West Virginia Transfer Pat Forsythe Cleared to Play Immediately for Akron

Akron announced on Monday that West Virginia transfer Pat Forsythe has been cleared to play for the Zips immediately rather than waiting the requisite year. Forsythe played just seven games for the Mountaineers before injuring his ankle, and being lost for the season.

The injury was an aggravation of an injury that originally occurred during high school. He has not had surgery after either incident.

Forsythe should immediately step into a void created by the loss of Quincy Diggs. However, it isn't clear how much of an impact he will have right away.

While Diggs was a negative HOOPWAR player overall (-0.42 HW30), he was an asset on defense for the Zips. His DEF100 score of 7.75 was among the best on the team, and made a solid difference coming off the bench.

Forsythe had only limited minutes for West Virginia, but didn't have the same impact despite his superior size. He rated a DEF100 of -5.1 while on the floor, actually costing the Mountaineers on defense. His offense was also limited by his playing time, and overall he turned in a -1.29 HW30.

In essence, the player that Akron was handed to replace the hole in its roster could actually create a bigger hole.

Now, it is hard to say that adding a 6-11 player to the roster isn't going to pay off in the end. With Forsythe playing against Zeke Marshall in practice, and possibly alongside him on the floor, he could blossom into a true force down low for Akron in the MAC.

However, right now his impact seems limited based on what he has turned in to date. And there is the nagging ankle injury, which when it comes to big men, really never goes away.