2016–17 Elon Phoenix men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Elon Phoenix men's basketball team represented Elon University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Phoenix, led by eighth-year head coach Matt Matheny, played their home games at Alumni Gym in Elon, North Carolina as third-year members of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 18–14, 10–8 in CAA play to finish in a tie for fourth place. As the No. 5 seed in the CAA tournament, they lost in the quarterfinals to William & Mary.

2016–17 Elon Phoenix men's basketball
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Record	18–14 (10–8 CAA)
Head coach	Matt Matheny (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Jack Wooten Monty Sanders Chris Long
Home arena	Alumni Gym

2016–17 CAA men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UNC Wilmington †	15	–	3		.833			29	–	6		.829
College of Charleston	14	–	4		.778			25	–	10		.714
Towson	11	–	7		.611			20	–	13		.606
Elon	10	–	8		.556			18	–	14		.563
William & Mary	10	–	8		.556			17	–	14		.548
Northeastern	8	–	10		.444			15	–	16		.484
Hofstra	7	–	11		.389			15	–	17		.469
James Madison	7	–	11		.389			10	–	23		.303
Delaware	5	–	13		.278			13	–	20		.394
Drexel	3	–	15		.167			9	–	23		.281
† 2017 CAA tournament winner

Previous season

The Phoenix finished the 2015–16 season 16–16, 7–11 in CAA play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the first round of the CAA tournament to Drexel.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Tanner Samson	3	G	6'4"	195	Senior	Littleton, CO	Graduated
Sam Hershberger	5	G	6'0"	180	Senior	Vandalia, OH	Walk-on; graduated
Tony Sabato	15	C	6'7"	220	Senior	Cincinnati, OH	Graduated
West Brewer	30	F	6'7"	230	RS Junior	Burlington, NC	Walk-on; left the team due personal reasons

2016 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Seth Fuller PF	Dublin, OH	Dublin Coffman High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	N/A	Jul 27, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
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: "Elon". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 13, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 13, 2016.

2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Simon Wright SF	Minnetonka, MN	Hopkins High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	N/A
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: 0
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: "Elon". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 12, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 12, 2016.

