# 2017–18 UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball team

The 2017–18 UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Wilmington during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Seahawks were led by first-year head coach C. B. McGrath and played their home games at the Trask Coliseum as members of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 11–21, 7–11 in CAA play to finish in sixth place. They defeated Hofstra in the quarterfinals of the CAA tournament before losing in the semifinals to Northeastern.

## Previous season

The Seahawks finished the 2016–17 season 29–6, 15–3 in CAA play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Delaware, William & Mary, and the College of Charleston to win the CAA tournament. As a result, they earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year. As the No. 12 seed in the East region, they lost in the first round to Virginia.
On March 17, 2017, head coach Kevin Keatts left the school to accept the head coaching position at NC State. On April 3, the school hired C.B. McGrath as head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Ambrose Mosley | 00 | G | 6'2" | 185 | RS Senior | Jacksonville, FL | Graduated |
| Chris Flemmings | 1 | G | 6'5" | 180 | RS Senior | Cary, NC | Graduated |
| Denzel Ingram | 10 | G | 6'0" | 175 | RS Senior | Chapel Hill, NC | Graduated |
| C. J. Bryce | 12 | G | 6'5" | 185 | Sophomore | Huntersville, NC | Transferred to NC State |
| Chuck Ogbodo | 13 | F | 6'9" | 225 | Senior | Enugu, Nigeria | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jeantal Cylla | | G | 6'6" | 210 | Junior | Fort Worth, TX | Florida Atlantic |
* Under NCAA transfer rules, Cylla sat out for the 2017–18 season, and had two years of remaining eligibility.

### Recruiting class of 2017

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Jay Estime #49 SF | Lilburn, GA | Berkmar High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Jeffrey Gary PG | Colorado Springs, CO | Sand Creek High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| 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 October 15, 2017. ||||||

