# 2016–17 Georgia State Panthers men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Georgia State Panthers men's basketball team represented Georgia State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Ron Hunter who was in his sixth season at Georgia State. The Panthers played their home games at the GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta as members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 20–13, 12–6 in Sun Belt play to finish in second place. They defeated Louisiana–Lafayette in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Troy. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to Texas A&M–Corpus Christi.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2015–16 season 16–14, 9–11 in Sun Belt play to finish in sixth place. They lost in the first round of the Sun Belt tournament to Texas State.

## Off-season

After the end of the 2015–16 season, work was completed on the new GSU Practice Facility, an indoor gym complete with six courts. This addition was mandated by head coach Ron Hunter after the March Madness run in 2015.
Assistant coach Everick Sullivan was hired by Lenoir-Rhyne University to serve as head basketball coach after coaching the Panthers for five seasons.
Shortly afterwards, Sharman White, the head basketball coach of Metro Atlanta high school Miller Grove was hired after winning his team seven state titles in his last eight seasons. He set a state record with six titles in a row (2009–14). Among his coaching recognitions, White has been awarded the Naismith Atlanta Tip-Off Club Bobby Cremins Award, named the USA Today National Coach Of The Year, and was most recently named the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) Coach Of The Year. Before joining the Georgia State staff, White compiled a 373–86 career coaching record over a 19-year career.
Another assistant coach, Daryl LaBarrie, also left the Panthers to work as assistant coach at his alma mater, Georgia Tech. He was eventually replaced by former Detroit head coach Ray McCallum.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Kevin Ware | 32 | G | 6'2" | 170 | Senior | Conyers, Georgia | Graduated |
| T.J. Shipes | 31 | F | 6'7" | 225 | Senior | Buford, Georgia | Graduated |
| Markus Crider | 33 | F | 6'6" | 205 | Senior | Dayton, Ohio | Graduated |
| Jalen Brown | 15 | C | 6'8" | 235 | Senior | Buchanan, Michigan | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Justin Seymour | 20 | G | 6'3" | 205 | Senior | Atlanta, Georgia | Graduate transfer from Murray State and is eligible to play in the 2016–17 season. He has one year of eligibility remaining. |
| Jordan Tyson | 50 | F | 6'10" | 225 | Sophomore | Cincinnati, Ohio | Transferred from St. Bonaventure. Under NCAA transfer rules, Tyson will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |

## Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| D'Marcus Simonds #25 SG | Gainesville, Georgia | Gainesville High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Apr 23, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Chris Clerkley PF | Perry, Georgia | Perry High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | May 26, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NA Rivals: NA ESPN: NA ||||||
| 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: "Georgia State Panthers". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 8, 2017. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 8, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 04* 7:00 pm | | USC Aiken | W 92–79 | | GSU Sports Arena (1,243) Atlanta, Georgia |
| November 07* 7:00 pm | | Point | W 97–44 | | GSU Sports Arena (1,167) Atlanta, Georgia |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 11* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Thomas | W 111–69 | 1–0 | GSU Sports Arena (1,690) Atlanta, Georgia |
| November 14* 9:00 pm, SECN | | at Auburn Cancun Challenge | L 65–83 | 1–1 | Auburn Arena (6,980) Auburn, Alabama |
| November 18* 7:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 15 Purdue Cancun Challenge | L 56–64 | 1–2 | Mackey Arena (14,302) West Lafayette, Indiana |
| November 22* 12:30 pm, YouTube | | vs. NJIT Cancun Challenge | W 74–53 | 2–2 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (1,610) Cancún, Mexico |
| November 23* 3:00 pm, YouTube | | vs. Eastern Kentucky Cancun Challenge | W 82–65 | 3–2 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (1,610) Cancún, Mexico |
| November 30* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wright State Barefoot for Barefeet | W 81–74 | 4–2 | GSU Sports Arena (1,256) Atlanta, Georgia |
| December 4* 5:00 pm, SECN | | at Mississippi State | L 60–82 | 4–3 | Humphrey Coliseum (6,805) Starkville, Mississippi |
| December 10* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Georgia Southwestern | W 83–52 | 5–3 | GSU Sports Arena (907) Atlanta, Georgia |
| December 14* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Alabama A&M | W 94–79 | 6–3 | GSU Sports Arena (1,183) Atlanta, Georgia |
| December 18* 2:00 pm | | at Old Dominion | L 46–58 | 6–4 | Ted Constant Convocation Center (4,052) Norfolk, Virginia |
| December 21* 7:30 pm, CUSAN | | at Middle Tennessee | W 64–56 | 7–4 | Murphy Center (4,502) Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
| December 28* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UMass | L 65–74 | 7–5 | GSU Sports Arena (1,639) Atlanta, Georgia |
| Sun Belt Conference regular season ||||||
| December 31 12:30 pm | | at Georgia Southern Modern Day Hate | L 65–88 | 7–6 (0–1) | Hanner Fieldhouse (2,356) Statesboro, Georgia |
| January 7 2:15 pm, ESPN3 | | South Alabama | W 78–77 | 8–6 (1–1) | GSU Sports Arena (1,231) Atlanta, Georgia |
| January 9 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Troy | L 77–80 | 8–7 (1–2) | GSU Sports Arena (1,400) Atlanta, Georgia |
| January 14 5:00 pm | | at Louisiana–Monroe | W 74–65 $^{OT}$ | 9–7 (2–2) | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,634) Monroe, Louisiana |
| January 16 8:00 pm | | at Louisiana–Lafayette | W 101–86 | 10–7 (3–2) | Cajundome (3,497) Lafayette, Louisiana |
| January 21 2:15 pm, ESPN3 | | Coastal Carolina | W 76–56 | 11–7 (4–2) | GSU Sports Arena (1,479) Atlanta, Georgia |
| January 23 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Appalachian State | W 83–72 | 12–7 (5–2) | GSU Sports Arena (1,418) Atlanta, Georgia |
| January 28 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Troy | W 78–72 | 13–7 (6–2) | Trojan Arena (1,248) Troy, Alabama |
| January 30 9:00 pm, ASN | | at South Alabama | W 83–80 | 14–7 (7–2) | Mitchell Center (2,110) Mobile, Alabama |
| February 4 2:15 pm, ESPN3 | | Louisiana–Lafayette | W 85–82 | 15–7 (8–2) | GSU Sports Arena (1,951) Atlanta, Georgia |
| February 6 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Louisiana–Monroe | W 69–55 | 16–7 (9–2) | GSU Sports Arena (1,015) Atlanta, Georgia |
| February 11 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Appalachian State | L 72–77 | 16–8 (9–3) | Holmes Center (2,169) Boone, North Carolina |
| February 13 7:00 pm | | at Coastal Carolina | L 64–65 | 16–9 (9–4) | HTC Center (2,061) Conway, South Carolina |
| February 18 2:15 pm, ESPN3 | | UT Arlington | L 67–68 | 16–10 (9–5) | GSU Sports Arena (1,800) Atlanta, Georgia |
| February 20 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Texas State | W 67–51 | 17–10 (10–5) | GSU Sports Arena (1,406) Atlanta, Georgia |
| February 25 7:00 pm | | at Little Rock | W 71–54 | 18–10 (11–5) | Jack Stephens Center (3,830) Little Rock, Arkansas |
| February 27 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Arkansas State | L 67–78 | 18–11 (11–6) | Convocation Center (4,482) Jonesboro, Arkansas |
| March 5 2:15 pm, ESPN3 | | Georgia Southern Modern Day Hate | W 72–67 | 19–11 (12–6) | GSU Sports Arena (3,854) Atlanta, Georgia |
| Sun Belt tournament ||||||
| March 10 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (7) Louisiana–Lafayette Quarterfinals | W 86–76 | 20–11 | Lakefront Arena New Orleans, Louisiana |
| March 11 2:15 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (6) Troy Semifinals | L 63-74 | 20–12 | Lakefront Arena New Orleans, Louisiana |
| CIT ||||||
| March 15* 8:00 pm, Facebook Live | | at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi First Round | L 64–80 | 20–13 | Dugan Wellness Center (897) Corpus Christi, Texas |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||