2024-25 Post Mortem and Looking Ahead to 2025-26

[Zippy87]

A fun season is over and now we turn our attention to the offseason. We have at least 2 open scholarships because of the NCAA increasing the limit to 15, and maybe more depending on transfers. 

[Zippy87]

I'll start:

 

- I don't think this roster composition will work if you want to beat better teams. Tonight was basically a replay of the St. Mary's game in November. Milwaukee and Yale both beat us up pretty badly on the glass, too. 

 

- Losing Harris after 6 games really hurt. His size and scoring ability would've helped in a game like tonight. Aside from the Johnsons, we really lacked guys that could create their own shot. 

 

- We desperately need to add a skilled post player. Lyles grew a ton this year and I can't wait to see what he does as a senior. I also think Okonkwo can be serviceable. But you can't run this back next year with just them and hope for a different result. 

 

- I really hope the core of this team returns. I'm sure several of them will get NIL offers elsewhere. I hope what we can offer + the Akron culture + a chance at a 3-peat and another shot at March glory will keep them here. 

 

- We are now 0-7 in the Tournament. The criticism of KD was his inability to deliver a Tournament winner (0-3 here) and Groce now faces the same challenge (also 0-3 here). I very much believe he can do it. 

 

- We have to keep the momentum built toward the end of the year going. I'm not sure why it took Charles leaving for it to get moving, but I loved what I saw with social media, promotions, marketing, just a different energy around the team. It makes a difference with fan engagement and how this team is viewed externally. 

 

 

[RoyalBlu]

Doubt the MAC will be as easy to win next season as this season. Miami has been hit in the mouth and tasted blood. They will be a tough out. UMass is an unknown but expected to be Top 6 in the league at worst, and a contender at best. Toledo will likely regroup and return to its profile as a 3-pt shooting team. Ohio and Kent, who knows but historically Top 6 as well. After that, a wild card (much like Miami this season) could get in the mix as well.

 

If Akron, Miami, Ohio, UMass are not overly hit with transfers, and schedule to their pedigree, the MAC should see the conference rank improve, perhaps markedly.

 

All that said, the Zips should be No. 1 going into next season considering all the returnees and high level recruits. Another solid big, plus the return of Harris and the Zips are definitely both improved and experienced.

 

The rest of the MAC still has to catch up to Akron.

 

[Reslife4Life]

Is the 15 scholarship thing for next year legit? Even in that case, we already played 10 guys this year. While scholarships might expand, there’s still only 40 minutes a game. 
I really hope this team stays together, but I have no idea. 
My potential transfers:

Nate 

Tavari

Marvin

Amani? 
Now after I wrote that, all 4 of those guys have spent their whole careers at Akron so maybe they won’t actually. 

It just sucks that after the season ends the entire roster could be different next year 

[Reslife4Life]

I hate that now all this team will be remembered for by media, casual fans, and postseason recaps will be that we got blown out in the first round (again). 

And I really don’t think it was a matter of a “bad matchup” (we got beat fair and square), people that don’t follow the team like us will just point to that and think this team wasn’t anything too special. Of course this team was special, no other Akron team has ever won 28 games before! And it’s not just due to a down conference, this team was special and I hope people remember it that way

Edited Saturday at 02:58 AM by Reslife4Life

[RoyalBlu]

11 minutes ago, Reslife4Life said:

I hate that now all this team will be remembered for by media, casual fans, and postseason recaps will be that we got blown out in the first round (again). 

And I really don’t think it was a matter of a “bad matchup” (we got beat fair and square), people that don’t follow the team like us will just point to that and think this team wasn’t anything too special. Of course this team was special, no other Akron team has ever won 28 games before! And it’s not just due to a down conference, this team was special and I hope people remember it that way

 

I believe both things can be true; It was a special team ... that dominated in a down MAC season. While I think this was Groce's deepest team, with Harris, I would not call this his best team. And as several posters have pointed out, this team would have struggled against a couple of other Akron teams from the last 20 years.

 

That said .. one woulld think this team could be much much better next season w/Harris and a couple of more bigs, especially if Johnson & Johnson return as well.

[Reslife4Life]

14 minutes ago, RoyalBlu said:

 

I believe both things can be true; It was a special team ... that dominated in a down MAC season. While I think this was Groce's deepest team, with Harris, I would not call this his best team. And as several posters have pointed out, this team would have struggled against a couple of other Akron teams from the last 20 years.

 

That said .. one woulld think this team could be much much better next season w/Harris and a couple of more bigs, especially if Johnson & Johnson return as well.

I would say the Mac was better this year than the last couple of years with the emergence of Miami to go along with the other Ohio schools (minus BG) 

I still believe that 2019-20 is the best collection of players. But this team was so deep, shared scoring, shared minutes, truly a great team top to bottom. 
 

[Zippy87]

I still think 2012-13 is the best Zips team of all-time. 

 

Treadwell/Harney

Gilliam/Kretzer

Marshall/Forsythe

Walsh/McAdams/Ibitayo

Abreu/Betancourt

 

11 deep, size, shooting, athleticism- they had it all. And then Alex Abreu ruined it all. 

 

(Quincy Diggs was supposed to be on this team, too) 

[Captain Kangaroo]

13 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

I still think 2012-13 is the best Zips team of all-time. 

 

Treadwell/Harney

Gilliam/Kretzer

Marshall/Forsythe

Walsh/McAdams/Ibitayo

Abreu/Betancourt

 

11 deep, size, shooting, athleticism- they had it all. And then Alex Abreu ruined it all. 

 

(Quincy Diggs was supposed to be on this team, too) 

Cheese, Banks, Williams, Christian-Jackson…that was the crew that had the best chance to do some post season damage. Elite shooting, size, height, athleticism. Oh well…

[csims0917]

Still think if Ali hadn’t transferred that 22-23 team could’ve been lethal. Would’ve beat Kent and Toledo at least 

[HoopsFan03]

My wishlist for next year. We need to get taller. 

A legit center. 6'10. That would move Lyles and James O. to power forward. Even if that big guy only plays 12 minutes a game. 

6'6"-6'8" guard. Another Ali type player. 

 

As far as OOC schedule. A10 team. A lower level Big Ten or Big East team. Another Ivy and Horizon game. 

[zippy5]

To be fair in regards to the scheduling. I wanted to see a P5 team too, but Groce thought our OOC schedule was the best route for this team with all the turnover. Maybe a higher level OOC doesn't let this squad blossom into what we saw in this calendar year.

 

That said if everyone comes back next year, it's time to challenge ourselves with some higher level matchups 

[LZIp]

33 minutes ago, HoopsFan03 said:

My wishlist for next year. We need to get taller. 

A legit center. 6'10. That would move Lyles and James O. to power forward. Even if that big guy only plays 12 minutes a game. 

6'6"-6'8" guard. Another Ali type player. 

 

As far as OOC schedule. A10 team. A lower level Big Ten or Big East team. Another Ivy and Horizon game. 

If I have anything to say about the lineup, next year would look something like:

 

Tavari/Young/Shammah

Nate/Shammah/Hardman

Harris/Nate/Mahaffey

Lyles/Harris

transfer Center/Okonkwo/Briscoe(?)

 

To me, that gives us an adequate blend of size/talent/athleticism/shot making ability.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Schedule

 

The schedule this year featured 4 NCAA tourney teams - Yale, Saint Mary's, Omaha, Alabama State. 4 other teams were top finishers in their conferences/conf tournaments. Alabama State gave Auburn a run for their money. Yale gave Texas A&M a run. Did Auburn & Texas A&M not schedule tough enough opponents in the regular season? The games are played for a reason - results vary day to day and sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't. When Harris got hurt, we lost our stretch 3. I don't know if he helps you in the paint, but at 6'8" with 3P capabilities, he would've helped you vs longer, more athletic teams. I would love to see a lower tier P4 or 2 on the schedule not for the experience against potentially more athletic/talented teams, but to win one or 2 so this program under Groce gets the confidence that they have, not that they "can". Groce has been close vs a couple P4s, but hasn't gotten over the hump at Akron. Need to break through that glass ceiling. 

 

Roster

 

Unless there's a drastic shift in the team's mindset, the entire core (except those who are graduating) should be returning. That means another year of development for guys like Okonkwo, Lyles, Hardman, etc. Sounds like we will most likely be bringing in a more P4 big man, which will allow Amani to move into more of the stretch 3/4 role. We'll have a plethora of guards, although I would like to see them bring in someone with the Tyler Cheese build/skill set. Nate is more of a 2/3 than he is a 1/2, so having someone that can increase the size of our backcourt while also being able to handle the backcourt duties would be nice. Otherwise, this roster is fantastic, they just need to keep improving and focus on executing when it matters.

 

Misc.

 

Something that hasn't really been talked about is Dustin Ford. Wentz made the comment during one of his podcast appearances that Ford will most likely be highly sought after as a HC. I really hope we don't lose him. 

[AkronAlumnus]

Future will be bright so long as UA retains JG!!

[Zippy87]

It's tough to speculate too much on needs when you don't know who is coming back.

 

Right now, I'd guess it looks something like this:

 

Harris/Lyles

N. Johnson/MMK

Okonkwo/Brisco

Scott/Hardman/Mahaffey 

T. Johnson/Young

 

I have no idea what Brisco or Mahaffey can do, but I've heard others speak highly of Mahaffey and Brisco definitely has the type of size we need more of. 

