Jon Ekey - Men's Basketball Coach - University of Akron Athletics

Jon Ekey

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
jekey@uakron.edu
Phone:
(330) 972-7781

Jon Ekey joined The University of Akron Athletics Department in June 2022 as Director of Men’s Basketball Operations & Analytics.

Prior to arriving at Akron, Ekey spent six seasons (2021-22) at Southern Methodist University, including four years as video coordinator and two seasons as a graduate manager. During his time at SMU, the Mustangs won The American regular season, the AAC Tournament, made the NCAA tournament and the NIT twice. The Mustangs garnered two American Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors and an AAC Sixth Man of the Year award. SMU had a total of 13 All-AAC selections and five players in the NBA (Sterling Brown, Feron Hunt, Shake Milton, Ben Moore, Semi Ojeleye) with several others playing professionally throughout the world.

As a player, Ekey played for head coach John Groce at Illinois for one season (2013-14). Ekey played in all 35 games with 23 starting appearances. He finished the season ranked third in rebounding (4.8 rpg) and fourth in scoring (7.3 ppg). Ekey earned a Big Ten newcomer of the week accolade and four team honors, including the TNT Award, Matt Heldman "Matto" Award, 6th-Man Award and Orange Krush 3-Point Shooting Award.

Ekey joined the professional basketball ranks in 2014, when he joined the Saitama Broncos in Saitama, Japan. As a starting forward, Ekey earned the team’s Most Important Player award. Off the court, Ekey assisted with day-to-day operations, providing player development feedback and scouting reports to coaches.

Ekey started his collegiate playing career under the tutelage of head coach Tim Jankovich at Illinois State (2010-13), Ekey totaled 668 points and 432 rebounds in 99 games over three seasons, and was a career 36.5-percent 3-point shooter (112-307). He ranks sixth on the ISU single-season blocked shots list with 52, and seventh on the ISU all-time career blocked shots list with 110. During his tenure at Illinois State, he helped the team to two NIT appearances and earned Cancun Challenge All-Tournament Team honors in 2011. Academically, he was a five time Missouri Valley Scholar Athlete of the Week, a First-Team All-Missouri Valley Scholar Athlete, and a Second-Team All Missouri Valley Scholar-Athlete.

Ekey graduated from Illinois State in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. A year later (2014) he received a master's degree in sport management from Illinois, graduating with a 3.65 GPA. In May 2018, he graduated from SMU with a master's degree in liberal studies.