2018–19 VMI Keydets basketball team

The 2018–19 VMI Keydets basketball team represented the Virginia Military Institute in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Keydets were led by fourth-year head coach Dan Earl and played their home games out of Cameron Hall in Lexington, Virginia, their home since 1981, as members of the Southern Conference. The Keydets finished the season 11–21, 4–14 in SoCon play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place. As the No. 8 seed in the SoCon tournament, they defeated Western Carolina in the first round before losing to top-seeded Wofford in the quarterfinals.

2018–19 VMI Keydets basketball
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	11–21 (4–14 SoCon)
Head coach	Dan Earl (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Kevin Carroll (2nd season) Austin Kenon (2nd season) Steve Enright (1st season)
Home arena	Cameron Hall

2018–19 Southern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 19 Wofford †	18	–	0		1.000			30	–	5		.857
UNC Greensboro	15	–	3		.833			29	–	7		.806
Furman	13	–	5		.722			25	–	8		.758
East Tennessee State	13	–	5		.722			24	–	10		.706
Chattanooga	7	–	11		.389			12	–	20		.375
Mercer	6	–	12		.333			11	–	20		.355
Samford	6	–	12		.333			17	–	16		.515
VMI	4	–	14		.222			11	–	21		.344
Western Carolina	4	–	14		.222			7	–	25		.219
The Citadel	4	–	14		.222			12	–	18		.400
† 2019 SoCon tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Keydets finished the 2017–18 campaign with a 9–21 overall record, and a 4–14 mark in SoCon play to finish in ninth place. The nine wins were three more than the previous season under Earl. They lost in the first round of the SoCon tournament to The Citadel. It was the fourth consecutive season that VMI had failed to advance in the Southern Conference tournament.

Preseason

Departures

The Keydets lost only two seniors from the previous year's team in Fred Iruafemi and Armani Branch. Iruafemi was the team's fourth-leading rebounder and averaged 2.4 points per game. Branch did not play the entire year as he was sidelined with an injury and received a medical redshirt. He chose to transfer and spend his final season of eligibility at Norfolk State.

Name	Position	Class	Reason
Keith Smith	G	So.	Transferred to Cal Poly
Armani Branch	F	Sr.	Graduated; transferred to Norfolk State
Fred Iruafemi	F	Sr.	Graduated

Coaching changes

On July 3, 2018, VMI head coach Dan Earl announced the addition of Steve Enright as an assistant coach. Enright came from Bridgewater College where he had served for three years on the Eagles' coaching staff. He was also an assistant under head coach Dan Hurley at Rhode Island. Enright replaced Steve Lepore, who left for an assistant coaching position with Eastern Kentucky after three years of service under Earl.

Roster

2018–19 VMI Keydets men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Austin Vereen  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Maret School Washington, D.C. F 1 Tragen Fahl 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Atlantic Shores Christian Virginia Beach, Virginia G 2 Garrett Gilkeson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Parkersburg South Parkersburg, West Virginia G 3 Bubba Parham 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 155 lb (70 kg) So Brookwood Snellville, Georgia G 4 Rafael Jenkins  6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr United Faith Christian Charlotte, North Carolina G 5 Greg Parham 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Monacan Richmond, Virginia G 11 Jordan Ratliffe   6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 188 lb (85 kg) So Village Christian Gibson, North Carolina G 12 Ta'Vonne Bond 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 163 lb (74 kg) So Mount Zion Christian Academy Columbia, South Carolina G 15 Myles Lewis 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 181 lb (82 kg) So Victory Rock Prep Ashburn, Virginia F 21 Connor Arnold 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Grace Christian Knoxville, Tennessee G 24 Will Miller 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Halifax County South Boston, Virginia F 25 Tyler Creammer 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Jr Miller School Parkton, North Carolina G 31 Sarju Patel 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Hargrave Daleville, Virginia C 34 Jake Stephens 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Musselman Bunker Hill, West Virginia	Head coach Dan Earl (Penn State '97) Assistant coach(es) Kevin Carroll (Berry '00) Steve Enright (Mount Ida '12) Austin Kenon (VMI '11) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Ref:

