The
University of Akron Zips men’s basketball program suffered a series of crushing blows at the end of last season.
First, the Zips lost their chance at an automatic NCAA Tournament bid by losing to Miami of Ohio in the MAC Tournament’s championship game on a “desperation three-point bank shot” that was controversial due to a late start of the game clock on the final play.
The NCAA selection committee then declined to give the Zips an at large bid to the Tourney.
Finally, and shockingly, the Zips, after finishing 26-7, were left out of the 32 team NIT Tournament field.
The Zips were shocked and devastated by the NIT snub. “I just don't know how I can look my kids in the eye and explain this," said Zips Coach Keith Dambrot. "Really, what did we do wrong?" Terry Pluto wrote in the 3/21/07 Beacon Journal that Zips athletic director Mack Rhoades was so stunned by the news that he lost his voice.
The NIT explained that Akron didn’t make the cut due to its weak schedule. Others say that it was because larger schools from the bigger conferences attract better television ratings. But there is another explanation that surprisingly has not been discussed, either by the media, or by representatives of the Zips -- that is, their affiliation with LeBron James.
The Zips were led last season by MAC Player of the Year Romeo Travis, and point guard Dru Joyce III, both former teammates of LeBron at Akron’s St. Vincent/St. Mary High School. Both players have remained good friends with LeBron, and neither would be mentioned in a national telecast without mention of their LeBron connection. Coach Dambrot coached LeBron at St. V, and would have been glad if the TV announcers would have mentioned LeBron’s Zips connection. In his words: "Having the best player in the NBA around has been the great equalizer for us . . . He's been wonderful for our program. At [LeBron’s youth] camps, the kids always ask him where he would have gone to college. If I'm in the gym, he'll always look over at me, smile, and say, 'Akron.' I'm definitely not shy about selling our association to LeBron to recruits. I'd love to put a big poster up of him up in the lobby."
But LeBron is the LAST person the NCAA wants people to think about when they watch college basketball games. The best college players leave for the NBA after one season, and the exodus of talent has undoubtedly damaged the college game. The NCAA, which not coincidentally took on oversight of the NIT selection process last season, does not want fans to be reminded of this damage, or to raise any questions about the value of the monopoly that it has on the careers of basketball and football players of a certain age who, NCAA rules aside, could otherwise be using their talents to provide for their families – like LeBron did. (Note, this same monopoly was a substantial contributing factor to the destruction of Maurice Clarett's life.)
That the folks at Akron either were unaware of the potential effect of the LeBron connection on their postseason tournament chances, or thought it was a good idea not to discuss the issue after the fact, is reason enough to take the Kent State Golden Flashes -2 in tonight’s MAC Championship Game. Folks betting on Akron redemption after last season’s well-publicized “injustice” have surely influenced the line, making Kent a smaller favorite than they otherwise would be. Akron’s seeming failure to recognize or publicly acknowledge an important aspect of the nature of the injustice that it suffered leads me to believe that redemption is less likely to be forthcoming. The Pick: Kent State -2.
Here is a story from the Beacon Journal about Akron's storied history with the zipper.
