2017–18 Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball team

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.

2017–18 Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball
ConferenceHorizon League
Record12–23 (6–12 Horizon)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaWolstein Center
Seasons
2017–18 Horizon League men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Northern Kentucky 15 3   .833 22 10   .688
Wright State 14 4   .778 25 10   .714
UIC 12 6   .667 20 16   .556
Oakland 10 8   .556 19 14   .576
Milwaukee 8 10   .444 16 17   .485
IUPUI 8 10   .444 11 19   .367
Green Bay 7 11   .389 13 20   .394
Cleveland State 6 12   .333 12 23   .343
Youngstown State 6 12   .333 8 24   .250
Detroit 4 14   .222 8 24   .250
2018 Horizon League Tournament winner

Previous season

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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

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Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Gavin Peppers 2 G 6'2" 190 Junior Brookeville, MD Graduate transferred to Central Michigan
Rob Edwards 3 G 6'4" 200 Sophomore Detroit, MI Transferred to Arizona State
Jibri Blount 5 F 6'7" 220 Sophomore Pittsburgh, PA Transferred to North Carolina Central
Nelson Maxwell 13 G 6'0" 170 Sophomore Orange Village, OH Transferred to Mercyhurst
Tim Hasbargen 21 G 6'4" 200 Junior Munich, Germany Graduate transferred to Babson College
Demonte Flannigan 33 F 6'8" 240 Senior Richmond Heights, OH Graduated
P. J. Posey 35 C 6'8" 275 Senior Milwaukee, WI Graduate transferred to William Jessup
Andy Lucien 41 F 6'7" 190 Freshman North Olmsted, OH Transferred to Walsh
Daniel Levitt 55 G 6'1" 170 Sophomore Montreal, QE Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons

Incoming transfers

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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

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
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)  
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/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 October 17, 2016.

Roster

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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

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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

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