# 2015–16 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

The 2015–16 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by head coach Ray Harper in his fourth season. They played their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena and were second year members of Conference USA. They finished the season 18–16, 8–10 in C-USA play to finish in eighth place. They defeated North Texas and UAB to advance to the semifinals of the C-USA tournament where they lost to Old Dominion. Despite having 18 wins and a better they .500 record, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.
On March 17, 2016, head coach Ray Harper resigned after three players were suspended by a university disciplinary committee. He finished at WKU with a record of 90–62. On March 28, the school hired Rick Stansbury as head coach.

## Previous season

The Hilltoppers finished the season 20–12, 13–5 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for the second place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament where they lost to UAB. Despite having 20 wins they didn't play in a postseason tournament.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Ayinde Sprewell | 0 | G | 6'3" | 188 | Junior | Orlando, FL | Graduate transferred to St. Thomas |
| Kevin Kaspar | 1 | G | 6'0" | 173 | Senior | Istanbul, Turkey | Graduated |
| Derrick Clayton | 2 | G | 6'6" | 184 | Freshman | Castro Valley, CA | Transferred to Palm Beach State College |
| Trency Jackson | 3 | G | 6'2" | 188 | RS Senior | Jackson, MS | Graduated |
| Brandon Price | 5 | G | 5'9" | 151 | Sophomore | Radcliff, KY | Transferred to Georgia Southwestern |
| Jordan Green | 10 | F | 6'7" | 193 | Freshman | Lexington, KY | Transferred to Coppin State |
| Avery Patterson | 15 | G | 6'0" | 190 | Freshman | Decatur, GA | Transferred to Columbia State Community College |
| Rob Marberry | 33 | F | 6'8" | 230 | Freshman | Nashville, TN | Walk-on; transferred to Lipscomb |
| George Fant | 44 | F | 6'6" | 250 | Senior | Bowling Green, KY | Graduated |
| T. J. Price | 52 | G | 6'4" | 223 | Senior | Slidell, LA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Aaron Cosby | 2 | G | 6'3" | 205 | RS Senior | Louisville, KY | Transferred from Illinois. Cosby will be eligible to play immediately since Cosby graduated from Illinois. |
| Phabian Glasco | 13 | F | 6'7" | 225 | Junior | Tulsa, OK | Junior college transferred from Connors State College |
| Willie Carmichael III | 24 | F | 6'8" | 210 | Sophomore | Apopka, FL | Transferred from Tennessee. Under NCAA transfer rules, Carmichael III will have to sit out for the 2015–16 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |
| Frederick Edmond | 25 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Junior | Lansing, MI | Junior college transferred from College of Southern Idaho |
| Anton Waters | 42 | F | 6'6" | 205 | Junior | Baltimore, MD | Junior college transferred from Gulf Coast State College |

