Women's basketball

It's been 10 years since Akron (5-5) has boasted a .500 or better record this late in the season.

Niki McCoy played a huge role in her team's 66-58 win today at Youngstown State. She scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

The Zips will return home Tuesday to play St. Francis (Pa.) at 5:30 p.m., which will precede the men's game.

Men's basketball

It looks like foul shooting will decide this game.

Both teams are at the bonus with more than 10 minutes to play.

Men's basketball

Akron capped the first half with a 10-2 lead to take a 37-36 lead over Illinois-Chicago at intermission.

The Zips looked awful on the boards early, at one point trailing 21-10 in rebounding. At halftime, the discrepancy is 26-19.

T.J. Gray kept the Flames ahead by making three 3-pointers. Josh Mayo also has nine points. Scott VanderMeer, a 6-foot-11 Bowling Green transfer, has grabbed six rebounds for UIC.

Akron is winning because the team shot 45 percent, compared to UIC's 34 percent. Despite being shorter than the Flames' front line, Romeo Travis has used his quickness to score 13 points. Nick Dials has made all three of his 3-point attempts. The Zips also have done a fine job limiting Othyus Jeffers, who is 2-for-8 with five points.

Men's basketball

Keith Dambrot offered today's opponent, Illinois-Chicago, some bulletin-board material in Tom Gaffney's game preview.

Although Dambrot said the Flames are better than Oral Roberts, he added the team doesn't play hard every night — leading to inconsistency that is clearly true from the team's sporadic 5-5 record.

Dambrot said the Zips will work today to find more consistency themselves at small forward and to cut down turnovers — particularly from the non-guards.

• The USA Today's Danny Sheridan calls this game a toss up.
• Sportsbooks are saying Akron is either a one-point favorite or 1.5-point underdog with the over under at 143 or 144.
• The game will start at 4 p.m. EST. You can watch it on Comcast or on the Horizon League's Web site. They will ask you to register for free. They don't stop you from signing up with a phony e-mail address.

I agree with Sheridan's prediction in that it's tough to say what Illinois-Chicago team will show up. College basketball teams are so inconsistent in the nonconference season, it's a real crap shoot to pick winners.

I am fairly confident, however, that if Akron plays like it has all season — exceptions being against Little Rock and Winston-Salem — the Zips will beat Illinois-Chicago at its best.

Josh Mayo and Othyus Jeffers are capable of scoring a ton of points quickly. If the Zips guards can keep them both under 20, the Flames won't have enough offense to win.

Prediction: Zips 71, Flames 59

Football

Next fall, the Zips could play in the inaugural Patriot Bowl — an annual game at Cleveland Browns Stadium pitting one of Ohio's MAC schools against a U.S. service academy: Army, Navy or Air Force.

That is according to a Record-Courier story that also mentions the MAC's football scheduling is well on its way to being complete. Remember, Temple enters the MAC East next season, so Akron will play one fewer cross-over game against the MAC West.

Kent State athletic director Laing Kennedy said it is not a certainty Akron would play in the first Patriot Bowl. However, the Zips already have Army on next year's schedule, although it's an away game.

Akron's other games next season include…

• Sept. 8 - A new quarterback will try to run the Zips offense against the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes at the Horseshoe.
• Sept. 15 - Indiana visits the Rubber Bowl (if there's anything left of it by then). This would be the Zips first win against a Big 10 team in a long, long time. I'm talking maybe more than a century ago.
• Sept. 22 - Possibly the Zips' fourth non-conference game. Or it could be an off week.
• Sept. 29 - Akron travels to Army. Of course, this might be the first Patriot Bowl.

Certain home MAC games include Kent State and Ohio. Away MAC games include Miami, Bowling Green and Buffalo. It would appear Temple would be a home game to balance it out. The conference also will add two cross-over games. (Here's hoping for Eastern Michigan and Ball State.)

Miscellaneous

The Buchtelite's sports editor Adam Ferrise started a Zips blog on The Sporting News' Web site.

Bookmark this site.

Ferrise knows 10 times more than me when it comes to college athletics. It's almost sick how he can rattle off starting lineups for Missouri Valley Conference teams.

I'm not sure how often he plans to post on the blog, but his insight and analysis is definitely valuable.

Men's basketball

John Carson, who earned a letter with the Zips in 2000, was fatally shot after reportedly forcing his way into a home during a robbery attempt.

LIfe after basketball for Carson, 29, included multiple felony incarcerations, according to the Springfield News-Sun. You can listen to the 911 tape by clicking the above link.

