring the Zips home a national individual title," he said.

Ashley Kaufman, who was ranked first nationally in the javelin earlier in the season, injured her back in the early rounds, which prevented her from taking her last three throws.

"Javelin throwing is a brutal event," Mitchell said. "The unnatural torque on the body can lead to many different types of injuries."

Kaufman, who has fractured her back before, ends her career as a two-time All-American.

Many expected John Russell to finish higher as well. He didn't because he had an all-or-nothing strategy in the event. He had been a four-time All-American leading up to the event.

"For John Russell, the whole strategy was to win the event," Mitchell said. "We passed some bars, took some risks that we knew we would have to take to help him win, but it cost him a higher placing."

Mitchell said Natalie Sako actually took the Zips' third All-American honor, not Tomasz Smialek. Sako, who finished 12th in the high jump, gained the award basically on a technicality. There were six international competitors in her event. The top eight Americans automatically earn All-American status.

Sako also was injured during the event, but still peformed well, Mitchell said.

"She gave it her all and was still able to muster two bar clearances," he said.

Smialek was the Zips fourth All-American athlete.

Although this was a sour ending for Mitchell, I think the whole season was a success. Sending 22 athletes to regionals, six to nationals, four to the national finals and having three All-Americans is pretty damn impressive. That's not to mention the team accomplishments, such as the women's Triple Crown and the men surpassing anything they have ever done.

Mitchell prefers to look to next year:

"We hope to soon be an even (bigger) player on the national stage. I think we had our best year of recruiting. So continue to watch out for us in the future."

Track

Akron's two best hopes for a national championship fell short today at the NCAA Championships.

Ashley Kaufman placed eighth in the javelin. John Russell was sixth in the pole vault. On the bright side, that makes both of them All-Americans. So was Tomasz Smialek, who placed eighth as well. High jumper Natalie Sako placed 12th, but also was an All-American since she was one of the top eight Americans in her competition.

I meant to cover this better, but I've been driving home from Indy. Comments from coach Dennis Mitchell will be on the way.

CORRECTED ON SUNDAY: Akron had four All-Americans with Sako getting in because she was one of the top eight American women high jumpers.