As a Starbucks afficionado, Akron head coach John Groce couldn’t have picked a better city to be sent for the NCAA Tournament than Seattle.
The two-time MAC Coach of the Year orders the same drink every day and is on a first-name basis with the baristas at his local coffee shop. Fortunately for Groce, Seattle’s Starbucks Reserve Roastery is only a couple miles from Climate Pledge Arena, where his Zips will face Arizona in the Round of 64 on Friday at 4:35 p.m. PT on TruTV.
Akron has been as consistent as Groce’s coffee order this year — the Zips have only lost one game in all of 2025. Even with a 17-1 record in MAC play, Akron needed to be perfect in the league’s tournament to make the NCAA Tournament.
In the MAC title game, Groce coached against his brother Travis Steele, a former Sean Miller assistant at Xavier, who now leads Miami (Ohio). The Zips found themselves trailing by double digits at halftime but rallied back to secure their ticket to the Big Dance.
Saturday’s game wasn’t the only hole Akron had to dig out of this season.
The Zips went 7-5 in nonleague play, dropping contests to NCAA Tournament teams Saint Mary’s and Yale by double digits. Akron had to replace its four top scorers from a season ago, including Enrique Freeman, who went on to get drafted by the Indiana Pacers.
Akron welcomed nine newcomers this year, and it took the team some time to gel. Once the Zips got zipping, they were nearly impossible to stop.
Groce’s team likes to get out and score. The Zips rank near the top of college basketball in adjusted tempo and average length. Akron averages 84.6 points per game and its 18.1 assists average is the second-most of any NCAA Tournament team behind Gonzaga.
And they’re not afraid to shoot a lot of 3-pointers. In a MAC-Sun Belt Challenge game versus South Alabama, Akron attempted 45 shots from long distance. More impressively, it made 19.
Akron’s two leading scorers, Nate Johnson and Tavari Johnson (no relation), both like to shoot from anywhere on the floor.
Nate Johnson is a 6-foot-3 junior guard who averages 14 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He has a Caleb Love-like ability to be cold one night (3 points in the MAC quarterfinal vs. Bowling Green) and hot the next (31 points in the semifinal vs. Toledo).
Tavari Johnson, a 5-foot-11 junior guard, is a more consistent shooter from the perimeter, where he makes 39 percent of attempts. Tavari Johnson averages 13 points and is nearly automatic from the free throw line (91 percent).
Johnson and Johnson are Akron’s only double-digit scorers, but the team’s depth and balance is pronounced. Eight other players average at least 6.3 points. Akron has the fourth-highest percentage of bench minutes of any NCAA Tournament, according to KenPom.com
What Akron doesn’t have much of is height. The Zips rank at the very bottom of the country in that category, which could present a real disadvantage playing the likes of Henri Veesaar, Tobe Awaka and Carter Bryant.
Akron’s top big man is 6-foot-8 forward James Okonwko, a senior who played two seasons at West Virginia and another at North Carolina without recording meaningful minutes. Okonkwo averages 7 points and 7.3 rebounds. He ranks top 10 in the country in offensive rebound percentage, per KenPom, right behind Awaka.
Amani Lyles, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, is Akron’s top interior scorer. He shot 77 percent on 2-point attempts in MAC play, the best mark in the conference.
Defensively, Akron allows opponents to score 74.5 points per game and shoot 43 percent.
The Zips aren’t here for a rock fight, but on the right night they could send Arizona home if 3-point shots are falling.