If anyone has any memories about Carson as a player at UA or a person, feel free to post them below.

Men's basketball

Illinois-Chicago has a history of being a strong program, having been to the NCAA Tournament three of the past seven years. The Flames (5-5) will be Akron's opponent Saturday at 4 p.m. in Chicago.

They return four starters and five reserves from a 16-15 team that beat Mississippi and Georgia Tech but struggled through a six-game losing streak in the middle of last season.

Here is how the starting five breaks down…

• Spencer Stewart, a 6-foot-4 freshman point guard, leads the team with 3.1 assists per game. He is a respectable threat to score from 3-point land, but not much else.
• Josh Mayo, a 5-10 sophomore guard, has the ability to score a ton. He dropped 26 points in a loss to Davidson. An injury thrust Mayo into a starting role last season, and coach Jimmy Collins was pleased with his ability to run the team. Mayo and Stewart both can play point guard. Collins said they're both smart players.
• Othyus Jeffers, a 6-5 junior swingman, has led the team with 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 32.1 minutes per game. Also a decent defender, Jeffers is the Flames' best player.
• Jovan Stefanov, a 6-9 power forward from Serbia, averages 10 points and six rebounds a game.
• Scott VanderMeer, a 6-11 center, averages 4.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks a game. VanderMeer sat out last season after transferring from Bowling Green, where he played 9.7 minutes per game as a freshman.

Collins uses a 10-man rotation of players who can all expect to play at least 15 minutes per game. Depth is certainly a strength, and that should help the Flames once they enter the Horizon League portion of their schedule.

Other important cogs include…

• Junior guard T.J. Gray, a transfer from Western Illinois, who is averaging 8.8 points per game.
• Senior forward Danijel Zoric, another Serbian player, who chips in 5.2 points and 2.5 rebounds a game. He was a starter last season.
• Junior guard Karl White puts up similar stats to Zoric. He is a defensive role player.

This season, the Flames have struggled at rebounding and defense. Opposing teams have been able to cash in on second-chance points. Coach Collins also mentioned the team needs to close out on 3-point shooters better.

Illinois-Chicago is much better than a 5-5 team. The Flames are beatable, but the Zips won't do it by playing like they did against Winston-Salem State. Coach Keith Dambrot rarely allows his team to play sloppy on consecutive nights. I won't make a prediction just yet, but I think Akron will win as long as Nate Linhart and the guards can limit Jeffers and Mayo from having huge games.

Football

Most of us would agree the Zips' offensive line had some bad games this season.

J.D. Brookhart wasted little time in filling his commit list with solid blockers, including two more who committed this week.

• Casey Estrada, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound tackle from Sacramento City Community College, committed today. Rivals.com gives Estrada three stars. He chose Akron over a scholarship offer from Wyoming and interest in Temple. Estrada played with a huge offensive line (by junior college standards) at Sac City. Of the five juco prospects Akron is targeting, Estrada is the best, according to Rivals.com. That list includes two receivers, a defensive end and a cornerback. I can't find much more on Estrada, but he should be able to start next season. It appears he'll have two years of eligibility remaining.
• Jake Anderson, a 6-4, 278 guard from Erie, Pa., also committed today. He had scholarship offers from Connecticut, Ohio and Buffalo. Anderson's official visit to Connecticut came during the Huskies' loss to Cincinnati. He rated it a 8.5 or 9, because no school "can be exactly perfect." Scout.com lists Anderson as a defensive tackle. That's probably wrong for his college position. Both major recruiting sites give Anderson two stars.

Here is a listing of the Zips' offensive line commitments so far…

• Three stars - Estrada, Paul Simkovich
• Two stars - Anderson, Dan Ronsman, Zac Kasperek

That's a great O-line class, and we still have two months until signing day.

It's early, but the Zips are running away as the MAC's best recruiter again. All the other teams are just doing so-so. Kent State is having an awful recruiting season. The Flashes' nine recruits average 0.89 stars, compared to Akron's 2.25.

