# 2015–16 Columbia Lions men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Columbia Lions men's basketball team represented Columbia University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lions, led by sixth year head coach Kyle Smith, played their home games at Levien Gymnasium and were members of the Ivy League. They finished the season 25–10, 10–4 in Ivy League play to finish in third place. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Norfolk State, Ball State, NJIT and UC Irvine to become CIT champions.
On March 30, one day after winning the CIT, head coach Kyle Smith resigned to become the head coach at San Francisco. He finished at Columbia with a six-year record of 101–82.

## Previous season

The Lions finished the season 13–15, 5–9 in Ivy League play to finish in a tie for fifth place.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Steve Frankoski | 5 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Senior | Florham Park, NJ | Graduated |
| Zach En'Wezoh | 11 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Junior | Kennewick, WA | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Noah Springwater | 21 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Senior | San Francisco, CA | Graduated |
| Meiko Lyles | 22 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Senior | Nashville, TN | Graduated |
| Cory Osetkowski | 23 | C | 6'11" | 270 | Senior | Rancho Santa Fe, CA | Graduated |

## Recruiting

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Quinton Adlesh #118 SG | San Luis Obispo, CA | Mission College Prep | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Nov 14, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 60 ||||||
| John Sica #106 PF | Delmar, NY | Bethlehem Central High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 14, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 58 ||||||
| Peter Barba SG | Hudson, OH | Western Reserve Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jun 6, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Rodney Hunter SG | Cape Coral, FL | Mariner High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Dec 16, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Shane Eberle C | Woodbine, MD | Elev8 Basketball Academy | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Feb 14, 2015 |
| 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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2016

College recruiting information (2016) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Patrick Tape PF | Matthews, NC | Queen's Grant High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | N/A | Jun 28, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Karthik Reddy PF | San Antonio, TX | Saint Mary's High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A | Jun 10, 2015 |
| 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015. |||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||
| 11/13/2015* 11:00 am | Kean | W 107–62 | 1–0 | Levien Gymnasium (878) New York City, NY |
| 11/16/2015* 10:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Kansas State CBE Hall of Fame Classic | L 71–81 | 1–1 | Bramlage Coliseum (11,368) Manhattan, KS |
| 11/20/2015* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Northwestern CBE Hall of Fame Classic | L 80–83 $^{OT}$ | 1–2 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (6,117) Evanston, IL |
| 11/22/2015* 4:00 pm | Lehigh | W 88–61 | 2–2 | Levien Gymnasium (1,011) New York City, NY |
| 11/24/2015* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | Wofford CBE Hall of Fame Classic | W 70–59 | 3–2 | Levien Gymnasium (840) New York City, NY |
| 11/27/2015* 7:00 pm | at Fairfield CBE Hall of Fame Classic | L 81–82 $^{OT}$ | 3–3 | Webster Bank Arena (1,887) Fairfield, CT |
| 11/28/2015* 7:00 pm | Longwood | L 69–70 | 3–4 | Levien Gymnasium (983) New York City, NY |
| 12/02/2015* 7:00 pm | at Bucknell | W 72–61 | 4–4 | Sojka Pavilion (2,465) Lewisburg, PA |
| 12/04/2015* 7:00 pm | Saint Joseph's | L 78–80 | 4–5 | Levien Gymnasium (1,088) New York City, NY |
| 12/06/2015* 2:00 pm | Delaware | W 82–69 | 5–5 | Levien Gymnasium (989) New York City, NY |
| 12/09/2015* 7:00 pm | at Manhattan | W 72–71 | 6–5 | Draddy Gymnasium (714) Riverdale, NY |
| 12/12/2015* 7:00 pm | NJIT | W 65–56 | 7–5 | Levien Gymnasium (1,244) New York City, NY |
| 12/14/2015* 2:00 pm | Robert Morris | W 78–71 | 8–5 | Levien Gymnasium (462) New York City, NY |
| 12/28/2015* 7:00 pm | Howard | W 72–59 | 9–5 | Levien Gymnasium (1,514) New York City, NY |
| 01/02/2016* 7:00 pm | at Stony Brook | L 60–69 | 9–6 | Island Federal Credit Union Arena (3,624) Stony Brook, NY |
| 01/06/2016* 7:00 pm | Maryland Eastern Shore | W 81–75 | 10–6 | Levien Gymnasium (868) New York City, NY |
| 01/09/2016* 7:00 pm | Central Penn | W 96–68 | 11–6 | Levien Gymnasium (785) New York City, NY |
| Ivy League regular season |||||
| 01/16/2016 7:00 pm | Cornell | W 74–70 | 12–6 (1–0) | Levien Gymnasium (2,236) New York City, NY |
| 01/23/2016 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Cornell | W 79–68 | 13–6 (2–0) | Newman Arena (3,935) Ithaca, NY |
| 01/29/2016 7:00 pm | at Dartmouth | W 77–60 | 14–6 (3–0) | Leede Arena (835) Hanover, NH |
| 01/30/2016 7:00 pm | at Harvard | W 55–54 | 15–6 (4–0) | Lavietes Pavilion (2,195) Cambridge, MA |
| 02/05/2016 5:00 pm, FS1 | at Yale | L 72–86 | 15–7 (4–1) | John J. Lee Amphitheater (2,219) New Haven, CT |
| 02/06/2016 7:00 pm | at Brown | W 77–73 | 16–7 (5–1) | Pizzitola Sports Center (953) Providence, RI |
| 02/12/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Penn | W 63–53 | 17–7 (6–1) | Levien Gymnasium (2,505) New York City, NY |
| 02/13/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Princeton | L 83–88 $^{OT}$ | 17–8 (6–2) | Levien Gymnasium (2,633) New York City, NY |
| 02/19/2016 6:00 pm, ASN | Harvard | W 90–76 | 18–8 (7–2) | Levien Gymnasium (2,587) New York City, NY |
| 02/20/2016 7:00 pm | Dartmouth | W 73–54 | 19–8 (8–2) | Levien Gymnasium (2,349) New York City, NY |
| 02/26/2016 6:00 pm, ASN | at Princeton | L 83–88 | 19–9 (8–3) | Jadwin Gymnasium (3,121) Princeton, NJ |
| 02/27/2016 7:00 pm | at Penn | W 93–65 | 20–9 (9–3) | Palestra (3,378) Philadelphia, PA |
| 03/04/2016 7:00 pm | Brown | W 66–63 | 21–9 (10–3) | Levien Gymnasium (1,937) New York City, NY |
| 03/05/2016 7:00 pm | Yale | L 55–71 | 21–10 (10–4) | Levien Gymnasium (2,720) New York City, NY |
| CIT |||||
| 03/16/2016* 7:00 pm | Norfolk State First round | W 86–54 | 22–10 | Levien Gymnasium (1,037) New York City, NY |
| 03/23/2016* 7:00 pm | Ball State Quarterfinals | W 69–67 | 23–10 | Levien Gymnasium (1,397) New York City, NY |
| 03/27/2016* 6:00 pm, CBSSN | NJIT Semifinals | W 80–65 | 24–10 | Levien Gymnasium (1,249) New York City, NY |
| 03/29/2016* 7:00 pm, CBSSN | UC Irvine Championship game | W 73–67 | 25–10 | Levien Gymnasium (2,603) New York City, NY |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||