Men’s basketball

Despite the recent reports, the University of Akron does not have a contract with Nike.

After I made a records request for the contract, a university official told me that the sides are still discussing the matter and do not have an executed agreement.

Men’s basketball

The Zips will play under the banner of Nike and hometown hero LeBron James for the next three years.

Despite its contract with adidas, Akron signed a contract to have the James’ “LJ23″ brand as its apparel provider.

Assuming that Nike re-designs the team’s look, Akron will be playing its third consecutive season with new uniforms. The partnership with the NBA’s finest young star should add some credibility to the team nationally. It should also impress top recruits, who have been more willing to play for Akron in the past few years.

I am curious about how this contract is structured. I made a public records request, and hopefully I will be able to upload a PDF of it soon.

Football

Akron recently received its first verbal commitment.

Dee Frieson is a wide receiver from Orange Park, Fla. Although the recruiting sites lack information on him, a news report calls him a speedy slot receiver, who committed to Akron so he could play a similar role in a Division I offense.

Here are some new offers…

Henry Conway, offensive tackle, Cleveland (Shaker Heights H.S.)
Offers: Akron, Cincinnati, Indiana, Bowling Green and Ohio
Height: 6-foot-6
Weight: 295
Speed: 5.0
Notes: Coach Joe Moorhead told Conway he has a “conditional offer” from Akron, which probably depends on Conway raising his below-average grades. Conway has visited campus. He would like to play in the Big Ten or Big East. Rivals.com gives him three stars.

Pete DeSouza, offensive tackle, Hyattsville, Md.
Offers: Akron, Maryland and Syracuse
Height: 6-7
Weight: 305
Speed: 5.2
Notes: Maryland is at the top of DeSouza’s list because he wants his mom to visit. He has only been playing football for three years, so it’s likely he would redshirt his true freshman year.

Juantez Hollins, offensive guard, Alliquippa, Pa.
Offers: Akron, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Marshall
Height: 6-4
Weight: 254
Speed: Not listed
Notes: Hollins has “low” interest in Akron, Buffalo and Marshall, according to Rivals. He wants to attend a school where a lot of players graduate. Rivals.com gives Hollins three stars.

Darrin Drakeford, outside linebacker, Washington, D.C.
Offers: Akron, Duke, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Syracuse
Height: 6-0
Weight: 215
Speed: 4.6
Notes: Drakeford might also play tight end. Pitt is one of his favorites after camping there. He also likes Syracuse, which was the first school to offer him a scholarship.

Jerrell Rhodes, running back, Durham, N.C.
Offers: Akron, Ball State and Buffalo
Height: 5-10
Weight: 195
Speed: 4.52
Notes: Rivals suggested that Rhodes is underrated, considering his high school production.

Todd Thomas, wide receiver, Beaver Falls, Pa.
Offers: Akron, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Illinois, Iowa, Miami (Fla.) and West Virginia
Height: 6-2
Weight: 202
Speed: 4.59
Notes: It is sort of surprising to see Thomas have so many “big-time” offers, considering he does not play receiver in high school and he’s not the tallest or fastest guy around. Rivals.com gives him four stars. Michigan is leading the race so far.

Men’s basketball

The university kicked Rydell Brooks off campus, following the walk-on’s serious skirmish with police officers last month.

Brooks’ attorney said the former Niagara guard could be reinstated to school if acquitted in court. Regardless, it’s safe to say Keith Dambrot and Co. won’t be asking him to return to the basketball court.

Brooks is in Summit County Jail, awaiting a trial on charges of attempted murder, felonious assault and carrying a concealed weapon.

Football

Another week, another softball update.

This time, my team played against a team that included Kent State quarterback Julian Edelman.

Appropriately, Edelman played left field, where he could take advantage of his laser arm. On a couple occasions, he crashed into the wall, showing off his other top attribute: toughness.

Edelman is one of 10 Kent State players on Phil Steele’s preseason All-MAC team.

Our team swept Edelman’s, in case you were wondering.

Men’s basketball

Akron will add a 6-foot-4 walk-on guard from Florida.

