2016–17 Akron Zips men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Akron Zips men's basketball team represented the University of Akron during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by 13th-year head coach Keith Dambrot, 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 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.

2016–17 Akron Zips men's basketball
Savannah Invitational champions Sun Bowl Invitational champions MAC East division champions MAC regular season champions
NIT, Second Round
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	East Division
Record	27–9 (14–4 MAC)
Head coach	Keith Dambrot (13th season)
Assistant coaches	Terry Weigand Charles Thomas Rick McFadden
Home arena	James A. Rhodes Arena
Seasons ← 2015–16 2017–18 →

2016–17 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Akron	14	–	4		.778			27	–	9		.750
Ohio	11	–	7		.611			20	–	11		.645
Buffalo	11	–	7		.611			17	–	15		.531
Kent State †	10	–	8		.556			22	–	14		.611
Bowling Green	7	–	11		.389			13	–	19		.406
Miami (OH)	4	–	14		.222			11	–	21		.344
West
Ball State	11	–	7		.611			21	–	13		.618
Western Michigan	11	–	7		.611			16	–	16		.500
Toledo	9	–	9		.500			17	–	17		.500
Eastern Michigan	7	–	11		.389			16	–	17		.485
Northern Illinois	7	–	11		.389			15	–	17		.469
Central Michigan	6	–	12		.333			16	–	16		.500
† 2017 MAC tournament winner

Following the season, head coach Keith Dambrot left the school on March 30, 2017 to accept the head coaching position at Duquesne.^[1] On April 5, the school hired former Ohio and Illinois head coach John Groce to replace Dambrot.^[2]

Previous season

The Zips finished the 2015–16 season 26–9, 13–5 record in conference, winning the East Division title as well as the overall regular season MAC championship. The Zips defeated Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green to advanced to the championship of the MAC tournament where they lost to Buffalo. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference title, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost to Ohio State in the first round.

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Jake Kretzer	15	G/F	6'7"	216	Senior	Bainbridge, OH	Graduated
Reggie McAdams	21	F	6'7"	208	Senior	Elida, OH	Graduated
Pat Forsythe	34	C	6'11"	245	RS Senior	Brunswick, OH	Graduated
Peter Agba	42	F	6'5"	210	Freshman	Greensboro, NC	Transferred to Rochester College

Recruiting

Class of 2016

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Isaiah Williams SF	Dayton, OH	Stivers School for the Arts	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Mar 1, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Tavian Dunn-Martin PG	Huntington, WV	Huntington High School	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	Aug 4, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Michael Hughes PF	Liberty, MO	Liberty North High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	278 lb (126 kg)	Oct 1, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Jordan Davis PF	Canton, OH	McKinley High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	250 lb (110 kg)
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved October 3, 2016.

Class of 2017

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	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
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Eric Parrish SF	Houston, TX	Sunrise Christian Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Oct 23, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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. Retrieved October 3, 2016.

