The 2024–25 Akron Zips men's basketball team represented 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, played their home games at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio as members of the Mid-American Conference.
They won the MAC with a 17–1 record and the MAC tournament As a 13 seed, they lost their first round matchup in the NCAA tournament to Arizona.
Previous season The Zips finished the 2023–24 season 24–11, 13–5 in MAC play to finish in a tie for second place. They defeated Miami (OH), Ohio, 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. In the NCAA tournament, they received the #14 seed in the Midwest Region, where they would fall to #3 region seed Creighton in the First Round.
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
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.
Preseason rankings MAC preseason pollPredicted finishTeamVotes (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
Preseason All-MAC Preseason All-MAC teamsTeamPlayerPositionYearSecondIsaiah GrayGuardSenior Source
Roster
Schedule and results
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Sources:
References