2016–17 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represented Northern Kentucky University (NKU) during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Norse, led by second-year head coach John Brannen, played their home games at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 24–11, 13–6 in Horizon League play to finish in a tie for third place. As the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League tournament, they defeated Wright State, Youngstown State, and Milwaukee to win the Horizon League tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in the school's first year of eligibility after its transition to a Division I school. They lost in the first round to Kentucky.

2016–17 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball
Horizon League tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Horizon League
Record	24–11 (12–6 Horizon)
Head coach	John Brannen (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Sean Dwyer Tim Morris Chris Shumate
Home arena	BB&T Arena

2016–17 Horizon League men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Oakland	14	–	4		.778			25	–	9		.735
Valparaiso	14	–	4		.778			24	–	9		.727
Green Bay	12	–	6		.667			18	–	14		.563
Northern Kentucky †	12	–	6		.667			24	–	11		.686
Wright State	11	–	7		.611			20	–	12		.625
UIC	7	–	11		.389			17	–	19		.472
Detroit	6	–	12		.333			8	–	23		.258
Cleveland State	5	–	13		.278			9	–	22		.290
Youngstown State	5	–	13		.278			13	–	21		.382
Milwaukee	4	–	14		.222			11	–	24		.314
† 2017 Horizon League Tournament winner

Previous season

The Norse finished the 2015–16 season 9–21, 5–13 in Horizon League play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the first round of the Horizon League tournament to Milwaukee.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Tyler White	3	G	6'3"	185	Senior	Lima, OH	Graduated
Deontae Cole	4	F	6'6"	210	Junior	Toledo, OH	Graduate transferred to Mount Vernon Nazarene
Jake Giesler	20	F	6'7"	235	RS Senior	Fort Thomas, KY	Graduated
Jalen Billups	21	F/C	6'6"	245	RS Senior	Cincinnati, OH	Graduated
Todd Johnson	23	G	5'9"	175	Senior	Elkhart, IN	Graduated
Jared Bryant	32	F/C	6'7"	255	RS Senior	Cincinnati, OH	Graduated
Skyler Kolli	33	G	5'10"	150	Freshman	Indianapolis, IN	Walk-on; left the team due to personal reasons
Dean Danos	44	G	5'11"	175	Junior	Oak Lawn, IL	Left the team due to personal reasons

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Brandon Maxwell	2	G	6'1"	175	Sophomore	Orlando, FL	Junior college transferred from Daytona State College

Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Carson Williams #53 SF	Owenton, KY	Owen County High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Aug 26, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 73
Blake Spellman PG	Lee's Summit, MO	Lee's Summit High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Aug 10, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Mason Faulkner SG	Glasgow, KY	Caverna High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	N/A
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Jalen Tate SF	Pickerington, OH	Pickerington Central High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Dantez Walton SF	Lima, OH	Lima Central Catholic High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	N/A
	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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 19, 2016.