Roster

2016–17 Akron Zips men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Jimond Ivey 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS So Glenville HS/Ginn Academy Cleveland, OH G 1 Josh Williams 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So St. Vincent-St. Mary High School HS Akron, OH F 2 Kwan Cheatham 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Winton Woods HS Cincinnati, OH G/F 3 Daniel Utomi 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Fr Westside HS Houston, TX G/F 5 Craig Eubanks (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Glenville HS MSU-West Plains Cleveland, OH G 10 Aaron Jackson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Jr Lincoln HS Gahanna, OH G 11 Tavian Dunn-Martin 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Huntington HS Huntington, WV G 12 Marquelle McIntyre (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Fr Greensboro Day School Greensboro, NC G 14 Noah Robotham 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Bishop Gorman HS Las Vegas, NV G 20 Mark Noble (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Manchester HS Akron, OH C 21 Michael Hughes 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Fr Liberty North HS Liberty, MO F 22 Emmanuel Olojakpoke 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Fr Cypress Springs HS Houston, TX C 23 Isaiah Johnson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 290 lb (132 kg) Sr Walnut Hills HS Cincinnati, OH G 25 Carlitos Anderson (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Walnut Hills HS Cincinnati, OH G 31 Ty Dalton 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr South Kent School Houston, TX G 55 Antino Jackson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Jr Cypress Springs HS Houston, TX	Head coach Keith Dambrot (Akron) Assistant coach(es) Charles Thomas (Eastern Michigan) Terry Weigand (Ashland) Rick McFadden (Akron) 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
11/12/2016* 7:45 PM, ESPN3		at Youngstown State Northeast Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer	L 82–90	0–1	Beeghly Center (2,601) Youngstown, OH
11/17/2016* 7:00 PM		American	W 72–62	1–1	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,785) Akron, OH
11/20/2016* 7:00 PM		Radford Savannah Invitational	W 88–41	2–1	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,986) Akron, OH
11/22/2016* 7:00 PM		Georgia Southern Savannah Invitational	W 75–67	3–1	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,457) Akron, OH
11/25/2016* 7:30 PM		vs. Air Force Savannah Invitational semifinals	W 84–75	4–1	Savannah Civic Center (2,263) Savannah, GA
11/26/2016* 7:30 PM		vs. Mercer Savannah Invitational finals	W 65–63	5–1	Savannah Civic Center (2,391) Savannah, GA
11/30/2016* 7:00 PM		Adrian	W 95–41	6–1	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,868) Akron, OH
12/03/2016* 8:00 PM, FS2		at No. 10 Creighton	L 70–82	6–2	CenturyLink Center (16,852) Omaha, NE
12/07/2016* 7:00 PM		Coppin State	W 87–63	7–2	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,948) Akron, OH
12/10/2016* 8:00 PM, ROOT		at No. 8 Gonzaga	L 43–61	7–3	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
12/17/2016* 7:30 PM, BCSN		Marshall	W 99–88	8–3	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,598) Akron, OH
12/21/2016* 7:00 PM		vs. UC Irvine Sun Bowl Invitational semifinals	W 88–80	9–3	Don Haskins Center (5,333) El Paso, TX
12/22/2016* 9:00 PM		vs. Maryland Eastern Shore Sun Bowl Invitational championship	W 76–60	10–3	Don Haskins Center (4,633) El Paso, TX
MAC regular season
01/03/2017 7:00 PM, ESPN3		Bowling Green	W 89–84	11–3 (1–0)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,742) Akron, OH
01/07/2017 6:30 PM, BCSN		Western Michigan	W 66–59	12–3 (2–0)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,760) Akron, OH
01/10/2017 7:00 PM		at Central Michigan	W 89–85	13–3 (3–0)	McGuirk Arena (2,302) Mount Pleasant, MI
01/14/2017 3:30 PM, ESPN3		at Miami (OH)	W 74–70	14–3 (4–0)	Millett Hall (3,334) Oxford, OH
01/17/2017 7:00 PM, ASN		Ohio	W 83–68	15–3 (5–0)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,598) Akron, OH
01/20/2017 6:30 PM, CBSSN		Eastern Michigan	W 70–63	16–3 (6–0)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,625) Akron, OH
01/24/2017 7:00 PM, ESPN3		at Western Michigan	W 90–80	17–3 (7–0)	University Arena (2,079) Kalamazoo, MI
01/28/2017 7:30 PM, ESPN3		Buffalo	W 91–90	18–3 (8–0)	James A. Rhodes Arena (4,884) Akron, OH
01/31/2017 8:00 PM, ESPN3		at Northern Illinois	W 76–73	19–3 (9–0)	Convocation Center (1,042) DeKalb, IL
02/04/2017 12:00 PM, CBSSN		at Ohio	L 70–85	19–4 (9–1)	Convocation Center (10,101) Athens, OH
02/07/2017 6:00 PM, ASN		Ball State	W 65–63	20–4 (10–1)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,105) Akron, OH
02/10/2017 7:00 PM, ESPNU		at Eastern Michigan	W 87–76	21–4 (11–1)	Convocation Center (1,397) Ypsilanti, MI
02/14/2017 7:00 PM, BCSN		Toledo	W 71–65	22–4 (12–1)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,365) Akron, OH
02/17/2017 7:00 PM, ESPNU		Kent State	L 67–70	22–5 (12–2)	James A. Rhodes Arena (5,500) Akron, OH
02/21/2017 8:00 PM, BCSN		at Bowling Green	L 65–66	22–6 (12–3)	Stroh Center (1,611) Bowling Green, OH
02/25/2017 3:30 PM, ESPN3		at Buffalo	W 89–83	23–6 (13–3)	Alumni Arena (6,598) Amherst, NY
02/28/2017 7:00 PM, ESPN3		Miami (OH)	L 75–79	23–7 (13–4)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,646) Akron, OH
03/03/2017 9:00 PM, ESPN2		at Kent State	W 66–56	24–7 (14–4)	MAC Center (6,327) Kent, OH
MAC tournament
03/09/2017 12:00 PM, BCSN/ESPN3	(1)	vs. (8) Eastern Michigan Quarterfinals	W 79–62	25–7	Quicken Loans Arena (2,245) Cleveland, OH
03/10/2017 5:30 PM, CBSSN	(1)	vs. (4) Ball State Semifinals	W 74–70	26–7	Quicken Loans Arena (6,065) Cleveland, OH
03/11/2017 7:30 PM, ESPN2	(1)	vs. (6) Kent State Championship	L 65–70	26–8	Quicken Loans Arena (10,376) Cleveland, OH
NIT
03/15/2017* 7:30 PM, ESPNU	(7)	at (2) Houston First Round – California Bracket	W 78–75	27–8	Health and Physical Education Arena (1,928) Houston, TX
03/20/2017* 8:00 PM, ESPNU	(7)	at (6) UT Arlington Second Round – California Bracket	L 69–85	27–9	College Park Center (5,390) Arlington, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source[3][4][5].

See also

• 2016–17 Akron Zips women's basketball team