2017–18 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball team

2017–18 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Record3–29 (1–13 WAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • James Farr
  • Matt Raidbard
  • Eddie Denard
Home arenaJones Convocation Center
Seasons
2017–18 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
New Mexico State † 12 – 2   .857 28 – 6   .824
Utah Valley 10 – 4   .714 23 – 11   .676
Grand Canyon 9 – 5   .643 22 – 12   .647
Seattle 8 – 6   .571 20 – 14   .588
Texas–Rio Grande Valley 6 – 8   .429 15 – 18   .455
Cal State Bakersfield 5 – 9   .357 12 – 18   .400
UMKC 5 – 9   .357 10 – 22   .313
Chicago State 1 – 13   .071 3 – 29   .094
† 2018 WAC tournament winner

The 2017–18 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball team represented Chicago State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars, led by eighth-year head coach Tracy Dildy, played their home games at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center as members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 3–29, 1–13 in WAC play to finish in last place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament to New Mexico State.[1]

The Cougars had the worst average point margin in Division I at –22.7 points, despite winning two games by over 40 points.[2]

After the season, Chicago State fired Dildy during the week of March 5, 2018, although it was not officially announced until a week later.[3] After a nearly a five-month search, Lance Irvin, a Chicago native and former assistant coach at DePaul and several other schools, was named the new head coach of the Cougars on August 7.[4]

Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2016–17 season 6–26, 1–13 in WAC play to finish in last place. Due to Grand Canyon's ineligibility for postseason play, they received the No. 7 seed in the WAC tournament where they lost in the quarterfinals to New Mexico State.

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Clemmye Owens V 2 G 6'2" 185 Senior Toledo, OH Graduated
Anthony Eaves 5 G 6'2" 160 Sophomore Louisville, KY Graduate transferred to Cumberlands
Trayvon Palmer 15 G/F 6'5" 200 Senior Milwaukee, WI Graduated
Joshua Batson 21 G 6'0" 175 Senior Chicago, IL Graduated
Gentry Hunt 30 G 6'3" 180 Junior Glenwood, IL Graduate transferred to Grand Valley State
Jordan Madrid-Andrews 33 F 6'8" 240 Senior Denver, CO Graduated
Brian Greene Jr. 35 G 6'3" 210 Senior Chicago, IL Graduated
Charles Dent 42 F 6'6" 239 Junior Chicago, IL Walk-on; transferred

2017 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Leonard Caples
C 		Chicago, IL North Lawndale College Prep High School 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) N/A Oct 7, 2016 
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:

  • "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2017–18 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Glen Burns 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr West Memphis Christian
Danville Area CC 		West Memphis, AR
G/F 2 Jelani Pruitt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Sr Merrillville HS
West Florida 		Gary, IN
F/C 3 Deionte Simmons 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Sr Lewisville HS
Danville Area CC 		Detroit, MI
G/F 5 Alex Dubovitskiy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Marianapolis Prep
Arizona Western CC 		Moscow, Russia
G/F 10 Anthony Harris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Griffith HS
South Suburban CC 		Gary, IN
G 11 Nathan Townsen, Jr. (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Bogan HS Chicago, IL
G 14 Fred Sims, Jr. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 193 lb (88 kg) Jr North Lawndale Prep Chicago, IL
G 15 Simeon Henton 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 152 lb (69 kg) Fr North Chicago HS North Chicago, IL
F 21 Cameron Bowles 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Kenwood Academy Chicago, IL
F/C 23 Patrick Szpir 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Wheeling HS Wheeling, IL
G 30 Travon Bell 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Fr Mather HS Chicago, IL
F 31 Ken Odiase (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr Homewood-Flossmoor HS
Kankakee CC 		Glenwood, IL
G 32 Montana Byrd 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Mount Carmel Chicago, IL
F 33 John Joyce 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Taft HS
Triton CC 		Chicago, IL
G 35 Rob Shaw (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr St. Xavier HS
Kentucky State 		Louisville, KY
F 42 Jalen Stephens-Holmes (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Washington HS Milwaukee, WI
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 9, 2017

