# 1997–98 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team

The 1997–98 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team represented the University of Rhode Island in the 1997–98 college basketball season. This was head coach Jim Harrick's first of two seasons at Rhode Island. The Rams competed in the Atlantic 10 Conference and played their home games at Keaney Gymnasium. They finished the season 25–9, 12–4 in A-10 play and lost in the semifinals of the 1998 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament. They were invited to the 1998 NCAA tournament where they advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to Stanford in the Midwest Regional final.
As of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, this is the furthest any Rhode Island men's team has ever advanced in the NCAA tournament.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 17, 1997* | No. 21 | North Carolina-Wilmington | W 78–69 | 1–0 | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Nov 19, 1997* | No. 20 | at No. 12 Connecticut | L 67–80 | 1–1 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, Connecticut |
| Nov 30, 1997* | | at Boston University | W 86–63 | 2–1 | Case Gym Boston, Massachusetts |
| Dec 3, 1997* | | at Brown | W 75–57 | 3–1 | Pizzitola Sports Center Providence, Rhode Island |
| Dec 9, 1997* | | Providence | W 69–58 | 4–1 | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Dec 13, 1997* | | UNLV | W 91–73 | 5–1 | Keaney Gymnasium (6,429) Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Dec 22, 1997* | No. 22 | Ohio | W 85–72 | 6–1 | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Dec 29, 1997* | No. 24 | vs. No. 7 Stanford Cable Car Classic | L 69–70 | 6–2 | San Jose Arena (6,109) San Jose, California |
| Dec 30, 1997* | No. 24 | vs. Penn Cable Car Classic | W 96–89 | 7–2 | San Jose Arena San Jose, California |
| Jan 4, 1998 | No. 24 | at Temple | W 74–64 | 8–2 (1–0) | Liacouras Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 6, 1998 | No. 23 | at Saint Joseph's | W 83–68 | 9–2 (2–0) | Hagan Arena Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 10, 1998 | No. 23 | Duquesne | W 83–76 | 10–2 (3–0) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Jan 13, 1998 | No. 20 | at La Salle | W 84–73 | 11–2 (4–0) | The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 15, 1998* | No. 20 | Tulane | W 85–61 | 12–2 | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Jan 17, 1998 | No. 20 | at St. Bonaventure | L 81–86 | 12–3 (4–1) | Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, New York |
| Jan 22, 1998 | No. 22 | Virginia Tech | W 73–66 | 13–3 (5–1) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Jan 25, 1998* | No. 22 | at No. 21 Cincinnati | L 82–88 | 13–4 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 29, 1998 | No. 21 | UMass | L 57–74 | 13–5 (5–2) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Feb 1, 1998 | No. 21 | at Fordham | W 75–70 | 14–5 (6–2) | Rose Hill Gym Bronx, New York |
| Feb 3, 1998 | | Saint Joseph's | W 94–76 | 15–5 (7–2) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Feb 7, 1998* | | California | W 72–63 | 16–5 | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Feb 8, 1998 | | St. Bonaventure | W 67–66 | 17–5 (8–2) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Feb 10, 1998 | No. 25 | at No. 17 George Washington | W 69–61 | 18–5 (9–2) | Charles E. Smith Center Washington, D.C. |
| Feb 14, 1998 | No. 25 | Temple | L 67–68 | 18–6 (9–3) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Feb 18, 1998 | | at No. 18 UMass | W 87–85 $^{2OT}$ | 19–6 (10–3) | Mullins Center Amherst, Massachusetts |
| Feb 21, 1998 | | at Dayton | L 62–71 | 19–7 (10–4) | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Feb 24, 1998 | | Xavier | W 69–68 | 20–7 (11–4) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Feb 28, 1998 | | Fordham | W 71–57 | 21–7 (12–4) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Atlantic 10 tournament ||||||
| Mar 5, 1998* | (E2) | vs. (W3) Dayton Quarterfinals | W 83–70 | 22–7 | The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Mar 6, 1998* | (E2) | vs. (W1) Xavier Semifinals | L 80–95 | 22–8 | The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 1998* | (8 MW) | vs. (9 MW) No. 25 Murray State First round | W 97–74 | 23–8 | Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Mar 15, 1998* | (8 MW) | vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Kansas Second Round | W 80–75 | 24–8 | Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Mar 20, 1998* | (8 MW) | vs. (13 MW) Valparaiso Midwest Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 74–68 | 25–8 | Scottrade Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Mar 22, 1998* | (8 MW) | vs. (3 MW) No. 10 Stanford Midwest Regional final – Elite Eight | L 77–79 | 25–9 | Scottrade Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in EST. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | 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 | Final |
| AP | 21 | 20 | 23 | — | — | — | 22 | 24 | 23 | 20 | 22 | 21 | — | 25 | — | — | — | — | Not released |
| Coaches | 25 | 25^ | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 25 | — | — | — | 11 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a week 2 poll

## Awards and honors

* Cuttino Mobley – Atlantic 10 Player of the Year
* Tyson Wheeler – AP Honorable Mention All-American

## 1998 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Team |
| 2 | 41 | Cuttino Mobley | Houston Rockets |
| 2 | 47 | Tyson Wheeler | Toronto Raptors |