Here are some updates from the Zips' other three-star potential recruits…

• Kahlil Permenter, a safety from Maryland, will sit out next season because of an injury. He'll probably attend prep school or a junior college. Permenter turned down scholarship offers from Akron, Temple and Boston College.
• Cornelius Ward, a cornerback from Maryland, visited Miami (Ohio) and that school sits on top of his list. Akron, Buffalo and Marshall are the other schools to offer him a scholarship.
• Aaron Gresham, an inside linebacker from Florida, didn't mention Akron in a recent Rivals.com story. The nation's No. 33 linebacker will probably end up at one of his other offers: Louisville, South Florida, Florida International or Central Florida. Florida, Michigan State and West Virginia are also interested.
• Renaldo Sageese, a defensive tackle from Montreal, is probably headed to Illinois. Minnesota also has offered him a scholarship. Akron has not.
• Mark Wooldridge, a running back from Walsh Jesuit High School, is not interested in staying close to home. He visited campus last week. Wooldridge's finalists are Marshall, Bowling Green, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Illinois.
• Morgan Williams, a running back from Canton McKinley, plans to visit Indiana and Akron, who are the only scholarship offers for the two-time Ohio Division I Player of the Year. I'm a bit surprised the Zips were late in offering Williams a scholarship. Rivals.com says he's the state's No. 2 running back prospect and 27th best in the nation. There must be something scaring off the other big schools.

Baseball

Pat Bangtson signed two left-handed pitchers and a catcher.

Bangtson said the team focused on the team's needs behind the plate and against right-handed hitters.

• Andrew Turocy is the brother of current Zips righty hurler Frank Turocy. The younger brother had a 1.45 ERA and .469 batting average his junior year. Bangtson expects him to help on offense as well.
• Scott Foster, a product of Green, was 6-2 with a 1.40 ERA last year.
• Dan Burant, a catcher from Brecksville, was all-conference with a .329 batting average his junior year.

Rifle

Both Akron's Blue and Gold teams beat Rose Hulman Institute of Technology this weekend in a home match.

The undefeated team's next challenge will come Jan. 13 at Penn State.

Cheerleading

Yup. This is the first time I've written about cheerleading.

Forgive me, but I had no idea this even counted as a team.

Well, they submitted a video that earned them a No. 8 ranking nationally — good enough to earn an invitation to the national competition in early April.

Congrats go out to everyone's favorite cheerleader, Leo Spagnola, and all his death-defying teammates.

Men's basketball

I plan to break down Illinois-Chicago sometime tomorrow.

Until then, whet your whistle with a heated discussion about the AK-Rowdies on ZipsNation.org.

Not that anyone asked, but here's my opinion… The Rowdies did something fairly miraculous on Akron's apathetic commuter campus. But they need to be careful not to be too exclusive. The more fans, the better.

I realize they had a mandatory meeting, but the University of Akron cannot afford to turn down fan support at this point. If there is an empty seat in the Rowdies and someone wants to sit there, just let them. It's nice to have a dress code to make it look organized — much like OU's O-Zone. But sending people away seems like a power trip.

I think it's a great idea to have a spill-over section in the case of the big conference games.

By the way, someone needs to toss the band out of the student section. Holy crap that's dumb.

Men's basketball

Today's Mid-Major Top 25 saw Akron moving from eighth to seventh, jumping ahead of Creighton and Winthrop.

Southern Illinois slid ahead of the Zips, from ninth to fifth, on the heels of a win at Western Kentucky, the poll's No. 6 team.

Wichita State, Butler and Gonzaga are tops in the poll.

Football

J.D. Brookhart embraced Dan Ronsman after the Illinois offensive center committed to Akron.

He was one of three recruits to choose the Zips last weekend.

• Brian Callahan was the lead recruiter on Ronsman, whom Rivals.com gives two stars. The 6-foot-3, 250 pounder also had interest in Northwestern, New Mexico, Illinois State, Ball State, Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois. Ronsman, who also played basketball in high school, could be used as a guard or center.
• Wide receiver Jalil Carter, a 6-1 speedster from Toledo, also visited campus on Friday and committed soon after. He runs a 4.43 in the 40-yard dash, according to Rivals.com. Akron assistant Aaron Alford recruited Carter, a two-star athlete for Rivals and Scout.com. Carter turned down scholarships from Kent State and Bowling Green. A Rivals.com story speculates he might be used as a defensive back as well.
• Defensive end Joe Rash, 6-2 and 250 from Pittsburgh, committed on Sunday. He turned down scholarship offers from Toledo and Buffalo. Rash calls himself "a coachable player." With a 2.3 high school GPA, hopefully he stays eligible. He had 7.5 sacks this season, but it was his 850 on the SAT that might have scared off the University of Pittsburgh, from whom Rash expected a scholarship offer. West Virginia was also a school of interest. Joe Moorhead recruited Rash. Don't be surprised if Aaron Williams, Rash's high school teammate who visited campus with him, also commits soon. The two-star linebacker is choosing between Akron and Toledo.