# 2018–19 Akron Zips men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Akron Zips men's basketball team represented the University of Akron during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by second-year head coach John Groce, 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 17–16, 8–10 in MAC play to finish in fourth place in the East Division. They defeated Miami (OH) in the first round of the MAC tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Buffalo.

## Previous season

The Zips finished the 2017–18 season 14–18, 6–12 in MAC play to finish in last place in the East Division. In the MAC tournament, they defeated Western Michigan in the first round before losing to Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinals.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Malcon Duvivier | 4 | G | 6'2" | 210 | RS Senior | Toronto, ON | Graduated |
| Craig Eurbanks | 5 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Senior | Cleveland, OH | Walk-on; graduated |
| Virshon Cotton | 11 | G | 6'1" | 165 | Freshman | Milwaukee, WI | Transferred to LIU Brooklyn |
| Sina Gbadebo | 14 | G | 6'1" | 190 | Freshman | Windsor, ON | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Eric Parrish | 20 | G | 6'6" | 195 | Freshman | Cypress, TX | Transferred to Bossier Parish CC |
| Torrey Patton | 24 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Freshman | Trotwood, OH | Transferred to Indian Hills CC |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Tyler Cheese | 4 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Junior | Albany, GA | Junior college transferred to Florida SouthWestern State College |
| LePear Toles | 5 | G | 6'6" | | Sophomore | Canton, OH | Junior college transferred from State Fair Community College |
| Channel Banks | 11 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Sophomore | Las Vegas, NV | Junior college transferred from Sheridan College |
| Jeremy Roscoe | 13 | G | 6'3" | | RS Sophomore | Chicago, IL | Junior college transferred from Chipola College |
| Xeryius Williams | 20 | F | 6'9" | 205 | Senior | Huber Heights, OH | Transferred from Dayton. Under NCAA transfer rules, Williams will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have one year of remaining eligibility. |
| Khadim Gueye | 50 | F | 7'0" | 248 | Junior | Dakar, Senegal | Transferred from South Carolina. Under NCAA transfer rules, Gueye will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### Recruiting class of 2018

There was no recruiting class for Akron in 2018.

### Recruiting class of 2019

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Mikal Dawson SG | Huntington, WV | Huntington Prep School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Aug 26, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Ali Ali SF | Kendallville, IN | East Noble High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Aug 29, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Camron Reece PF | Oakland, CA | Sheridan College | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Sep 30, 2018 |
| Recruiting 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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 2, 2018. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cedarville | W 70–50 | 1–0 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,261) Akron, OH |
| Nov 10, 2018* 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Youngstown State Northeast Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer | W 98–69 | 2–0 | Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH |
| Nov 16, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Chicago State Cayman Islands Classic on-campus game | W 87–46 | 3–0 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,285) Akron, OH |
| Nov 19, 2018* 11:00 am, Stadium | | vs. No. 16 Clemson Cayman Islands Classic Quarterfinals | L 69–72 | 3–1 | John Gray Gymnasium (1,050) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| Nov 20, 2018* 12:00 pm, Stadium | | vs. Illinois State Cayman Islands Classic consolation semi finals | L 68–73 | 3–2 | John Gray Gymnasium (667) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| Nov 21, 2018* 10:00 am, Stadium | | vs. St. Bonaventure Cayman Islands Classic 7th place game | W 61–49 | 4–2 | John Gray Gymnasium (566) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Alabama State | W 86–54 | 5–2 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,294) Akron, OH |
| Dec 1, 2018* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Detroit Mercy | W 71–59 | 6–2 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,364) Akron, OH |
| Dec 5, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Purdue Fort Wayne | L 65–68 | 6–3 | Memorial Coliseum (1,274) Fort Wayne, IN |
| Dec 15, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Marshall | L 74–75 | 6–4 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,748) Akron, OH |
| Dec 18, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Tennessee State | W 82–60 | 7–4 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,151) Akron, OH |
| Dec 22, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at No. 6 Nevada | L 62–68 | 7–5 | Lawlor Events Center (10,825) Reno, NV |
| Dec 30, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Carnegie Mellon | W 82–55 | 8–5 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,446) Akron, OH |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| Jan 5, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Western Michigan | W 56–48 | 9–5 (1–0) | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,276) Akron, OH |
| Jan 8, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Central Michigan | L 86–88 $^{OT}$ | 9–6 (1–1) | McGuirk Arena (2,126) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| Jan 12, 2019 3:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Illinois | L 56–73 | 9–7 (1–2) | Convocation Center (906) DeKalb, IL |
| Jan 15, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Eastern Michigan | W 51–49 | 10–7 (2–2) | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,334) Akron, OH |
| Jan 19, 2019 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Miami (OH) | L 61–68 | 10–8 (2–3) | Millett Hall (1,202) Oxford, OH |
| Jan 22, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Central Michigan | W 70–67 | 11–8 (3–3) | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,254) Akron, OH |
| Jan 26, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Northern Illinois | W 67–65 | 12–8 (4–3) | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,996) Akron, OH |
| Feb 2, 2019 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Ohio | W 65–53 | 13–8 (5–3) | Convocation Center (7,887) Athens, OH |
| Feb 5, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Toledo | L 52–63 | 13–9 (5–4) | Savage Arena (3,895) Toledo, OH |
| Feb 8, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Kent State | W 72–53 | 14–9 (6–4) | James A. Rhodes Arena (4,289) Akron, OH |
| Feb 12, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | No. 25 Buffalo | L 70–76 | 14–10 (6–5) | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,646) Akron, OH |
| Feb 16, 2019 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Ball State | L 56–57 | 14–11 (6–6) | Worthen Arena (4,577) Muncie, IN |
| Feb 19, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Bowling Green | L 69–73 | 14–12 (6–7) | Stroh Center (1,954) Bowling Green, OH |
| Feb 23, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Miami (OH) | W 70–58 | 15–12 (7–7) | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,026) Akron, OH |
| Feb 26, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at No. 21 Buffalo | L 64–77 | 15–13 (7–8) | Alumni Arena (5,789) Amherst, NY |
| Mar 2, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Ohio | L 49–73 | 15–14 (7–9) | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,714) Akron, OH |
| Mar 5, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Bowling Green | W 91–67 | 16–14 (8–9) | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,902) Akron, OH |
| Mar 8, 2019 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Kent State | L 65-68 | 16–15 (8–10) | MAC Center (6,168) Kent, OH |
| MAC tournament ||||||
| Mar 11, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | (8) | (9) Miami (OH) First round | W 80–51 | 17–15 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,376) Akron, OH |
| Mar 14, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | (8) | vs. (1) No. 18 Buffalo Quarterfinals | L 46–82 | 17–16 | Quicken Loans Arena (2,499) Cleveland, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
Source