Football

Sorry it has taken so long for the next installment of my recruiting series. I have been really busy at the Indianapolis Star, covering the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. It has been a lot of fun.

Anyhow, here are the offensive linemen to whom coach J.D. Brookhart and company have offered a scholarship.

• Zac Kasparek, 6-foot-6, 300 pounds from New Brighton, Pa. Yes, he is the brother of Zips tight end Kris Kasparek. And yes, he is a very key prospect for Akron. Right now, he has offers from Akron, Cincinnati and Marshall. Penn State, Pittsburgh and West Virginia are also candidates, Scout.com says. Rivals.com adds Virginia and Maryland to that list. I have a message for Kris Kasparek: Please encourage your brother to play here. Convince him that he can be in the NFL by coming to Akron. It is as important than any catch you will make next year.
• Greg Nosal, 6-7, 255 from Virginia Beach, Va. Nosal has two offers: Virginia Tech and Akron. Right off the bat, this will be an uphill battle for Brookhart's staff. Nosal told VTinsider.com the Hokies are his favorite so far, and he plans to commit somewhere in late June or early July. The story says that Tech has targeted Nosal from very early in the process, despite his relatively low profile in recruiting circles. North Carolina and Virginia are also possibilities for Nosal. Rivals.com adds several more schools that Nosal may choose from. Likelihood is low that he wears the blue and gold.
• Arthur Ray, 6-2, 300 from Chicago. Ray is a big dude. And so is his list of interested teams. Ray already has offers from Akron, Boston College, Iowa State and Northern Illinois. In addition, he has interest in Bowling Green, Colorado State and Kentucky. Rivals.com says Miami (Ohio) also is a team of interest. I can't find much more on this guy.
• Ben Burkett, 6-4, 260 from Toledo. Scout.com says three MAC teams have offered Burkett: Miami, Toledo and Akron. Rivals.com adds that several Big 10 teams have interest in the offensive tackle: Northwestern, Iowa, Michigan and Purdue. The site also mentions Ball State. Burkett also is a discus thrower in high school.

It appears Brookhart's staff is thinking big with these offensive linemen this year — literally and figuratively. After two good classes of beef, Akron is investing in quality over quantity.

• While scouring the Web for these mini-bios, I found an interesting feature in the Virginian Pilot. A writer followed around Zips assistant Aaron Alford on a recruiting trip. After reading it, I am much more appreciative of these assistants' efforts.

Women's basketball

James Brunelli became Jodi Kest's second assistant this week. He comes from the University of Albany, where he was an assistant.

Kest said she likes Brunelli because "he is a relentless recruiter."

Kest's other assistant so far is Bob Bolden.

Track

Last, but CERTAINLY not least, the Zips are in Sacramento for the NCAA Championships which begin tomorrow.

The Zips have one key advantage as a team: experience. Four athletes have been to nationals before. Those who have not, Randall Hafner and Auston Papay, are coming off the best discus throws of the careers.

John Russell (pole vault) and Ashley Kaufman (javelin) have a serious shot at becoming Akron's first national champions — in anything — since Christi Smith won the heptathlon in 2000.

Natalie Sako and Tomasz Smialek enter nationals in the middle of the pack for high jumpers. But both have been to the NCAA Championships before. That should work in their favor.

The action starts at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow with Kaufman's javelin preliminary event. All six will compete tomorrow. The finals will be Friday.

I hope to have comments from coach Dennis Mitchell tomorrow after the prelims.

Women's basketball

Coach Jodi Kest hired an assistant with local roots this week.

Bob Bolden will join the Zips staff immediately.

Bolden was head coach at Arkansas-Monticello, where he was 30-27 in two seasons. He played at Walsh University.

Bolden also worked under Kest at Gannon University in Erie, Pa.

Football

I know this isn't a message board, but I really like the following discussions…

• Who will be better in 2006: Akron or Northern Illinois?
• Should the Zips want to move from the MAC? And if so, where?

