Miscellaneous

It’s hard to characterize 2007.

Looking back on the year, you might call it an utter disappointment. The basketball team failed to reach the postseason. The football team won four games. The soccer team got upset in the first round.

On the other hand, you could call it a success with Keith Dambrot winning 26 games and having the best men’s basketball team ever to play at Akron. The athletic department revealed its gem of a stadium. The soccer team returned to national rankings and got great play from two freshmen.

Here is the list of most notable moments from the year. Please add your memories for each one.

1) Penno’s Prayer — You won’t see many heartbreaks like this in sports. Cedrick Middleton’s free throw went off the front rim. Then 6.6 seconds seemed like an eternity as the ball found Doug Penno, who found backboard and twine. If you want to torture yourself, watch the Youtube video. I don’t think I have ever written with such anger.
What I wrote

2) Miracle at Kalamazoo — You won’t see many finishes like this game, either. Andre Jones took a pitch and cut out Western Michigan’s heart. “Everything but a band on the field,” ESPN’s commentator said about its top play of the week. If you want a reason to drop the noose from Penno’s Prayer, watch this video. Unfortunately, the rest of the season was a huge downer. In the MAC, however, you never can say next season won’t be better.
What I wrote

3) Zips flush Flashes four times — Is there anything sweeter than beating the Golden Flashes THREE times in one basketball season, including eliminating them in the MAC Tournament? Naa. Top it off with a victory in the teams’ final meeting in the Rubber Bowl. That should silence the Kent State fans for at least 12 months. Winning at the MAC Center will prove to be essential to the team’s confidence during this conference season. Here’s a video of the KSU band solemnly playing at The Q. I assume it was after the fate of its team was known.
What I wrote

4) Stadium revealed — Since 2004, we have heard promises of a new stadium. A concrete announcement came in July. It seemed like a great day for everyone involved. Well, except for the property owners who are losing their homes and businesses. This stadium will be the MAC’s finest. If it does open in 2009, the Zips will have no excuse for not competing at the highest level of any mid-major team. I had to threaten legal action in order to receive the rendering before the announcement, and that was fun.
What I wrote

5) Soccer success — The Zips returned to the level of success under Ken Lolla. Akron should sustain it too, because two of the key players Anthony Ampaipitakwong and Steve Zakuani were freshmen. The team lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but Caleb Porter will have the Zips contending for the foreseeable future.

Honorable mentions

Zippy made an improbable run for the Capital One Mascot Challenge championship. We will learn tomorrow if the marsupial beat Goldy Gopher. I say “improbable” because I assumed Akron would have no chance to beat several BCS schools in a fan voting contest. I know for a fact a handful of dedicated Zips fans were carrying the load.

The women’s track team won another MAC Championship. The men finished second, which is their highest place ever.

Golf coach Tom Porten smacked his tee-ball out of bounds by bolting to Kent State to be an assistant.

Akron suffered through severe incompetance at quarterback. Chris Jacquemain turned into Rex Grossman after the first quarter of most games. Carlton Jackson ran well, but was a turnover machine. Both guys were suspended.

The university did not renew volleyball coach Mike Sweitzer’s contract. He had held the job for 17 seasons.

The university added women’s golf. Jenny King comes from Kentucky to lead the Zips, who will begin play in 2008-09.

Men’s basketball

Click refresh as frequently as if you were voting for Zippy…

It’s 12 minutes to gametime and the bleacher area seems to be more full than most nights this season. It is a Saturday night, after all.

Fun fact of the night: Detroit outfielder Curtis Granderson attended UIC.

Nate Linhart gets the unenviable assignment of guarding 5-foot-11 Josh Mayo, who looks even shorter than that. I guess Keith Dambrot wants a long defender to contest his shots.

Guard Robert Kreps might turn out to be the more difficult player to guard. He’s quick and active without the ball. And he can shoot.

Dambrot made a few smart substitutions by inserting Darryl Roberts to deal with Kreps and Mike Bardo to keep Scott VanderMeer from getting easy buckets, of which he already has two.

Mayo came out, and in came Steve McNees, who is sporting a fresh hair cut. When Mayo returned and Linhart took a break, Jimmy Conyers got the assignment.

