The Akron Zips men’s basketball team will maintain some semblance of continuity because Dustin Ford has been hired as the program’s new head coach, UA announced on Monday, March 30.
Ford worked as an assistant for 18 seasons, including the past nine at Akron, under former longtime Zips coach John Groce. Earlier on March 30, Groce informed Akron he would leave UA to become the head coach at the College of Charleston.
No other coach has led Akron basketball to as many Division I NCAA Tournament berths as Groce, 54.
A native of Cambridge, Ohio, Ford served as Groce’s right-hand man as Akron achieved unprecedented success.
“I’m extremely excited for this opportunity to lead the Akron men’s basketball program,” Ford said in a news release. “This is a program with a rich tradition, and I’m honored to be the one to help continue to move it forward. We’ve built something special here in Akron, and I look forward to working with our players, staff, and the community to build on our success.”
Akron captured four Mid-American Conference Tournament titles (2022, ’24, ’25 and ’26) and thereby advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times in a span of five years under Groce. The Zips became the first men’s team to three-peat as MAC tourney champion (2024-26).
Ford knows the blueprint for success at Akron.
“Dustin is highly respected by his peers and our student-athletes,” Akron athletic director Andrew T. Goodrich said. “His passion for developing young men both on and off the court is exactly what we need to continue the success of Akron basketball. We have complete confidence he is the right leader to guide our program into the future.”
In Akron’s four March Madness appearances with Groce, UA lost in the first round each time. It fell 57-53 to fourth-seeded UCLA as a No. 13 seed on March 17, 2022, 77-60 to third-seeded Creighton as a No. 14 seed on March 21, 2024, 93-65 to fourth-seeded Arizona as a No. 13 seed on March 21, 2025, and 91-71 to fifth-seeded Texas Tech as a No. 12 seed on March 20.
Akron is 0-8 in Division I NCAA Tournament games (1986, 2009, ’11, ’13, ’22, ’24, ’25 and ’26). UA basketball’s Division I era began with the 1980-81 season.
Dustin Ford’s coaching resume
Ford, 47, has never previously been a college head coach.
Ford was on Groce’s coaching staff for all four of Groce’s seasons at the helm of Ohio (2008-12), all five at Illinois (2012-17) and all nine at Akron (2017-26).
A Stow resident, Ford previously spent three years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Western Carolina (2006-08) after working as a head coach at Jackson High School (2002-05) in Jackson, Ohio.
In other words, Ford has dedicated his life to coaching basketball.
“Dustin Ford is the right leader to guide Akron men’s basketball into its next chapter,” Akron president R.J. Nemer said in the release. “He has been a key part of our sustained success and brings the integrity, leadership and competitive mindset that define this program.”
Dustin Ford played basketball for Ohio Bobcats
Ford played basketball at Ohio (1997-01), averaging 7.5 points, 2.7 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals in four seasons with the Bobcats. Ford graduated from Ohio with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 2001.
Ford’s MAC roots are appealing to Akron.
“Dustin has been critical to our success at Akron,” Groce said in the release. “I’m excited for him to have the opportunity to lead the program we have built over the last nine years. He knows what it takes to be successful and the processes that are involved to move the program forward.”
Dustin Ford is from a basketball coaching family
Ford’s older brother, Geno Ford, is the head coach at Stony Brook, which is in the Coastal Athletic Association with Charleston. Geno Ford is a former Kent State (2008-11) and Bradley (2011-15) head coach. Geno Ford also served as an assistant an Ohio when Dustin Ford played for the Bobcats.
Although the Ford brothers are in the family business of coaching, they didn’t start it. Their late father, Gene, was a head coach at Shenandoah, Tuscarawas Valley and Cambridge high schools as well as Muskingum University. He was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. He died in 2019.
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron hires Dustin Ford as Zips basketball team’s head coach
Reporting by Nate Ulrich, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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