Akron's b-ball facility is going to be increasingly limiting for their program, IMO.  And it looks like the university is entering a phase of significant financial instability, so building a new bball arena is doubtful.  (Also, the university is bleeding cash from their football stadium, which was supposed to "pay for itself" through increased attendance, parking fees, etc.)

I've been saying for years that Akron's business model - huge construction projects, enroll lots of kids who aren't college material, then teach them with low-paid adjunct faculty rather than tenured professors - would come back to bite them.  Now that the state's funding model will be based in part on student success/graduation rates, Akron has been forced to raise admissions standards (or actually have standards).  As a result, their enrollment dropped 3 percent last year and is now projected to decline another 7 percent next year. Turning that around is going to be very difficult without eliminating admissions standards again.  They are so cash strapped that they have announced that all students have to pay for parking stickers, even if they don't drive cars to school.  They are imposing several other new fees that could cause students to go to Kent or elsewhere.  In addition, as the economy improves, fewer students are going to have to "stay home" to go to Akron.  The university is projecting large budget deficits, they've canceled scheduled raises for employees and their adjunct faculty have threatened to unionize and strike.  Good times at Akron U!