NCAA Basketball: Top 10 impact head coaching hires from the year 2004

By Joey Loose | Jun 3, 2021

CINCINNATI, OH - DECEMBER 09: Head coach Lon Kruger of the Oklahoma Sooners signals to his players in the first half during a college basketball game against the Xavier Musketeers on December 9, 2020 at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

3 of 11

NCAA Basketball Keith Dambrot of the Akron Zips (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

9. Keith Dambrot (Akron)

There really wasn’t much going on with Akron basketball back in the day. Their only NCAA Tournament appearance was led by Bob Huggins back in the 80’s and the beginning of the 21st century had been some less than spectacular seasons under .500. In finding their new head coach, Akron didn’t have to look very far and got a talented coach with quite the pedigree.

Keith Dambrot was uniquely qualified for the job for several reasons. He had previous head coaching experience at Tiffin, Ashland, and at the D1 level at Central Michigan. He was a former high school coach in Akron who had coached LeBron James. Plus, Dambrot had spent the last three seasons on the Akron staff and was already familiar enough with the Zips program, it just needed his push in the right direction.

For the thirteen years he led Akron, this was a much-improved program, making three NCAA Tournaments and being one of the MAC’s stronger teams. After a 19-10 opening campaign, Akron won at least 21 games in each of his next 12 seasons, with a whole host of other postseason appearances along the way. Dambrot took the challenge of the Duquesne job in 2017, but there’s no doubt he’s made the biggest impact on Akron basketball in the program’s history.

Home/NCAA Basketball News