Sorry, Buckeyes. LeBron's rooting for Akron over Ohio State in the NIT

The first round of the NIT is a tough pick for the Cavs star.Ohio State men's basketball faces the Akron Zips in tonight's NIT opener, leaving LeBron James torn between his two allegiances. James has always been a Buckeye backer, but he's an Akron native, lives in the area during basketball season, and the head coach of the Zips, Keith Dambrot, is his former high school coach.

LeBron has finally picked a side, telling Cleveland.com, ""He [Akron coach Keith Dambrot] helped shaped me into who I am today as a basketball player, and it's where I'm from, so I'm going with the Zips for sure."

The four-time MVP has said before he would have donned Scarlet and Gray, had the NBA's one and done rule…