2017–18 Akron Zips men's basketball team

2017–18 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	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

The 2017–18 Akron Zips men's basketball team will represent the University of Akron during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by 1st-year head coach John Groce, will play their home games at the James A. Rhodes Arena as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference.

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.^[1] On April 5, 2017, the school hired former Ohio and Illinois head coach John Groce to replace Dambrot.^[2]

Recruiting

Class of 2017

College recruiting information
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
Jaden Sayles PF	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
Eric Parrish SF	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.

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
MAC regular season
MAC Tournament
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Boise State Broncos Utah Utes Utah State Aggie"s New Mexico State Aggie:s Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama State Hornets North Carolina State Aggie"s Western Kentucky H I L L T O P P E R 's Western Michigan Broncos Northern Illinois Huskies Washington State Cougars Washington Huskies Brigham Young Cougars Idaho State Bengals Idaho Vandals Weber State Wukd Cats

References

^ "Duquesne U. Hires Keith Dambrot As New Basketball Coach". Retrieved 2017-04-11.
^ "Back in MAC: Akron hires former Ohio, Illinois coach Groce". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-04-11.

[1] "Duquesne U. Hires Keith Dambrot As New Basketball Coach". Retrieved 2017-04-11.

[2] "Back in MAC: Akron hires former Ohio, Illinois coach Groce". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-04-11.

[1]

[2]

v t e Akron Zips men's basketball
Venues	Crouse Gymnasium (1902–1920s) Akron Armory (1920s–1954) Memorial Hall (1954–1983) James A. Rhodes Arena (1983–present)
Culture & lore	Zippy
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25