Football

One major goal of spring football was to decide who would take over for Luke Getsy as quarterback.

Mission failed.

If anything, the battle became more misty. Frontrunner Carlton Jackson had a very mediocre spring, which was broken up by an early concussion. Chris Jacquemain, last year’s third-stringer, suffered an early shoulder injury and returned to move the offense impressively. Sean Hakes benefitted from his competitors’ injuries by getting a lot more snaps than he would have; he showed some terrific ability, yet committed some colossal errors.

This is a crucial decision for J.D. Brookhart because it will determine the team’s offensive leader for the next three or four years. In April, I wrote Hakes should be the choice. My reasoning is that he has a higher ceiling than Jacquemain, fewer character issues than Jackson and one year more of eligibility than both.

With three qualified candidates, don’t be surprised to see one or both of the losers to change positions or transfer. And that’s not to mention touted true freshman Matt Rodgers, who will join the team in July. A friend joked to me: “Wouldn’t it be funny if Brookhart said, ‘Forget you guys. We’re going with Rodgers.’ ” I suppose the humor would depend on your perspective.

Anyhow, the quarterback decision is very important. I really don’t think Akron can go wrong (unless Jackson’s character issues are worse than I think). Although I endorsed Hakes, my hunch is that Jacquemain will start Sept. 1 against Army.

Here are some recruiting notes I dug up from Rivals.com, starting with a new offer…

Joe Pachuta, offensive tackle, New Concord, Ohio
Offers: Akron and Maryland
Height: 6-foot-7
Weight: 285
Speed: 5.4 (I think I can bear crawl 40 yards in that time.)
Notes: Rivals.com calls him one of the best kept secrets in Ohio, but word is getting out. He said he needs to work on his run blocking.
Likelihood: His top five teams are all ACC and Big 10 schools. That’s not good, considering Akron actually offered a scholarship, unlike four of his top five. He’s probably not coming here.

More notes…

Rivals upgraded two recruits, Cordale Scott and Devoe Torrence, to four-star status. They are both almost certainly attending Ohio State.

Jacob Charest, quarterback from North Carolina, declined to name a favorite among his offering schools (Akron, California, Illinois, Louisville and Oregon). If Cal is after this guy, he must be a big deal. Charest will decide later in the summer.

Tight end Justin Virbitsky received offers from Duke and Temple. He already had offers from Akron and Buffalo.

Offensive tackle Ryan Turnley from Pennsylvania picked up some BCS offers, and that seems to be where he wants to play.

Will Fleming, the coach’s kid, is getting a lot more interest from Hawaii, Illinois, Purdue and Michigan State. He only has one offer to this point, however: Akron.

Cameron Saddler, an athlete from Pennsylvania, recently narrowed his list of teams from 17 to 10. Akron made the cut. However, Saddler would like to play with high school teammate five-star Shayne Hale, whom the Zips have not offered.

Miscellaneous

This is a slow time for Zips sports.

Except for the NCAA track championships next week, there is nothing going on. Recruiting is quiet, too.

In the next few days, I’ll be breaking down the football team, however, position by position.

In the mean time, there are rumors I’m working to confirm or dispell about top receivers David Harvey and Jermaine Lindsey possibly being academically ineligible.

Tomorrow, I’ll talk a little about the quarterbacks.

Football

I can’t remember the last time Akron went after a player in Michigan.

First, the talent isn’t all that great up there, compared to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. Second, there’s about a bajillion colleges that will fight the Zips on each one.

Anyhow, here are three new scholarship offers, including one from Michigan.

Caulton Ray, running back, Birmingham, Mich.
Height: 5-foot-9
Weight: 195
Speed: 4.49
Offers: Akron, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan
Notes: Ray tested very well at a combine in Columbus. There are several decent running backs in Michigan this year, so he’s not getting a ton of attention. Ray has designs on playing under the spotlight as a Miami Hurricane. The ‘Canes are talking to him, but it will take a few rejections from better running backs for Miami to have a scholarship open up. He also likes Michigan State and Nebraska.
Likelihood: Of course, Ray has offers from none of these schools. It may come down to a battle of the mid-majors.

