Akron, Miami men’s basketball coaches connected by more than meeting in MAC tourney final

CLEVELAND, Ohio — As usual, the MAC men’s basketball tournament has been filled with close games and emotions flaring, all in the name of winning.

No. 1 seed Akron took care of business in Friday’s semifinal win over No. 4 Toledo, and No. 2 Miami did the same in the nightcap game over No. 3 Kent State.

The Zips (27-6) and RedHawks (25-8) face off in Saturday’s MAC championship game, with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line.

Akron head coach John Groce is looking to win his fifth career MAC tournament crown, and Miami’s Travis Steele is still searching for his first.

However, there’s also family bragging rights at stake among the coaches.

That’s right.

Through their mother, Barbara Steele, the head coaches are half-brothers. Natives of Danville, Indiana, there’s a 10-year age gap in between the two.

Groce, the older brother, played at Taylor University in the early 1990s before joining the coaching staff as an assistant.

After Taylor, Groce joined Herb Sendek’s staff at NC State in the late 1990s. Steele was a high school basketball player, but recalled on The Field Of 68: After Dark the time he spent with Groce.

“I would spend the summers a lot with him, go to camp (and) he was kind enough to work me out. And I would just kind of sit around and got exposed to college basketball at a really young age,” Steele said. “I knew I wanted to do what I wanted to do at an early age, due to him.

Steele showed a desire to get into coaching, and Groce would help him along the way.

Going into the millennium, the brothers were now at Butler.

Groce joined Thad Matta’s staff as an assistant for the 2000-01 season, while Steele was a student manager for the Bulldogs.

Matta then went to Xavier for three seasons, and Groce followed him. During this time, Steele finished his bachelor’s degree at Butler, and was an assistant for nearby Ben Davis High School.

Ahead of the 2004-05 season, Groce followed Matta again to Ohio State, then Steele did the same and joined the Buckeyes as a graduate assistant.

That was the last time the brothers were on the same coaching staff, as Steele moved onto Wabash Valley Community College after the season concluded.

But he’ll always credit Groce with helping him find his passion in coaching.

“(I) kind of always wanted to follow in (Groce’s) footsteps in a lot of ways and he’s a big reason why I’m where I am today,” Steele said. “I wouldn’t be here without him, there’s no doubt about it.”

Groce and Steele aren’t the only set of brothers that are head coaches within the Division I college basketball scene.

You have Dan Hurley, head coach of the defending champion UConn Huskies, who’s the younger brother of Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley.

There’s also Scott Drew, who won it all with Baylor in 2021, and is the older brother of Grand Canyon’s Bryce Drew. And Sean Miller of Xavier and older brother of Rhode Island’s Archie Miller.

Though, it hits different that your brother’s squad is all that sits in the way of making the NCAA Tournament.

The Zips and RedHawks met once in the regular season, with Akron winning the January meeting by 27 points.

Now, the brothers meet with a ticket to the big dance on the line, and bragging rights for the next big family dinner.