Courtesy: Jeff Harwell-Zips Sports Photography Chris McKnight's 9.2 points-per-game ranked as third best on the team last season.

AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron men's basketball team wrapped up its third day of preseason practice with a workout on Sunday evening in Rhodes Arena. The Zips began the month-long countdown to the start of the 2009-10 campaign with an off campus workout on Friday night and then took to the Rhodes Arena floor twice on both Saturday and Sunday.

"The last three days have been very positive," sixth-year Akron head coach Keith Dambrot said. "Everyone is working very hard and is focused. There is a lot of healthy competition for playing time at every position and that is a good thing."

One of the most anticipated seasons in the history of the program, Akron returns four starters and 13 letterwinners from last year's team that went 23-13 (10-6 in Mid-American Conference play) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, after winning the program's first-ever MAC Tournament championship.

The lone starter not coming back is Nate Linhart (10.3 points-per-game in 2008-09), one of six players to reach the 1,000-point plateau for UA over the last five seasons. The 2009 MAC Tournament MVP and league's defensive player of the year, closed out his UA career with 1,023 points, 628 rebounds, 176 assists and 53 blocked shots in a school-record 134 games played (106 career starts). He completed his bachelor's degree over the summer and is currently playing professionally in Austria.

The Zips return brothers Brett (junior) and Chris McKnight (senior), who ranked first and third on the team in scoring last season at 11.2 and 9.2 points per game, respectively. Brett was the MAC's Sixth Man of the Year and was named second-team all-conference and to the all-tournament team. Also returning in the frontcourt is Nikola Cvetinovic (sophomore) (4.5 ppg), Jimmy Conyers (senior) (3.2 ppg) and Mike Bardo (junior) (1.6 ppg).

"Chris (McKnight) has had a great preseason, including during our individual workouts over the first month or so of the school year," Dambrot said. "Jimmy Conyers has shown a lot of energy and shot the ball well all weekend. He is one of the people we count on in terms of helping replace (Nate) Linhart. Jimmy can really help us in rebounding and on defense."

The UA backcourt is where the squad is the deepest, with Anthony "Humpty" Hitchens (sophomore) (8.8 ppg) and Darryl Roberts (senior) (8.3 ppg) part of the list of returning starters. Those two will share time with Steve McNees (junior) (5.8 ppg), Brett McClanahan (sophomore) (4.2 ppg) and the Ronnie Steward (sophomore) (3.3 ppg), who has battled injuries during the majority of his first two seasons. Hitchens was named to the MAC's all-freshman team in 2009 and McNees to the all-tournament team. Roberts is on track to earn back a year of eligibility after sitting out in 2006-07 (as a true freshman) to concentrate on academics.

The Akron roster also features a highly-publicized newcomer in 7-foot freshman Zeke Marshall. One of the highest ranked high school players in the nation last year, Marshall is Rivals.com's highest-rated player to ever commit to a MAC school. He averaged 14 points, nine rebounds and eight blocked shots as a senior.

"Zeke is doing very well and is going through the normal growing pains that every freshman we have ever had goes through," Dambrot said. "One day he is good, the next day not so good and then the next day good again. It is all as expected and is part of the process. He has limitless potential."

Akron, the MAC favorite according to the majority of preseason publications, opens the season on Nov. 15 when it plays host to Austin Peay as part of the Glenn Wilkes Classic. The Zips face off against Mount Union in exhibition play on Nov. 10. Counting the exhibition, UA will compete at home 18 times this season.