2017–18 UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball team

The 2017–18 UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Wilmington during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Seahawks were led by first-year head coach C. B. McGrath and played their home games at the Trask Coliseum as members of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 11–21, 7–11 in CAA play to finish in sixth place. They defeated Hofstra in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament before losing in the semifinals to Northeastern.

2017–18 UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
2017–18 record	11–21 (7–11 CAA)
Head coach	C. B. McGrath (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Doug Esleeck Jackie Manuel Joe Wolf
Home arena	Trask Coliseum

2017–18 CAA men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
College of Charleston †	14	–	4		.778			26	–	8		.765
Northeastern	14	–	4		.778			23	–	10		.697
Hofstra	12	–	6		.667			19	–	12		.613
William & Mary	11	–	7		.611			19	–	12		.613
Towson	8	–	10		.444			18	–	14		.563
UNC Wilmington	7	–	11		.389			11	–	21		.344
Delaware	6	–	12		.333			14	–	19		.424
Drexel	6	–	12		.333			13	–	20		.394
James Madison	6	–	12		.333			10	–	22		.313
Elon	6	–	12		.333			14	–	18		.438
† 2018 CAA Tournament winner

Previous season

The Seahawks finished the 2016–17 season 29–6, 15–3 in CAA play to win the regular season championship.[1] They defeated Delaware,[2] William & Mary,[3] and the College of Charleston to win the CAA Tournament.[4] As a result, they earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.[5] As the No. 12 seed in the East region, they lost in the First Round to Virginia.[6][7]

On March 17, 2017, head coach Kevin Keatts left the school to accept the head coaching position at NC State.[8] On April 3, the school hired C.B. McGrath as head coach.[9]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Ambrose Mosley	00	G	6'2"	185	RS Senior	Jacksonville, FL	Graduated
Chris Flemmings	1	G	6'5"	180	RS Senior	Cary, NC	Graduated
Denzel Ingram	10	G	6'0"	175	RS Senior	Chapel Hill, NC	Graduated
C. J. Bryce	12	G	6'5"	185	Sophomore	Huntersville, NC	Transferred to NC State
Chuck Ogbodo	13	F	6'9"	225	Senior	Enugu, Nigeria	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Jeantal Cylla		G	6'6"	210	Junior	Fort Worth, TX	Florida Atlantic

• Under NCAA transfer rules, Cylla sat out for the 2017–18 season, and had two years of remaining eligibility.

Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jay Estime #49 SF	Lilburn, GA	Berkmar High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Jeffrey Gary PG	Colorado Springs, CO	Sand Creek High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	170 lb (77 kg)
	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. Retrieved 2017-10-15.

Preseason

In a poll of league coaches, media relations directors, and media members at the CAA's media day, the Seahawks were picked to finish in fifth place in the CAA.[10] Junior forward Devontae Cacok was named to the preseason All-CAA first team.[10]

