There’s little doubt given what has happened on school campuses over the years that officials made the correct decision by postponing the Ohio-Eastern Michigan hoops game set for Wednesday night until Feb. 20.

With reports of a gunman on the loose near the campus it was the responsible thing to do.  College hoops isn’t that important – lives are.

Austin Wolfe, a 6-foot-4 wide receiver from Lebanon, committed to the Zips, according to a report from Mike Dyer of the Cincinnati.com. 

New weekly feature.  Hit me up on Twitter @GeorgeThomasABJ with your questions related to University of Akron sports and I’ll choose some to answer here:

Is there a solid number for just how many scholarships the football team will be able to give out for the 2013 class? - Alex Opatrny‏ @AlexOpats15

Dan Satter, University of Akron Director for External Relations, just sent out a note clarifying the jerseys. The @ZipsMBB Twitter handle will only appear on the back of shooting jerseys, not game jerseys. The school asked the NCAA for permission and was denied.

As George Thomas pointed out in his random notes, the Zips basketball team is debuting a new Nike jersey for a nationally televised game against Ohio on Feb. 2.

The black jerseys feature a Zorro-esque Z on the front and the men's basketball Twitter handle, @ZipsMBB, on the back. 

We want to know what you think of the jerseys. Should they be used them more? Take our poll and let us know in the comments.

Just a bats flying around my belfry as we get into the heart of the basketball season:

There’s a word – as it relates to the MAC and the Akron Zips – that has gone unsaid even with UA’s 4-0 start in the conference.

Undoubtedly some have thought about whether the Zips could conceivably go undefeated in the conference after besting Kent State this past weekend.

For those who missed it, the NCAA just made coaches’ lives in ffootball with respect to recruiting somewhat easier.  Last weekend the governing body of major college sports adopted new rules meant to conform to modern realities.  Among them:

All of these proposals represent common sense moves bringing the NCAA into the 21^st century in one respect and they help diminish the possibility of violations for a program.  

Yesterday’s Zips-Flashes could have rivaled Raiders of the Lost Ark for thrills and chills.

Kent looked as if they’re going to put it away in the first half after the Zips had several opportunities to take control.  Truth be told, I thought it might have been over when KSU went into the half with that 10-point lead.  Arguably it should have been.  The Golden Flashes played with big cajones for the entire game only to run out of steam.

You can’t really say that the Zips were lucky to win this 71-67 victory.  Escape maybe.  Lucky?  No.

The fact is good teams are supposed to win games such as this and there are reasons they did:

A certainly reality set in amongst Zips players this week after their meeting with Ball State – they’re not shooting well and they know it. 

The truth is that they haven’t been shooting well or finishing at the rim offensively.  Stats in say that they are shooting better than 46 percent of their shots in the last month, a more telling stat in the case of the Zips may be three-point shooting which is under 35 percent thus far, on the season.

The gimmicks are coming out in tomorrow’s UA-KSU basketball game.

The University of Akron has reportedly offered Elida junior defensive lineman Chance Weitz, according to ScoutingOhio.com. Weitz is listed at 6 feet 2 and 220 pounds by Scout.com.

Quick hit: Lastly, Chauncey Gilliam, who is just returning from minor knee surgery, left the court before the team’s post-game activities were finished, visibly upset. Here’s guessing that lack of playing time had something to do with it as he got in for just three minutes in the game.  Given the fact that Brian Walsh is reasonably healthy and Nick Harney has been playing well, Gilliam will probably have to bide his time.  Dambrot hinted that he was going to put the best players on the court.  Although the Zips as a team didn't look like it, that was a starting lineup that consisted of Marshall, Abreu, Harney, Walsh and Treadwell.

CollegeInsider.com released its latest poll of the top mid-major hoops programs Monday and the Zips came in at No. 13 and was the highest ranked MAC school to make the list. Dambrot said it’s something he keeps abreast, but because he has a vote in the USA Today Coaches Poll, he tends to pay more attention to it.

Small forward Chauncey Gilliam could be seen participating in a light practice with his teammates Tuesday morning.

Saturday’s victory over the Northern Illinois wasn’t a thing of beauty.  In fact, it resembled a blue-collar-punch-in-get-it-done workmanlike affair more than anything else.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.

On NIU from the UA Athletics Department:

Giving props:  Zeke Marshall is getting some love from SI.com's Luke Winn.  Winn, a college hoops writer, said that Marshall is poised to have a breakout second half:

Western Michigan Broncos (8-5, 0-0) at Akron Zips (9-4, 0-0)

Time: 7 p.m.

AKRON

Home: Ball State, Toledo, Kent State, Ohio; Road: Northern Illinois, BGSU, Miami, UMass;

When I reported the other day that the Zips would be without forward Chauncey Gilliam for a couple of weeks, my still small Twitterfeed (feel free to help it grow by following me @GeorgeThomasABJ) blew up in a minute kind of way. 

Former University of Akron coach Caleb Porter had his first news conference as coach of the Portland Timbers of MLS. 

Here is the video:

Just some random musings from Ziplsand:

Point guard Alex Abreu looks to be picking things up – at least in practice.  With the MAC season looming and the Zips taking on Western Michigan Wednesday, it would be much appreciated if Abreu, who has struggled with weight, would turn to form. The team is currently on a five-game win streak and in that span averaging 5 points and 5.8 points per game.  For those worried about his point total – don’t. Keep in mind that the Zips have been able to go inside for easy hoops more courtesy of talented front court.