UIC is missing two starters. Spencer Stewart broke his hand over Christmas break playing a pickup game at his high school. Karl White has a sprained ankle.

For being such a great shooter, Mayo is a lousy ball handler. When he gets the ball in traffic, you can bet he’ll turn it over.

Akron had an odd lineup of Bardo, Roberts, Brett McKnight, McNees and Linhart. Two guys weren’t on the roster last month. Two guys have no idea what they’re doing with the ball. The fifth prefers not to play defense.

The ABJ’s Michael Beaven pointed out to me that the hottest dance team member is not in uniform. By “hot,” I’m sure he means dancing ability.

I’m sitting next to Joe Dunn and Steve French on press row. It’s pretty neat to hear commentary without the radio. On a side note, French e-mailed me to contest my criticism of Akron’s scheduling. He correctly asserted that the MAC is a one-bid league and will be, unless there is an elite team with a big-name player who chokes at the Q. Missouri State, I believe, didn’t even get an at-large bid with an RPI of 19.

While all of that is true, the Zips have far too many cupcakes on their schedule. Supplanting two of those with road games would have the following benefits: 1) Good experience in front of a hostile crowd and against a superior team. 2) You get a fat paycheck from the host school out of it. 3) RPI still matters for the NIT, NCAA seeding and national recognition.

The Zips are getting sloppy on offense. Chris McKnight and Quade Milum are taking far too many outside shots.

Cedrick Middleton hasn’t played much. Back in the hey-day for pro wrestling, a tag team partner would sit out most of the match if he was going to turn on his partner. Middleton is from Chicago. It’s just something to chew on.

Here’s a shout-out to my lovely girlfriend, who allowed me to attend tonight’s game, despite the fact that she’s back in town from Columbus.

The halftime performers were a group of jump-ropers called The Heartbeats. They were very entertaining. I don’t know if the U will ever match the production value that Mike Waddell’s creativity brought.

Romeo Travis is in attendance again. Beaven said the European teams often have a three-week break for Christmas. This is to allow the American players to visit home. And a lot of the players are American over there. My question is, why doesn’t somebody in the athletic department get Rome a seat in the lower bowl. He’s up in the uncomfortable bleachers.

The Zips are finally working the ball in to Jeremiah Wood. He has four points this half already.

Nick Dials does not look like his normal self. He seems to be a step slow on defense.

I’m really disappointed with Mayo. I hoped to see a pro prospect with that kind of 3-point accuracy. Unfortunately, he can’t create his own shot, isn’t very fast and lacks tenacity on defense.

Play of the year: Dials lobbed the ball to a soaring Milum for a fast-break alley-oop. Wow. The crowd went absolutely wild. They showed the replay on the Jumbotron. They need to put that on Youtube.com immediately.

Wood leads the Zips with 16 points. He just daintily dropped in two free throws.

Kreps and Bush just made consecutive 3s to cut the lead to seven. The Zips should be able to ice the game if they run 25 seconds off the clock, then dump it in to Wood.

Another amazing sequence: Milum banged the ball off the bottom of the rim. Linhart dove into press row to save it to Dials. The shot clock didn’t reset, so Dials launched on off-balanced 3, and swished it.

UIC’s Bush made a 3, then another Flame horse-collared Dials after the inbound. Dials made both free throws. The Zips wisely pressed UIC and Wood drew a charge. Dials is now on the line to ice the game. He made one of two.

Linhart swatted a 3-point attempt. They fouled Dials again, who sunk both.

0:16 — Akron 79, UIC 71

Men’s basketball

Appropriately named, Illinois-Chicago seems to have flames coming off the ball.

UIC is a hot-shooting team that makes 45 percent of its 3-pointers, which is fifth in the nation.

At 8-4, the Flames have beaten Bradley, DePaul, Central Michigan and Toledo. It is a better team than the one that beat Akron last year 86-80. The Flames won by outrebounding Akron 45-32, but Jeremiah Wood didn’t play because of an injured hip. Also, the Zips went 11-of-22 from the foul line.

Seven-foot center Scott VanderMeer grabbed nine of those rebounds. He could be a menace on the boards again. Point guard Josh Mayo is the real power behind UIC’s attack. The 5-foot-11 junior averages 19 points and 3.4 assists per game. Most impressive is that he has made 60.6 percent of his 3-pointers. That’s Tim Legler territory. You also have to pay attention to young guards Spencer Stewart and Robert Kreps on the perimeter.

