Akron won its second Mid-American Conference Championship behind the performance of Nate Johnson as the leading man on both sides of the ball. His performance made for one of the most complete seasons in MAC history, taking home Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors – the first MAC player to do so in nearly 30 years.
Johnson now plays at Kansas State, a top-25 hopeful with 2024-25 American Conference Player of the Year PJ Haggerty at his side. In his wake, Akron projects to be at the top of the MAC again – one major reason being senior point guard Tavari Johnson.
Blue Ribbon picked Johnson to make the All-MAC First Team in the 2025-26 season. It would be Johnson’s second year receiving the honor, and for good reason. Last year, Johnson averaged 13.0 points per game and 3.8 assists, leading the MAC-best Zips in the latter.
When paired with Nate Johnson, Akron outscored teams by 10.1 points (via CBBAnalytics.com). Without Nate, Tavari-led lineups dropped to a still-respectable 8.6 net rating.
The defining trait of Tavari Johnson, and the way he runs an offense, is pace. Akron averaged 71 possessions per 40 minutes with Johnson on the floor, a 98th percentile mark nationally. A possession is any trip down the court that ends in a shot, made or missed, or a turnover. What makes Johnson effective is that over 90% of those 71 trips down the court ended in shots.
Akron converted at an 85th percentile effective field goal percentage of 55.2%, largely due to the ease of shots Johnson helped generate. The Zips took the vast majority of their shots at the rim and above the break, a large portion of which came off assists from Johnson and the other talented playmakers up and down Akron’s roster.
The 96th percentile 83.1 points per 40 minutes Akron scored with Johnson on the court was only eclipsed by the 17.6 assists per 40 minutes it generated, ranking in the 97th percentile.
Defensively is another story. Standing at 5 feet, 11 inches, and 170 pounds, Johnson isn’t exactly made to be the focal point of an elite defense. The areas they could hang their hat on were blocks and foul avoidance, ranking in the 70th to 75th percentile in all related categories.
However, in its repeat campaign in the MAC, Akron staked its flag on the offensive end. With some of its best defenders departed, it’ll look to keep that identity in 2025-26. Entering his senior season, Johnson is the perfect guy to helm that team and lead Akron to a potential three-peat.