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017*
8:00 pm, BTN+ 		at Iowa L 62–95  0–1
 Carver-Hawkeye Arena (12,100)
Iowa City, IA
Nov 12, 2017*
4:00 pm, BTN 		at No. 20 Purdue
Battle 4 Atlantis campus game 		L 42–111  0–2
 Mackey Arena (13,509)
West Lafayette, IN
Nov 14, 2017*
7:05 pm 		Silver Lake W 101–53  1–2
 Jones Convocation Center (650)
Chicago, IL
Nov 16, 2017*
6:00 pm, ACCN Extra 		at No. 13 Notre Dame L 66–105  1–3
 Joyce Center (8,046)
Notre Dame, IN
Nov 18, 2017*
11:00 am, ESPN3 		at Northern Iowa
Battle 4 Atlantis campus game 		L 44–82  1–4
 McLeod Center (3,051)
Cedar Falls, IA
Nov 23, 2017*
7:05 pm 		East–West W 113–65  2–4
 Jones Convocation Center (355)
Chicago, IL
Nov 23, 2017*
11:00 am 		at UMBC
Battle 4 Atlantis 		L 73–84  2–5
 Retriever Activities Center (334)
Baltimore, MD
Nov 24, 2017*
11:00 am 		vs. Presbyterian
Battle 4 Atlantis 		L 73–75  2–6
 Retriever Activities Center (113)
Baltimore, MD
Nov 26, 2017*
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Drake L 67–79  2–7
 Knapp Center (2,386)
Des Moines, IA
Nov 29, 2017*
8:00 pm, FS2 		at Marquette L 69–95  2–8
 BMO Harris Bradley Center (11,685)
Milwaukee, WI
Dec 2, 2017*
2:05 pm 		Northern Illinois L 77–95  2–9
 Jones Convocation Center (463)
Chicago, IL
Dec 9, 2017*
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Oakland L 50–82  2–10
 Athletics Center O'rena (3,286)
Rochester, MI
Dec 11, 2017*
6:00 pm, FS1 		at Northwestern L 31–96  2–11
 Allstate Arena (5,007)
Evanston, IL
Dec 16, 2017*
2:05 pm 		Bradley L 58–84  2–12
 Jones Convocation Center (750)
Chicago, IL
Dec 19, 2017*
7:00 pm 		at SIU Edwardsville L 76–88  2–13
 Vadalabene Center (1,005)
Edwardsville, IL
Dec 27, 2017*
8:00 pm, ESPNU 		at Wisconsin L 70–82  2–14
 Kohl Center (17,022)
Madison, WI
Dec 30, 2017*
3:30 pm 		at Western Michigan L 71–92  2–15
 University Arena (2,364)
Kalamazoo, MI
WAC regular season
Jan 6, 2018
2:05 pm 		New Mexico State L 60–97  2–16
(0–1) 		Jones Convocation Center (563)
Chicago, IL
Jan 11, 2018
9:00 pm 		at Seattle L 64–67  2–17
(0–2) 		Connolly Center (911)
Seattle, WA
Jan 13, 2018
8:00 pm 		at Utah Valley L 58–83  2–18
(0–3) 		UCCU Center (3,741)
Orem, UT
Jan 18, 2018
7:05 pm 		Grand Canyon L 58–86  2–19
(0–4) 		Jones Convocation Center (463)
Chicago, IL
Jan 20, 2018
2:05 pm 		Cal State Bakersfield L 78–89  2–20
(0–5) 		Jones Convocation Center (363)
Chicago, IL
Jan 27, 2018
3:05 pm 		Texas–Rio Grande Valley L 81–87  2–21
(0–6) 		Jones Convocation Center (463)
Chicago, IL
Feb 1, 2018
9:00 pm 		at Cal State Bakersfield L 61–91  2–22
(0–7) 		Icardo Center (2,343)
Bakersfield, CA
Feb 3, 2018
8:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Grand Canyon L 55–89  2–23
(0–8) 		GCU Arena (7,244)
Phoenix, AZ
Feb 8, 2018
7:05 pm 		Utah Valley L 57–97  2–24
(0–9) 		Jones Convocation Center (163)
Chicago, IL
Feb 10, 2018
2:05 pm 		Seattle L 81–91  2–25
(0–10) 		Jones Convocation Center (163)
Chicago, IL
Feb 15, 2018
7:00 pm 		at UMKC L 67–76  2–26
(0–11) 		Municipal Auditorium (1,325)
Kansas City, MO
Feb 22, 2018
7:00 pm 		at New Mexico State L 67–78  2–27
(0–12) 		Pan American Center (4,404)
Las Cruces, NM
Feb 24, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Texas–Rio Grande Valley L 75–83  2–28
(0–13) 		UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,088)
Edinburg, TX
Mar 3, 2018
4:35 pm 		UMKC W 96–82  3–28
(1–13) 		Jones Convocation Center (553)
Chicago, IL
WAC tournament
Mar 8, 2018
8:00 pm, ESPN3 		(8) vs. (1) New Mexico State
Quarterfinals 		L 70–97  3–29
 Orleans Arena 
Paradise, NV
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Source[5][6].

References

  1. ^ "Chicago State vs. New Mexico State - Game Recap - March 8, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  2. ^ "NCAA BB Team Average Scoring Margin". TeamRankings.com.
  3. ^ Palmer, J. Coyden (March 15, 2018). "Chicago State fires women's and men's basketball coaches". chicagocrusader.com. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  4. ^ "Chicago State hires new women's and men's basketball coaches". Chicago Tribune. August 7, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  5. ^ "2017–18 Men's Basketball Schedule". Chicago State University Athletics. 2016.
  6. ^ "Chicago State Cougars Basketball 2017–18 Schedule – Cougars Home and Away". ESPN. Retrieved October 12, 2017.