Granted the No. 5 seed in the MAC tournament last March, Akron swept four games to claim its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1986. Not only did the Zips finish their season in the promised land, but they retain all but one player from that squad. Doesn't that sound swell?

Moreover, Akron filled that open scholarship with 7-foot freshman center Zeke Marshall, a McKeesport, Pa., product who was ranked as the nation's No. 61 recruit in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index. Doesn't that make the Zips' prospects sound even better?

But before sixth-year coach Keith Dambrot starts dreaming about doing better than last year—when the Zips lost to Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament by 13 points after keeping it close most of the way—he wants to know who'll...]]> Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:06:50 PDT ncaab urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,sportsxchange:20080101:ncaab,article,teamreports-2009-ncaab-aac:1 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:06:50 PDT