2019–20 Akron Zips men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Akron Zips men's basketball team represented the University of Akron during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by third-year head coach John Groce, play their home games at the James A. Rhodes Arena as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference.

2019–20 Akron Zips men's basketball
MAC Regular Season Champions MAC East Division Champions
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	East Division
Record	24–7 (14–4 MAC)
Head coach	John Groce (3rd season)
Associate head coach	Dustin Ford
Assistant coaches	Rob Fulford Robby Pridgen
Home arena	James A. Rhodes Arena
Seasons ← 2018–19 2020–21 →

2019–20 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Akron	14	–	4		.778			24	–	7		.774
Bowling Green	12	–	6		.667			21	–	10		.677
Buffalo	11	–	7		.611			20	–	12		.625
Kent State	9	–	9		.500			20	–	12		.625
Ohio	8	–	10		.444			17	–	15		.531
Miami (OH)	5	–	13		.278			13	–	19		.406
West
Ball State	11	–	7		.611			18	–	13		.581
Northern Illinois	11	–	7		.611			18	–	13		.581
Toledo	8	–	10		.444			17	–	15		.531
Central Michigan	7	–	11		.389			14	–	18		.438
Western Michigan	6	–	12		.333			13	–	19		.406
Eastern Michigan	6	–	12		.333			16	–	16		.500
Note: The 2020 MAC tournament was canceled prior to the quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous season

The Zips finished the 2018–19 season 17–16, 8–10 in MAC play to finish in fourth place in the East Division. In the MAC tournament, they defeated Miami (OH) in the first round before losing to Buffalo in the quarterfinals.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Jimond Ivey	0	G	6’5”	200	RS Senior	Cleveland, OH	Graduated
Daniel Utomi	3	F	6’6”	215	RS Junior	Houston, TX	Transferred to USC
Jeremy Roscoe	13	G	6’2”	190	Sophomore	Chicago, IL	Transferred from program
Emmanuel Olojakpoke	22	F	6’8”	190	Senior	Houston, TX	Transferred to Utah Valley
Jake Fischer	24	G	6'4"	180	Sophomore	Columbus, OH	Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons
Mark Kostelac	44	C	6’11”	250	Sophomore	Cleveland, OH	Left mid-season[1]
Khadim Gueye	50	C	7’0”	245	Junior	Dakar, Senegal	Suspended mid-season; transferred to University of Tampa

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Maishe Dailey	3	F	6’7”	195	Senior	Beachwood, OH	Transferred from Iowa. Under NCAA transfer rules, Williams will have to sit out for the 2019–20 season. Will have one year of remaining eligibility.
Cameron Reece	5	F	6’7”		Junior	Oakland, CA	Junior college transferred from Sheridan College
Bryan Trimble Jr.	15	G	6’2”	216	Junior	Kansas City, MO	Transferred from St. John's. Under NCAA transfer rules, Trimble will have to sit out for the 2019–20 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.

2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Greg Tribble SG	Cincinnati, OH	Winton Woods	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Apr 28, 2019
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (NR)
Ali Ali SF	Kendallville, IN	East Noble High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Aug 29, 2018
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (NR)
Mikal Dawson SG	Huntington, WV	Huntington Prep School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Aug 26, 2018
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (NR)
Camron Reece PF	Oakland, CA	Sheridan College	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sep 30, 2018
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved November 2, 2018.

