# 2015–16 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Southern Utah Thunderbirds basketball team represented Southern Utah University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thunderbirds were led by fourth-year head coach Nick Robinson and played their home games at the Centrum Arena in Cedar City, Utah. They were members of the Big Sky Conference. The Thunderbirds finished the season 5–24, 3–15 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for 11th place. They lost in the first round of the Big Sky tournament to North Dakota.
On March 9, 2016, head coach Nick Robinson was fired. He finished at SUU with a four-year record of 28–90. On March 22, the school hired Todd Simon as head coach.

## Previous season

The Thunderbirds finished the season 2014–15 season 10–19, 7–11 in Big Sky play to finish in ninth place. They failed to qualify for the Big Sky tournament.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Austin Waddoups | 2 | G | 6'2" | 160 | Freshman | American Fork, Utah | Transferred to Salt Lake CC |
| Tyler Rawson | 21 | F | 6'9" | 220 | Freshman | American Fork, Utah | Transferred to Salt Lake CC |
| Sherron Wilson | 22 | G/F | 6'6" | 220 | Freshman | Las Vegas, Nevada | Transferred to Paris JC |
| Eric Rippetoe | 24 | F | 6'6" | 215 | Senior | Panaca, Nevada | Graduated |
| Cal Hanks | 34 | C | 6'11" | 240 | Senior | Logan, Utah | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Randy Onwuasor | 2 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Junior | Inglewood, California | Transferred from Texas Tech. Under NCAA transfer rules, Onwuasor will have to sit out for the 2015–16 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Will Joyce | 11 | F | 6'5" | 220 | Junior | Newark, New Jersey | Junior college transferred from New Mexico Military Institute |

## 2015 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Nicholas Pete #92 SF | Hemet, California | Tahquitz High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Aug 30, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 65 ||||||
| Brayden Holker #68 PF | Saratoga Springs, Utah | Westlake High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Oct 20, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 65 ||||||
| 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 September 25, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||
| 12/12/2015* 7:00 pm | Bristol University | W 79–41 | | Centrum Arena (1,133) Cedar City, Utah |
| Non-conference regular season |||||
| 11/13/2015* 7:30 pm, P12N | at No. 16 Utah Old Oquirrh Bucket | L 71–82 | 0–1 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,050) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| 11/18/2015* 8:30 pm | at UNLV | L 64–84 | 0–2 | Thomas & Mack Center (10,824) Paradise, Nevada |
| 11/21/2015* 7:00 pm | UTSA | L 79–82 | 0–3 | Centrum Arena (3,256) Cedar City, Utah |
| 11/24/2015* 7:00 pm | Cal State Fullerton | L 66–80 | 0–4 | Centrum Arena (938) Cedar City, Utah |
| 11/28/2015* 11:00 am | at Eastern Kentucky | L 85–98 | 0–5 | Alumni Coliseum (1,300) Richmond, Kentucky |
| 12/03/2015* 7:00 pm | La Verne | W 105–85 | 1–5 | Centrum Arena (1,428) Cedar City, Utah |
| 12/05/2015* 7:00 pm | at Utah Valley Old Oquirrh Bucket | W 68–54 | 2–5 | UCCU Center (2,233) Orem, Utah |
| 12/16/2015* 8:00 pm | at Saint Mary's | L 36–92 | 2–6 | McKeon Pavilion (1,836) Moraga, California |
| 12/19/2015* 11:00 am | at IUPUI | L 68–82 | 2–7 | Fairgrounds Coliseum (886) Indianapolis, Indiana |
| 12/22/2015* 6:30 pm, FS2 | at No. 9 Butler | L 52–88 | 2–8 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,128) Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Big Sky regular season |||||
| 12/31/2015 4:00 pm | Montana State | W 93–82 | 3–8 (1–0) | Centrum Arena (941) Cedar City, Utah |
| 01/02/2016 7:00 pm | Montana | L 66–83 | 3–9 (1–1) | Centrum Arena (2,330) Cedar City, Utah |
| 01/09/2016 7:00 pm | Northern Arizona | L 63–73 | 3–10 (1–2) | Centrum Arena (3,011) Cedar City, Utah |
| 01/14/2016 7:05 pm | at Eastern Washington | L 80–106 | 3–11 (1–3) | Reese Court (1,572) Cheney, Washington |
| 01/16/2016 8:00 pm | at Idaho | W 85–83 | 4–11 (2–3) | Cowan Spectrum (1,456) Moscow, Idaho |
| 01/21/2016 7:00 pm | Northern Colorado | L 80–90 | 4–12 (2–4) | Centrum Arena (1,356) Cedar City, Utah |
| 01/23/2016 4:00 pm | North Dakota | L 72–88 | 4–13 (2–5) | Centrum Arena (1,337) Cedar City, Utah |
| 01/28/2016 7:00 pm | at Idaho State | L 68–87 | 4–14 (2–6) | Holt Arena (1,644) Pocatello, Idaho |
| 01/30/2016 7:00 pm | at Weber State Old Oquirrh Bucket | L 50–77 | 4–15 (2–7) | Dee Events Center (7,052) Ogden, Utah |
| 02/04/2016 7:00 pm | Idaho | L 44–68 | 4–16 (2–8) | Centrum Arena (1,213) Cedar City, Utah |
| 02/06/2016 7:00 pm | Eastern Washington | L 67–81 | 4–17 (2–9) | Centrum Arena (1,309) Cedar City, Utah |
| 02/11/2016 7:00 pm | at Montana | L 53–86 | 4–18 (2–10) | Dahlberg Arena (3,351) Missoula, Montana |
| 02/13/2015 2:05 pm | at Montana State | L 73–80 | 4–19 (2–11) | Worthington Arena (2,624) Bozeman, Montana |
| 02/18/2016 7:00 pm | Weber State Old Oquirrh Bucket | L 83–87 | 4–20 (2–12) | Centrum Arena (2,028) Cedar City, Utah |
| 02/20/2016 7:00 pm | Idaho State | L 71–89 | 4–21 (2–13) | Centrum Arena (1,568) Cedar City, Utah |
| 02/27/2016 2:00 pm | at Northern Arizona | W 69–59 | 5–21 (3–13) | Walkup Skydome (1,365) Flagstaff, Arizona |
| 03/03/2016 8:05 pm | at Sacramento State | L 63–69 $^{OT}$ | 5–22 (3–14) | Colberg Court (689) Sacramento, California |
| 03/05/2016 8:05 pm | at Portland State | L 86–88 | 5–23 (3–15) | Peter Stott Center (622) Portland, Oregon |
| Big Sky tournament |||||
| 03/08/2016 3:30 pm | vs. North Dakota | L 80–85 | 5–24 | Reno Events Center (1,406) Reno, Nevada |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. |||||