My answers are…

• Akron. As The_VP wrote in my comments section, Akron gave up 270 yards on the ground to Garrett Wolfe and still won last year. I think that really says it all. Someone mentioned we lost Domenik Hixon, but they lost top receiver Sam Hurd, who has a shot to make the Cowboys this summer.
• I have a tremendous amount of respect for NIU coach Joe Novak. He is one of the very few coaches in the country I can think of who would call the opposing school's student newspaper back for an interview right after practice, three days before the game. (USC's Pete Carroll is another.)
• Anyhow, I have watched NIU play live three times in the past two years and I give the slight edge to the Zips. Despite that, Akron and NIU will be the best two teams in the league and both should be glad they won't face each other until the MAC Championship, if they make it that far.
• As for the second question - yes. Big East preferrably. That is unlikely, however. If the Big East won't take us, Conference USA might.
• Don't get me wrong. I love the MAC. But we can't always assume it will be here, especially in its present form. Once Bowling Green, Toledo and/or Miami bolt, the league will be much weaker and less exciting than it is now.
• From what I have heard, the Big East is in for a shake-up. The football-playing teams are likely to find or create their own league. This new conference might call on Memphis or Central Florida to join. Once that happens, Akron and those other MAC schools are in position to move into Conference USA.

Track

Speaking of our beloved MAC, it named seven Zips to the all-conference academic team this week.

They are Randall Hafner, David Pykare, Matt Yankie, Lisa Ravn, Brandi Schoeppner, Jenna Strouse and Morgan Sulzener. Other nominees include Gina DiAntonio, Jennifer Peck and Rachel Zubricky.

Twenty-one Zips will compete in this weekends NCAA Regional Championships in Knoxville, Tenn. Hopefully we can send several to the NCAA Championships in Sacramento two weeks later.

Baseball

As you know, it's pretty crummy outside.

That's why the Zips game with Cleveland State was canceled.

First baseman Kurt Davidson, who has 12 home runs this season, now has just a three-game weekend series with Miami to break Mike Doerbecker's school record of 14 long balls.

• The past few days haven't been a complete wash for Davidson, however. The College Baseball Foundation named him to its National Honor Roll this week. The foundation gave the award to 39 players based on on-the-field performance.

Women's basketball

Susan Blauser, an assistant under Kelly Kennedy, has latched on as an assistant at Dayton.

Women's basketball

As expected, Mack Rhoades introduced Jodi Kest today as the next women's basketball coach.

Kest, who attended Mayfield High School, has agreed in principle to a five-year deal.

Click here to read the GoZips.com article, which includes Kest's bio.

Click here to read Texas A&M Corpus Christi's press release about Kest leaving their job.

Women's basketball

In two hours, the athletic department will name Jodi Kest as its new women's basketball coach, a source told me this morning.

If true, Akron will get one of the nation's elite defensive coaches. In two years at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Kest has a record of 57-28.

Maybe the reason Kest comes to Akron is her local ties. She coached at Gannon University in Erie, Pa. and played at Slippery Rock University, which also is in Pennsylvania.

UPDATE: The Plain Dealer's Elton Alexander also is hearing Kest is the choice.

Women's basketball

Dan Kadar, who will be the Buchtelite's sports editor in the fall, did some snooping on Mack Rhoades' candidates for the women's coaching job.

Here are the candidates he is hearing…

• Marsha Frese, associate head coach at Illinois. She is a very good recruiter and has spearheaded campaigns to bring in two top-25 recruiting classes.
• Fred Applin, associate head coach at Wake Forest. He seems to be an excellent recruiter as well. Another one of his strengths is garnering interest in women's basketball programs where ever he goes.
• Jodi Kest, head coach at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. In three years at Corpus Christi, her teams have overachieved. Kest is a defensive-minded coach.
• Cindy Martin, head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Martin came to IUP only a year ago. Her previous experience was as West Virginia's top assistant, bringing in three-consecutive top-20 recruiting classes.

Conspicuously absent is Michigan State assistant Semeka Randall. Her exclusion apparently has upset some Cleveland-area prep coaches. Kadar's source says Randall's college coach, Tennessee's Pat Summit, has endorsed Randall for the job.

Despite that, this list looks very strong. Normally athletic directors give the politically correct answer about "having great candidates" even if they don't. If these names are true, Rhoades certainly has a good crop of selections, but a tough choice to make.

Women's basketball

I just got off the phone with athletics director Mack Rhoades.

He expects the search for Kelly Kennedy's replacement to conclude by the end of this week or the start of next.

Although he declined to say who the possibilities were, Rhoades said he has spoken with about 10 of them.

Miscellaneous

The athletics department has not yet announced a replacement for Mike Waddell, the senior associate athletics director of external relations.

A report on ZipsNation.org says Hunter Yurachek has been hired. Yurachek graduated from Guilford College, which is the same school as Waddell. Most recently, Yurachek was associate athletics director for marketing and promotions at Virginia, the same school as where former AD Mike Thomas came from.

