2017–18 Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball team
American college basketball season
The 2017–18 Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball team represented Cleveland State University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . They were coached by first-year head coach Dennis Felton . The Vikings played their home games at the Wolstein Center as members of the Horizon League . They finished the season 12–23, 6–12 in Horizon League play to finish in a tie for eighth place. As the No. 8 seed at the Horizon League tournament , they defeated Youngstown State and upset No. 1 seed Northern Kentucky and No. 4 seed Oakland to advance to the championship game where they lost to Wright State .
Previous season
The Vikings finished the 2016–17 season 9–22, 5–13 in Horizon League play to finish in ninth place. They lost in the first round of the Horizon League tournament to Youngstown State .
On March 7, 2017, head coach Gary Waters retired.[ 1] He finished at Cleveland State with an 11-year record of 194–172. On March 24, the school hired former Georgia and Western Kentucky head coach Dennis Felton.[ 2]
Offseason
Departures
Incoming transfers
Name
Number
Pos.
Height
Weight
Year
Hometown
Previous school
Dontel Highsmith
3
G
6'2"
200
RS Senior
Dowagiac, MI
Transferred from Northern Illinois . Will eligible to play since Highsmith graduated from Northern Illinois .
Al Eichelberger
24
F
6'7"
251
Sophomore
Saginaw, MI
Transferred from DePaul . Under NCAA transfer rules, Eichelberger will have to sit out the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.
2017 recruiting class
College recruiting information
Name
Hometown
High school / college
Height
Weight
Commit date
Shawn Christian PG
Garfield Heights, OH
Garfield Heights High School
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
164 lb (74 kg)
Star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : N/A 247Sports : N/A ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note : In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.
Sources:
Roster
2017–18 Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
F
0
Derek Sloan
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
225 lb (102 kg)
Sr
Saint Ignatius High School
Moreland Hills, Ohio
G
1
Kasheem Thomas
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
165 lb (75 kg)
So
Champlain College Saint-Lambert
Châteauguay, Quebec, Canada
G/F
2
Anthony Wright
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
Sr
Harcum College
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
G
3
Dontel Highsmith
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
RS Sr
Northern Illinois
Dowagiac, Michigan
G
4
Kenny Carpenter
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Sr
Cass Technical High School
Detroit, Michigan
G
5
Tyree Appleby
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
165 lb (75 kg)
Fr
Jacksonville High School
Jacksonville, Arkansas
G
12
Shawn Christian Jr.
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Fr
Garfield Heights High School
Garfield Heights, Ohio
F
13
Stefan Kenić
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
Fr
KK Smederevo
Belgrade, Serbia
G
15
Deven Stover
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
Fr
Saint Ignatius High School
Solon, Ohio
G
20
Bobby Word
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
RS Sr
Oral Roberts
Lancaster, Texas
F
22
Evan Clayborne
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
So
Thurgood Marshall High School
Dayton, Ohio
F
23
Jamarcus Hairston
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
230 lb (104 kg)
Sr
Louisburg College
Danville, Georgia
F
24
Al Eichelberger
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
251 lb (114 kg)
So
DePaul
Saginaw, Michigan
F
25
David Payne (W)
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Jr
Malcolm X
Chicago, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Roster
Schedule and results
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 2, 2017 *7:00 pm
Cedarville
W 78–60
Wolstein Center Cleveland, OH
Non-Conference regular season
Nov 11, 2017 *7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Akron Northeast Ohio Coaches vs Cancer Doubleheader
L 57–67
0–1
James A. Rhodes Arena (4,036)Akron, OH
Nov 14, 2017 *7:00 pm, BTN
