2020–21 Akron Zips men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Akron Zips men's basketball team represented the University of Akron during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by fourth-year head coach John Groce, played their home games at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Zips finished the season 15–8, 12–6 in MAC play to finish in a tie for third place. They defeated Bowling Green in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament before losing to Buffalo in the semifinals.

2020–21 Akron Zips men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	East Division
Record	15–8 (12–6 MAC)
Head coach	John Groce (4th season)
Associate head coach	Dustin Ford (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Rob Fulford (4th season) Robby Pridgen (4th season)
Home arena	James A. Rhodes Arena

2020–21 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Toledo	15	–	4		.789			21	–	9		.700
Buffalo	12	–	5		.706			16	–	9		.640
Akron	12	–	6		.667			15	–	8		.652
Kent State	12	–	6		.667			15	–	8		.652
Ohio †	9	–	5		.643			17	–	8		.680
Bowling Green	10	–	8		.556			14	–	12		.538
Miami (OH)	9	–	8		.529			12	–	11		.522
Ball State	8	–	9		.471			10	–	13		.435
Western Michigan	4	–	12		.250			5	–	16		.238
Eastern Michigan	3	–	11		.214			6	–	12		.333
Central Michigan	3	–	13		.188			7	–	16		.304
Northern Illinois	2	–	12		.143			3	–	16		.158
† 2021 MAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Zips finished the 2019–20 season 24–7, 14–4 in MAC play to win the East Division. They were to play Ohio in the conference tournament before the season ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Tyler Cheese	4	G	6'5"	195	Senior	Albany, GA	Graduated
Deng Riak	10	C	6'10"	225	Senior	Melbourne, Australia	Graduated
Channel Banks	11	G	6'4"	186	Senior	Las Vegas, NV	Graduated
Marquelle McIntyre	12	G	5'10"	175	Senior	Greensboro, NC	Walk-on; graduated
Xeyrius Williams	20	F	6'9"	205	Senior	Huber Heights, OH	Graduated
Jaden Sayles	23	F	6'9"	235	Junior	Cincinnati, OH	Transferred to Stony Brook

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Jermaine Marshall	4	F	6'6"	220	Sophomore	Birmingham, AL	Transferred from Florida SouthWestern State. Will have one year of remaining eligibility.
Michael Wynn	13	F	6'6"	210	Junior	Albany, NY	Transferred from Wake Forest. Under NCAA transfer rules, Wynn will have to sit out for the 2020–21 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Taylor Currie	33	F	6'8"	225	Sophomore	Clarkston, MI	Transferred from Wisconsin. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Garvin Clarke #38 CG	Euclid, OH	Euclid	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Oct 15, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
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: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Nate Johnson #55 SG	Middletown, OH	Lakota East	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Nov 9, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Sekou Sada Kalle PF	Louisville, KY	Aspire Basketball Academy	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Nov 8, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A
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: "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2020–21 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) RS 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 Sr Victory Rock Prep Long Beach State Chicago, IL G 2 Greg Tribble Jr. 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 192 lb (87 kg) So Huntington Prep Cincinnati, OH F 3 Maishe Dailey 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Sr Beachwood Iowa Beachwood, OH F 4 Jermaine Marshall 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Hueytown Florida SouthWestern State Birmingham, AL F 5 Camron Reece 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Sr Oakland Tech Sheridan College Oakland, CA G 11 Garvin Clarke 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Euclid Euclid, OH G 12 Bryan Trimble Jr. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 216 lb (98 kg) RS Jr Sunrise Christian Academy St. John’s Beachwood, OH F 13 Michael Wynn 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Liberty Heights Iowa Albany, NY G 14 Scott Walter (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS So St. Vincent-St. Mary Akron, OH C 21 Aziz Bandaogo 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr NBA Academy Africa Louisville, KY F 22 Mikal Dawson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Huntington Huntington, WV F 24 Ali Ali 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 206 lb (93 kg) So East Noble High School Kendallville, IN F 25 Enrique Freeman 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Fr St. Martin De Porres High School Cleveland, OH G 25 LePear Toles 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Jr Canton McKinley State Fair CC Canton, OH F 33 Taylor Currie 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS So Clarkston Wisconsin Clarkston, MI	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

Akron had to cancel its games against Middle Tennessee and Miami (OH) due to COVID-19. They have postponed games against Eastern Michigan and Ohio.