Luckily, Akron plays good perimeter defense. You will see a lot of Darryl Roberts and less Steve McNees than usual. The Zips are 10-point favorites, and that’s probably appropriate.

This is the first home game that the Zips actually might lose. But they won’t.

Prediction: Akron 72, UIC 61

Men’s basketball

This might interest you…

A member of Protrade.com — the sports stock market Web site — says Akron is a good buy.

If I had some spare time, I would be tempted to toss away $50 to see if the Zips can earn me some money — you know, to make up for all the heartbreak over the past few years.

Football

Often, a mid-level player will have MAC scholarship offers and “interest” in bigger schools.

Conversely, there are some players who have other D-IA scholarships, but still want one from Akron. There are 25 to be exact.

Here is a list. You might see some of them on signing day…

Kevin Craft, quarterback, Walnut C.C., Calif.
Offers: Hawaii

Aston Jackson, running back, Xenia, Ohio
Offers: Miami (Ohio)

Gary Thornton, running back, Youngstown (Rayen HS)
Offers: Army

Ryan Clark, running back, Westerville, Ohio
Offers: Air Force

Troy Gilmer, running back, Huber Heights, Ohio
Offers: Western Michigan

Deric Davis, wide receiver, C.C. of San Francisco, Calif.
Offers: New Mexico

Torieal Gibson, wide receiver, Cleveland (Glenville HS)
Offers: Ball State

James O’Quinn, wide receiver, Vandergrift, Pa.
Offers: Buffalo and Toledo

Tobias Shanks, wide receiver, San Marcos C.C., Calif.
Offers: Arizona

Rhyne Ladrach, tight end, Orrville, Ohio
Offers: Air Force and Kent

Jarod Emerson, offensive guard, Youngstown (Cardinal Mooney HS)
Offers: Army

Eugene Germany, defensive end, Mt. San Antonio C.C., Calif.
Offers: Marshall
Note: Rivals.com gives Germany three stars, which would make him the Zips’ highest touted recruit to this point.

Cody Connare, defensive end, Olmsted Falls, Ohio
Offers: Air Force

Lawrence Young, defensive end, Detroit
Offers: Central Michigan

Josh Fitzpatrick, linebacker, Columbus
Offers: Air Force

Adrian Robinson, linebacker, Harrisburg, Pa.
Offers: Connecticut

Reggie Powers, linebacker, North Las Vegas, Nev.
Offers: None, but he was on Nevada’s all-state team and has “high” interest only in Akron.

Jon Sharp, linebacker, Pittsburgh
Offers: Temple, Army, Eastern Michigan and Toledo

Jackson Wehmeyer, linebacker, Austin, Tx.
Offers: Air Force and Army

Kenard Harris, cornerback, Waldorf, Md.
Offers: Ohio

Gerald Nixon, cornerback, New Albany, Ohio
Offers: Eastern Michigan

Devin Arrington, safety, Chesapeake, Va.
Offers: Kent State

Thomas Douglas, safety, Columbus
Offers: Cincinnati and Iowa

Matt Wakulchik, safety, North Canton
Offers: Kent State

Craig Wilkins, safety, Washington, D.C.
Offers: Illinois, North Carolina and Temple

Glenn Winston, athlete, Detroit
Offers: None, but Rivals.com gives him three stars.

Nate Hardy, athlete, New Haven, Mich.
Offers: Eastern Michigan

Men’s basketball

Akron’s strength of schedule is 326th out of 341 schools in the nation.

That is asinine, after the Zips missed out on last postseason because their schedule was too easy.

However, eight of Akron’s next nine games will come against teams with a higher RPI than the Zips’ number of 161…

UIC (109)
@ Dayton (16)
Miami (28)
@ Buffalo (131)
Ohio (42)
Bowling Green (292 — the exception)
@ Kent State (72)
@ Central Michigan (125)
Toledo (117)

Akron will probably win six of those nine games, but it’s probably too late to salvage any hopes of an at-large bid. Miami and Ohio certainly are in that conversation, however, with a strong MAC season.

This has been your weekly whining about Akron’s weak scheduling and refusal to learn from last year.

