# 2015–16 VMI Keydets basketball team

The 2015–16 VMI Keydets basketball team represented Virginia Military Institute in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Keydets were led by first-year head coach Dan Earl and played their home games out of Cameron Hall, their home since 1981. Earl replaced Duggar Baucom, who departed for military rival The Citadel in March 2015. The Keydets played as a member of the Southern Conference for the second consecutive year, having been in the Big South Conference from 2003 to 2014. Prior to that, VMI was a member of the SoCon for nearly eighty years. They finished the season 9–21, 4–14 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the SoCon tournament to Samford.

## Preseason
### Departures

In addition to four seniors, VMI also lost sophomore forward Craig Hinton to transfer.
| Name | Position | Class | Reason |
| Niles Tate | SG | Fr. | Left team |
| Craig Hinton | SF | So. | Transfer |
| Tyrell Mason | F | So. | Left team |
| Brian Brown | SG | Sr. | Graduated |
| Christian Burton | PG | Sr. | Graduated |
| Michael Donovan | G | Sr. | Graduated |
| Jarid Watson | C | Sr. | Graduated |

### Coaching changes

In addition to the departure of Baucom, VMI assistant coaches Daniel Willis and Ryan Mattocks also left for The Citadel. Willis came to VMI in 2005 along with Baucom, and Mattocks was hired prior to the 2012–13 season. Additionally, the contract of assistant coach Ben Thompson, who was in his first season with the program, was not renewed.
In May, Earl announced three hires to the coaching staff: Steve Lepore, Chris Kreider, and Jason Slay. Lepore came from Hargrave Military Academy and played college basketball at Wake Forest where he graduated in 2003. Kreider most recently served as an assistant coach at George Mason for four seasons, and also worked with former Southern Conference member Georgia Southern for two years. Slay had been an assistant at SoCon rival East Tennessee State the past two seasons, and played collegiately at West Virginia State.

### Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Austin Vereen SG | Washington, D.C. | Maret School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Nov 16, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| D'Andre Mahaffey SF | Athens, GA | Cedar Shoals High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Sep 21, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Adrian Rich PG | Fuquay-Varina, NC | Fishburne Military School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A | May 6, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| 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: "ESPN – VMI Basketball Recruiting 2015". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 7, 2014. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 7, 2014. ||||||

## Roster
### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| PF | Phillip Anglade | Fred Iruafemi | Armani Branch |
| SF | Trey Chapman | Jordan Weethee | D'Andre Mahaffey |
| SG | Tim Marshall | | |
| SG | QJ Peterson | Austin Vereen | |
| PG | Julian Eleby | Adrian Rich | |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||
| November 14* 1:00 pm | at Penn State | L 50–62 | 0–1 | Bryce Jordan Center (5,959) University Park, PA |
| November 17* 7:30 pm | Tusculum | W 88–76 | 1–1 | Cameron Hall (914) Lexington, VA |
| November 21* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Virginia Tech | L 52–76 | 1–2 | Cassell Coliseum (5,644) Blacksburg, VA |
| November 24* 7:00 pm | Presbyterian | W 76–61 | 2–2 | Cameron Hall (1,010) Lexington, VA |
| November 30* 7:00 pm | at Campbell | L 65–66 | 2–3 | Gore Arena (1,440) Buies Creek, NC |
| December 2* 7:00 pm | Central Penn | W 107–72 | 3–3 | Cameron Hall (1,043) Lexington, VA |
| December 5* 4:30 pm, BTN | at Ohio State | L 62–80 | 3–4 | Value City Arena (12,132) Columbus, OH |
| December 7* 7:00 pm, FSN | at No. 18 Butler | L 66–93 | 3–5 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,202) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 12* 1:00 pm | Navy | L 62–68 | 3–6 | Cameron Hall (3,124) Lexington, VA |
| December 21* 7:00 pm | at Gardner–Webb | W 76–75 | 4–6 | Paul Porter Arena (781) Boiling Springs, NC |
| December 30* 7:00 pm | Bridgewater | W 72–37 | 5–6 | Cameron Hall (1,171) Lexington, VA |
| January 2 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Furman | L 57–85 | 5–7 (0–1) | Timmons Arena (1,421) Greenville, SC |
| January 5 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Wofford | L 61–65 | 5–8 (0–2) | Cameron Hall (985) Lexington, VA |
| January 9 4:30 pm | at Western Carolina | L 52–73 | 5–9 (0–3) | Ramsey Center (1,844) Cullowhee, NC |
| January 11 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at East Tennessee State | L 51–88 | 5–10 (0–4) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,416) Johnson City, TN |
| January 17 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | at UNC Greensboro | L 68–85 | 5–11 (0–5) | Greensboro Coliseum (1,381) Greensboro, NC |
| January 21 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Samford | W 83–76 | 6–11 (1–5) | Cameron Hall (1,189) Lexington, VA |
| January 25 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Furman | L 56–68 | 6–12 (1–6) | Cameron Hall (1,185) Lexington, VA |
| January 28 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Mercer | L 58–73 | 6–13 (1–7) | Hawkins Arena (2,693) Macon, GA |
| January 30 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | at The Citadel | L 75–78 | 6–14 (1–8) | McAlister Field House (3,535) Charleston, SC |
| February 4 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | East Tennessee State | L 60–71 | 6–15 (1–9) | Cameron Hall (1,178) Lexington, VA |
| February 6 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | Western Carolina | L 60–69 | 6–16 (1–10) | Cameron Hall (2,379) Lexington, VA |
| February 8 7:00 pm | at Wofford | L 60–92 | 6–17 (1–11) | Benjamin Johnson Arena (1,129) Spartanburg, SC |
| February 11 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | UNC Greensboro | W 86–72 | 7–17 (2–11) | Cameron Hall (1,134) Lexington, VA |
| February 18 7:00 pm | at Chattanooga | L 59–85 | 7–18 (2–12) | McKenzie Arena (3,589) Chattanooga, TN |
| February 20 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Samford | L 67–73 | 7–19 (2–13) | Pete Hanna Center (1,332) Homewood, AL |
| February 25 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Mercer | W 91–82 | 8–19 (3–13) | Cameron Hall (1,194) Lexington, VA |
| February 27 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | The Citadel | W 111–95 | 9–19 (4–13) | Cameron Hall (3,327) Lexington, VA |
| February 29 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Chattanooga Postponed from 1/23/16 | L 65–67 | 9–20 (4–14) | Cameron Hall (1,211) Lexington, VA |
| SoCon tournament |||||
| March 5 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | vs. Samford First round | L 85–92 $^{OT}$ | 9–21 | U.S. Cellular Center (2,411) Asheville, NC |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||