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2024–25 Akron Zips men's basketball team

2024–25 Akron Zips men's basketball
ConferenceMid-American Conference
Record7–4 (0–0 MAC)
Head coach
Associate head coachDustin Ford (8th season)
Assistant coaches
  • Robby Pridgen (8th season)
  • Mike Allen (1st season)
  • Jon Ekey (1st season)
  • Devan Morrow (1st season)
Home arenaJames A. Rhodes Arena
Seasons
2025–26 →
2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Kent State 0 0   8 3   .727
Akron 0 0   7 4   .636
Miami (OH) 0 0   7 4   .636
Eastern Michigan 0 0   6 5   .545
Toledo 0 0   6 5   .545
Ball State 0 0   5 6   .455
Buffalo 0 0   5 6   .455
Central Michigan 0 0   5 6   .455
Ohio 0 0   5 6   .455
Bowling Green 0 0   4 7   .364
Northern Illinois 0 0   3 8   .273
Western Michigan 0 0   3 8   .273
2025 MAC tournament winner
As of December 22, 2024

The 2024–25 Akron Zips men's basketball team represents the University of Akron during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by eighth-year head coach John Groce, play their home games at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio as members of the Mid-American Conference.

Previous season

The Zips finished the 2023–24 season 21–10, 13–5 in MAC play to finish in a tie for second place.[1] They defeated Miami (OH),[2] Ohio,[3] and Kent State to win the MAC tournament championship for the second time in three years and earn the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[4] In the NCAA tournament, they received the #14 seed in the Midwest Region,[5] where they would fall to #3 region seed Creighton in the First Round.[6]

Offseason

Departures

Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Greg Tribble 2 G 6'3" 195 Senior Cincinnati, Ohio Graduated
Kaleb Thornton 3 G 6'0" 175 Senior Bolingbrook, Illinois Graduated
Darrion Baker 4 F 6'8" 225 Freshman Chicago, Illinois Transferred to SIU Edwardsville
Ryan Prather Jr. 10 G 6'5" 205 RS Freshman Clarksburg, Maryland Transferred to Robert Morris
Sammy Hunter 11 W 6'9" 225 Senior Nassau, Bahamas Graduated
Mikal Dawson 22 W 6'5" 222 Senior Huntington, West Virginia Transferred to Marshall
Ali Ali 24 G 6'8" 205 Senior Kendallville, Indiana Graduated
Enrique Freeman 25 F 6'7" 206 Senior Cleveland, Ohio Graduated; Drafted 50th overall by the Indiana Pacers in the 2024 NBA draft

Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous school
Isaiah Gray 13 G 6'3" 220 Senior Brooklyn, New York Cornell
Seth Wilson 14 G 6'2" 220 Senior Lorain, Ohio West Virginia
Bowen Hardman 15 G 6'3" 220 Junior Cincinnati, Ohio Ohio State
Josiah Harris 22 W 6'7" 210 Junior Canton, Ohio West Virginia
James Okonkwo 32 F 6'8" 240 Senior Maidenhead, England North Carolina

Recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Rich Brisco
F
Brooklyn, New York Hillcrest Prep 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (100 kg)  
Star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPNN/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Sharron Young
G
Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown High School 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg)  
Star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPNN/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Eric Mahaffey
G
Cincinnati, Ohio Archbishop Moeller High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg)  
Star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPNN/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Conner Groce
G
Richfield, Ohio Revere High School 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg)  
Star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPNN/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

Preseason

On October 22, 2024 the MAC released the preseason coaches poll. Akron was picked to finish second in the MAC regular season and received 1 of the 12 first place votes.[7]

Preseason rankings

MAC preseason poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Ohio 121 (11)
2 Akron 106 (1)
3 Kent State 99
4 Toledo 95
5 Bowling Green 73
6 Miami (OH) 72
7 Ball State 67
8 Central Michigan 55
9 Eastern Michigan 36
10 Western Michigan 33
11 Northern Illinois 24
12 Buffalo 11

MAC Tournament Champions: Ohio (8), Kent State (3), Toledo (1)

Source[7]

Preseason All-MAC

Preseason All-MAC teams
Team Player Position Year
Second Isaiah Gray Guard Senior

Source[7]

