weeklygugl.blogg.se

• WEDNESDAY BASKETBALL GAME AKRON MAC

4 seed, UCLA, in the East Region in Portland, Ore., at 9:50 p.m. Pluto said Dambrot took Akron to March Madness in 2009, 20, but the team never won a game. The tough spot was taking over after Akron's legendary coach, Keith Dambrot, the winningest coach in school history with a 305-139 record in 13 seasons. And so now after that, he came into a tough spot." He had one good year there, and several that weren't so good. In fact, one year he took them to the Sweet 16," Pluto said. "He was at Ohio University and took them to the NCAA Tournament back-to-back years. Then there's Coach Groce, who has had some success in the MAC. And he made big shots this weekend," Pluto said. "They were able to bring him in, and he's averaged like 13 points for them. So, when they saw his name pop up in the transfer portal, they decided to try again.

"John Groce had tried to recruit him several years ago. So they watched him and called and offered him a scholarship."Īnd then you have Xavier Castaneda, who played three years at South Florida before entering the transfer portal. "They were scouting some other players at one of these summer tournaments, and Groce says, 'Who's this Ali kid from Noblesville, Ind.?'" Pluto said. Then you have Ali Ali, a player from Indiana who received no Division I offers. "Akron coach John Groce said, 'I could coach 50 years and never have a story like this,'" Pluto said. Pluto said Freeman is close to graduating with a degree in communications and is working on a minor in business with the goal of getting his MBA. He made it through an open tryout," Pluto said. "A lot of times walk on in some way that the coaches are aware of, and they invite you when they don't want to give you a scholarship. Instead, Freeman was a walk-on who attended an open tryout. He didn't even play basketball first year at Akron," Pluto said. "Last year, worked at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in human resources one day a week, and he went to Akron on an academic scholarship sponsored by one of the corporations. Pluto says students there attend classes four days a week and work at local company on the fifth day as part of an effort to acquaint them to the business world. Martin de Porres High School in Cleveland.

WEDNESDAY BASKETBALL GAME AKRON MAC

Pluto says the roster has players with some interesting backgrounds.įirst, Enrique Freeman, who was named the MAC's Defensive Player of the Year and was named the MVP of the MAC tournament. Then they won five in a row to end the regular season," Pluto said. "They had a three-game losing streak in the middle of February, and usually that's it. And Akron was projected to finish fifth in the MAC in a preseason poll. Kent had beaten them twice during the regular season. The Zips defeated Kent State in the MAC Tournament final.

Sometimes a team that's underdog and scrappy peaks at the right time," Pluto said. They're now on an eight-game winning streak. "They were considered a middle-of-the-pack team, and when the MAC Tournament opened, they knocked out the third seed, the second seed, and the first seed. The Zips punched their ticket to March Madness after winning the Mid-American Conference Championship this past weekend.Ĭommentator Terry Pluto says Akron got hot when it mattered. The University of Akron men’s basketball team is gearing up for its first NCAA Tournament since 2013.