at Rutgers Showcase on the Banks
L 38–70
0–2
Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,292)Piscataway, NJ
Nov 17, 2017 *7:00 pm, ESPN3
Coppin State Showcase on the Banks
W 80–56
1–2
Wolstein Center (1,931)Cleveland, OH
Nov 20, 2017 *7:00 pm, ESPN3
at East Carolina Showcase on the Banks
L 69–72
1–3
Williams Arena (2,907)Greenville, NC
Nov 24, 2017 *5:00 pm, ESPN3
Central Connecticut Showcase on the Banks
L 73–74
1–4
Wolstein Center (1,121)Cleveland, OH
Nov 29, 2017 *7:00 pm, ESPN3
Arkansas State
W 75–72
2–4
Wolstein Center (1,175)Cleveland, OH
Dec 2, 2017 *7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Kent State
L 62–72
2–5
MAC Center (2,511)Toledo, OH
Dec 6, 2017 *7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Western Michigan
L 67–78
2–6
University Arena (1,923)Kalamazoo, MI
Dec 10, 2017 *2:00 pm, ESPN3
Notre Dame (OH)
W 89–56
3–6
Wolstein Center (1,033)Cleveland, OH
Dec 19, 2017 *7:00 pm
at Niagara
L 77–79
3–7
Gallagher Center (934)Lewiston, NY
Dec 21, 2017 *7:00 pm, ESPN3
at No. 20 Cincinnati
L 62–81
3–8
BB&T Arena (7,988)Highland Heights, KY
Dec 23, 2017 *2:00 pm, ESPN3
Toledo
L 62–77
3–9
Wolstein Center (1,597)Cleveland, OH
Dec 29, 2017 *6:00 pm, BTN
at No. 2 Michigan State
L 61–111
3–10
Breslin Center (14,797)East Lansing, MI
Horizon League regular season
Jan 1, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3
Youngstown State
L 77–80
3–11 (0–1)
Wolstein Center (1,221)Cleveland, OH
Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3
Green Bay
W 80–79
4–11 (1–1)
Wolstein Center (1,095)Cleveland, OH
Jan 6, 2018 3:30 pm, ESPN3
Milwaukee
L 63–67
4–12 (1–2)
Wolstein Center (1,027)Cleveland, OH
Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Detroit
L 84–85
4–13 (1–3)
Calihan Hall (1,027)Detroit, MI
Jan 12, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Oakland
L 68–81
4–14 (1–4)
Athletics Center O'rena (3,156)Rochester, MI
Jan 15, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3
at Northern Kentucky
L 55–70
4–15 (1–5)
BB&T Arena (3,812)Highland Heights, KY
Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3
IUPUI
W 70–67
5–15 (2–5)
Wolstein Center (1,125)Cleveland, OH
Jan 20, 2018 3:30 pm, ESPN3
UIC
L 80–87
5–16 (2–6)
Wolstein Center (1,531)Cleveland, OH
Jan 25, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3
at Green Bay
L 44–66
5–17 (2–7)
Resch Center (2,325)Green Bay, WI
Jan 27, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3
at Milwaukee
L 47–70
5–18 (2–8)
UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,865)Milwaukee, WI
Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3
Wright State
W 77–74
6–18 (3–8)
Wolstein Center (1,411)Cleveland, OH
Feb 3, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3
Northern Kentucky
L 61–78
6–19 (3–9)
Wolstein Center (1,853)Cleveland, OH
Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3
at IUPUI
L 73–78
6–20 (3–10)
Indiana Farmers Coliseum (910)Indianapolis, IN
Feb 10, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3
at UIC
W 86–78
7–20 (4–10)
UIC Pavilion (1,185)Chicago, IL
Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3
Detroit
L 72–75
8–20 (5–10)
Wolstein Center (1,101)Cleveland, OH
Feb 16, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3
Oakland
L 66–82
8–21 (5–11)
Wolstein Center (1,725)Cleveland, OH
Feb 19, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3
at Wright State
L 63–72
8–22 (5–12)
Nutter Center (3,745)Fairborn, OH
Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Youngstown State
W 99–94 2OT
9–22 (6–12)
Beeghly Center (5,483)Youngstown, OH
Horizon League tournament
Mar 2, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3
(8)
vs. (9) Youngstown State First round
W 72–71
10–22
Little Caesars Arena (4,248)Detroit, MI
Mar 3, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3
(8)
vs. (1) Northern Kentucky Quarterfinal
W 89–80
11–22
Little Caesars Arena (6,276)Detroit, MI
Mar 5, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPNU
(8)
vs. (4) Oakland Semifinal
W 44–43
12–22
Little Caesars Arena (5,398)Detroit, MI
Mar 6, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN
(8)
vs. (2) Wright State Championship game
L 57–74
12–23
Little Caesars Arena (7,595)Detroit, MI
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Eastern Time .
References