2008–09 Akron Zips men's basketball team

2008–09 Akron Zips men's basketball
2008–09 Akron Zips men's basketball
MAC Tournament champion
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Mid-American Conference
	East Division
Record	23–13 (10–6 MAC)
Head coach	Keith Dambrot (5th season);
Associate head coach	Jeff Boals (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Lamont Paris (3rd season); Terry Weigand (5th season);
Home arena	Rhodes Arena
	Seasons ← 2007–08 2009–10 →

2008–09 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
Bowling Green	11	–	5	.688	19	–	14	.576
Buffalo	11	–	5	.688	21	–	12	.636
Miami	10	–	6	.625	17	–	13	.567
Akron †	10	–	6	.625	23	–	13	.639
Kent State	10	–	6	.625	19	–	15	.559
Ohio	7	–	9	.438	15	–	17	.469
West
Ball State	7	–	9	.438	14	–	17	.452
Central Michigan	7	–	9	.438	12	–	19	.387
Western Michigan	7	–	9	.438	10	–	21	.323
Eastern Michigan	6	–	10	.375	8	–	24	.250
Northern Illinois	5	–	11	.313	10	–	20	.333
Toledo	5	–	11	.313	7	–	25	.219

† Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008–09 Akron Zips men's basketball team represented the University of Akron in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by head coach Keith Dambrot, played their home games at Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio, as members of the Mid-American Conference. The Zips won the 2009 MAC tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the 13th seed in the South region. Akron lost its first-round game in the tournament to Gonzaga, 77–64.^[1]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	1	Ronnie Steward	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	RS Fr	Columbus, Ohio
G	2	Kyle Petersen	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Naples, Florida
G	3	Alex Sullivan	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Painesville, Ohio
G	4	Steve McNees	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	New Castle, Pennsylvania
G	5	Brett McClanahan	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Nitro, West Virginia
G	12	Darryl Roberts	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	Toledo, Ohio
F	13	Nikola Cvetinović	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	Loznica, Serbia
G	14	Eric Coblentz	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	RS Fr	Uniontown, Ohio
F	15	Tim Carroll	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jr	Akron, Ohio
F	23	Brett McKnight	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	So	Lancaster, Ohio
G	24	Anthony Hitchens	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	168 lb (76 kg)	Fr	Chillicothe, Ohio
F	30	Chris McKnight	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Lancaster, Ohio
F	32	Jimmy Conyers	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	Baltimore, Maryland
F	33	Nate Linhart	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Gahanna, Ohio
C	40	Steve Swiech	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	RS Fr	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
F	42	Andrew Parrish	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Dayton, Ohio
C	54	Mike Bardo	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	So	Cincinnati, Ohio

Head coach

Keith Dambrot (Akron)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 17, 2022