## Class of 2015 recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Chris McNeal PG | Memphis, TN | South Side High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Jul 7, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Marlon Hunter Jr. SG | Memphis, TN | Houston High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Nov 6, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Kristaps Gluditis PG | Riga, Latvia | Get Better Academy | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Apr 28, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Nathan Smith C | London, England | Get Better Academy | 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | |
| Recruiting 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 July 30, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/02/2015* 7:00 pm | | Lindsey Wilson | W 84–71 | | E. A. Diddle Arena (2,881) Bowling Green, KY |
| 11/06/2015* 7:00 pm | | Kentucky Wesleyan | W 75–68 | | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,207) Bowling Green, KY |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/14/2015* 7:00 pm | | Campbellsville Gulf Coast Showcase Opening Round | W 97–77 | 1–0 | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,424) Bowling Green, KY |
| 11/18/2015* 6:00 pm, ASN | | at Belmont | L 85–90 | 1–1 | Curb Event Center (3,253) Nashville, TN |
| 11/21/2015* 12:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | | Stony Brook | W 67–66 | 2–1 | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,684) Bowling Green, KY |
| 11/23/2015* 5:00 pm | | vs. Drake Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals | L 79–81 $^{OT}$ | 2–2 | Germain Arena (523) Estero, FL |
| 11/24/2015* 1:30 pm | | vs. Central Michigan Gulf Coast Showcase consolation round | W 88–60 | 3–2 | Germain Arena (823) Estero, FL |
| 11/25/2015* 2:30 pm | | vs. Duquesne Gulf Coast Showcase 5th place game | L 73–81 | 3–3 | Germain Arena (1,077) Estero, FL |
| 12/01/2015* 7:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | | Eastern Kentucky | W 86–84 | 4–3 | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,026) Bowling Green, KY |
| 12/05/2015* 7:30 pm, FS1 | | at No. 12 Xavier | L 64–95 | 4–4 | Cintas Center (10,250) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/13/2015* 2:00 pm, ASN | | Indiana State | W 75–62 | 5–4 | E. A. Diddle Arena (2,810) Bowling Green, KY |
| 12/16/2015* 8:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | | Alabama A&M | W 79–70 | 6–4 | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,109) Bowling Green, KY |
| 12/19/2015* 11:00 am, ESPNU | | at No. 19 Louisville | L 56–78 | 6–5 | KFC Yum! Center (21,606) Louisville, KY |
| 12/22/2015* 8:00 pm, ASN | | Detroit | W 79–74 | 7–5 | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,031) Bowling Green, KY |
| 12/28/2015* 7:00 pm | | Brescia | W 93–66 | 8–5 | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,388) Bowling Green, KY |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| 01/03/2016 12:00 pm, ASN | | at Marshall | L 76–94 | 8–6 (0–1) | Cam Henderson Center (4,623) Huntington, WV |
| 01/07/2016 7:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | | FIU | L 72–75 | 8–7 (0–2) | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,394) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/09/2016 2:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | | Florida Atlantic | W 86–82 $^{OT}$ | 9–7 (1–2) | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,607) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/14/2016 7:00 pm, ASN | | at Rice | L 73–83 | 9–8 (1–3) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,664) Houston, TX |
| 01/16/2016 7:00 pm | | at North Texas | W 81–76 | 10–8 (2–3) | The Super Pit (1,903) Denton, TX |
| 01/21/2016 6:00 pm, ASN | | at Old Dominion | L 62–68 | 10–9 (2–4) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (6,535) Norfolk, VA |
| 01/23/2016 6:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | | at Charlotte | L 71–88 | 10–10 (2–5) | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,197) Charlotte, NC |
| 01/28/2016 6:30 pm, FS1 | | UAB | W 69–62 | 11–10 (3–5) | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,892) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/30/2016 7:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | | Middle Tennessee | L 64–66 | 11–11 (3–6) | E. A. Diddle Arena (5,259) Bowling Green, KY |
| 02/04/2016 7:00 pm | | at UTSA | W 83–71 | 12–11 (4–6) | Convocation Center (1,003) San Antonio, TX |
| 02/06/2016 4:00 pm, FS1 | | at UTEP | L 89–93 $^{OT}$ | 12–12 (4–7) | Don Haskins Center (12,000) El Paso, TX |
| 02/13/2016 7:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | | Marshall | L 93–96 $^{OT}$ | 12–13 (4–8) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,373) Bowling Green, KY |
| 02/18/2016 7:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | | Old Dominion | L 56–59 | 12–14 (4–9) | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,182) Bowling Green, KY |
| 02/20/2016 2:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | | Charlotte | W 59–54 | 13–14 (5–9) | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,570) Bowling Green, KY |
| 02/25/2016 6:00 pm, ASN | | at Middle Tennessee | W 78–72 | 14–14 (6–9) | Murphy Center (4,333) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 02/27/2016 11:00 am, FSN | | at UAB | L 67–71 | 14–15 (6–10) | Bartow Arena (7,510) Birmingham, AL |
| 03/03/2016 8:00 pm, ASN | | Southern Miss | W 75–60 | 15–15 (7–10) | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,405) Bowling Green, KY |
| 03/05/2016 7:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | | Louisiana Tech | W 96–90 $^{OT}$ | 16–15 (8–10) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,591) Bowling Green, KY |
| Conference USA Tournament ||||||
| 03/09/2016 12:00 pm, ASN | (8) | vs. (9) North Texas Second round | W 84–76 | 17–15 | Legacy Arena (3,888) Birmingham, AL |
| 03/10/2016 12:00 pm, ASN | (8) | vs. (1) UAB Quarterfinals | W 88–77 | 18–15 | Legacy Arena (9,797) Birmingham, AL |
| 03/11/2016 3:00 pm, CBSSN | (8) | vs. (5) Old Dominion Semifinals | L 77–89 | 18–16 | Legacy Arena (6,176) Birmingham, AL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||