| Sport: | basketball |
| Prev Year: | 2023–24 |
| Year: | 2024–25 |
| Team: | Akron Zips |
| Conference: | Mid-American Conference |
| Short Conf: | MAC |
| Record: | 5–2 |
| Conf Record: | 0–0 |
| Head Coach: | John Groce |
| Hc Year: | 8th |
| Assoc Coach: | Dustin Ford |
| Ahc Year: | 8th |
| Asst Coach1: | Robby Pridgen |
| Ac1 Year: | 8th |
| Asst Coach2: | Mike Allen |
| Ac2 Year: | 1st |
| Asst Coach3: | Jon Ekey |
| Ac3 Year: | 1st |
| Asst Coach4: | Devan Morrow |
| Ac4 Year: | 1st |
| Arena: | James A. Rhodes Arena |
The 2024–25 Akron Zips men's basketball team represents the University of Akron during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by eighth-year head coach John Groce, play their home games at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio as members of the Mid-American Conference.
The Zips finished the 2023–24 season 21–10, 13–5 in MAC play to finish in a tie for second place.[1] They defeated Miami (OH),[2] Ohio,[3] and Kent State to win the MAC tournament championship for the second time in three years and earn the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[4] In the NCAA tournament, they received the #14 seed in the Midwest Region,[5] where they would fall to #3 region seed Creighton in the First Round.[6]
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Tribble | 2 | G | 6'3" | 195 | Senior | Graduated | ||
| Kaleb Thornton | 3 | G | 6'0" | 175 | Senior | Graduated | ||
| Darrion Baker | 4 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Freshman | Transferred to SIU Edwardsville | ||
| Ryan Prather Jr. | 10 | G | 6'5" | 205 | RS Freshman | Transferred to Robert Morris | ||
| Sammy Hunter | 11 | W | 6'9" | 225 | Senior | Graduated | ||
| Mikal Dawson | 22 | W | 6'5" | 222 | Senior | Transferred to Marshall | ||
| Ali Ali | 24 | G | 6'8" | 205 | Senior | Graduated | ||
| 25 | F | 6'7" | 206 | Senior |
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isaiah Gray | 13 | G | 6'3" | 220 | Senior | Cornell | ||
| Seth Wilson | 14 | G | 6'2" | 220 | Senior | West Virginia | ||
| Bowen Hardman | 15 | G | 6'3" | 220 | Junior | Ohio State | ||
| Josiah Harris | 22 | W | 6'7" | 210 | Junior | West Virginia | ||
| James Okonkwo | 32 | F | 6'8" | 240 | Senior | North Carolina |
On October 22, 2024 the MAC released the preseason coaches poll. Akron was picked to finish second in the MAC regular season and received 1 of the 12 first place votes.[7]
| style= | Predicted finish | style= | Team | style= | Votes (1st place) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 121 (11) | ||||
| 2 | Akron | 106 (1) | |||
| 3 | 99 | ||||
| 4 | 95 | ||||
| 5 | 73 | ||||
| 6 | 72 | ||||
| 7 | 67 | ||||
| 8 | 55 | ||||
| 9 | 36 | ||||
| 10 | 33 | ||||
| 11 | 24 | ||||
| 12 | 11 |
MAC Tournament Champions: Ohio (8), Kent State (3), Toledo (1)
Source[7]
| style= | Team | style= | Player | style= | Position | style= | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second | Isaiah Gray | Guard | Senior | ||||
|-!colspan=12 style=| Non-conference regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| MAC regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| MAC tournamentSources:[8] [9]