Zips receive another point guard commitment
Posted August 30th, 2007 by mrasor
Men’s basketball
According to the recruiting sites, Painesville point guard Alex Sullivan has committed to Akron.
Rivals.com calls it a soft verbal, which seems like a lesser level of commitment. Neither site offers much more insight on Sullivan.
Akron will have five scholarships to offer this recruiting season. Combo guard Anthony “Humpty” Hitchens already has accepted one.
Looking at the roster, the team will need a couple big men to replace Quade Milum and Jeremiah Wood.
The ABJ’s Michael Beaven reminded me that Rydell Brooks has transferred from Niagara. He will sit out this season due to transfer rules. No word on whether he will receive a scholarship. If he does, that will make four point guards on scholarship (five if you count Hitchens). And they’ll all be underclassmen. Can somebody say “logjam”?
His blog provides Brooks’ stats at Niagara, which were unimpressive as a freshmen. Beaven told me he has seen Brooks play and is impressed by the guard’s athleticism, jump shot and slashing ability. At 6-foot-2, he will be a good defender in trapping situations.
- And then there’s this…
Zippy will get a shot to win Capital One Mascot of the Year.
Fans will vote to choose the winner. I assume we will see plenty of our favorite marsupial in the new few months on commercials promoting the contest.
As Mack Rhoades points out, this is great exposure for the UA athletics department.
Some of you have expressed concerns that, aside from a few promotions for the Patriot Bowl, how would a layperson know the Zips are fielding a team this season? My take is this: People who will buy season tickets probably will do so regardless. The real marketing campaign should come on a week-by-week basis where you can get the fringe fans possibly to drop by the Rubber Bowl on a whim. A school with limited resources must use them wisely and not necessarily advertise for the benefit of current fans.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:07 am
“The real marketing campaign should come on a week-by-week basis where you can get the fringe fans possibly to drop by the Rubber Bowl on a whim. A school with limited resources must use them wisely and not necessarily advertise for the benefit of current fans.”
What does this mean? Sounds like an internal excuse for lack of effort.
August 31st, 2007 at 9:11 am
Mike, with the Patriot Bowl being a Third Party sponsored event, except for a few Clear Channel video board ads and a few flyers at FirstMerit, and an ad every now and then in the paper; you have to admit that Cleveland and FirstMerit did a very poor job of advertising this game.
As for the Athletic Department, I agree, you only have so much money you can spend, and with the articles on the new stadium creating buzz do you really need to have a big push before the season starts?
August 31st, 2007 at 9:20 am
From what I know, the dept. is working hard, but not in the ways that are obvious to the typical fans. Does it really show effort to have tons of billboards and newspaper ads? Or is that just showing off one’s expendable funds?
Their “grassroots campaign” is cheap in execution and fruitful — or so they say — in boosting attendance. We shall see.
August 31st, 2007 at 11:51 am
People who will buy season tickets probably will do so regardless.
Please don’t go into marketing Razor.
August 31st, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Alex Sullivan was a 3rd-Team D-1 All-Ohio member last season. Another great verbal for Akron!
September 1st, 2007 at 11:10 pm
[...] Mike Rasor reports that Allex Sullivan from Painsville has given a ’soft’ commit to UofA as another point guard. Sullivan is 5′ 10″ and weights in at 160 pounds. [...]