# 2017–18 Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball team represented Florida Atlantic University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by fourth-year head coach Michael Curry, played their home games at the FAU Arena in Boca Raton, Florida as members of Conference USA (C-USA). They finished the season 12–19, 6–12 in C-USA play, to finish in a tie for 11th place. They lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to UAB.
March 16, 2018, head coach Michael Curry was fired after four seasons at Florida Atlantic. On March 22, it was announced that the school had hired Florida assistant head coach Dusty May as head coach.

## Previous season

The Owls finished the 2016–17 season 10–20, 6–12 in C-USA play, to finish in a tie for 11th place. They lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to Marshall.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Adonis Filer | 0 | G | 6'3" | 195 | RS Senior | Chicago Heights, IL | Graduated |
| Jeantal Cylla | 1 | G | 6'6" | 210 | Sophomore | Lake Worth, TX | Transferred to UNC Wilmington |
| William Gibbons | 4 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Junior | Lithonia, GA | Graduate transferred to Mid-America Christian |
| Nick Rutherford | 10 | G | 6'3" | 197 | Sophomore | Allen, TX | Transferred to Monmouth |
| Frank Booker | 11 | G | 6'4" | 190 | RS Junior | Augusta, GA | Graduate transferred to South Carolina |
| Marcus Neely | 13 | G | 6'2" | 215 | RS Senior | Fort Lauderdale, FL | Graduated |
| Jordan Phillips | 21 | F | 6'5" | 195 | Freshman | Colorado Springs, CO | Transferred to Coastal Alabama CC |
| Jesse Hill | 24 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Sophomore | Waretown, NJ | Graduate transferred to Tarleton State |
| Connor Shorten | 30 | F | 6'9" | 245 | Sophomore | Gladstone, NJ | Left the team for personal reasons |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Payton Hulsey | 0 | G | 6'5" | 215 | Senior | Memphis, TN | Transferred from College of Charleston. Will be eligible to play immediately since Hulsey graduated from College of Charleston. |
| Je'Quan Perry | 1 | G | 6'4" | 215 | Junior | Charleston, SC | Junior college transferred from Spartanburg Methodist |
| Anthony Adger | 3 | G | 6'1" | 185 | RS Junior | Anderson, SC | Junior college transferred from Spartanburg Methodist |
| Simeon Lepichev | 21 | F | 6'10" | 235 | Junior | Sofia, Bulgaria | Junior college transferred from Kankakee CC |
| Amir Smith | 32 | F | 6'6" | | Junior | Houston, TX | Junior college transferred from State Fair CC |

### 2017 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Byron Abrams PG | Conyers, GA | Heritage High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Mar 21, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Chisom Obidike C | Uwani, Nigeria | Comenius School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 214 lb (97 kg) | Mar 21, 2016 |
| 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 |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 4, 2017* 4:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Lynn | W 68–53 | | de Hoernle Center Boca Raton, FL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2017* 8:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at South Florida | L 59–60 | 0–1 | USF Sun Dome (4,192) Tampa, FL |
| November 16, 2017* 11:00 a.m. | | Edward Waters | W 91–59 | 1–1 | FAU Arena (1,791) Boca Raton, FL |
| November 20, 2017* 7:30 p.m. | | vs. Towson Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals | L 52–76 | 1–2 | Germain Arena (823) Estero, FL |
| November 21, 2017* 1:30 p.m. | | vs. Northern Illinois Gulf Coast Showcase consolation 2nd round | W 77–67 | 2–2 | Germain Arena (841) Estero, FL |
| November 22, 2017* 1:30 p.m. | | vs. Missouri State Gulf Coast Showcase 5th-place game | L 60–71 | 2–3 | Germain Arena (868) Estero, FL |
| November 28, 2017* 3:30 p.m. | | Ave Maria | W 91–54 | 3–3 | FAU Arena Boca Raton, FL |
| December 2, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | Bethune–Cookman | W 93–75 | 4–3 | FAU Arena (881) Boca Raton, FL |
| December 5, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | at Florida Gulf Coast | W 92–88 | 5–3 | Alico Arena (3,418) Fort Myers, FL |
| December 10, 2017* 12:00 p.m. | | Webber International | W 106–46 | 6–3 | FAU Arena Boca Raton, FL |
| December 16, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | Arkansas State | L 63–64 | 6–4 | FAU Arena Boca Raton, FL |
| December 19, 2017* 8:00 p.m., FSSW+ | | at No. 21 Texas Tech | L 54–90 | 6–5 | United Supermarkets Arena (7,731) Lubbock, TX |
| December 23, 2017* 3:30 p.m., BTN | | at Minnesota | L 60–95 | 6–6 | Williams Arena (12,357) Minneapolis, MN |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| December 30, 2017 7:00 p.m. | | at FIU | L 57–58 | 0–1 (6–7) | FIU Arena (589) Miami, Florida |
| January 4, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | UAB | L 44–75 | 6–8 (0–2) | FAU Arena (1,091) Boca Raton, FL |
| January 6, 2018 5:00 p.m. | | Middle Tennessee | L 57–61 | 6–9 (0–3) | FAU Arena Boca Raton, FL |
| January 11, 2018 9:00 p.m. | | at UTEP | W 73–66 | 7–9 (1–3) | Don Haskins Center (5,643) El Paso, TX |
| January 13, 2018 3:00 p.m. | | at UTSA | W 73–69 | 8–9 (2–3) | Convocation Center (985) San Antonio, TX |
| January 18, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | Charlotte | W 75–64 | 9–9 (3–3) | FAU Arena (1,307) Boca Raton, FL |
| January 21, 2018 2:00 p.m. | | Old Dominion | L 62–73 | 9–10 (3–4) | FAU Arena (1,307) Boca Raton, FL |
| January 25, 2018 8:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at North Texas | L 53–59 | 9–11 (3–5) | The Super Pit (1,952) Denton, TX |
| January 27, 2018 3:00 p.m. | | at Rice | W 63–62 | 10–11 (4–5) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,866) Houston, TX |
| February 1, 2018 7:00 p.m., Stadium | | Louisiana Tech | L 62–67 | 10–12 (4–6) | FAU Arena (1,472) Boca Raton, FL |
| February 3, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | Southern Miss | L 66–77 | 10–13 (4–7) | FAU Arena (1,559) Boca Raton, FL |
| February 8, 2018 8:30 p.m. | | at Western Kentucky | L 63–75 | 10–14 (4–8) | E. A. Diddle Arena (5,617) Bowling Green, KY |
| February 10, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | at Marshall | L 68–79 | 10–15 (4–9) | Cam Henderson Center (5,761) Huntington, WV |
| February 17, 2018 2:00 p.m. | | FIU | W 77–72 | 11–15 (5–9) | FAU Arena (1,198) Boca Raton, FL |
| February 22, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | Rice | L 76–79 $^{OT}$ | 11–16 (5–10) | FAU Arena (1,188) Boca Raton, FL |
| February 24, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | North Texas | W 74–54 | 12–16 (6–10) | FAU Arena (1,221) Boca Raton, FL |
| March 1, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Old Dominion | L 64–69 | 12–17 (6–11) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (6,673) Norfolk, VA |
| March 3, 2018 7:30 p.m. | | at Charlotte | L 78–85 | 12–18 (6–12) | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,587) Charlotte, NC |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| March 7, 2018 9:00 p.m., Stadium | (11) | vs. (6) UAB First round | L 73–82 | 12–19 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Sources: