2016–17 SMU Mustangs men's basketball team

The 2016–17 SMU Mustangs men's basketball team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Mustangs were led by first-year head coach Tim Jankovich and played their home games on their campus in University Park, Texas at Moody Coliseum. They were members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 30–5, 17–1 in AAC play to win the AAC regular season championship. In the AAC tournament, they defeated East Carolina, UCF, and Cincinnati to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 6 seed in the East region, they lost in the First Round to #11 USC.

2016–17 SMU Mustangs men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Round
ConferenceAmerican Athletic Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 23
APNo. 11
Record30–5 (17–1 AAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaMoody Coliseum
Seasons
2016–17 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 11 SMU 17 1   .944 30 5   .857
No. 18 Cincinnati 16 2   .889 30 6   .833
Houston 12 6   .667 21 11   .656
UCF 11 7   .611 24 12   .667
Memphis 9 9   .500 19 13   .594
UConn 9 9   .500 16 17   .485
Tulsa 8 10   .444 15 17   .469
Temple 7 11   .389 16 16   .500
East Carolina 6 12   .333 15 18   .455
Tulane 3 15   .167 6 25   .194
South Florida 1 17   .056 7 23   .233
2017 AAC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Previous season edit

The Mustangs finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 25–5, 13–5 in AAC play to finish in second place in conference. Due to multiple NCAA violations, including academic fraud and unethical conduct, SMU was ineligible for all postseason play including the AAC tournament and NCAA tournament.[1] Additionally, head coach Larry Brown was suspended for nine games.[2]

On July 8, 2016, Larry Brown resigned as head coach.[3][4] A few days later, the school named Tim Jankovich head coach.[5]

Offseason edit

Departures edit

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Sedrick Barefield 2 G 6'2" 190 Freshman Corona, CA Transferred to Utah
Keith Frazier 4 G 6'5" 190 Junior Dallas, TX Transferred to North Texas
Markus Kennedy 5 F 6'9" 245 RS Senior Philadelphia, PA Graduated
Nic Moore 11 G 5'9" 170 RS Senior Winona Lake, IN Graduated
Jordan Tolbert 23 F 6'7" 240 RS Senior Fort Worth, TX Graduated

Incoming Transfers edit

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Jimmy Whitt 31 G 6'4" 173 Sophomore Columbia, MO Transferred from Arkansas. Under NCAA transfer rules, Whitt will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. Whitt was a 4-Star Guard (68) overall out of High School.

2016 recruiting class edit

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Dashawn McDowell
PG
Oklahoma City, OK Southeast High School 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sep 5, 2015 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Tom Wilson
SG
Melbourne, Australia Australian Institute of Sport 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Oct 21, 2015 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Harry Froling
PF
Townsville, Australia Australian Institute of Sport 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jan 25, 2016 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    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 SMU Recruiting List". Rivals.com.
  • "2016 SMU Recruiting List". Scout.com.
  • "2016 SMU Recruiting List". ESPN.com.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com.
  • "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster edit

2016–17 SMU Mustangs men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 00 Ben Moore 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Bolingbrook High School Bolingbrook, Illinois
G 1 Shake Milton 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Owasso High School Owasso, Oklahoma
G 3 Sterling Brown 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Proviso East High School Maywood, Illinois
G 5 Dashawn McDowell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Southeast High School Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
G 10 Jarrey Foster 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So North Shore Senior High School Houston, Texas
F 14 Courtland Sutton 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS So Brenham High School Brenham, Texas
F 15 Leo Kontopoulos (W) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr German School of Thessaloniki Frankfurt, Germany
G 20 James Pyle (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr St. Thomas Aquinas High School Overland Park, Kansas
G 21 Ben Emelogu 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Jr Virginia Tech Grand Prairie, Texas
G 22 Jonathan Wilfong (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Memphis University School Memphis, Tennessee
G 31 Jimmy Whitt (I)   6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Arkansas Columbia, Missouri
F 33 Semi Ojeleye 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS Jr Duke Ottawa, Kansas
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: December 26, 2016

Schedule and results edit

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 11, 2016*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Gardner–Webb
2K Sports Classic
W 72–44  1–0
Moody Coliseum (6,852)
Dallas, TX
November 13, 2016*
1:00 pm, ESPN3
Eastern Michigan
2K Sports Classic
W 91–64  2–0
Moody Coliseum (6,852)
Dallas, TX
November 17, 2016*
6:00 pm, ESPN2
vs. Pittsburgh
2K Sports Classic semifinals
W 76–67  3–0
Madison Square Garden (8,126)
New York, NY
November 18, 2016*
6:00 pm, ESPN2
vs. Michigan
2K Sports Classic championship
L 54–76  3–1
Madison Square Garden (8,088)
New York, NY
November 22, 2016*
8:00 pm, SPCSN/ESPN3
UC Santa Barbara W 84–57  4–1
Moody Coliseum (6,852)
Dallas, TX
November 25, 2016*
6:00 pm, P12N
at USC L 73–78  4–2
Galen Center (3,713)
Los Angeles, CA
November 30, 2016*
8:00 pm, MWN
at Boise State L 62–71  4–3
Taco Bell Arena (4,812)
Boise, ID
December 2, 2016*
7:00 pm, SPCSN/ESPN3
Cal State Bakersfield W 49–43  5–3
Moody Coliseum (6,852)
Dallas, TX
December 4, 2016*
7:00 pm, SPCSN/ESPN3
Delaware State W 74–60  6–3
Moody Coliseum (6,852)
Dallas, TX
December 7, 2016*
7:00 pm, ESPNews
TCU W 74–59  7–3
Moody Coliseum (6,872)
Dallas, TX
December 14, 2016*
7:00 pm, SPCSN/ESPN3
McNeese State W 92–56  8–3
Moody Coliseum (6,498)
Dallas, TX
December 19, 2016*
8:00 pm, ESPN2
Stanford W 72–49  9–3
Moody Coliseum (6,923)
Dallas, TX
December 20, 2016*
7:00 pm
Albany W 71–53  10–3
Moody Coliseum (6,505)
Dallas, TX
AAC regular season
December 27, 2016
8:00 pm, ESPNU
at Memphis W 58–54  11–3
(1–0)
FedEx Forum (10,305)
Memphis, TN
December 31, 2016
11:00 am, ASN/ESPN3
at East Carolina W 75–44  12–3
(2–0)
Williams Arena (3,698)
Greenville, NC
January 4, 2017
8:00 pm, CBSSN
Temple W 79–65  13–3
(3–0)
Moody Coliseum (6,782)
Dallas, TX
January 7, 2017
4:00 pm, ESPNews
South Florida W 84–65  14–3
(4–0)
Moody Coliseum (6,769)
Dallas, TX
January 12, 2017
8:00 pm, ESPN
at No. 22 Cincinnati L 64–66  14–4
(4–1)
Fifth Third Arena (11,344)
Cincinnati, OH
January 15, 2017
5:00 pm, CBSSN
at Tulane W 80–64  15–4
(5–1)
Devlin Fieldhouse (1,323)
New Orleans, LA
January 19, 2017
6:00 pm, ESPN2
UConn W 69–49  16–4
(6–1)
Moody Coliseum (6,978)
Dallas, TX
January 21, 2017
5:00 pm, ESPNU
Houston W 85–64  17–4
(7–1)
Moody Coliseum (7,002)
Dallas, TX
January 25, 2017
5:00 pm, ESPNews
at UCF W 65–60  18–4
(8–1)
CFE Arena (4,620)
Orlando, FL
February 1, 2017
8:00 pm, ESPNews
East Carolina W 86–46  19–4
(9–1)
Moody Coliseum (6,723)
Dallas, TX
February 4, 2017
6:00 pm, ESPNews
at Tulsa W 76–53  20–4
(10–1)
Reynolds Center (5,606)
Tulsa, OK
February 9, 2017
8:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 25 at Temple W 66–50  21–4
(11–1)
Liacouras Center (4,603)
Philadelphia, PA
February 12, 2017
3:00 pm, ESPN
No. 25 No. 11 Cincinnati W 60–51  22–4
(12–1)
Moody Coliseum (7,518)
Dallas, TX
February 15, 2017
8:00 pm, ASN/ESPN3
No. 19 Tulane W 80–75  23–4
(13–1)
Moody Coliseum (6,850)
Dallas, TX
February 18, 2017
5:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 19 at Houston W 76–66  24–4
(14–1)
Hofheinz Pavilion (8,479)
Houston, TX
February 25, 2017
11:00 am, CBS
No. 17 at UConn W 69–61  25–4
(15–1)
XL Center (13,553)
Hartford, CT
March 2, 2017
7:00 pm, CBSSN
No. 14 Tulsa W 90–73  26–4
(16–1)
Moody Coliseum (7,242)
Dallas, TX
March 4, 2017
3:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 14 Memphis W 103–62  27–4
(17–1)
Moody Coliseum (7,242)
Dallas, TX
American Athletic Conference tournament
March 10, 2017
12:00pm, ESPN2
(1) No. 12 vs. (9) East Carolina
Quarterfinals
W 81–77  28–4
XL Center (1,844)
Hartford, CT
March 11, 2017
2:00pm, ESPN2
(1) No. 12 vs. (4) UCF
Semifinals
W 70–59  29–4
XL Center (8,177)
Hartford, CT
March 12, 2017
2:00pm, ESPN
(1) No. 12 vs. (2) No. 15 Cincinnati
Championship
W 71–56  30–4
XL Center (6,856)
Hartford, CT
NCAA tournament
March 17, 2017*
2:10pm, truTV
(6 E) No. 11 vs. (11 E) USC
First Round
L 65–66  30–5
BOK Center (13,571)
Tulsa, OK
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
E=East Region.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings edit

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415161718Final
APRVRVRVRVRV251917141211Not released
Coaches'RVRVRVRVRVRVRV232119151323

References edit

  1. ^ "NCAA bans SMU from 2016 postseason, Larry Brown for nine games". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  2. ^ "SMU, Brown disciplined by NCAA for violations". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  3. ^ "Larry Brown steps down as SMU men's basketball head coach amid contract dispute | SportsDay". SportsDay. July 8, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  4. ^ "Larry Brown leaves SMU in the most Larry Brown way possible". CBSSports.com. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  5. ^ "With Larry Brown era over, Tim Jankovich ready to elevate SMU". USA TODAY. Retrieved February 20, 2017.