Dalonte Wallace, defensive end, Greenbelt, Md.
Height: 6-0
Weight: 206
Speed: 4.8
Offers: Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan and James Madison
Notes: Wallace is looking for a school that has a good academic support system, a decent business school and outstanding football facilities. Sounds like Akron to me.
Likelihood: Despite that, Wallace did not mention Akron when Rivals.com interviewed him, except saying the Zips offered a scholie. It’s possible Akron’s coaching staff is arriving late in Wallace’s recruitment, so that could improve. Wallace said he thinks Syracuse and N.C. State could offer soon.

Ausar Walcott, safety, Hackensack, N.J.
Height: 6-5
Weight: 200
Speed: 4.5
Offers: Akron, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Notes: A 6-5, 200-pound safety who runs a 4.5??? Yeah. Pretty bizarre. Scout.com gives conflicting stats (6-1, 175), but Rivals.com is a much better and more complete information source, so I’m not sure what’s right.
Likelihood: Walcott grew up watching Rutgers and Maryland, so those schools have an advantage. Virginia is his leader, however. That puts Akron way down on the list. (No matter where Walcott winds up, I’d love to watch him play. A safety who is that tall and skinny is the equivalent to me of having a 7-foot point guard.)

Golf

It looks like Tom Porten reeled in a superb recruiting class this year.

That class includes Doug Underwood, who took Stow golf by storm the year after I graduated from the team. The Bulldogs reached the state tournament last fall.

I really don’t think the Zips’ success this year will be an anomaly. Akron’s roster is deeply stacked with talent and a competitve rivalry with Kent State has formed.

Football

“Smooth” Dan Kadar previewed Miami’s season.

After a disastrous 2006 season, the RedHawks return a lot of starters. But will they be much better?

Track

In a regional meet that saw near misses, weird rulings and injuries, one bright point is that high jumper Natalie Sako earned an at-large invitation to nationals.

With Stevi Large (hammer throw) and Auston Papay (shot put and discus), that makes three athletes representing Akron in four events in the NCAA Championships — the team’s smallest group of national qualifiers since 2002.

“Even though we had our largest contingency ever and one of the larger groups in the region, unfortunately we came away with our worse showings ever at this meet,” head coach Dennis Mitchell said.

There were some odd happenings that prevented Akron from having more national qualifiers. Crystal Goldsmith, for example, sat in a three-way tie for fourth after the pole vault finals. She injured herself, however, and the Zips coaches tried to stall a little to let her recouperate. No one complained — not the official or the other coaches. A meet referee, however, stepped in an disqualified Goldsmith.

“That event was crazy,” said Mitchell, who protested the call and tried to have it overturned.

The Zips performed well in the 4×400 relay, but were disqualified for a lane violation. It was a violation that officials announced along with the event’s results, so the coaching staff had no chance to protest.

Further, Cadeau Kelley had a great leap in the long jump, but it was called a fault, despite video evidence to the contrary.

“That was a tough one to swallow,” Mitchell said. “It was one of those types of meets.”

Mitchell said he still is confident Akron will have a strong performance at nationals, despite the smaller contingency.

“The three we have going to nationals should do a great job,” he said. “They are all veterans of the meet.”

Golf

Tom Gaffney wrote a season synopsis of the Zips’ rise to prominence.

If you haven’t kept up on the team, you should read it.

Track

Taking 23 athletes to regionals is impressive.

Having two advance to nationals is not.

Stevi Large (hammer throw) will compete for a national championship in two weeks. Shetook third. Crystal Goldsmith took fourth in the pole vault, but missed an automatic bid in the jump-off.

Large joins Auston Papay, Akron’s lone male representative for the meet in Sacramento. Ryan Jones finished just one spot away from qualifying for the high jump. Jones and Natalie Sako, who both took sixth, have an outside chance at earning an at-large bid. Sako, with her high national ranking in the high jump, probably has the better shot.

If you’re into team rankings, the men came in 23rd with nine points. The women were 21st with three.

The NCAA Championships begin June 6. Last year, Akron sent six athletes to nationals, and it very easily could have been more.

This is a pretty young team, so it’s not really a complete letdown. Just as we’re seeing in the NBA playoffs, experience is invaluable when the competition matters most. But in that vein, Papay has been to nationals before. He did not qualify for finals, however.

Track

With a third place finish in the discus, junior Auston Papay will make his second trip to nationals in two weeks.

Natalie Sako finished sixth in the high jump, just one spot away from qualifying. She still might, however, earn an at-large berth.

Football

Kenny Anunkike runs a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash, is 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds. His coach calls the Lewis Center, Ohio tight end a relentless blocker.

But it’s all a moot point. Rivals.com is reporting 1) that Akron offered him a scholarship and 2) Anunkike already committed to Duke.

Other tight end targets include Johnstown, Pa.’s Mike Cruz (whom they won’t get) and Jermyn, Pa.’s Justin Virbitsky (whom no one else wants). A fourth tight end, Demetrius Boone from California, has similar stats as Anunkike, reports interest in Akron, but has not received a scholarship offer from the Zips coaching staff.

I took a look at the players who notified Rivals.com of their interest in Akron. Thirteen of them have offers from other schools, making them likely Division-I players and possibly the next scholarship offers for the Zips.

Gary Thornton, all-purpose back from Youngstown, has an offer from Army.
Corey Lewis, offensive tackle from Cresco, Pa., has offers from Connecticut and Temple.
Michael Kay, offensive guard from Maryland, accepted Syracuse’s scholarship offer — the only one he had on the table.
Andrew Phelan, offensive guard from West Chester, Ohio, has offers from Buffalo and Toledo.
Pat Wertz, defensive end from Tinley Park, Ill., has an offer from Eastern Michigan.
Gordon Kickels, linebacker from Lemont, Ill., has offers from Air Force and Bowling Green.
Jon Sharp, linebacker from Pittsburgh, has an offer from Toledo.
Drew Stevens, linebacker from Lewis Center, Ohio, has an offer from Kent State.
Manny Williams, linebacker from Clairton, Pa., has an offer from Toledo.
Thomas Douglas, safety from Columbus, has offers from Iowa and Cincinnati.
Jermaine Robinson, safety from Pittsburgh, committed to West Virginia — his only offer on the table.
Ryan Smoot, safety from Columbus, has offers from Air Force and Eastern Michigan.

Baseball

Kurt Davidson and Doug McNulty will return for their senior seasons as All-MAC First Team players.

With these two guys in the middle of the order, Akron’s offense should be a powerhouse. Like I wrote earlier, the Zips will need some young pitchers to step up in order for the team to be a conference contender.

Track

The Midwest Regional begins today Friday.

Twenty-three Zips will attempt to finish in the top five in order to advance to the NCAA Championships.

You can follow the action online at this link.

By the way, six Zips earned a spot on the All-MAC academic team.

Softball

Jaclyn Spirtos, the senior catcher, is also an all-conference academic performer.

Football

It’s way too early to analyze or rank 2008 recruiting classes in the MAC.

In fact, only Bowling Green has received a commitment so far.

However, we can tell how many scholarship offers each team has made, according to Rivals.com.

1. Akron - 28
2. Toledo - 20
3. Miami - 19
4. EMU - 18
5. Temple - 16
5. CMU - 16
7. Ball State - 14
8. Bowling Green - 12
8. WMU - 12
10. Buffalo - 8
10. Northern Illinois - 8
12. Kent - 7
13. Ohio - 4

What does that mean?

One of two things: 1) The teams at the top are more active (or aggressive) so far. 2) Every team has offered a similar amount of scholarships. The teams at the top, however, have offered them to better players. The lesser players are not listed in Rivals’ database.

Either way, the data indicate Akron is on its way to another recruiting class near the top of the conference.