Roster

2017–18 UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Jaylen Fornes 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Word of God Christian Academy Grantsboro, North Carolina G 3 JaQuel Richmond 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Wesleyan Christian Academy/Middle Tennessee Greensboro, North Carolina G 4 Jordan Talley 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Henrico HS Richmond, Virginia G 5 Jeffrey Gary 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 162 lb (73 kg) Fr Sand Creek HS Colorado Springs, Colorado G 12 Jay Estime 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Fr Berkmar HS Lilburn, Georgia G 13 Jacque Brown (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr East Carteret HS/Cape Fear CC Beaufort, North Carolina G 14 Nick Powell (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Northwest Guilford HS Greensboro, North Carolina F 15 Devontae Cacok 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Alpharetta HS Riverdale, Georgia F 20 Matt Elmore 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So Dixon HS Jacksonville, North Carolina G 21 Tyrone Taylor 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) RS So Hargrave Military Academy/Wichita State Grandview, Missouri G 22 Daniel Etoroma 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Mt. Zion Raleigh, North Carolina F 30 Marcus Bryan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 242 lb (110 kg) RS Sr Ravenscroft HS/Charlotte Raleigh, North Carolina C 33 Trey Kalina 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 264 lb (120 kg) Jr North Cobb Christian/Coffeyville CC Gadsden, Alabama G Jeantal Cylla  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Lake Worth HS/Florida Atlantic Lake Worth, Florida	Head coach C. B. McGrath (Kansas) Assistant coach(es) Doug Esleek (North Carolina) Jackie Manuel (North Carolina) Joe Wolf (North Carolina) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 11, 2017* 7:00 pm		North Carolina Wesleyan Savannah Invitational	W 105–81	1–0	24 – Talley	16 – Cacok	5 – Talley	Trask Coliseum (4,663) Wilmington, NC
Nov 14, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Davidson	L 81–108	1–1	22 – Cacok	17 – Cacok	12 – Talley	John M. Belk Arena (3,252) Davidson, NC
Nov 18, 2017* 7:00 pm		Campbell	W 88–84	2–1	18 – Tied	17 – Cacok	14 – Talley	Trask Coliseum (4,415) Wilmington, NC
Nov 24, 2017* 5:00 pm		vs. Loyola–Chicago Savannah Invitational	L 78–102	2–2	20 – Talley	9 – Bryan	4 – Tied	Savannah Civic Center (485) Savannah, GA
Nov 25, 2017* 7:30 pm		vs. Valparaiso Savannah Invitational	L 70–79	2–3	13 – Tied	10 – Tied	5 – Talley	Savannah Civic Center (547) Savannah, GA
Nov 30, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPN3		at East Carolina	L 88–93 ^OT	2–4	35 – Cacok	12 – Cacok	6 – Tied	Williams Arena (3,373) Greenville, NC
Dec 10, 2017* 5:00 pm		at LSU	L 84–97	2–5	22 – Talley	5 – Bryan	7 – Talley	Maravich Center (7,812) Baton Rouge, LA
Dec 13, 2017* 7:00 pm		at UNC Greensboro	L 58–71	2–6	22 – Cacok	17 – Cacok	3 – Talley	Greensboro Coliseum Complex (2,307) Greensboro, NC
Dec 17, 2017* 2:00 pm		Furman	L 84–90	2–7	24 – Cacok	13 – Cacok	3 – Tied	Trask Coliseum (4,236) Wilmington, NC
Dec 21, 2017* 7:00 pm		vs. North Dakota State Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational semifnals	L 63–100	2–8	15 – Fornes	8 – Cacok	2 – Tied	Don Haskins Center (6,013) El Paso, TX
Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm		vs. Howard Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational	L 75–80	2–9	19 – Cacok	17 – Cacok	6 – Talley	Don Haskins Center (6,913) El Paso, TX
Dec 28, 2017* 7:00 pm		Greensboro College	W 101–60	3–9	19 – Cacok	15 – Cacok	6 – Fornes	Trask Coliseum (3,865) Wilmington, NC
CAA regular season
Dec 30, 2017 7:00 pm		Delaware	L 56–58	3–10 (0–1)	15 – Talley	19 – Cacok	4 – Talley	Trask Coliseum (3,931) Wilmington, NC
Jan 2, 2018 7:00 pm		Drexel	W 107–87	4–10 (1–1)	24 – Talley	16 – Cacok	6 – Talley	Trask Coliseum (3,367) Wilmington, NC
Jan 5, 2018 7:00 pm		at Towson	L 71–89	4–11 (1–2)	15 – Tied	10 – Cacok	5 – Talley	SECU Arena (1,251) Towson, MD