Roster

2016–17 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 1 Jordan Garnett 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Warren Central High School Indianapolis, Indiana G 2 Brandon Maxwell 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Daytona State College Orlando, Florida G 3 Blake Spellman 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Lee's Summit High School Lee's Summit, Missouri F 4 Jeff Garrett 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS So Alabama Gadsden, Alabama F 5 Jalen Tate 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Pickerington High School Central Pickerington, Ohio G 10 Tre Cobbs 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Lima Central Catholic High School Lima, Ohio G 11 Mason Faulkner 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Caverna High School Glasgow, Kentucky F 13 Brennan Gillis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Ben Davis High School Indianapolis, Indiana G 20 Nick Ayers 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Simon Kenton High School Independence, Kentucky G 22 Matt Rosenwinkel (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Rochelle Township High School Rochelle, Illinois F 23 Carson Williams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Owen County High School Owenton, Kentucky G 25 Cole Murray 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Delphi Community High School Delphi, Indiana G 30 Lavone Holland II 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Coffeyville Community College Louisville, Kentucky G 32 Dantez Walton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Lima Central Catholic High School Lima, Ohio F/C 34 Drew McDonald 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So Newport Central Catholic High School Cold Spring, Kentucky	Head coach John Brannen (Marshall) Assistant coach(es) Sean Dwyer (Michigan State) Tim Morris (Stanford) Chris Shumate (Murray State) 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
11/04/2016* 8:00 pm		Wilmington	W 102–54		BB&T Arena (1,750) Highland Heights, KY
Non-conference regular season
11/11/2016* 7:00 pm		Earlham	W 95–56	1–0	BB&T Arena (1,868) Highland Heights, KY
11/13/2016* 6:00 pm		at Illinois	L 64–79	1–1	State Farm Center (10,888) Champaign, IL
11/18/2016* 5:00 pm		vs. Austin Peay Tarkett Sports Classic	L 69–77	1–2	Millett Hall  Oxford, OH
11/19/2016* 1:30 pm		vs. Delaware Tarkett Sports Classic	W 74–53	2–2	Millett Hall  Oxford, OH
11/20/2016* 2:00 pm		at Miami (OH) Tarkett Sports Classic	W 79–70	3–2	Millett Hall (1,229) Oxford, OH
11/26/2016* 7:00 pm		North Carolina Central	L 74–82	3–3	BB&T Arena (2,141) Highland Heights, KY
11/30/2016* 7:00 pm		at Morehead State	W 84–79	4–3	Ellis Johnson Arena (3,110) Morehead, KY
12/03/2016* 6:00 pm		at Norfolk State	W 72–61	5–3	Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall (1,261) Norfolk, VA
12/07/2016* 7:00 pm		Eastern Illinois	W 80–70	6–3	BB&T Arena (1,965) Highland Heights, KY
12/10/2016* 3:00 pm		at Southeast Missouri State	W 80–66	7–3	Show Me Center (1,379) Cape Girardeau, MO
12/18/2016* 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Eastern Washington	W 70–48	8–3	BB&T Arena (2,026) Highland Heights, KY
12/21/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Brescia	W 97–73	9–3	BB&T Arena (1,665) Highland Heights, KY
12/23/2016* 4:00 pm, RTPT		at No. 11 West Virginia	L 61–92	9–4	WVU Coliseum (10,197) Morgantown, WV
Horizon League regular season
12/29/2016 7:30 pm, ESPN3		at Detroit	W 81–70	10–4 (1–0)	Calihan Hall (1,299) Detroit, MI
12/31/2016 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Oakland	L 65–76	10–5 (1–1)	Athletics Center O'rena (2,417) Rochester, MI
01/05/2017 7:30 pm, ESPN3		Youngstown State	W 83–70	11–5 (2–1)	BB&T Arena (2,632) Highland Heights, KY
01/07/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Cleveland State	W 83–75	12–5 (3–1)	BB&T Arena (2,723) Highland Heights, KY
01/10/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3		at Green Bay	L 71–80	12–6 (3–2)	Resch Center (2,063) Green Bay, WI
01/12/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3		at Milwaukee	L 58–68	12–7 (3–3)	UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,389) Milwaukee, WI
01/20/2017 7:00 pm		Oakland	W 79–70	12–8 (3–4)	BB&T Arena (4,784) Highland Heights, KY
01/22/2017 1:00 pm		Detroit	W 101–87	13–8 (4–4)	BB&T Arena (2,083) Highland Heights, KY
01/27/2017 8:00 pm		at UIC	W 79–62	14–8 (5–4)	UIC Pavilion (2,898) Chicago, IL
01/29/2017 2:30 pm, ESPN3		at Valparaiso	L 58–65	14–9 (5–5)	Athletics–Recreation Center (3,578) Valparaiso, IN
02/04/2017 7:00 pm		at Wright State	W 83–79	15–9 (6–5)	Nutter Center (5,993) Dayton, OH
02/09/2017 7:30 pm		Green Bay	W 69–67	16–9 (7–5)	BB&T Arena (3,416) Highland Heights, KY
02/11/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Milwaukee	W 69–63	17–9 (8–5)	BB&T Arena (4,963) Highland Heights, KY
02/16/2017 7:45 pm, ESPN3		at Cleveland State	W 62–60	18–9 (9–5)	Wolstein Center (1,247) Cleveland, OH
02/18/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Youngstown State	L 77–81	18–10 (9–6)	Beeghly Center (4,609) Youngstown, OH
02/21/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Wright State	W 83–76	19–10 (10–6)	BB&T Arena (2,908) Highland Heights, KY
02/24/2017 7:30 pm, ESPN3		UIC	W 90–82	20–10 (11–6)	BB&T Arena (3,025) Highland Heights, KY
02/26/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Valparaiso	W 82–78	21–10 (12–6)	BB&T Arena (3,304) Highland Heights, KY
Horizon League tournament
03/05/2017 7:30 pm, ESPN3	(4)	vs. (5) Wright State Quarterfinals	W 82–77	22–10	Joe Louis Arena (5,654) Detroit, MI
03/06/2017 7:00 pm, ESPNU	(4)	vs. (9) Youngstown State Semifinals	W 84–74	23–10	Joe Louis Arena (3,708) Detroit, MI
03/07/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN	(4)	vs. (10) Milwaukee Championship	W 59–53	24–10	Joe Louis Arena (5,929) Detroit, MI
NCAA tournament
03/19/2017 10:07 pm, CBS	(15 S)	vs. (2 S) No. 5 Kentucky First Round	L 70–79	24–11	Bankers Life Fieldhouse (18,269) Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region. All times are in Eastern Time Source:.