# 2017–18 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team represented Oakland University (OU) during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Grizzlies were led by 34th-year head coach Greg Kampe and played their home games at the Athletics Center O'rena in Rochester, Michigan as members of the Horizon League.
Oakland made a three-point field goal in every game of the season, increasing their steak to 937 consecutive games, the eighth-longest active NCAA Division I streak (at the time). They last finished a game without a three-pointer on January 30, 1988.

## Previous season

The Golden Grizzlies finished the 2016–17 season 25–9, 14–4 in Horizon League play to win a share for the Horizon League regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League tournament, they were upset in the quarterfinals by Youngstown State. As a conference champion and No. 1 seed who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Clemson in the first round before losing to Richmond in the second round.

## Off-season
### Roster changes

The Golden Grizzlies lost Sherron Dorsey-Walker, a guard on the 2016–17 team, to graduation. Prior to the season, sophomore Isaiah Brock unexpectedly decided to leave the team. Brock was named to the Horizon League's All-Defensive Team and All-Freshman Team. Senior guard Stevie Clark also left the team, transferring to Louisiana State University in Shreveport.

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| James Beck SF | Grand Rapids, MI | Grand Rapids Christian High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Stan Scott SF | Williamsport, PA | Williamsport High School | N/A | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| 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: "Oakland Golden Grizzlies". ESPN.com. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Preseason polls

Oakland was picked by coaches, media and sports information directors to finish first the Horizon League. Oakland received 31 of the 47 votes for first place ahead of second place Northern Kentucky. The adjacent table shows the complete preseason poll. Seniors Jalen Hayes and Martez Walker were selected to the preseason first team and Kendrick Nunn was selected to the second team.
Oakland played three exhibition games, defeating Central Michigan, Rochester College and Davenport in games at the O'rena. The 108–88 victory against Central Michigan was a special game to raise money for the American Red Cross and hurricane relief.

## Roster

The following table lists Oakland's roster.

## Schedule and results

The following is Oakland's schedule.
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 29, 2017* 1:00 pm | | Central Michigan Hurricane Relief Charity Game | W 108–88 | | Athletics Center O'rena Rochester, MI |
| November 2, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Rochester College | W 91–73 | | Athletics Center O'rena (1,745) Rochester, MI |
| November 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Davenport | W 102–61 | | Athletics Center O'rena (1,701) Rochester, MI |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, WMYD/ESPN3 | | Fort Wayne | W 85–71 | 1–0 | Athletics Center O'rena (3,579) Rochester, MI |
| November 13, 2017* 7:00 pm, WMYD/ESPN3 | | New Orleans | W 87–68 | 2–0 | Athletics Center O'rena (2,944) Rochester, MI |
| November 18, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Toledo Hoophall Miami Invitational | L 74-87 | 2–1 | Savage Arena (4,436) Toledo, OH |
| November 20, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Syracuse Hoophall Miami Invitational | L 50-74 | 2–2 | Carrier Dome (15,534) Syracuse, NY |
| November 24, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at No. 3 Kansas Hoophall Miami Invitational | L 59-102 | 2–3 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| November 27, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Oral Roberts | W 93–86 $^{OT}$ | 3–3 | Mabee Center (1,754) Tulsa, OK |
| November 30, 2017* 7:00 pm, WMYD/ESPN3 | | Texas Southern Hoophall Miami Invitational | W 97–87 | 4–3 | Athletics Center O'rena (2,854) Rochester, MI |
| December 2, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Michigan | W 78–73 | 5–3 | University Arena (2,418) Kalamazoo, MI |
| December 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Eastern Michigan | L 89-95 | 5–4 | Convocation Center (1,666) Ypsilanti, MI |
| December 9, 2017* 3:00 pm, WMYD/ESPN3 | | Chicago State | W 82–50 | 6–4 | Athletics Center O'rena (3,286) Rochester, MI |
| December 16, 2017* 2:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. No. 2 Michigan State Hitachi College Basketball Showcase | L 73-86 | 6–5 | Little Caesars Arena (20,695) Detroit, MI |
| December 20, 2017* 7:00 pm, WMYD/ESPN3 | | Towson | W 97–86 | 7–5 | Athletics Center O'rena (2,422) Rochester, MI |
| December 22, 2017* 7:00 pm, WMYD/ESPN3 | | Eastern Michigan | W 86–81 | 8–5 | Athletics Center O'rena (3,661) Rochester, MI |
| Horizon League regular season ||||||
| December 28, 2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Milwaukee | W 76–68 | 9–5 (1–0) | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,312) Milwaukee, WI |
| December 30, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Green Bay | L 79-80 | 9–6 (1–1) | Resch Center (2,683) Green Bay, WI |
| January 5, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Northern Kentucky | L 83-87 | 9–7 (1–2) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,411) Rochester, MI |
| January 7, 2018 3:00 pm, WMYD/ESPN3 | | Wright State | L 81-86 $^{OT}$ | 9–8 (1–3) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,208) Rochester, MI |
| January 10, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Youngstown State | W 95–82 | 10–8 (2–3) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,657) Rochester, MI |
| January 12, 2018 7:00 pm, WMYD/ESPN3 | | Cleveland State | W 81–68 | 11–8 (3–3) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,156) Rochester, MI |
| January 15, 2018 8:00 pm, NBCSC | | at UIC | W 78–68 | 12–8 (4–3) | UIC Pavilion (2,080) Chicago, IL |
| January 20, 2018 4:00 pm, WADL/ESPN3 | | at Detroit | W 92–86 | 13–8 (5–3) | Calihan Hall (3,257) Detroit, MI |
| January 26, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Northern Kentucky | W 83–70 | 14–8 (6–3) | BB&T Arena (5,362) Highland Heights, KY |
| January 28, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wright State | L 51-64 | 14–9 (6–4) | Nutter Center (4,491) Dayton, OH |
| February 2, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | UIC | L 73-79 | 14–10 (6–5) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,182) Rochester, MI |
| February 4, 2018 Noon, ESPN3 | | IUPUI | W 82–74 | 15–10 (7–5) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,710) Rochester, MI |
| February 9, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Detroit | W 87–78 | 16–10 (8–5) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,664) Rochester, MI |
| February 14, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Youngstown State | L 73-75 | 16–11 (8–6) | Beeghly Center (1,513) Youngstown, OH |
| February 16, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cleveland State | W 82–66 | 17–11 (9–6) | Wolstein Center (1,725) Cleveland, OH |
| February 19, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at IUPUI | L 67-74 | 17–12 (9–7) | Indiana Farmers Coliseum (1,063) Indianapolis, IN |
| February 22, 2018 7:00 pm, WMYD/ESPN3 | | Green Bay | L 90-96 | 17–13 (9–8) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,211) Rochester, MI |
| February 24, 2018 3:00 pm, WMYD/ESPN3 | | Milwaukee | W 72–70 | 18–13 (10–8) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,508) Rochester, MI |
| Horizon League tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (5) IUPUI Quarterfinals | W 62–55 | 19–13 | Little Caesars Arena (6,771) Detroit, MI |
| March 5, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (8) Cleveland State Semifinals | L 43–44 | 19–14 | Little Caesars Arena (5,398) Detroit, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Oakland received 19 points in the preseason Coaches Poll and 2 points in the AP Poll. USA Today named the Golden Grizzlies a team that was "snubbed" by not being ranked in the preseason Top 25.
The team was also ranked No. 5 in the preseason Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mid-Major Top 25 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 13 | RV | RV | 25 | — | | | | | | | | | | | |