2017–18 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball team

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]

2017–18 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
2017–18 record	3–29 (1–13 WAC)
Head coach	Tracy Dildy (8th season)
Assistant coaches	James Farr Matt Raidbard Eddie Denard
Home arena	Jones Convocation Center

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
UT 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 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

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

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
	Recruiting 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 Tracy Dildy (UIC) Assistant coach(es) James Farr (Creighton) Matt Raidbard (Indiana) Eddie Denard (Chicago State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt 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 2018-03-13.
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 2017-10-12.