Much like in football, the MAC doesn’t always get a lot of respect on the basketball court. But the Akron Zips are definitely one of the teams in the MAC that’s worth watching. Traditionally, the Zips have struggled, making cheap Akron basketball tickets easy to find. However, the program has come alive during the 21st century. The Zips have become one of the teams at the top of the MAC hierarchy, leading to basketball fans in Northeast Ohio grabbing last-minute Akron basketball tickets as fast as they can.

Making the Jump

Akron didn’t become a Division 1 basketball school until 1980, which explains their lack of history on the hardwood. Nevertheless, the Zips had some early success in Division 1, particularly under head coach Bob Huggins, who coached at Akron for five seasons, winning 20-plus games four times and taking the Zips to their first-ever NCAA Tournament in 1986. Unfortunately, much of the progress Akron made under Huggins was lost when the Zips joined the MAC for the 1992-93 season.

The Magic Man

The Zips finally started to get things moving in the right direction under Keith Dambrot, who is well-known for coaching LeBron James at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron. Dambrot took over as head coach of Akron in 2004 and coached the Zips to a winning record in all 13 of his seasons. His tenure, which ended in 2017, also included four regular-season MAC championships and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. He built a solid mid-major program that he handed over to John Groce in 2017. Groce quickly put his stamp on the program, guiding the Zips to another MAC regular-season title in 2020, leaving little doubt that Akron is one of the league’s pre-eminent programs.