Kyle Peterson averaged 18.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game at Community School in Naples, Fla.

After the fiascos with Rydell Brooks and Andrew Moss, Zips fans will be refreshed to hear Peterson has a 3.8 GPA and his high school retired his jersey, which tends to indicate high character.

Keith Dambrot praised Peterson’s high basketball IQ. Akron’s Honors College has already accepted Peterson. (Good luck with your final Honors project, buddy.)

His stats are not very impressive. However, Peterson should help the team practice and maybe earn some defensive minutes as an upperclassman.

Miscellaneous

The ABJ’s Bob Dyer eloquently responded to an ignorant question from a UA professor: Why do high school sports exist?

You’d assume such a question would come from that annals of Kent State University, but no.

Men’s basketball

Former Akron assistant coach Shaka Smart is headed to Gainesville to work under Billy Donovan at Florida.

Basketball people say Smart will be a big-time coaching prospect. He left Akron two seasons ago to be an assistant at Clemson. He knows a lot about basketball. Good luck to him.

Football

According to someone present at the trial, Joe Nemer is asking the jury to award him $3 million for his property.

The university has offered $1.038 million, which is reportedly above fair-market value.

I guess $3 million is the point where it stops being about principles.

Here are some new scholarship offerees, who might play football where Joe’s bar sits…

Gary Gilliam, tight end, Hershey, Pa.
Offers: Akron, Connecticut, Virginia and Villanova
Height: 6-foot-7
Weight: 245
Speed: Not listed
Notes: Penn State, Pitt, Connecticut and Virginia are in Gilliam’s top four. Akron’s not a likely destination.

Jim Teknipp, tight end, McDonough, Ga.
Offers: Akron and Central Florida
Height: 6-6
Weight: 230
Speed: 4.8
Notes: Teknipp’s family lives in Ohio. If they move to Florida, it appears UCF will win. If not, Akron has a chance.

Logan Ryan, cornerback, Voorhees, N.J.
Offers: Akron, Boston College, Maryland, Michigan State, Northwestern, Rutgers, Virginia and West Virginia
Height: 5-11
Weight: 175
Speed: 4.46
Notes: His top five are Rutgers, Virginia, Boston College, Maryland and West Virginia.

Genesis Fonoimoana, safety, Los Angeles Harbor C.C., Calif.
Offers: Akron and Nevada
Height: 6-0
Weight: 205
Speed: 4.45
Notes: One thing’s for sure, he has a great name. In his first year at LAHCC, Fonoimoana grabbed six interceptions and made 34 tackles.

Miscellaneous

Put this in your “I probably don’t care” category, but I’ll discuss it anyhow.

Last night was the annual Mike Rasor vs. Captain Kangaroo/Dr. Z softball duel.

CK and Dr. Z run the premier Zips Web site, ZipsNation.org. If you’re a Zips fan, you should have it bookmarked.

Anyhow, our teams played a doubleheader in the Stow slow-pitch league. Correct me if I’m wrong about the exact scores, CK, but I think we won by counts of 21-3 and 15-7.

Here is the wildest play of the game: I drove a liner over the left-center fielder’s head. I caught up with the runner ahead of me at third base. He planned to stop there. I yelled at him to keep running. We both scored.

CK, who was pitching, claimed we scored because of a missed cut-off man. It definitely went in my team’s scorebook as a home run.

Despite all that, check out ZipsNation.org if you don’t already. Like I said, spare me the “We don’t care” comments. I know.

Men’s basketball

Zips guard Rydell Brooks was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, stemming from an incident Saturday night.

Brooks sat out last season after transferring from Niagara University.

Prosecutors said police approached Brooks’ SUV and “were greeted with gunfire.” Police found guns and masks inside the SUV, which carried Brooks and another Akron man. Brooks allegedly fled from the vehicle after the shots.

Brooks’ grandmother said the Buchtel graduate had never been in trouble before.

This is the second embarassing event in as many years for Akron, as walk-on Andrew Moss was arrested for armed robbery last fall.

