2017–18 Akron Zips men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Akron Zips men's basketball team represented the University of Akron during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by first-year head coach John Groce, played their home games at the James A. Rhodes Arena as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 14–18, 6–12 in MAC play to finish in last place in the East Division. In the MAC tournament, they defeated Western Michigan in the first round before losing to Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinals.

2017–18 Akron Zips men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	East Division
Record	14–18 (6–12 MAC)
Head coach	John Groce (1st season)
Associate head coach	Dustin Ford
Assistant coaches	Rob Fulford Robby Pridgen
Home arena	James A. Rhodes Arena

2017–18 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Buffalo †	15	–	3		.833			27	–	9		.750
Kent State	9	–	9		.500			17	–	17		.500
Miami (OH)	8	–	10		.444			16	–	18		.471
Bowling Green	7	–	11		.389			16	–	16		.500
Ohio	7	–	11		.389			14	–	17		.452
Akron	6	–	12		.333			14	–	18		.438
West
Toledo	13	–	5		.722			23	–	11		.676
Eastern Michigan	11	–	7		.611			22	–	13		.629
Ball State	10	–	8		.556			19	–	13		.594
Western Michigan	9	–	9		.500			17	–	15		.531
Central Michigan	7	–	11		.389			21	–	15		.583
Northern Illinois	6	–	12		.333			13	–	19		.406
† 2018 MAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Zips finished the 2016–17 season 27–9, 14–4 in MAC play to win the MAC East Division and MAC overall regular season championship. They defeated Eastern Michigan and Ball State to advance to the championship game of the MAC tournament where they lost to Kent State, losing in the championship game for the second consecutive year. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Houston in the first round before losing to Texas–Arlington.

Following the season, head coach Keith Dambrot left the school to accept the head coaching position at Duquesne. On April 5, 2017, the school hired former Ohio and Illinois head coach John Groce to replace Dambrot.

Offseason

Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jaden Sayles PF	Cincinnati, OH	Sycamore High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jul 30, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Eric Parrish SF	Houston, TX	Sunrise Christian Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Oct 23, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 3, 2016.

Roster

2017–18 Akron Zips men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 11 Virshon Cotton 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Hillcrest Prep Academy Milwaukee, WI G 4 Malcolm Duvivier 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) GS St. Michael's College School Toronto, Ontario G 5 Craig Eubanks 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Glenville Cleveland, OH G 14 Sina Gbadebo 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Spire Institute Windsor, Ontario G 2 Eric Hester 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS So Oldsmar Christian Clearwater, FL G 0 Jimond Ivey 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Glenville Cleveland, OH G 1 Loren Cristian Jackson  5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Victory Rock Prep Chicago, IL C 44 Mark Kostelac 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Fr Notre Dame Cathedral Latin Cleveland, OH G 12 Marquelle Mcintyre 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Greensboro Day School Greensboro, NC F 22 Emmanuel Plojakpoke 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Cypress Springs High School Houston, TX G 20 Eric Parrish 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Cypress Springs Cypress, TX G 24 Torrey Patton 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Trotwood-Madison Trotwood, OH C 10 Deng Riak 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS So Victory Rock Prep Melbourne, Australia F 23 Jaden Sayles 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Sycamore Cincinnati, OH F 3 Daniel Utomi 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS So Westside High School Houston, TX	Head coach John Groce (Taylor) Assistant coach(es) Dustin Ford (Ohio) Rob Fulford Robby Pridgen (Roanoke) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 11, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Cleveland State	W 67–57	1–0	James A. Rhodes Arena (4,036) Akron, OH
Nov 18, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		UT Martin	W 76–59	2–0	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,713) Akron, OH
Nov 25, 2017* 7:00 pm, FSOH		at Dayton	L 60–73	2–1	UD Arena (12,872) Dayton, OH
Nov 28, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Chattanooga	W 75–70	3–1	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,495) Akron, OH
Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Marshall	L 64–86	3–2	Cam Henderson Center (5,104) Huntington, WV
Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Fort Wayne	W 83–79	4–2	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,340) Akron, OH
Dec 9, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Appalachian State	W 94–89	5–2	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,219) Akron, OH
Dec 16, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Mississippi Valley State	W 81–63	6–2	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,155) Akron, OH
Dec 22, 2017* 7:30 pm, ESPNU		vs. USC Diamond Head Classic quarterfinals	L 53-84	6-3	Stan Sheriff Center (7,669) Honolulu, HI
Dec 23, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		vs. Princeton Diamond Head Classic consolation 2nd round	L 62-64	6-4	Stan Sheriff Center (5,811) Honolulu, HI
Dec 25, 2017* 12:30pm, ESPNU		vs. Davidson Diamond Head Classic 7th place game	L 78–91	6–5	Stan Sheriff Center (6,698) Honolulu, HI
Dec 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Concord	W 86–49	7–5	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,283) Akron, OH
MAC regular season
Jan 2, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Western Michigan	L 75–87	7–6 (0–1)	University Arena (2,110) Kalamazoo, MI
Jan 5, 2018 6:30 pm, CBSSN		at Toledo	L 65–67	7–7 (0–2)	Savage Arena (4,155) Toledo, OH
Jan 9, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3		Buffalo	L 65–87	7–8 (0–3)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,924) Akron, OH
Jan 13, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Bowling Green	W 80–78	8–8 (1–3)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,204) Akron, OH
Jan 16, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Eastern Michigan	L 49–63	8–9 (1–4)	Convocation Center (1,254) Ypsilanti, MI
Jan 20, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Northern Illinois	W 82–67	9–9 (2–4)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,378) Akron, OH
Jan 23, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Ohio	W 71–68	10–9 (3–4)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,653) Akron, OH
Jan 27, 2018 12:00 pm, CBSSN		at Ball State	L 106–111 2OT	10–10 (3–5)	Worthen Arena (3,867) Muncie, IN
Jan 30, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Miami (OH)	L 64–79	10–11 (3–6)	Millett Hall (1,808) Oxford, OH
Feb 3, 2018 12:00 pm, CBSSN		Toledo	L 56–77	10–12 (3–7)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,584) Akron, OH
Feb 6, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Ohio	L 75–99	10–13 (3–8)	Convocation Center  Athens, OH
Feb 10, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Central Michigan	W 69–63	11–13 (4–8)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,564) Akron, OH
Feb 13, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Ball State	L 77–90	11–14 (4–9)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,543) Akron, OH
Feb 17, 2018 2:00 pm, CBSSN		at Kent State	L 68–78	11–15 (4–10)	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (6,055) Kent, OH
Feb 20, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Bowling Green	W 81–79	12–15 (5–10)	Stroh Center (1,540) Bowling Green, OH
Feb 24, 2018 2:00 pm, CBSSN		Miami (OH)	L 62–64 OT	12–16 (5–11)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,751) Akron, OH
Feb 27, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Buffalo	L 68–80	12–17 (5–12)	Alumni Arena (3,659) Amherst, NY
Mar 2, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Kent State	W 67–65	13–17 (6–12)	James A. Rhodes Arena (4,349) Akron, OH
MAC tournament
Mar 5, 2018 7:45 pm, ESPN3	(11)	at (6) Western Michigan First round	W 79–78	14–17	University Arena (897) Kalamazoo, MI
Mar 8, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPN3	(11)	vs. (3) Eastern Michigan Quarterfinals	L 58–67	14–18	Quicken Loans Arena (2,605) Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.