I asked Rhoades about it. He said the university will make an announcement in the next couple days on who will fill the position.

Men's basketball

Ray Mernagh, author of Hoopfactor.com, analyzed the MAC recruiting classes for Macreportonline.com.

In it, he gives glowing grades for Akron and Kent State. Miami and Toledo are solid. Everyone else seems to be reaching on many scholarships they dealt out.

Mernagh knows a ton about MAC basketball. I strongly recommend that you read this column he wrote, as well as his site on a daily basis.

Softball

Akron lost its regular season finale this afternoon to Eastern Michigan, 4-0.

Freshman Julie Boyes (12-8) took the loss, giving up eight hits and all four runs.

The No. 6-seed Zips (29-26, 13-9 MAC) will open the MAC Tournament Wednesday at 11 a.m. against No. 3-seed Bowling Green (35-21, 16-6 MAC).

In early April, Akron split a two-game series with the Falcons, winning 3-1 and losing 3-0.

This will be Akron's first tournament appearance since 2002, ending a four-year drought in coach Julie Wright's first season.

Women's basketball

I hope to update everyone on the women's basketball coaching search tomorrow.

Women's basketball

I have been an advocate of keeping Kelly Kennedy for her last year. I thought it would be wasteful to spend the taxpayers' dollars to pay a coach who isn't coaching, especially when maximum fan support couldn't even gross enough income to make up that discrepancy.

But Mack Rhoades did it right. He recouped some of that money from next year and replaced a failing coach. That was smart.

Here is the Buchtelite's story on Kennedy's departure from Akron. Included are quotes from her and Rhoades…

Kelly Kennedy won about 15 percent of her games as women’s basketball coach at Akron.

That wasn’t acceptable for athletic director Mack Rhoades.

Rhoades asked Kennedy to resign Monday. The fourth-year coach did so, ending her stint at Akron with a 17-95 record. Her .152 winning percentage is the worst among the eight head coaches in the program’s 32-year history.

Kennedy said Rhoades was trying to make his presence felt as the new athletic director.

"Any time you get a new administrator, they all look to make their mark on things and you see it every day in college athletics,” she said. “Unfortunately, (Rhoades) didn’t know what we went through and didn’t give a full evaluation of where we were headed.”

Rhoades said he put much thought into making a coaching change.

"This decision isn’t about making a mark,” he said. “It is about what I feel is best for the university, for the program and for the student-athletes.

"It’s been a difficult four years. Kelly has worked hard. For the program to move forward, it needed a fresh beginning.”

Kennedy took over the program after the 2001-2002 season in which the team was 1-27 and lost all   16 of its Mid-American Conference games. Kennedy said that when she took over she wanted to “upgrade the talent level” but still honored the scholarships of the athletes that were already there.

“The program was not in good shape,” Kennedy said.

Recruiting has probably been Kennedy’s greatest strength at Akron. Three of last year’s five-player class led the team in scoring at least once last season.

Niki McCoy was the gem. She led the Zips in rebounding, was second in scoring  and won a spot on the All-MAC freshman team.

Next year’s recruiting class includes 6-foot-5 Lindsey West, 6-3 Riana Miller, and guards Danyell Harris and Sarah Tokodi.

Miller and Tokodi signed with Akron as highly touted recruits. Big East schools recruited Miller, who was McCoy’s high school teammate.

A reputable Web site ranked Tokodi as the 65th best high school prospect in the nation. Street and Smith’s named Tokodi to its All-American team two years in a row. She was also a three-time All-West Virginia first team selection.

“I think we got short-changed,” Kennedy said. “I think we were finally to the point where we filled the holes. It would have been nice to have the opportunity to coach those kids.”

Baseball

The Zips will play a home series against Cleveland State this week. Game one is tomorrow at Lee Jackson Field at 3 p.m. I'll be there for part of it, as long as the weather cooperates. Game two is Wednesday at Canal Park at 6 p.m.

• In case you are an Indians fan, the Tribe was my topic for today's Rasor's Edge.

Softball

Tomorrow's opening of the new softball stadium was postponed due to poor weather, which might include rain and snow.

Honestly, folks, you can't have Luis Proenza throwing the ceremonial first pitch in garbage weather like that.

The ceremonial first game will now be on April 14 against Buffalo.

Women's basketball

It turns out that Kelly Kennedy was asked to resign. I just spoke with athletic director Mack Rhoades who told me the reasons were the student-athlete experience wasn't what it should've been, and oh yeah, wins and losses.

I will post a Buchtelite story about it later tonight.