Source^[2]^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
November 6, 2008* 7:00 pm		Walsh	W 83–81		Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
Regular season
November 15, 2008* 7:00 pm		Canisius	W 56–46	1–0	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
November 18, 2008* 7:00 pm		Winthrop	W 72–58	2–0	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
November 21, 2008* 7:00 pm		at No. 6 Pittsburgh Legends Classic	L 67–86	2–1	Petersen Events Center Pittsburgh, PA
November 25, 2008* 7:00 pm		Urbana Legends Classic	W 77–68	3–1	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
November 29, 2008* 7:00 pm		vs. Eastern Kentucky Legends Classic	L 57–69	3–2	Rothman Center Hackensack, NJ
November 30, 2008* 7:00 pm		at Fairleigh Dickinson Legends Classic	W 85–41	4–2	Rothman Center Hackensack, NJ
December 3, 2008* 7:00 pm		at Niagara	W 63–59	5–2	Gallagher Center Lewiston, NY
December 6, 2008* 7:00 pm		Dayton	L 50–54	5–3	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
December 13, 2008* 7:00 pm		North Carolina A&T	W 78–61	6–3	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
December 17, 2008* 7:30 pm		at VCU	L 69–73	6–4	Siegel Center Richmond, VA
December 28, 2008* 7:00 pm		St. Francis Brooklyn	W 77–70	7–4	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
December 31, 2008* 2:00 pm		at UNC Greensboro	W 75–53	8–4	Fleming Gymnasium Greensboro, NC
January 3, 2009* 2:00 pm		at Rhode Island	L 50–79	8–5	Ryan Center Kingston, RI
January 10, 2009 4:00 pm		at Miami (OH)	L 51–64	8–6 (0–1)	Millett Hall Oxford, OH
January 13, 2009 7:00 pm		Buffalo	L 61–63	8–7 (0–2)	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
January 17, 2009 4:30 pm		at Bowling Green	W 62–52	9–7 (1–2)	Anderson Arena Bowling Green, OH
January 20, 2009 7:00 pm		at Ohio	L 65–70	9–8 (1–3)	Convocation Center Athens, OH
January 24, 2009 7:00 pm		Kent State	W 68–54	10–8 (2–3)	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
January 26, 2009* 7:00 pm		at Youngstown State	W 67–53	11–8	Beeghly Center Youngstown, OH
January 28, 2009 7:00 pm		at Toledo	W 70–61	12–8 (3–3)	Savage Arena Toledo, OH
January 31, 2009 7:00 pm		Central Michigan	W 64–43	13–8 (4–3)	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
February 3, 2009 7:00 pm		at Eastern Michigan	W 78–41	14–8 (5–3)	Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
February 8, 2009 2:00 pm		Western Michigan	W 87–63	15–8 (6–3)	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
February 11, 2009 7:00 pm		Ball State	W 63–55	16–8 (7–3)	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
February 15, 2009 8:00 pm		at Northern Illinois	L 79–83	16–9 (7–4)	Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
February 18, 2009 7:00 pm		Miami (OH)	W 53–44	17–9 (8–4)	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
February 21, 2009*		at Valparaiso ESPN BracketBusters	L 66–74	17–10	Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN
February 26, 2009 7:00 pm		at Buffalo	W 62–57	18–10 (9–4)	Alumni Arena Buffalo, NY
March 1, 2009 2:00 pm		Bowling Green	L 46–50	18–11 (9–5)	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
March 5, 2009 7:00 pm		Ohio	W 65–58	19–11 (10–5)	Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
March 8, 2009 2:00 pm		at Kent State	L 63–67	19–12 (10–6)	MAC Center Kent, OH
MAC tournament
March 10, 2009	(5)	vs. (12) Toledo MAC First Round	W 93–92 ^OT	20–12	Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH
March 12, 2009 9:30 pm	(5)	vs. (4) Miami (OH) MAC Quarterfinals	W 73–63	21–12	Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH
March 13, 2009 9:30 pm	(5)	vs. (1) Bowling Green MAC Semifinals	W 63–55	22–12	Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH
March 14, 2009 1:00 pm	(5)	vs. (3) Buffalo MAC Championship	W 65–53	23–12	Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH
NCAA tournament
March 19, 2009 4:25 pm	(13 S)	vs. (4 S) Gonzaga NCAA First Round	L 64–77	23–13	Rose Garden Portland, OR
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source^[4]^[3]

References

^ "Akron challenges, but Zags establish dominance with rally in second". ESPN. March 19, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2022.^{[dead link‍]}
^ "2008-09 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Akron Athletics. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
^ ^a ^b "2008-09 Akron Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Akron Athletics. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
^ "2008-09 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Akron Athletics. Retrieved October 18, 2022.

[1] "Akron challenges, but Zags establish dominance with rally in second". ESPN. March 19, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2022.^{[dead link‍]}

[2] "2008-09 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Akron Athletics. Retrieved October 17, 2022.

[mediaguide-3] "2008-09 Akron Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Akron Athletics. Retrieved October 17, 2022.

[4] "2008-09 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Akron Athletics. Retrieved October 18, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Akron Zips men's basketball
Venues	Crouse Gymnasium (1902–1920s) Akron Armory (1920s–1954) Memorial Hall (1954–1983) James A. Rhodes Arena (1983–present)
Culture & lore	Zippy
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25