With a crowded, youthful backcourt, Brooks wasn’t likely to see much playing time.

I would have written about this sooner, but I have been in class all day.

Football

Jason Taylor made it to the final three participants on “Dancing with the Stars.”

The show will crown its winner on Tuesday. The Akron alumnus is joined by Kristi Yamaguchi and Cristian de la Fuente.

Here is an update on other former Zips stars in the NFL…

Nate Robinson earned his way through the first step. The NFL Champion New York Giants signed the defensive tackle to their 80-man roster. The G-Men now have three Zips (Domenik Hixon and Chase Blackburn).

Charlie Frye’s roster spot with Seattle seems secure with the Seahawks declining to go after a quarterback in the draft or otherwise, like many people believed they would. The backup job seems to belong to Seneca Wallace. One blogger mentioned a couple plays in camp that suggest it is more of the same from Frye.

Men’s basketball

Rivals.com released a list of its top 150 players. Zeke Marshall comes in at No. 37.

The Akron recruit also is the eighth-best center. Only 13 teams have received commitments from players ranked higher than Marshall.

Hopefully Zips fans are beginning to recognize the magnitude of this. On defense, Marshall will immediately be a backstop for all slashing guards. He will be a pogo stick for offensive rebounds, put-backs and dunks.

He is the MAC’s most touted recruit in the modern, Internet-crazed recruiting era. The reason he’s coming to Akron: the coaches. Marshall loves the coaches, and he developed a strong trust in them. The staff should get all kinds of credit for this monumental coup.

Men’s basketball

Akron’s coaching staff notched the biggest recruit in program history with 7-footer Zeke Marshall choosing the Zips over Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Xavier, Duquesne and George Mason.

The Scout.com story says that Marshall — the nation’s No. 11 center — fell in love with Akron’s coaching staff and campus.

Marshall will be the interior defensive presence that Akron lost with the departure of Romeo Travis. Eventually, he could be dominant on offense, as well. Marshall is the kind of talent that can elevate a program into an elite mid-major status.

Men’s basketball

Kent State will tap current assistant Geno Ford to become its next head coach, the Associated Press reports.

As a former diminutive shooting guard at Ohio University, Ford knows the MAC. He will have plenty of talent next season, which should alleviate the acclimation process.

The question for me is: Will Ford continue to bring in quality junior college players, or will he rebuild with high school athletes?

A note…

Ohio State and UMass will face off in the NIT Finals on Thursday. The Minutemen’s march to the finals shows Akron faced a red-hot team on its own floor and still should have won.

Men’s basketball

Within a week of Easter Sunday, Jim Christian accepted an offer to coach at Texas Christian Univerisity. It was a divine turn of events for Zips fans.

Christian, the former Kent State coach, had entertained offers from schools at bigger conferences for years. Someone who knows more than me about college basketball told me that a coach who accepts a lot of junior college players typically is looking to move up, and soon.

Candidates to replace Christian include former Toledo coach Stan Joplin, KSU assistant Geno Ford and Oklahoma assistant Oronde Taliaferro.

Despite my earlier sentiment in this post, don’t expect Kent State to fall out of contention. After Gary Waters left, Stan Heath (a former neighbor of mine) took the team to the Elite Eight. After Heath left, KSU athletic director Laing Kennedy found a jewel in Christian.

It is always possible, however, that your coaching selection will be a clunker.

Notes…

My counterpart (a KSU blogger on Ohio.com) discussed the matter.

Zipper10 holds a small lead over oriole5 in the Ohio.com Bracket Challenge. You don’t have to believe me, but I nailed my entire Elite Eight (including Davidson). Of course, I have no excuse for neglecting to complete a bracket in the contest I started.

Football

The Zips held a scrimmage today.

I wasn’t there, but it sounds like the offense had a big day, particularly the passing game.

Chris Jacquemain and Matt Rodgers went 40-for-50. The defensive front also succeeded in bothering the quarterbacks.

That’s good for those positions, but it might be a symptom of lacking a healthy offensive line and depth at defensive back.