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
Conference	Horizon League
Record	12–23 (6–12 Horizon)
Head coach	Dennis Felton (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Lou Dawkins Bryan Tibaldi Dražen Zlovarić
Home arena	Wolstein Center

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

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. 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.

Offseason

Departures

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

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

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: 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 October 17, 2016.

Roster

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 Dennis Felton (Howard) Assistant coach(es) Lou Dawkins (Tulsa) Bryan Tibaldi (Michigan State) Dražen Zlovarić (Chattanooga) 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 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.

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