McNees chooses Akron

Men's basketball

Coach Keith Dambrot reeled in a big recruit for his final scholarship.

According to Hoopfactor.com, Steve McNees committed to Akron over George Washington, Rhode Island and Eastern Kentucky.

McNees is a 6-foot-2 point guard from Shanango High School in New Castle, Pa. He is a great passer who has deep range on his shot.

In his senior year in high school, McNees averaged 28.4 points, 8 assists and 6.9 rebounds per game. His stats were similar his junior year, when he won The Associated Press' All-State Class AA first team. This year, the AP selected him for the second team.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette named McNees to its Fabulous Five.

McNees' father, Bill, was the head coach at Shenango before he quit earlier this month. He said he wants more time to watch Steve play college basketball.

Scout.com gives him two stars, which is higher than the other three incoming freshmen.

Track

Akron's women broke into Trackwire.com's top 25 this week.

The Zips are tied with Maryland, Iowa and Houston at No. 22.

The men's team is unranked, but Tomasz Smialek (No. 9, high jump) and John Russell (No. 3, pole vault) are ranked nationally.

Akron's Ashley Kaufman is ranked No. 1 in the country in the javelin.