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 25, 2020*		Middle Tennessee	Canceled					James A. Rhodes Arena  Akron, OH
December 5, 2020*		Marshall	Canceled					James A. Rhodes Arena  Akron, OH
December 12, 2020 2:00 pm		Cedarville	W 97–49	1–0	19 – Jackson	8 – Reece	9 – Jackson	James A. Rhodes Arena (0) Akron, OH
December 15, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3		vs. St. Bonaventure	L 74–81	1–1	22 – Jackson	9 – Marshall	7 – Jackson	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (150) Cleveland, OH
December 19, 2020 2:00 pm		Malone	W 93–83	2–1	34 – Jackson	21 – Freeman	10 – Jackson	James A. Rhodes Arena (0) Akron, OH
MAC regular season
December 22, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Ohio	W 90–70	3–1 (1–0)	22 – Trimble Jr.	8 – Tied	8 – Jackson	James A. Rhodes Arena (0) Akron, OH
January 1, 2021 7:00 pm		Kent State	W 66–62	4–1 (2–0)	31 – Jackson	9 – Freeman	6 – Jackson	James A. Rhodes Arena (25) Akron, OH
January 5, 2021		at Eastern Michigan	Postponed					Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
January 9, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN+		at Eastern Michigan	L 59–71	4–2 (2–1)	10 – Tied	5 – Wynn	3 – Ali	Convocation Center (0) Ypsilanti, MI
January 12, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at Northern Illinois	L 65–67	4–3 (2–2)	15 – Ali	11 – Freeman	7 – Jackson	Convocation Center (0) DeKalb, IL
January 16, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Toledo	W 95–94 OT	5–3 (3–2)	34 – Jackson	6 – Ali	7 – Jackson	James A. Rhodes Arena (0) Akron, OH
January 19, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Bowling Green	W 69–57	6–3 (4–2)	18 – Trimble Jr.	14 – Freeman	6 – Jackson	Stroh Center (0) Bowling Green, OH
January 21, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Central Michigan	W 81–67	7–3 (5–2)	25 – Trimble Jr.	12 – Freeman	10 – Jackson	James A. Rhodes Arena (0) Akron, OH
January 23, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at Western Michigan	W 79–68	8–3 (6–2)	32 – Jackson	10 – Freeman	6 – Jackson	University Arena (0) Kalamazoo, MI
January 26, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN3		Eastern Michigan	W 86–65	9–3 (7–2)	14 – Dailey	10 – Reece	5 – Ali	James A. Rhodes Arena (0) Akron, OH
January 30, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Ball State	W 74–42	10–3 (8–2)	16 – Jackson	8 – Freeman	6 – Jackson	James A. Rhodes Arena (0) Akron, OH
February 2, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Toledo	L 76–91	10–4 (8–3)	32 – Jackson	11 – Freeman	4 – Jackson	Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH
February 5, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPNU		Kent State	W 72–61	11–4 (9–3)	26 – Trimble Jr.	11 – Freeman	8 – Jackson	James A. Rhodes Arena (0) Akron, OH
February 9, 2021		at Ohio	Postponed					Convocation Center  Athens, OH
February 12, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPNU		at Miami (OH)	W 83–76	12–4 (10–3)	25 – Jackson	7 – Freeman	8 – Dailey	Millett Hall (0) Oxford, OH
February 16, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Northern Illinois	W 81–76	13–4 (11–3)	22 – Trimble Jr.	8 – Freeman	7 – Jackson	James A. Rhodes Arena (0) Akron, OH
February 19, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Ball State	W 88–79	14–4 (12–3)	–	–	–	Worthen Arena (0) Muncie, IN
February 27, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Bowling Green	L 71–83	14–6 (12–5)	29 – Jackson	9 – Freeman	4 – Jackson	James A. Rhodes Arena (0) Akron, OH
March 2, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Buffalo	L 78–80	14–7 (12–6)	27 – Jackson	12 – Freeman	4 – Jackson	Alumni Arena (0) Amherst, NY
March 5, 2021		Miami (OH)	Canceled					James A. Rhodes Arena  Akron, OH
MAC tournament
March 11, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+	(3)	vs. (6) Bowling Green Quarterfinals	W 74–67	15–7	31 – Jackson	9 – Freeman	4 – Jackson	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (0) Cleveland, OH
March 12, 2021 7:30 pm, CBSSN	(3)	vs. (2) Buffalo Semifinals	L 74–81 OT	15–8	27 – Jackson	14 – Freeman	5 – Jackson	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (0) Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source

Rankings

See also: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP																					Not released
Coaches

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings