# 2017–18 South Florida Bulls men's basketball team

The 2017–18 South Florida Bulls men's basketball team represented the University of South Florida during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The season marked the 46th basketball season for USF, the fifth as a member of the American Athletic Conference, and the first season under head coach Brian Gregory. The Bulls played their home games at the USF Sun Dome on the university's Tampa, Florida campus. The Bulls finished the season 10–22, 3–15 in AAC play to finish in last place. As the No. 12 seed in the AAC tournament, they lost in the first round to Memphis.

## Previous season

The Bulls finished the 2015–16 season 7–23, 1–17 in AAC play to finish in last place. As the No. 11 seed in the AAC tournament, they lost in the first round to UConn.
The Bulls were led by head coach Orlando Antigua for the first 13 games of the season until he was fired amid academic fraud allegations. Following Antigua's firing, they were led by interim head coach Murry Bartow. On March 14, 2017, the school hired Brian Gregory as the next head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jahmal McMurray | 0 | G | 6'0" | 165 | Sophomore | Topeka, KS | Transferred to SMU |
| Mike Bibby Jr. | 10 | G | 6'3" | 175 | Freshman | Phoenix, AZ | Transferred to Appalachian State |
| Jake Bodway | 11 | G | 6'3" | 201 | RS Junior | Bloomington, MN | Walk-on; didn't make the roster |
| Geno Thorpe | 13 | G | 6'4" | 170 | RS Senior | Pittsburgh, PA | Graduate transferred to Syracuse |
| Malik Fitts | 24 | F | 6'8" | 237 | Freshman | Rancho Cucamonga, CA | Transferred to Saint Mary's |
| Ruben Guerrero | 33 | C | 7'0" | 235 | Junior | Marbella, Spain | Transferred to Samford |
| Bo Zeigler | 35 | F | 6'6" | 207 | RS Junior | Detroit, MI | Graduate transferred to George Washington |
| Luis Santos | 42 | F | 6'9" | 266 | Sophomore | Bronx, NY | Transferred to Saint Louis |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Stephan Jiggetts | 0 | G | 6'1" | 205 | RS Senior | Forestville, MD | Transferred from Fairleigh Dickinson. Will be eligible to play immediately since Jiggetts graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson. |
| Terrence Samuel | 2 | G | 6'3" | 208 | RS Senior | Brooklyn, NY | Transferred from Penn State. Will be eligible to play immediately since Samuel graduated from Penn State. |
| Laquincy Rideau | 3 | G | 6'1" | 204 | Junior | West Palm Beach, FL | Transferred from Gardner–Webb. Under NCAA transfer rules, Rideau will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Payton Banks | 4 | F | 6'6" | 223 | RS Senior | Orange, CA | Transferred from Penn State. Will be eligible to play immediately since Banks graduated from Penn State. |
| T. J. Lang | 10 | G | 6'7" | 210 | Senior | Mobile, AL | Transferred from Auburn. Under NCAA transfer rules, Lang will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have one year of remaining eligibility. |
| Nikola Scekic | 41 | C | 7'1" | 255 | Junior | Belgrade, Serbia | Junior college transferred from Hutchinson CC. |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Alexis Yetna #17 PF | Baltimore, MD | Putnam Science Academy | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Apr 19, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| David Collins SG | Pittsburgh, PA | First Love Christian Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Apr 26, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Justin Brown SF | Birmingham, AL | Hargrave Military Academy | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Apr 10, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 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 September 6, 2017. ||||||

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Rashun Williams SF | Edison, GA | Calhoun County High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 4, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 79 |||||||
| Michael Durr C | Atlanta, GA | Oldsmar Christian School | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 11, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 79 |||||||
| Xavier Castaneda PG | Chicago, IL | Whitney Young High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Sep 12, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 78 |||||||
| 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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 6, 2017. |||||||

## Preseason

At the conference's annual media day, the Bulls were picked to finish last in the AAC.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 3, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Flagler | W 94–66 | | USF Sun Dome (1,307) Tampa, FL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Florida Atlantic | W 60–59 | 1–0 | USF Sun Dome (4,192) Tampa, FL |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Morgan State | L 53–63 | 1–1 | USF Sun Dome (2,116) Tampa, FL |
| Nov 15, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Stetson | W 75–72 | 2–1 | Edmunds Center (836) Deland, FL |
| Nov 19, 2017* 6:00 pm, BTN | | at Indiana Hoosier Tip-Off Classic | L 53–70 | 2–2 | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN |
| Nov 22, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Howard Hoosier Tip-Off Classic | W 75–52 | 3–2 | USF Sun Dome (2,080) Tampa, FL |
| Nov 24, 2017* 12:00 pm | | Arkansas State Hoosier Tip-Off Classic | W 72–61 | 4–2 | USF Sun Dome (2,284) Tampa, FL |
| Nov 26, 2017* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Eastern Michigan Hoosier Tip-Off Classic | L 47–65 | 4–3 | USF Sun Dome (2,050) Tampa, FL |
| Nov 30, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Elon | L 78–79 $^{OT}$ | 4–4 | Alumni Gym (1,534) Elon, NC |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Appalachian State | L 61–84 | 4–5 | Holmes Center (1,506) Boone, NC |
| Dec 11, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | FIU | L 53–64 | 4–6 | USF Sun Dome (2,040) Tampa, FL |
| Dec 14, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Bethune–Cookman | W 83–63 | 5–6 | USF Sun Dome (2,091) Tampa, FL |
| Dec 18, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Northern Arizona | W 70–56 | 6–6 | USF Sun Dome (2,016) Tampa, FL |
| Dec 21, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Charlotte | W 78–76 | 7–6 | USF Sun Dome (2,099) Tampa, FL |
| AAC regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPNews | | Houston | L 60–79 | 7–7 (0–1) | USF Sun Dome (2,273) Tampa, FL |
| Dec 31, 2017 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at SMU | L 39–79 | 7–8 (0–2) | Moody Coliseum (6,477) Dallas, TX |
| Jan 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | East Carolina | L 65–67 | 7–9 (0–3) | USF Sun Dome (2,148) Tampa, FL |
| Jan 7, 2018 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | at No. 9 Wichita State | L 57–95 | 7–10 (0–4) | Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS |
| Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPNews | | No. 14 Cincinnati | L 55–78 | 7–11 (0–5) | USF Sun Dome (3,609) Tampa, FL |
| Jan 17, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at East Carolina | L 52–90 | 7–12 (0–6) | Williams Arena (2,857) Greenville, NC |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | UCF Rivalry | L 69–71 | 7–13 (0–7) | USF Sun Dome (4,611) Tampa, FL |
| Jan 25, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Tulane | W 80–75 | 8–13 (1–7) | Devlin Fieldhouse (1,717) New Orleans, LA |
| Jan 28, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Houston | L 40–63 | 8–14 (1–8) | H&PE Arena (3,121) Houston, TX |
| Jan 31, 2018 8:30 pm, ESPNews | | Memphis | L 74–86 | 8–15 (1–9) | USF Sun Dome (2,754) Tampa, FL |
| Feb 4, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Tulsa | L 54–63 | 8–16 (1–10) | USF Sun Dome (2,484) Tampa, FL |
| Feb 7, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at UConn | L 65–68 | 8–17 (1–11) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (6,636) Storrs, CT |
| Feb 10, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | Temple | L 55–73 | 8–18 (1–12) | USF Sun Dome (2,576) Tampa, FL |
| Feb 14, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPNews | | at UCF Rivalry | L 57–72 | 8–19 (1–13) | CFE Arena (4,310) Orlando, FL |
| Feb 18, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Tulsa | L 61–73 | 8–20 (1–14) | Reynolds Center (4,120) Tulsa, OK |
| Feb 24, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | Tulane | L 68–79 | 8–21 (1–15) | USF Sun Dome (2,228) Tampa, FL |
| Mar 1, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNews | | at Memphis | W 75–51 | 9–21 (2–15) | FedEx Forum (5,945) Memphis, TN |
| Mar 4, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPNews | | SMU | W 65–54 | 10–21 (3–15) | USF Sun Dome (2,593) Tampa, FL |
| AAC tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 2:30 pm, ESPNU | (12) | vs. (5) Memphis First round | L 77–79 | 10–22 | Amway Center (7,856) Orlando, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||