2016–17 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Southern Utah Thunderbirds basketball team represented Southern Utah University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thunderbirds were led by first-year head coach Todd Simon and played their home games at the Centrum Arena in Cedar City, Utah as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 6–27, 3–15 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for 11th. As the No. 11 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Montana State in the first round before losing to Weber State in the quarterfinals.

2016–17 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Record6–27 (3–15 Big Sky)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • John Wardenburg
  • Andy Johnson
  • Drew Allen
Home arenaCentrum Arena
Seasons
2016–17 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North Dakota 14 4   .778 22 10   .688
Eastern Washington 13 5   .722 22 12   .647
Idaho 12 6   .667 19 14   .576
Weber State 12 6   .667 20 14   .588
Montana 11 7   .611 16 16   .500
Montana State 11 7   .611 16 16   .500
Sacramento State 9 9   .500 13 18   .419
Portland State 7 11   .389 15 16   .484
Northern Colorado* 7 11   .389 11 18   .379
Northern Arizona 6 12   .333 9 23   .281
Southern Utah 3 15   .167 6 27   .182
Idaho State 3 15   .167 5 26   .161
Conference tournament winner

Previous season

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The Thunderbirds finished the season 5–24, 3–15 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for 11th place. They lost in the first round of the Big Sky tournament to North Dakota. On March 9, 2016, head coach Nick Robinson was fired.[1][2] On March 22, the school hired Todd Simon as head coach.[3]

Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Travon Langston 3 G 6'3" 190 Senior Las Vegas, NV Graduated
Trey Kennedy 4 G 6'3" 195 Junior Las Vegas, NV Transferred to Midwestern State
Daniel Melifonwu 12 F 6'9" 220 Freshman San Diego, CA Transferred to Connors State College
Christian Thompson 25 G/F 6'7" 180 Senior Phoenix, AZ Graduated
Casey Oliverson 32 F 6'8" 225 Senior Logan, UT Graduated
A. J. Hess 35 G/F 6'6" 210 Senior Carefree, AZ Graduated

Incoming Transfers

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Jadon Cohee 12 G 6'4" 182 Junior Langley, BC Transferred from Seattle. Under NCAA transfer rules, Cohee will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Christian Musoko 34 F 6'8" 235 Junior Kinshasa, Congo Junior college transferred from Salt Lake CC
Elliott Smith F 6'6" 185 Junior Oakley, CA Junior college transferred from Harcum College
Hamdi Karoui F 6'7" 220 Junior Paris, France Junior college transferred from College of Eastern Utah

2016 incoming recruits

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Kaijae Yee-Stephens
SG
Santa Cruz, CA Santa Cruz High School 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Oct 13, 2015 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Taylor Miller
SG
Las Vegas, NV Palo Verde High School 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Maizen Fausett
SG
Saratoga Springs, UT Westlake High School 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Jacob Calloway
SG
Juneau, AK Thunder Mountain High School 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg)  
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Decardo Day
PG
Jackson, MS Callaway High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) May 10, 2016 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Ivan Madunic
PF
Split, Croatia 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Apr 21, 2016 
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:

  • "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 27, 2015.

