MAC Football

MAC Basketball

The View: Coach Lee Owens brought in another fine class with 23 players from eight states and one player from Canada. Within this class, Owens’ continues to mine the Buckeye state with eleven players coming from Ohio. When you look at Akron’s program under Owens, one constant staple is big and physical linemen sparring within the trenches. Owens continued this trend in this class with nearly half of the singes being either offensive or defensive linemen. Looking at Mike Donaldson, he is a mammoth at 6’6’’ and 330 pounds. Several preseason magazines had him on their watch list and he got a lot of looks from Big Ten schools and most of the MAC, along with several D-I-A offers. Other "big-uglies" include Tim Crouch (6’4’’; 300) and Andy Wills (6’4’’, 280). JUCO transfer Jumbo Bridger should have an immediate impact for the Zips and be a major factor in their two-deep line-up this fall. Trying to shore up their run defense, Akron went after some earthmovers and signed Antonio Shippy (6’3’’, 340) from the state of South Carolina, and was widely regarded as a top-10 line prospect in that state. Possibly the most decorated player in this class is DE Mike Berry from the Chicago area who received offers from several Big Twelve schools, along with Southern Mississippi, Kentucky and many MAC schools. He was listed as a top-30 player within Illinois by two different publications. A LB to keep an eye on is Jay Rohr from Massillon, Ohio. Not highly recruited, he was the ‘Federal Player of the Year" in his high school conference. For those who do not know about this conference, it is widely regarded as one of the toughest and most physical high school football leagues in the nation. On the offensive side, the Zips will get a big boost from Ohio State transfer Rick McFadden. The southpaw will sit out this season, but look for him in 2003 to possibly play both football and basketball for Akron. Other impact players in this class include Jeff Garrison, Kiki Gonzalez, Mark Groza, Mario Harris, Jermaine Reid & Brian White.

Analysis: Once again, Lee Owens gets kids to come to his program by selling this kids on playing time, a recent winning tradition and a stable coaching staff. There are many players who should excel in this class and the Zips brought in some of the best line prospects of any MAC school this year. A rate this class as VERY GOOD compared to other MAC schools. Akron always gets their share of size, but Zips could use a little more speed. I am very impressed with the defensive prospects and Akron will continue to be a force with the addition of these young men and coach Lee Owens direction.