## Preseason

In a poll of league coaches, media relations directors, and media members at the CAA's media day, the Seahawks were picked to finish in fifth place in the CAA. Junior forward Devontae Cacok was named to the preseason All-CAA first team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 11, 2017* 7:00 pm | | North Carolina Wesleyan Savannah Invitational | W 105–81 | 1–0 | 24 – Talley | 16 – Cacok | 5 – Talley | Trask Coliseum (4,663) Wilmington, NC |
| Nov 14, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Davidson | L 81–108 | 1–1 | 22 – Cacok | 17 – Cacok | 12 – Talley | John M. Belk Arena (3,252) Davidson, NC |
| Nov 18, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Campbell | W 88–84 | 2–1 | 18 – Tied | 17 – Cacok | 14 – Talley | Trask Coliseum (4,415) Wilmington, NC |
| Nov 24, 2017* 5:00 pm | | vs. Loyola–Chicago Savannah Invitational | L 78–102 | 2–2 | 20 – Talley | 9 – Bryan | 4 – Tied | Savannah Civic Center (485) Savannah, GA |
| Nov 25, 2017* 7:30 pm | | vs. Valparaiso Savannah Invitational | L 70–79 | 2–3 | 13 – Tied | 10 – Tied | 5 – Talley | Savannah Civic Center (547) Savannah, GA |
| Nov 30, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at East Carolina | L 88–93 $^{OT}$ | 2–4 | 35 – Cacok | 12 – Cacok | 6 – Tied | Williams Arena (3,373) Greenville, NC |
| Dec 10, 2017* 5:00 pm | | at LSU | L 84–97 | 2–5 | 22 – Talley | 5 – Bryan | 7 – Talley | Maravich Center (7,812) Baton Rouge, LA |
| Dec 13, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at UNC Greensboro | L 58–71 | 2–6 | 22 – Cacok | 17 – Cacok | 3 – Talley | Greensboro Coliseum Complex (2,307) Greensboro, NC |
| Dec 17, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Furman | L 84–90 | 2–7 | 24 – Cacok | 13 – Cacok | 3 – Tied | Trask Coliseum (4,236) Wilmington, NC |
| Dec 21, 2017* 7:00 pm | | vs. North Dakota State Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational semifnals | L 63–100 | 2–8 | 15 – Fornes | 8 – Cacok | 2 – Tied | Don Haskins Center (6,013) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm | | vs. Howard Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational | L 75–80 | 2–9 | 19 – Cacok | 17 – Cacok | 6 – Talley | Don Haskins Center (6,913) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 28, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Greensboro College | W 101–60 | 3–9 | 19 – Cacok | 15 – Cacok | 6 – Fornes | Trask Coliseum (3,865) Wilmington, NC |
| CAA regular season |||||||||
| Dec 30, 2017 7:00 pm | | Delaware | L 56–58 | 3–10 (0–1) | 15 – Talley | 19 – Cacok | 4 – Talley | Trask Coliseum (3,931) Wilmington, NC |
| Jan 2, 2018 7:00 pm | | Drexel | W 107–87 | 4–10 (1–1) | 24 – Talley | 16 – Cacok | 6 – Talley | Trask Coliseum (3,367) Wilmington, NC |
| Jan 5, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Towson | L 71–89 | 4–11 (1–2) | 15 – Tied | 10 – Cacok | 5 – Talley | SECU Arena (1,251) Towson, MD |
| Jan 7, 2018 2:00 pm | | at Delaware | L 76–96 | 4–12 (1–3) | 18 – Cacok | 11 – Cacok | 5 – Talley | Bob Carpenter Center (2,388) Newark, DE |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Elon | W 80–78 $^{OT}$ | 5–12 (2–3) | 20 – Fornes | 17 – Cacok | 10 – Talley | Alumni Gym (1,833) Elon, NC |
| Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm | | Northeastern | L 77–81 $^{OT}$ | 5–13 (2–4) | 24 – Fornes | 8 – Fornes | 4 – Talley | Trask Coliseum (4,006) Wilmington, NC |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm | | at College of Charleston | L 76–80 | 5–14 (2–5) | 23 – Taylor | 13 – Cacok | 8 – Talley | TD Arena (3,649) Charleston, SC |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm | | Towson | W 73–71 $^{OT}$ | 6–14 (3–5) | 20 – Taylor | 13 – Bryan | 4 – Talley | Trask Coliseum (4,405) Wilmington, NC |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm | | James Madison | W 71–68 | 7–14 (4–5) | 26 – Cacok | 24 – Cacok | 4 – Bryan | Trask Coliseum (3,988) Wilmington, NC |
| Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm | | William & Mary | L 81–84 | 7–15 (4–6) | 25 – Talley | 15 – Cacok | 4 – Talley | Trask Coliseum (4,384) Wilmington, NC |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Hofstra | L 76–96 | 7–16 (4–7) | 21 – Talley | 8 – Cacok | 4 – Tied | Mack Sports Complex (1,952) Hempstead, NY |
| Feb 3, 2018 4:00 pm | | at Northeastern | L 100–107 $^{OT}$ | 7–17 (4–8) | 27 – Taylor | 17 – Cacok | 6 – Talley | Matthews Arena (1,341) Boston, MA |
| Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm | | Hofstra | W 90–70 | 8–17 (5–8) | 25 – Cacok | 8 – 3 tied | 7 – Brown | Trask Coliseum (5,200) Wilmington, NC |
| Feb 13, 2018 7:00 pm | | at James Madison | L 61–62 | 8–18 (5–9) | 16 – Cacok | 8 – Cacok | 7 – Talley | JMU Convocation Center (1,038) Harrisonburg, VA |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm | | Elon | W 87–63 | 9–18 (6–9) | 19 – Taylor | 21 – Cacok | 5 – Talley | Trask Coliseum (4,173) Wilmington, NC |
| Feb 17, 2018 7:00 pm | | College of Charleston | L 74–88 | 9–19 (6–10) | 29 – Cacok | 17 – Cacok | 6 – Talley | Trask Coliseum (4,809) Wilmington, NC |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm | | at William & Mary | L 83–96 | 9–20 (6–11) | 27 – Fornes | 12 – Cacok | 9 – Talley | Kaplan Arena (3,912) Williamsburg, VA |
| Feb 24, 2018 4:00 pm | | at Drexel | W 83–82 | 10–20 (7–11) | 23 – Taylor | 21 – Cacok | 8 – Talley | Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,094) Philadelphia, PA |
| CAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar 4, 2018 8:30 pm | (6) | vs. (3) Hofstra Quarterfinals | W 93–88 | 11–20 | 37 – Talley | 9 – Cacok | 7 – Talley | North Charleston Coliseum (2,566) North Charleston, SC |
| Mar 5, 2018 8:30 pm, CBSSN | (6) | vs. (2) Northeastern Semifinals | L 52–79 | 11–21 | 15 – Cacok | 9 – Tied | 3 – Fornes | North Charleston Coliseum (4,099) North Charleston, SC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.. |||||||||