[Blue & Gold]

The players who made their intentions known during locker room interviews at Climate Pledge Arena are

redshirt junior guard Nate Johnson,

junior guard Tavari Johnson,

senior guard Shammah Scott,

senior forward James Okonkwo and

junior forward Amani Lyles.

 

Edited Saturday at 05:28 PM by Blue & Gold

[Blue & Gold]

As a wise man said ( @csims0917 😉) "We're in limbo."

 

I wish our Big East soccer buddies would throw Men's Basketball a bone or two with scheduling.

[72 Roo]

This was a great year. Thanks and appreciation to all involved. As we look to next season there is one thing to keep in mind. The Zips keep metrics on every practice. Before he got hurt Mahaffey consistently graded out the best. He may solve the guard/wing issues we have for height, athleticism and scoring ability. No doubt, though, we need a 6'10"+ presence in the paint and more height at PF. Groce will solve it. He knows all of this and more.

[Blue & Gold]

12 minutes ago, 72 Roo said:

This was a great year. Thanks and appreciation to all involved. As we look to next season there is one thing to keep in mind. The Zips keep metrics on every practice. Before he got hurt Mahaffey consistently graded out the best. He may solve the guard/wing issues we have for height, athleticism and scoring ability. No doubt, though, we need a 6'10"+ presence in the paint and more height at PF. Groce will solve it. He knows all of this and more.

I saw Mahaffey play in high school & he's legit. 6'5" & athletic.  But there's no way that as a true freshman he was grading out higher in practice than anyone on the team, is there?

 

Speaking of Mahaffey, I was going to mention that we're going to have two tall, athletic guards next year in Mahaffey and Josh Henderson (though Josh will only be true freshman). Both athletic 6'5" guards. Josh can shoot the lights out.

 

With one more off season of work I think Amani will be a great Stretch 4 next year. Perhaps 1st Team All-MAC good.

Edited Saturday at 06:07 PM by Blue & Gold

[RoyalBlu]

I still say, when it comes to scheduling, the entire MAC - not just Akron - would be well served tieing in a basketball game along with these payday football games all these teams schedule for money. Yes, they will be on the road. But knowing what an Arizona State, Oklahoma or Alabama looks like up close should take some of the angst off facing one of those type teams in the NCAA Tournament.

 

If just the Top Tier MAC BB teams consistently played an Akron-type schedule from this past season, PLUS 2-3 power conference teams instead of D-2s and SWAC teams, it would go a long way for both the Zips and the league.

 

[Blue & Gold]

2 minutes ago, RoyalBlu said:

I still say, when it comes to scheduling, the entire MAC - not just Akron - would be well served tieing in a basketball game along with these payday football games all these teams schedule for money. Yes, they will be on the road. But knowing what an Arizona State, Oklahoma or Alabama looks like up close should take some of the angst off facing one of those type teams in the NCAA Tournament.

 

If just the Top Tier MAC BB teams consistently played an Akron-type schedule from this past season, PLUS 2-3 power conference teams instead of D-2s and SWAC teams, it would go a long way for both the Zips and the league.

 

I really enjoyed the Alabama St. game this year (SWAC) but I agree we need to scale back on the D-2 & lower schools. One per year. 1st game of the year. Home opener. Drill Walsh or Malone or Heidelberg or someone. But THAT'S IT. ONE PER YEAR.

[clarkwgriswold]

We were all moderately perturbed and disappointed by the end of 2024 but this guard heavy team really turned it on in 2025, dominating the MAC season.    Their was a lot of growth in the team with guys like Nate, Tavari, Amani and Shammah making huge steps in their games.  There are some critical comments on here occasionally about Gray but that kid came to play every night, often forced to take on the other team's second big.  Young looks to have the brightest future of anyone on this team.  Hopefully, he won't get stolen away.  I'd like to see Okonkwo commit the offseason to building his strength, shooting free throws and working on his hands.

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing Mahaffey.  I think he could be the bigger wing this team has missed.  On to 2025-26.

[1981 grad]

33 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

I really enjoyed the Alabama St. game this year (SWAC) but I agree we need to scale back on the D-2 & lower schools. One per year. 1st game of the year. Home opener. Drill Walsh or Malone or Heidelberg or someone. But THAT'S IT. ONE PER YEAR.

I have said the same thing over and over again.  Maybe they will listen to you.

[RoyalBlu]

The  'They won't Play us' argument is old and outdated. Teams can find those. games if they want them. Just commit to playing on the road.

 

Coming off a 30-pt NCAA Tournament loss, make that November game a 20-pt loss. Then make the next NCAA Tournament game a 10-pt game where the pressure now shifts to the higher seed to win down the stretch. At worse you look like Bobby-MO vs. Alabama. At best, you get the upset.