Roster

2019–20 Akron Zips men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Tre Edwards 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Fr Hamilton Heights Christian Academy/Link Year Prep Hamilton, ON G 1 Loren Cristian Jackson 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 160 lb (73 kg) RS Jr Victory Rock Prep Long Beach State Chicago, IL G 2 Greg Tribble Jr. 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Fr Huntington Prep Cincinnati, OH F 3 Maishe Dailey  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Beachwood Iowa Beachwood, OH G 4 Tyler Cheese 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Albany Florida Southwestern State Albany, GA F 5 Camron Reece 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Jr Oakland Tech Sheridan College Oakland, CA C 10 Deng Riak 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Victory Rock Prep East Carolina Melbourne, Australia G 11 Channel Banks 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 186 lb (84 kg) Sr Hillcrest Prep Sheridan College Las Vegas, NV G 12 Marquelle Mcintyre (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Greensboro Day School Greensboro, NC G 14 Scott Walter (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So St. Vincent-St. Mary Akron, OH G 15 Bryan Trimble Jr.  6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 216 lb (98 kg) Jr Sunrise Christian Academy St. John’s Beachwood, OH F 20 Xeyrius Williams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Wayne Dayton Huber Heights, OH F 21 Enrique Freeman 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Fr St. Martin De Porres High School Cleveland, OH F 23 Jaden Sayles 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Sycamore Cincinnati, OH F 24 Ali Ali 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 206 lb (93 kg) Fr East Noble High School Kendallville, IN G 25 LePear Toles 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS So Canton McKinley State Fair CC Canton, OH	Head coach John Groce (Taylor) Assistant coach(es) Dustin Ford (Ohio) Rob Fulford (Marshall) 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 5, 2019* 7:00 pm		Malone	W 81–64[2]	1–0	James A. Rhodes Arena  Akron, OH
Nov 8, 2019* 7:00 pm, ATTSNPT		at West Virginia	L 84–94	1–1	WVU Coliseum (12,513) Morgantown, WV
Nov 15, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		North Carolina Central Global Sports Shootout	W 57–47	2–1	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,103) Akron, OH
Nov 18, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		USC Upstate Global Sports Shootout	W 76–45	3–1	James A. Rhodes Arena  Akron, OH
Nov 21, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		vs. Youngstown State Global Sports Shootout	W 82–60	4–1	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,214) Akron, OH
Nov 24, 2019* 6:00 pm, ACCN		at No. 2 Louisville Global Sports Shootout	L 76–82	4–2	KFC Yum! Center (14,889) Louisville, KY
Nov 29, 2019* 7:00 pm		Merrimack	W 64–47	5–2	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,028) Akron, OH
Dec 4, 2019* 7:00 pm		at Marshall	W 85–73	6–2	Cam Henderson Center (5,350) Huntington, WV
Dec 8, 2019* 2:00 pm		Southern	W 72–57	7–2	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,036) Akron, OH
Dec 15, 2019* 2:00 pm		Concord	W 100–50	8–2	James A. Rhodes Arena (1,964) Akron, OH
Dec 20, 2019* 2:30 pm, FloHoops		vs. Tulane DC Holiday Hoops Fest	W 62–61	9–2	Entertainment and Sports Arena (707) Washington, D.C.
Dec 21, 2019* 3:30 pm, FloHoops		vs. Liberty DC Holiday Hoops Fest	L 67–80	9–3	Entertainment and Sports Arena (942) Washington, D.C.
Dec 30, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Massachusetts	W 85–79	10–3	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,375) Akron, OH
MAC Regular Season
Jan 4, 2020 12:00 pm, ESPN+		at Eastern Michigan	W 69–45	11–3 (1–0)	Convocation Center (1,411) Ypsilanti, MI
Jan 7, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Western Michigan	W 84–69	12–3 (2–0)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,522) Akron, OH
Jan 10, 2020 9:00 pm, CBSSN		Ball State	W 75–60	13–3 (3–0)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,706) Akron, OH
Jan 14, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Northern Illinois	W 72–49	14–3 (4–0)	Convocation Center (884) DeKalb, IL
Jan 18, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Toledo	L 89–99	14–4 (4–1)	Savage Arena (4,386) Toledo, OH
Jan 21, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Miami (OH)	W 81–60	15–4 (5–1)	Millett Hall (988) Oxford, OH
Jan 25, 2020 3:30 pm, ESPN3		at Ohio	W 88–86	16–4 (6–1)	Convocation Center (5,012) Athens, OH
Jan 28, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Buffalo	L 74–77	16–5 (6–2)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,473) Akron, OH
Jan 31, 2020 6:30 pm, CBSSN		at Kent State	L 67–68	16–6 (6–3)	MAC Center (6,339) Kent, OH
Feb 8, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Eastern Michigan	W 59–58	17–6 (7–3)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,290) Akron, OH
Feb 11, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Bowling Green	W 74–59	18–6 (8–3)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,128) Akron, OH
Feb 15, 2020 4:30 pm, ESPN3		at Central Michigan	W 80–67	19–6 (9–3)	McGuirk Arena (1,906) Mount Pleasant, MI
Feb 18, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Western Michigan	W 71–67	20–6 (10–3)	University Arena (1,652) Kalamazoo, MI
Feb 22, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Miami (OH)	W 75–65	21–6 (11–3)	James A. Rhodes Arena (4,405) Akron, OH
Feb 25, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Bowling Green	L 60–78	21–7 (11–4)	Stroh Center (2,925) Bowling Green, OH
Feb 29, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Buffalo	W 86–73	22–7 (12–4)	Alumni Arena (5,870) Buffalo, NY
Mar 3, 2020 7:30 pm, CBSSN		Ohio	W 74–67	23–7 (13–4)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,825) Akron, OH
Mar 6, 2020 6:30 pm, CBSSN		Kent State	W 79–76	24–7 (14–4)	James A. Rhodes Arena (5,500) Akron, OH
MAC tournament
March 12, 2020 12:00 pm, ESPN+	(1)	vs. (8) Ohio Quarterfinals	MAC Tournament cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic		Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse  Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source^[3]