2016–17 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team explained

Mode:Basketball
Sex:none
Year:2016–17
Team:Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Conference:Conference USA
Short Conf:C-USA
Record:15–17
Conf Record:9–9
Hc Year:1st
Asst Coach1:Chris Cheeks
Asst Coach3:Quannas White

The 2016–17 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by head coach Rick Stansbury in his first season. They played their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky and were third-year members of Conference USA. They finished the season 15–17, 9–9 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost to UTSA in the first round of the C-USA tournament.[1]

Previous season

The Hilltoppers finished the 2015–16 season 18–16, 8–10 in C-USA play to finish in eighth place. They defeated North Texas and UAB to advance to the semifinals of the C-USA tournament where they lost to Old Dominion. Despite having 18 wins and a better they .500 record, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

On March 17, 2016, head coach Ray Harper resigned after three players were suspended by a university disciplinary committee.[2] [3] [4] He finished at WKU with a record of 90–62. On March 28, the school hired Rick Stansbury as head coach.[5]

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Chris McNeal 1 G 6'0" 195 Freshman Transferred to Indian Hills CC
Aaron Cosby 2 G 6'3" 200 RS Senior Graduated
Marlon Hunter Jr. 3 G 6'2" 195 Freshman Transferred to Odessa College
Phabian Glasco 13 F 6'7" 230 Junior Left the team for personal reasons
Dylan Sanford 15 G 6'1" 180 Freshman Left the team for personal reasons
Aleksej Rostov 20 C 6'10" 240 Senior Graduated
Nigel Snipes 21 F 6'6" 220 RS Senior Graduated
Nathan Smith 22 C 7'2" 240 Freshman London, England Left the team for personal reasons
Frederick Edmond 25 G 6'4" 205 Junior Transferred
Keifer Dalton 32 G 5'11" 165 Freshman Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons
Chris Harrison-Docks 51 G 6'0" 175 RS Junior Graduate transferred to DePaul

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Junior Lomomba 5 G 6'5" 205 RS Junior Transferred from Providence. Lomomba will be eligible to play immediately since Lomomba graduated from Providence.
Que Johnson 32 F 6'5" 208 RS Senior Transferred from Washington State. Johnson will be eligible to play immediately since Johnson graduated from Washington State.
12 G 6'3" 195 RS Senior Transferred from Hartford. Thomas will be eligible to play immediately since Thomas graduated from Hartford.
Lamonte Bearden G 6'3" 160 Junior Transferred from Buffalo. Under NCAA transfer rules, Bearden will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Moustapha Diagne C 6'9" 245 Sophomore Junior college transferred from Northwest Florida State College. He will have to sit out the 2016–17 season and will have three years of eligibility left.

Future recruits

Class of 2017 recruits

Preseason

The Hilltoppers were picked to finish in third place in the preseason Conference USA poll.[6] Justin Johnson was selected to the preseason All-Conference USA team.

Schedule and results

|-!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition|-!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season|-!colspan=12 style=| Conference USA regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| Conference USA Tournament

Awards and honors

Following the regular season, Justin Johnson was named to the All-Conference USA Second Team based on a poll of league coaches.[7]

See also

2016–17 WKU Lady Toppers basketball team

Notes and References

  1. http://conferenceusa.com/documents/2019/11/11/MBB_Overall_Stats.pdf C-USA 2019-20 MEN'S BASKETBALL STATS, retrieved 29 April 2020
  2. Web site: Ray Harper has resigned as WKU basketball coach.
  3. News: WKU's Harper resigns as three players suspended. The Courier-Journal. en. 2017-01-25.
  4. News: Ransdell: Outcome of WKU players' hearing was 'primary reason' for Harper's resignation. GREENWELL. ZACH. Bowling Green Daily News. en. 2017-01-25.
  5. News: It's official: WKU hires Stansbury as coach. The Courier-Journal. en. 2017-01-25.
  6. Web site: MBK: UAB Voted C-USA Preseason Favorite. Conference USA. en. 2017-01-25.
  7. Web site: C‐USA MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL‐CONFERENCE TEAMS ANNOUNCED.