# 2017–18 Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball team

The 2017–18 Southern Miss Golden Eagles men's basketball team represented the University of Southern Mississippi during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Eagles, led by fourth-year head coach Doc Sadler, played their home games at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg, Mississippi as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 16–18, 7–11 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for ninth place. They defeated FIU and Middle Tennessee before losing to Marshall in the semifinals of the C-USA tournament

## Previous season

The Golden Eagles finished the 2016–17 season 9–22, 6–12 in C-USA play to finish in 12th place. They lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to Rice.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Raheem Watts | 0 | F | 6'7" | 216 | Senior | Greenville, SC | Graduated |
| Robert Thomas | 3 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Sophomore | Odessa, TX | Graduate transferred to Texas Wesleyan |
| Christian Clark | 4 | G | 6'0" | 175 | RS Freshman | Hattiesburg, MS | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Khari Price | 5 | G | 5'9" | 170 | RS Senior | Slidell, LA | Graduated |
| Michael Ramey | 11 | G | 6'5" | 183 | RS Senior | Indianapolis, IN | Graduated |
| Bilal Abdur-Rahim | 13 | G | 6'7" | 200 | Sophomore | Marietta, GA | Transferred |
| Quinton Campbell | 22 | G/F | 6'7" | 192 | RS Senior | Wilmer, AL | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Leonard Harper-Baker | 32 | G | 6'5" | 205 | Junior | Detroit, MI | Junior college transferred from Moberly Area CC |

## Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ladavius Draine SG | Calhoun City, MS | Calhoun City High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jan 10, 2017 |
| 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 15, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Southern (New Orleans) | W 79–69 | 1–0 | Reed Green Coliseum (2,118) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Nov 16, 2017* 6:00 pm, BTN+ | | at Michigan | L 47–61 | 1–1 | Crisler Arena (8,765) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Nov 20, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Blue Mountain Sanford Pentagon Showcase | W 90–46 | 2–1 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,848) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Nov 24, 2017* 5:30 pm | | vs. South Dakota Sanford Pentagon Showcase | L 71–84 | 2–2 | Sanford Pentagon (1,105) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Nov 25, 2017* 4:00 pm | | vs. Youngstown State Sanford Pentagon Showcase | W 71–64 | 3–2 | Sanford Pentagon (343) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Nov 26, 2017* 11:30 am | | vs. Northern Colorado Sanford Pentagon Showcase | L 63–77 | 3–3 | Sanford Pentagon (101) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at South Alabama | L 58–69 | 3–4 | Mitchell Center (2,353) Mobile, AL |
| Dec 3, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Rust | W 109–61 | 4–4 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,792) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Dec 10, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Troy | W 89–71 | 5–4 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,937) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Dec 13, 2017* 6:00 pm | | at Alabama A&M | W 69–54 | 6–4 | Elmore Gymnasium (382) Huntsville, AL |
| Dec 16, 2017* 4:00 pm | | William Carey | W 75–58 | 7–4 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,914) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Dec 21, 2017* 1:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at No. 24 Florida State | L 45–98 | 7–5 | Donald L. Tucker Civic Center (5,003) Tallahassee, FL |
| Dec 23, 2017* 6:00 pm | | vs. Mississippi State Jackson Showcase | L 64–70 | 7–6 | Mississippi Coliseum (4,028) Jackson, MS |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 6:00 pm | | at Marshall | L 66–85 | 7–7 (0–1) | Cam Henderson Center (5,537) Huntington, WV |
| Dec 30, 2017 2:00 pm | | at Western Kentucky | L 66–82 | 7–8 (0–2) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,654) Bowling Green, KY |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm, beIN | | UTEP | W 85–75 | 8–8 (1–2) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,956) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Jan 6, 2018 4:00 pm | | UTSA | W 93–83 | 9–8 (2–2) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,834) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm | | at UAB | L 75–86 | 9–9 (2–3) | Bartow Arena (3,351) Birmingham, AL |
| Jan 13, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Middle Tennessee | L 49–69 | 9–10 (2–4) | Murphy Center (4,871) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm | | Rice | W 86–75 | 10–10 (3–4) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,001) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Jan 20, 2018 4:00 pm | | North Texas | W 85–78 | 11–10 (4–4) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,540) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Jan 27, 2018 6:00 pm | | at Louisiana Tech | L 66–89 | 11–11 (4–5) | Thomas Assembly Center (4,269) Ruston, LA |
| Feb 1, 2018 6:00 pm | | at FIU | L 70–76 | 11–12 (4–6) | FIU Arena (1,263) Miami, FL |
| Feb 3, 2018 6:00 pm | | at Florida Atlantic | W 77–66 | 12–12 (5–6) | FAU Arena (1,559) Boca Raton, FL |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm | | Old Dominion | L 63–68 | 12–13 (5–7) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,984) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Feb 10, 2018 4:30 pm | | Charlotte | W 72–54 | 13–13 (6–7) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,880) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm | | Middle Tennessee | L 62–72 | 13–14 (6–8) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,062) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Feb 17, 2018 4:00 pm | | UAB | L 69–87 | 13–15 (6–9) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,405) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm | | at UTSA | L 56–64 | 13–16 (6–10) | Convocation Center (1,082) San Antonio, TX |
| Feb 24, 2018 8:00 pm | | at UTEP | L 44–73 | 13–17 (6–11) | Don Haskins Center (6,117) El Paso, TX |
| Mar 3, 2018 4:30 pm | | Louisiana Tech | W 72–64 | 14–17 (7–11) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,687) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 2018 6:00 pm, Stadium | (9) | vs. (8) FIU First round | W 69–68 | 15–17 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| Mar 8, 2018 6:00 pm, Stadium | (9) | vs. (1) Middle Tennessee Quarterfinals | W 71–68 $^{OT}$ | 16–17 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| Mar 9, 2018 12:30 pm, CBSSN | (9) | vs. (4) Marshall Semifinals | L 75–85 | 16–18 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Source. ||||||