First-year University of Akron women’s basketball coach Ryan Gensler knows all about the pitches that high school basketball players hear.

“I joke with every recruit that steps in our office,” Gensler said Monday at Rhodes Arena during the Akron Tipoff Reception for coaches, players and fans. “I said, ‘Two things that you are always going to hear ad nauseam from these used car salesmen of coaches that are out there: We are a family and we play fast.’

“I said, ‘That is awesome and those are the things that we want to strive for.’ In order to become a family, that doesn’t happen over night. I told these guys in April, ‘We are not a family yet. We haven’t gone through anything. We are building the foundation and the blocks everyday. Through those struggles we are able to really solidify that and make it a foundation that we are proud of and that we can lean on.’

“Now, we are more of a family than ever and building that trust and really getting to know one another. That is something I am really proud of them for.” 

Gensler, 36, said “defending and rebounding at a high level” are musts for the Zips, who will open the 2023-2024 season at home at 7 p.m. Monday against Oakland (Michigan).

“A couple of absolute standards for me on the court is that we always play hard and we always play together,” Gensler said. “If we are doing those two things, special things can happen. We want to run and we want to play fast.”

Gensler also pointed out that Akron “had a top-50 GPA in the country last year” under former coach Melissa Jackson.

“That is something that we want to continue and possibly be top 25 this year,” Gensler said. “It is challenging with engineers, math majors and nurses and all of the labs that come with those majors.”

Reagan Bass ready to lead University Akron women’s basketball team

Akron’s roster looks quite different this season after several players transferred out and several players transferred in.

The Zips, 17-13 a season ago, have five returning letter winners in juniors Reagan Bass and Zakia Rasheed, seniors Tahmala Thorpe and Alexis Stewart and sophomore Annie Watson.

Bass, a 6-foot-1 forward who graduated from Strongsville High School, was tabbed as a first-team All-Mid-American Conference preseason selection by the league coaches on Thursday.

Bass said her decision to stay at Akron was “more than just a game of basketball.”

“I am here for school as well,” she said. “Coach preaches we are a student first. We are a student-athlete, so looking at that, this is one of the best engineering schools, and that is my major. That is one of the main reasons why I stayed. The MAC is an intense and challenging level to play at in general, so I love that for myself.

“I had conversations with coach G when he accepted the job. I really mesh well with him and his goals for this season. … I am very confident in the program and the direction of where we are going.”

Akron was also voted as the sixth best team in the preseason coaches poll. Toledo is the preseason favorite with Ball State, Kent State, Bowling Green and Northern Illinois rounding out the top five.

Bass, a 2022-2023 first-team All-MAC honoree, averaged a team-high 17.1 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds last season.

The 5-4 Thorpe and the 5-10 Stewart both hail from Canada. The 5-8 Rasheed is from Indiana and the 6-0 Watson is a local product who graduated from St. Vincent-St. Mary.

“The vibe around the program is very positive and high energy,” Watson said. “Coming into the summer, starting in June and finally getting everyone together, all of the transfers and the freshmen, getting everyone on the same page all summer and finally being able to see that outcome come together as one and having our scrimmages already, I think we are super excited to see all of our hard work on and off the court come together.”

Bass lauded Watson for being “a hustle player that you love to see.”

Liisa Taponen and Lanae Riley expected to make an impact at Akron

Gensler and his staff welcomed nine new players to the program during the summer, including Archbishop Hoban graduate and Middle Tennessee State University transfer Lanae Riley and University of Illinois transfer Liisa Taponen.

Riley is a 6-2 sophomore. Taponen is a 6-5 sophomore who from Tampere, Finland.

“We have players with different sizes and athleticism,” Gensler said. “I have told this group they must constantly push each other to another level every single day in practice so that we are constantly wearing down opponents throughout games. The post group in general for me, obviously being 6-foot-7 and being that position coach as an assistant, it is near and dear to my heart.”

Riley is no stranger to success after joining Watson on an STVM team that made a Division II state semifinal appearance in 2019. Riley then transferred to Hoban and helped the Knights make a Division I state semifinal appearance in 2021.

“It has been wonderful to come back to Akron,” Riley said. “The reason I came to Akron is because of how welcoming coach Ryan is. Me and him both have morals that align with each other. He is a very understanding coach. If we have homework or if we have a test, we are able to come to practice a little late. That is something that I love about his character. I am able to make up my practice time because nursing is a really high demand major with basketball.

“I love being home. I am able to be close to my friends and family and still able to enjoy school.”

Bass said Riley is “super strong in the post” and gives Akron “that next level of versatility that we needed.”

Akron 5-8 redshirt senior Morgan Haney is a graduate transfer who is from Piqua and previously played at Albany. Zips 5-7 junior Alexus Mobley previously played at Danville Area Community College and 5-3 junior Kaia Woods is a Tiffin native who played at Washington State.

The other four newcomers are freshmen: 6-1 Olivia Brown, 5-9 Teniesha Clarke, 5-10 Leila Jones and 5-11 Dacia Lewandowski.

“One of the biggest challenges when you take over a job in flux and you add new talent and mesh that group of nine with the players that were previously here is building those relationships,” Gensler said. “I have been really fortunate that these players have really bought into that aspect of team building. These players have met with me bi-weekly since the day I got here to learn more about them. When they have gone home, the conversations have continued. Reagan and I played golf this summer up by her in Strongsville.

“… We talk all the time about the event plus your response equals your outcome. For us, we are constantly challenging ourselves to respond in the most positive fashion we can. We know this is not going to be an easy season. We have some great teams lined up.

“As we hit that MAC-Sun Belt Challenge and go down to Southern Miss on the road for our very first road game, that will be a challenge in and of itself. Our process of playing together is ongoing for us. We are blessed with having an All-MAC returner [Bass]. We are blessed with talent at multiple positions and with really good competition. Iron sharpens iron in practice, and that has afforded us the opportunity to try different lineups and try different styles to play four guards together on the court [with one post] and to play two posts [with three guards].”

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.