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Jake Stephens	Tyler Creammer
PF	Myles Lewis	Will Miller	Tragen Fahl
SF	Garrett Gilkeson	Connor Arnold
SG	Sarju Patel	Ta'Vonne Bond
PG	Bubba Parham	Greg Parham

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, SoCon Network		Washington College	W 89–56	1–0	Cameron Hall (762) Lexington, VA
November 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra		at Pittsburgh	L 55–94	1–1	Petersen Events Center (4,321) Pittsburgh, PA
November 11, 2018* 1:00 pm		Goucher	W 98–34	2–1	Cameron Hall (612) Lexington, VA
November 14, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		USC Upstate	W 78–72	3–1	Cameron Hall (826) Lexington, VA
November 18, 2018* 6:00 pm, SECN		at No. 10 Kentucky	L 82–92	3–2	Rupp Arena (20,207) Lexington, KY
November 20, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Kentucky Christian	W 106–80	4–2	Cameron Hall (594) Lexington, VA
November 23, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Stetson	W 87–79 OT	5–2	Edmunds Center (364) DeLand, FL
November 27, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		American	L 64–74	5–3	Cameron Hall (922) Lexington, VA
December 1, 2018* 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at Longwood	L 45–65	5–4	Willett Hall (1,428) Farmville, VA
December 5, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra		at Virginia Tech	L 68–89	5–5	Cassell Coliseum (7,748) Blacksburg, VA
December 9, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Chattanooga	L 65–83	5–6 (0–1)	McKenzie Arena (2,301) Chattanooga, TN
December 12, 2018* 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at Presbyterian	L 70–103	5–7	Templeton Center (373) Clinton, SC
December 21, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		North Alabama	W 89–68	6–7	Cameron Hall (600) Lexington, VA
December 29, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Samford	L 68–96	6–8 (0–2)	Pete Hanna Center (734) Homewood, AL
January 5, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+		UNC Greensboro	L 68–71	6–9 (0–3)	Cameron Hall (600) Lexington, VA
January 10, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Furman	L 57–89	6–10 (0–4)	Cameron Hall (700) Lexington, VA
January 12, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Wofford	L 76–90	6–11 (0–5)	Cameron Hall (700) Lexington, VA
January 17, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at East Tennessee State	L 82–85	6–12 (0–6)	Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,286) Johnson City, TN
January 19, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Western Carolina	W 91–83	7–12 (1–6)	Cameron Hall (2,500) Lexington, VA
January 24, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at Mercer	L 68–88	7–13 (1–7)	Hawkins Arena (2,376) Macon, GA
January 26, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at The Citadel	L 82–84	7–14 (1–8)	McAlister Field House (3,864) Charleston, SC
January 31, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at UNC Greensboro	L 66–93	7–15 (1–9)	Greensboro Coliseum Complex (2,639) Greensboro, NC
February 7, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Chattanooga	L 70–71	7–16 (1–10)	Cameron Hall (657) Lexington, VA
February 9, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Samford	L 77–84 (OT)	7–17 (1–11)	Cameron Hall (912) Lexington, VA
February 14, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Wofford	L 84–95	7–18 (1–12)	Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (2,014) Spartanburg, SC
February 16, 2019 4:300 pm, ESPN+		at Furman	L 62–96	7–19 (1–13)	Timmons Arena (2,381) Greenville, SC
February 21, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		East Tennessee State	L 70–94	7–20 (1–14)	Cameron Hall (715) Lexington, VA
February 23, 2019 7:30 pm		at Western Carolina	W 83–78	8–20 (2–14)	Ramsey Center (2,587) Cullowhee, NC
February 28, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Mercer	W 84–71	9–20 (3–14)	Cameron Hall (833) Lexington, VA
March 2, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+		The Citadel	W 81–78	10–20 (4–14)	Cameron Hall (2,900) Lexington, VA
Southern Conference tournament
March 8, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+	(8)	vs. (9) Western Carolina First round	W 96–83	11–20	U.S. Cellular Center (2,138) Asheville, NC
March 8, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN+	(8)	vs. (1) Wofford Quarterfinals	L 72–99	11–21	U.S. Cellular Center (5,443) Asheville, NC
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source.