Roster

2024–25 Akron Zips men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 0 Amani Lyles 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Beechcroft High School Columbus, Ohio
G 1 Shammah Scott 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Wichita State Cleveland, Ohio
F 2 Rich Brisco 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Hillcrest Prep Brooklyn, New York
G 3 Sharron Young 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Morgantown High School Morgantown, West Virginia
G 4 Eric Mahaffey 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Archbishop Moeller High School Cincinnati, Ohio
G 5 Tavari Johnson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr Lyons High School Chicago, Illinois
G 11 Conner Groce 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Revere High School Richfield, Ohio
G 13 Isaiah Gray 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Cornell Brooklyn, New York
G 14 Seth Wilson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr West Virginia Lorain, Ohio
G 15 Bowen Hardman 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Ohio State Cincinnati, Ohio
G 20 Evan Wilson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Noblesville High School Noblesville, Indiana
G/F 21 Zach Halligan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 203 lb (92 kg) So Walsh Jesuit High School Uniontown, Ohio
G/F 22 Josiah Harris 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr West Virginia Canton, Ohio
G/F 23 Marvin Musiime-Kamali 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Fr Cushing Academy Brockton, Massachusetts
F 32 James Okonkwo 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr North Carolina Maidenhead, England
G 34 Nate Johnson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr Lakota East High School Liberty Township, Ohio
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 17, 2024

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2024*
8:00 pm, ESPN+
at Arkansas State
MAC-SBC Challenge
L 75–80 OT 0–1
 15  Young   12  Okonkwo   7  Gray  First National Bank Arena (4,610)
Jonesboro, AR
November 8, 2024*
7:00 pm
Ohio Wesleyan W 88–57  1–1
 15  Hardman   8  Lyles   7  Tied  James A. Rhodes Arena (2,154)
Akron, OH
November 12, 2024*
10:00 pm, ESPN+
at Saint Mary's L 68–87  1–2
 16  Harris   9  Okonkwo   4  Tied  University Credit Union Pavilion (3,316)
Moraga, CA
November 22, 2024*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Lamar
Akron Basketball Classic
W 79–72  2–2
 17  T. Johnson   11  Lyles   4  T. Johnson  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,775)
Akron, OH
November 23, 2024*
4:00 pm, ESPN+
Omaha
Akron Basketball Classic
W 92–84  3–2
 18  Johnson   6  Lyles   9  T. Johnson  James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
November 24, 2024*
3:00 pm, ESPN+
Alabama State
Akron Basketball Classic
W 97–78  4–2
 25  N. Johnson   10  Tied   4  Tied  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,589)
Akron, OH
December 3, 2024*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Northern Kentucky W 86–73  5–2
 27  T. Johnson   7  Harris   5  T. Johnson  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,578)
Akron, OH
December 7, 2024*
3:00 pm
SUNY Brockport W 101–48  6–2
 20  Hardman   16  Okonkwo   5  Young  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,560)
Akron, OH
December 15, 2024*
1:00 pm, ESPN+
vs. Milwaukee
MKE Tip-Off
L 81–100  6–3
 22  T. Johnson   6  N. Johnson   4  N. Johnson  Fiserv Forum 
Milwaukee, WI
December 20, 2024*
7:00 pm, YouTube
vs. Yale
Sun Bowl Invitational semifinals
L 58–74  6–4
 23  T. Johnson   6  Lyles   4  N. Johnson  Don Haskins Center 
El Paso, TX
December 21, 2024*
7:00 pm, YouTube
vs. Jackson State
Sun Bowl Invitational 3rd place game
W 68–50  7–4
 12  Scott   16  Okonkwo   6  N. Johnson  Don Haskins Center 
El Paso, TX
December 30, 2024*
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at Princeton       Jadwin Gymnasium 
Princeton, NJ
MAC regular season
January 3, 2025
6:00 pm, CBSSN
at Bowling Green       Stroh Center 
Bowling Green, OH
January 7, 2025
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Central Michigan       James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
January 11, 2025
 ESPN+
at Eastern Michigan       George Gervin GameAbove Center 
Ypsilanti, MI
January 14, 2025
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Toledo       James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
January 17, 2025
6:00 pm, CBSSN
Ohio       James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
January 21, 2025
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Buffalo       Alumni Arena 
Amherst, NY
January 25, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Miami (OH)       James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
January 28, 2025
8:00 pm, ESPN+
at Northern Illinois       Convocation Center 
DeKalb, IL
January 31, 2025
7:00 pm, CBSSN
at Kent State       MAC Center 
Kent, OH
February 4, 2025
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Ball State       James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
February 11, 2025
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Western Michigan       James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
February 15, 2025
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Central Michigan       McGuirk Arena 
Mount Pleasant, MI
February 18, 2025
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Northern Illinois       James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
February 22, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Ohio       Convocation Center 
Athens, OH
February 25, 2025
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Ball State       Worthen Arena 
Muncie, IN
March 1, 2025
 ESPN+
Kent State       James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
March 4, 2025
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Toledo       Savage Arena 
Toledo, OH
March 7, 2025
 ESPN+
Buffalo       James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
MAC tournament
March 13–15, 2025
 ESPN+/CBSSN/ESPN2
vs.        Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 
Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Sources:[8][9]

References