Roster

2016–17 Elon Phoenix men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 00 Brian Dawkins 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Jr Bishop Kenny Jacksonville, FL G 1 Luke Eddy 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr George Washington Charleston, WV G 2 Dmitri Thompson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Orlando Christian Prep Orlando, FL G 3 Seth Fuller 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Dublin Coffman Dublin, OH G/F 4 Collin Luther 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Hampton Pittsburgh, PA F/C 10 Karolis Kundrotas 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Barking Abbey School Kaunas, Lithuania G/F 12 Christian Hairston 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Greensboro Day School Greensboro, NC G 13 Dainan Swoope (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Sunrise Christian Academy Kansas City, KS F 14 Jack Anton 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Archbishop Moeller Mason, OH G 20 Sheldon Eberhardt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Middle Creek Apex, NC F 21 Jack George 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS So Carmel Catholic Libertyville, IL G 22 Steven Santa Ana 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Ardrey Kell Charlotte, NC G 25 Ryder Bowline (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Forsyth Central Cumming, GA F 41 Tyler Seibring 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Normal Community Normal, IL G 42 Patrick Ryan (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Greens Farms Academy Darien, CT	Head coach Matt Matheny (Davidson) Assistant coach(es) Jack Wooten (North Carolina) Monty Sanders (Elon) Chris Long (Elon) 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	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 1, 2016* 8:00 pm		Randolph	W 88–43		Alumni Gym  Elon, NC
Non-conference regular season
Nov 11, 2016 8:00 pm		William Peace NIU Thanksgiving Classic	W 101–68	1–0	Alumni Gym (1,131) Elon, NC
Nov 14, 2016* 8:00 pm		Charlotte	L 95–100	1–1	Alumni Gym (1,478) Elon, NC
Nov 17, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at South Florida	W 74–61	2–1	USF Sun Dome (2,206) Orlando, FL
Nov 23, 2016* 5:30 pm		vs. UIC NIU Thanksgiving Classic	W 91–80	3–1	Convocation Center (844) DeKalb, IL
Nov 25, 2016* 2:00 pm		at Northern Illinois NIU Thanksgiving Classic	W 85–80	4–1	Convocation Center  DeKalb, IL
Nov 26, 2016* 2:00 pm		vs. Cal Poly NIU Thanksgiving Classic	W 72–66	5–1	Convocation Center  DeKalb, IL
Nov 30, 2016* 7:00 pm		FIU	W 84–81 OT	6–1	Alumni Gym (1,388) Elon, NC
Dec 4, 2016* 1:00 pm, FS1		at Georgetown BB&T Classic	L 74–77	6–2	Verizon Center (8,645) Washington, D.C.
Dec 6, 2016* 7:00 pm, 67–78		UNC Asheville	L 67–78	6–3	Alumni Gym (1,421) Elon, NC
Dec 10, 2016* 4:00 pm		at Radford	L 56–68	6–4	Dedmon Center (1,177) Radford, VA
Dec 18, 2016* 2:00 pm		at Saint Peter's	W 68–53	7–4	Yanitelli Center (500) Jersey City, NJ
Dec 21, 2016* 6:00 pm, ESPN2		vs. No. 5 Duke	L 61–72	7–5	Greensboro Coliseum (9,733) Greensboro, NC
Dec 28, 2016* 8:00 pm		Central Penn	W 89–60	8–5	Alumni Gym (847) Elon, NC
CAA regular season
Dec 31, 2016 2:00 pm		College of Charleston	L 54–66	8–6 (0–1)	Alumni Gym (1,055) Elon, NC
Jan 2, 2017 7:00 pm		at UNC Wilmington	L 63–79	8–7 (0–2)	Trask Coliseum (4,350) Wilmington, NC
Jan 5, 2017 7:00 pm		at William & Mary	L 85–88	8–8 (0–3)	Kaplan Arena (2,117) Williamsburg, VA
Jan 7, 2017 7:00 pm		Towson	W 72–61	9–8 (1–3)	Alumni Gym (884) Elon, NC
Jan 12, 2017 7:00 pm		Hofstra	W 96–80	10–8 (2–3)	Alumni Gym (1,607) Elon, NC
Jan 14, 2017 4:00 pm		at James Madison	L 59–60	10–9 (2–4)	JMU Convocation Center (2,918) Harrisonburg, VA
Jan 19, 2017 7:00 pm		Drexel	W 93–73	11–9 (3–4)	Alumni Gym (1,452) Elon, NC
Jan 21, 2017 7:00 pm		William & Mary	W 71–62	12–9 (4–4)	Alumni Gym (1,446) Elon, NC
Jan 26, 2017 7:00 pm		at Northeastern	W 51–49	13–9 (5–4)	Matthews Arena (1,249) Boston, MA
Jan 28, 2017 4:00 pm		at Hofstra	W 84–70	14–9 (6–4)	Mack Sports Complex  Hempstead, NY
Feb 2, 2017 7:00 pm, ASN		James Madison	W 67–61	15–9 (7–4)	Alumni Gym (1,535) Elon, NC
Feb 4, 2017 5:00 pm		at College of Charleston	L 58–71	15–10 (7–5)	TD Arena (4,081) Charleston, SC
Feb 9, 2017 7:00 pm		at Delaware	L 74–76 OT	15–11 (7–6)	Bob Carpenter Center (1,784) Newark, DE
Feb 11, 2017 4:00 pm, ASN		UNC Wilmington	W 77–76	16–11 (8–6)	Alumni Gym (1,738) Elon, NC
Feb 16, 2017 7:00 pm		at Towson	L 66–85	16–12 (8–7)	SECU Arena (1,931) Towson, MD
Feb 18, 2017 2:00 pm		at Drexel	W 65–56	17–12 (9–7)	Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,217) Philadelphia, PA
Feb 23, 2017 7:00 pm		Northeastern	L 104–105 2OT	17–13 (9–8)	Alumni Gym (1,278) Elon, NC
Feb 25, 2017 7:00 pm		Delaware	W 81–59	18–13 (10–8)	Alumni Gym (1,714) Elon, NC
CAA tournament
Mar 4, 2017 2:30 pm, CSN	(5)	vs. (4) William & Mary Quarterfinals	L 66–71	18–14	North Charleston Coliseum (4,096) North Charleston, SC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

See also

2016–17 Elon Phoenix women's basketball team