And also this…

Tom Gaffney wrote about Cedrick Middleton’s experience at ESPN this summer.

Miscellaneous

I’ll take nominations for top five plays of 2007.

Current considerations: Miracle at Kalamazoo, Penno’s Prayer, the game-winner at Kent State and Zippy’s possible national championship. As you can see, they don’t have to be positive.

You can e-mail me your suggestions at mike_rasor@yahoo.com.

Men’s basketball

The ABJ’s Michael Beaven updated readers on how Romeo Travis (Spain) and Dru Joyce (Germany) are doing in Europe.

Football

There is still more than a month remaining in recruiting season, but the Zips seem to be having their worst year since J.D. Brookhart’s arrival, according to the recruiting Web sites.

Here is a list of the current verbal commitments…

Adam Bice — OL, two stars. He had no other scholarship offers.
Marvase Byrd — DB, two stars. With offers from Cincinnati, Indiana, Minnesota and West Virginia, Byrd is the most sought-after commitment so far. He ran for 971 yards on 90 carries as a running back, too.
Kevin Funches — DB, two stars. He’s a junior college player from the same school as Miguel Graham.
James Harvey — DE, two stars. Scout.com lists him as an offensive guard. He will fit in nicely as a DE in the 3-3-5 (or 3-4 if my Christmas wish is granted).
Jordan Miller — QB, two stars. The coaches like this pocket passer. He will be the Zips only QB recruit this season.
Nate Schuler — LB, two stars. Akron was his only offer. Scout.com says he’s a safety.
Norman Shuford — RB, two stars. Akron grabbed this speedy, yet short, runner over all three directional Michigans.
Brian Wagner — LB, two stars. Akron was the only offer for this Dayton native. Scout.com does not list him.
Manley Waller — DB, two stars (one on Scout.com). He has great hands, is an elusive runner and sure tackler. Waller could be an interception machine in college.
Mitch Straight — OL, one star. At 6-foot-6, 290, he’s a big dude. Scout.com says he could play offensive or defensive tackle. Akron was his only offer and he’s not listed on Rivals.com.

As you can see, there are quite a few players who committed to Akron without having other scholarship offers. It’s sort of like dating. You can judge your progress by seeing if you’re getting the girls that everyone else wants.

For that reason, I put more credibility in the amount of offers a player has received than how many stars the Web sites give them.

Coaches also have more riding on their assessments. A poor choice on a recruit has four years of ramifications. Their evaluations are probably more thorough.

That said, the Zips are doing OK in recruiting so far, but probably not as well as last season, when they were a year removed from a MAC Championship. Then again, this year the coaches have a more concrete promise of a stadium in 2009 or 2010.

The team is pursuing several high-level junior college players, so maybe Akron can catch up with Miami, Temple and even Ohio (who landed a four-star junior college QB).

Men’s basketball

If you have some spare time, read this feature about Cedrick Middleton which I just came across from the PD’s Elton Alexander.

Football

Also, here’s a story about Zips recruit Manley Waller, the Atlanta-area cornerback who chose Akron over Ohio.

The 5-foot-9, 158-pounder apparently had a really crummy visit to Athens.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable, relaxing Christmas tomorrow.

Miscellaneous

The ABJ’s Patrick McManamon sat down with Mack Rhoades for a Q&A. If you haven’t seen today’s sports section, the story dominates it.

Men’s basketball

Dambrot:

“For 16 minutes, we were as good as any of the teams we’ve had in here.”

The game was a “clone” to YSU’s matchup with Kent State, where the Golden Flashes opened a huge lead and the Penguins chipped away to make it close.

“We looked lethargic.”

“Woody had some trouble in the second half. I thought Dials was a half-step slow after he came back.”

He talked about needing to develop trust in Roberts, which he says he now has in McNees.

On Linhart taking a charge with the score 50-40: “It changed the game.”

“People aren’t sure what we have. If we get it right, we can play with anybody in the league. Right now, I don’t think we’re better than Miami, Ohio and Kent.”

Wood:

It was “definitely a weird game.”

“When we’re better than them, we should win the second half.”

“They had an edge coming out of halftime.”

On the YSU’s run to cut Akron’s lead to 10: “I don’t think it had anything to do with them. When you’re missing shots, you don’t play as hard (on defense.)”

