Zips Picked Third, Jackson Tabbed Pre-Season First Team All-MAC

Zips Picked Third, Jackson Tabbed Pre-Season First Team All-MAC

November 19 | Men's Basketball

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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Akron Zips men's basketball team was selected to finish third in league play and second in Mid-American Conference Tournament championship voting in the 2020-21 MAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll, while senior guard and reigning MAC Player of the Year Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.) was named pre-season first team All-MAC, the league announced Thursday.

The Zips received 115 points and two first-place votes for the regular season championship and a pair of first-place votes for the conference tournament title.

Bowling Green (132 points) was tabbed to win the MAC regular season and tournament crowns for the 2020-21 campaign. The Falcons received a total of eight first-place votes to win the regular season championship and four votes to win the Tournament title. Ohio (117 points) landed second in league voting with one first-place nod for the regular season championship.

The 2019-20 regular season MAC Champion Akron Zips posted a 24-7 overall record and 14-4 in league mark last season and earned the No. 1 seed for the MAC Tournament returns one starter as Jackson, a two-time first-team selection and 2020 MAC POTY, is poised to lead the Zips into battle and defend their title.

However, the Zips return 10 players and seven letterwinners from last season's championship squad, including a pair of sit-outs transfers in senior Maishe Dailey (Beachwood, Ohio) and junior Bryan Trimble, Jr. (Kansas City, Mo.) along with redshirt freshman Tre Edwards (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada). The seven letterwinners include: seniors Jackson, Camron Reece (Oakland, Calif.) and LePear Toles (Canton, Ohio), along with sophomores Ali Ali (Kendallville, Ind.), Mikal Dawson (Huntington, W.Va.), Greg Tribble (Cincinnati, Ohio), and Scott Walter (Akron, Ohio). The Zips newcomers include junior Mike Wynn (Albany, N.Y.), sophomores Jermaine Marshall (Birmingham, Ala.) and Taylor Currie (Clarkston, Mich.), and freshmen Garvin Clarke (Euclid, Ohio) and Aziz Bandaogo (Senegal, Africa).

The Preseason All-MAC first team features Akron's Loren Cristian Jackson, Bowling Green's Justin Turner, Buffalo's Jayvon Graves, Ohio's Jason Preston and Toledo's Marreon Jackson. Cristian Jackson earned MAC Player of the Year honors last season, while Graves and Turner each earned first team All-MAC accolades a year ago.

The Preseason All-MAC second team is comprised of Ball State's Ishmael El-Amin, Bowling Green's Daeqwon Plowden, Buffalo's Josh Mballa, Kent State's Danny Pippen & Ohio's Ben Vander Plas.

The MAC regular season gets underway on Wednesday, November 25. Conference action begins on Friday, December 4th as teams will start to fight for position in the MAC Men's Basketball Tournament that will take place on March 11-13 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.

2020-21 MAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Bowling Green (8) – 132 points
2. Ohio (1) – 117 points
3. Akron (2) – 115 points
4. Buffalo – 109 points
5. Ball State – 104 points
6. Toledo (1) – 93 points
7. Kent State – 65 points
8. Eastern Michigan – 57 points
9. Miami – 48 points
10. Northern Illinois – 43 points
11. Central Michigan – 40 points
12. Western Michigan – 13 points

MAC Tournament Champions: Bowling Green (4), Akron (2), Ball State (1), Buffalo (1), Eastern Michigan (1), Kent State (1), Miami (1), Toledo (1)

Preseason All-MAC First Team
Loren Cristian Jackson, Senior, G, Akron
Justin Turner, Grad, G, Bowling Green
Jayvon Graves, Senior, G, Buffalo
Jason Preston, Junior, G, Ohio
Marreon Jackson, Senior, G, Toledo

Preseason All-MAC Second Team
Ishmael El-Amin, Senior, G, Ball State
Daeqwon Plowden, Senior, F, Bowling Green
Josh Mballa, Junior, F, Buffalo
Danny Pippen, Senior, F, Kent State
Ben Vander Plas, R-Junior, F, Ohio