Roster

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2016–17 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 2 Randy Onwausor 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Jr Inglewood HS
Texas Tech
Inglewood, CA
G 3 Decardo Day 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Callaway HS Jackson, MS
G 4 Neema Namdar (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Alta HS Sandy, UT
G 5 John Marshall 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Westwind Prep Phoenix, AZ
F 10 Jacob Calloway 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr On Point Academy Juneau, AK
F 11 Will Joyce 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Newark East Side
New Mexico Military Institute
Newark, NJ
G 12 Jadon Cohee (I)   6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Walnut Grove Secondary
Seattle
Langley, BC
G 13 Race Parsons 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr South Sevier HS Monroe, UT
G 14 James McGee (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Jr Mater Dei HS San Clemente, CA
F 22 Ivan Madunic 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr None Split, Croatia
G 24 Adonis Saltes 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Valley HS Pine Ridge, SD
G 33 Matthew Johnson (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Coronado HS Las Vegas, NV
F/C 34 Christian Musoko 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Layton Christian HS
Salt Lake CC
Kinshasa, Congo
F 35 Brayden Holker 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Fr Westlake HS Saratoga Springs, UT
F 44 Joel Swallow (W) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Millard HS Howell, UT
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
10/29/2016*
6:30 pm
Master's W 110–86 
Centrum Arena (400)
Cedar City, UT
11/04/2016*
6:30 pm
La Verne W 103–89 
Centrum Arena (600)
Cedar City, UT
Non-conference regular season
11/11/2016*
6:00 pm
at Valparaiso
Men Who Speak Up Main Event
L 65–79  0–1
Athletics–Recreation Center (3,560)
Valparaiso, IN
11/14/2016*
6:00 pm
at Saint Louis
Men Who Speak Up Main Event
L 76–88  0–2
Chaifetz Arena (4,725)
St. Louis, MO
11/18/2016*
6:30 pm
Bethesda W 108–92  1–2
Centrum Arena (600)
Cedar City, UT
11/21/2016*
4:00 pm
vs. Coastal Carolina
Men Who Speak Up Main Event Middleweight
L 68–83  1–3
MGM Grand Garden Arena 
Paradise, NV
11/23/2016*
1:30 pm
vs. Ball State
Men Who Speak Up Main Event Middleweight
L 83–94  1–4
MGM Grand Garden Arena 
Paradise, NV
11/26/2016*
4:30 pm
Life Pacific W 101–56  2–4
Centrum Arena (350)
Cedar City, UT
11/30/2016*
7:00 pm
UNLV L 81–89  2–5
Centrum Arena (4,249)
Cedar City, UT
12/03/2016*
1:00 pm
at Oakland L 68–78  2–6
Athletics Center O'rena (2,984)
Rochester Hills, MI
12/08/2016*
8:00 pm
at Loyola Marymount L 68–75  2–7
Gersten Pavilion (1,561)
Los Angeles, CA
12/10/2016*
7:00 pm
at Cal State Fullerton L 62–75  2–8
Titan Gym (520)
Fullerton, CA
12/17/2016*
4:00 pm
IUPUI L 81–101  2–9
Centrum Arena (1,012)
Cedar City, UT
12/19/2016*
8:00 pm
at Seattle L 75–89  2–10
KeyArena (1,235)
Seattle, WA
12/21/2016*
8:00 pm
at San Jose State L 82–92  2–11
Event Center (1,289)
San Jose, CA
Big Sky regular season
12/31/2016
12:00 pm
at Northern Arizona W 93–80  3–11
(1–0)
Walkup Skydome (581)
Flagstaff, AZ
01/05/2017
7:00 pm
at Northern Colorado T 76–76  4–11
(2–0)
Bank of Colorado Arena (833)
Greeley, CO
01/07/2017
2:00 pm
at North Dakota L 65–95  4–12
(2–1)
Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,749)
Grand Forks, ND
01/12/2017
6:30 pm
Sacramento State L 83–88  4–13
(2–2)
Centrum Arena (1,668)
Cedar City, UT
01/14/2017
6:30 pm
Portland State L 77–88  4–14
(2–3)
Centrum Arena (2,658)
Cedar City, UT
01/19/2017
7:00 pm
at Idaho L 67–79  4–15
(2–4)
Cowan Spectrum (889)
Moscow, ID
01/21/2017
2:00 pm
at Eastern Washington L 68–83  4–16
(2–5)
Reese Court (1,621)
Cheney, WA
01/26/2017
6:30 pm
North Dakota L 89–91  4–17
(2–6)
Centrum Arena (2,069)
Cedar City, UT
01/28/2017
4:00 pm
Northern Colorado L 71–89  4–18
(2–7)
Centrum Arena (1,802)
Cedar City, UT
02/02/2017
7:00 pm
at Weber State W 74–70  4–19
(2–8)
Dee Events Center (6,436)
Ogden, UT
02/04/2017
7:05 pm
at Idaho State L 68–94  4–20
(2–9)
Holt Arena (1,721)
Pocatello, ID
02/09/2017
6:30 pm
Montana L 55–70  4–21
(2–10)
Centrum Arena (1,923)
Cedar City, UT
02/11/2017
2:00 pm
Montana State L 78–83  4–22
(2–11)
Centrum Arena (1,761)
Cedar City, UT
02/18/2017
2:00 pm
Northern Arizona W 84–68  5–22
(3–11)
Centrum Arena (1,738)
Cedar City, UT
02/23/2017
8:00 pm
at Portland State L 86–93  5–23
(3–12)
Peter Stott Center (592)
Portland, OR
02/25/2017
8:00 pm
at Sacramento State L 76–86  5–24
(3–13)
Hornets Nest (902)
Sacramento, CA
03/02/2017
6:30 pm
Eastern Washington L 75–91  5–25
(3–14)
Centrum Arena (2,159)
Cedar City, UT
03/04/2017
4:00 pm
Idaho L 75–84  5–26
(3–15)
Centrum Arena (2,010)
Cedar City, UT
Big Sky tournament
03/07/2017
8:05 pm
(11) vs. (6) Montana State
First Round
W 109–105 3OT 6–26
Reno Events Center (1,507)
Reno, NV
03/09/2017
8:05 pm
(11) vs. (3) Weber State
Quarterfinals
L 70–90  6–27
Reno Events Center (1,903)
Reno, NV
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Mountain Time.

References

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  1. ^ "SUU Coach Robinson Relieved of Head Coaching Duties - Southern Utah Thunderbirds Athletics". www.suutbirds.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016.
  2. ^ "Southern Utah University fires basketball coach Nick Robinson". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  3. ^ "Southern Utah hires UNLV interim coach Todd Simon". LasVegasSun.com. March 22, 2016. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2017.