My thoughts:

A few things were at play here. 1) Akron might not be be physically prepared to play two games in three nights. The Zips wore out. 2) The Zips didn’t seem motivated to give their best effort, even if they could. Why? They have been through this song and dance many times this season. They play a bad team at home (where they almost always beat good teams), they open a huge lead, and then they cruise to a win. It has to be as boring for the team as it is for the fans.

There’s not much that whining about the schedule will do at this point, so I’ll try to refrain. However, the team is deep enough and competition for playing time is strong enough that fatigue and motivation should not be a problem. The reason I’m not pleased with the performance and that Dambrot is not pleased with the performance, is because we know it would have been a loss against Miami, Kent or Ohio. The team has two weeks to get better. The Miami game is looming.

Men’s basketball

Keep clicking “refresh” for comments throughout the game. Feel free to chime in with your own…

The women lost 74-56. Sarah Tokodi led Akron with 26. From watching only one half of the game, it was apparent that the Zips don’t play very good on-ball defense. They were routinely getting burned off the dribble.

The men will start at about 8:05.

Before every game, Keith Dambrot plops down on the bench and stares at the opposing team warming up. I can’t tell if it’s creepy or brilliant.

I chatted with a gentleman who works in the Horizon League office. He said his boss was on the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Akron was never seriously discussed because of its strength of schedule. The reasoning is, “Who cares if you can go 26-and-whatever if you’re scheduling a bunch of nonconference cupcakes at home.”

I totally agree with that. The Zips need at least two big boys on the schedule per year. Try to win. Learn to play in a tough environment. When you lose, cash the check and buy the players some pizza. If you refuse to challenge your team in favor of boosting the win total, you aren’t fooling anybody. Akron is good enough to knock off some of these schools, too.

Look at Miami, who beat Illinois by three on the road last night. Next up for the RedHawks are No. 3 Kansas and Cincinnati. They might not win, but if they do, their at-large argument gets a lot better. With Akron’s schedule, there would be no argument unless the team was undefeated at this point.

Chris McKnight is in the starting lineup for the second-straight game. Joining him is Jeremiah Wood, Nick Dials, Cedrick Middleton and Nate Linhart.

YSU loves to move the ball from side to side with the dribbler on offense. There’s probably a term for it, but it looks like the reverse play in fooball.

The Penguins have three early fouls and plenty of turnovers.

Darryl Roberts was one of the first players off the bench again. To put him in the same backcourt as Steve McNees shows the confidence Dambrot has in his freshmen point guards.

Dials came out of the game with what appeared to be back pain.

ABJ photographer Ken Love is taking shots from the rafters tonight. Expect some cool pictures from one of the area’s most talented photographers in tomorrow’s paper.

YSU’s offense was bad last year. The Penguins lost their two senior guards. They are absolutely horrible. The NCAA should allow them to have six players on offense to clot the bleeding. It could change. This season, YSU has shaped up in the second half. Still, I can only think of three GOOD shots they have taken. I’m not talking accurate shots. I mean shots that a coach would like his players to shoot. The home fans have to be bored.

Roberts has tried to penetrate the last few possessions. He appears to be out of control, but two have resulted in Roberts going to the foul line.

Dials is back from his back/knee pain. He still hasn’t taken a shot, however.

Youngstown State is really tightening up on defense. They are contesting even the inconsequential passes. Their offense still couldn’t score on the loosest defenders from press row.

A kid who looked no older than 8 just drained a free throw and 3-pointer to win a $20 gift card. On a related note, YSU has now offered its final scholarship.

I hate to say it, but I’d like to see the game get a little closer because this is so dull. There hasn’t been more than a couple minutes of good basketball. If YSU pulls within five, Akron might start playing again.

Akron has 17 turnovers. YSU has 18. The game’s boredom naturally led to a dollar bet between myself and Elton Alexander over whether both teams will reach 20.

Fans are getting antsy over bad calls, but there’s a 18-point lead. It shows how anxious people are to care about something. The thing I care about — the turnover bet — is looking pretty good. Akron has 18 turnovers. YSU has 19. I don’t think the teams will get there.

The teams have combined for 56 fouls. That’s incredible.

Final score — Akron 79, Youngstown State 57