Jan 7, 2018 2:00 pm		at Delaware	L 76–96	4–12 (1–3)	18 – Cacok	11 – Cacok	5 – Talley	Bob Carpenter Center (2,388) Newark, DE
Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm		at Elon	W 80–78 ^OT	5–12 (2–3)	20 – Fornes	17 – Cacok	10 – Talley	Alumni Gym (1,833) Elon, NC
Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm		Northeastern	L 77–81 ^OT	5–13 (2–4)	24 – Fornes	8 – Fornes	4 – Talley	Trask Coliseum (4,006) Wilmington, NC
Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm		at College of Charleston	L 76–80	5–14 (2–5)	23 – Taylor	13 – Cacok	8 – Talley	TD Arena (3,649) Charleston, SC
Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm		Towson	W 73–71 ^OT	6–14 (3–5)	20 – Taylor	13 – Bryan	4 – Talley	Trask Coliseum (4,405) Wilmington, NC
Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm		James Madison	W 71–68	7–14 (4–5)	26 – Cacok	24 – Cacok	4 – Bryan	Trask Coliseum (3,988) Wilmington, NC
Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm		William & Mary	L 81–84	7–15 (4–6)	25 – Talley	15 – Cacok	4 – Talley	Trask Coliseum (4,384) Wilmington, NC
Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm		at Hofstra	L 76–96	7–16 (4–7)	21 – Talley	8 – Cacok	4 – Tied	Mack Sports Complex (1,952) Hempstead, NY
Feb 3, 2018 4:00 pm		at Northeastern	L 100–107 ^OT	7–17 (4–8)	27 – Taylor	17 – Cacok	6 – Talley	Matthews Arena (1,341) Boston, MA
Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm		Hofstra	W 90–70	8–17 (5–8)	25 – Cacok	8 – 3 tied	7 – Brown	Trask Coliseum (5,200) Wilmington, NC
Feb 13, 2018 7:00 pm		at James Madison	L 61–62	8–18 (5–9)	16 – Cacok	8 – Cacok	7 – Talley	JMU Convocation Center (1,038) Harrisonburg, VA
Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm		Elon	W 87–63	9–18 (6–9)	19 – Taylor	21 – Cacok	5 – Talley	Trask Coliseum (4,173) Wilmington, NC
Feb 17, 2018 7:00 pm		College of Charleston	L 74–88	9–19 (6–10)	29 – Cacok	17 – Cacok	6 – Talley	Trask Coliseum (4,809) Wilmington, NC
Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm		at William & Mary	L 83–96	9–20 (6–11)	27 – Fornes	12 – Cacok	9 – Talley	Kaplan Arena (3,912) Williamsburg, VA
Feb 24, 2018 4:00 pm		at Drexel	W 83–82	10–20 (7–11)	23 – Taylor	21 – Cacok	8 – Talley	Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,094) Philadelphia, PA
CAA Tournament
Mar 4, 2018 8:30 pm	(6)	vs. (3) Hofstra Quarterfinals	W 93–88	11–20	37 – Talley	9 – Cacok	7 – Talley	North Charleston Coliseum (2,566) North Charleston, SC
Mar 5, 2018 8:30 pm, CBSSN	(6)	vs. (2) Northeastern Semifinals	L 52–79	11–21	15 – Cacok	9 – Tied	3 – Fornes	North Charleston Coliseum (4,099) North Charleston, SC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time..

References

1. "Northeastern vs. UNC Wilmington - Game Recap - February 25, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
2. "Delaware vs. UNC Wilmington - Game Recap - March 4, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
3. Simon, Alex. "William & Mary men's basketball falls in CAA tournament to top seed UNCW". dailypress.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
4. TV3, WWAY (2017-03-06). "UNCW wins CAA, heading to Big Dance for second straight year". WWAY TV3. Archived from the original on 2017-04-03. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
5. Press, Pete Iacobelli The Associated. "UNC-Wilmington earns NCAA tournament berth". Greensboro News & Record. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
6. Murschel, Matt. "Virginia holds off UNC-Wilmington, wins NCAA Tournament opener". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
7. "Virginia holds off UNC Wilmington in the 2017 NCAA Tournament". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
8. "N.C. State hires new coach Kevin Keatts away from UNC Wilmington". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
9. TV3, WWAY (2017-04-03). "UNCW hires C.B. McGrath as men's basketball coach - WWAY TV3". WWAY TV3. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
10. "Colonial Athletic Association - CofC Favored To Win CAA Men's Basketball Title". caasports.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.