# 2016–17 Elon Phoenix men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Elon Phoenix men's basketball team represented Elon University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Phoenix, led by eighth-year head coach Matt Matheny, played their home games at Alumni Gym in Elon, North Carolina as third-year members of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 18–14, 10–8 in CAA play to finish in a tie for fourth place. As the No. 5 seed in the CAA tournament, they lost in the quarterfinals to William & Mary.

## Previous season

The Phoenix finished the 2015–16 season 16–16, 7–11 in CAA play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the first round of the CAA tournament to Drexel.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Tanner Samson | 3 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Senior | Littleton, CO | Graduated |
| Sam Hershberger | 5 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Senior | Vandalia, OH | Walk-on; graduated |
| Tony Sabato | 15 | C | 6'7" | 220 | Senior | Cincinnati, OH | Graduated |
| West Brewer | 30 | F | 6'7" | 230 | RS Junior | Burlington, NC | Walk-on; left the team due personal reasons |

### 2016 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Seth Fuller PF | Dublin, OH | Dublin Coffman High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A | Jul 27, 2015 |
| 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: "Elon". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 13, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 13, 2016. ||||||

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Simon Wright SF | Minnetonka, MN | Hopkins High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: 0 |||||||
| 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: "Elon". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 12, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 12, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 1, 2016* 8:00 pm | | Randolph | W 88–43 | | Alumni Gym Elon, NC |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 11, 2016 8:00 pm | | William Peace NIU Thanksgiving Classic | W 101–68 | 1–0 | Alumni Gym (1,131) Elon, NC |
| Nov 14, 2016* 8:00 pm | | Charlotte | L 95–100 | 1–1 | Alumni Gym (1,478) Elon, NC |
| Nov 17, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at South Florida | W 74–61 | 2–1 | USF Sun Dome (2,206) Orlando, FL |
| Nov 23, 2016* 5:30 pm | | vs. UIC NIU Thanksgiving Classic | W 91–80 | 3–1 | Convocation Center (844) DeKalb, IL |
| Nov 25, 2016* 2:00 pm | | at Northern Illinois NIU Thanksgiving Classic | W 85–80 | 4–1 | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| Nov 26, 2016* 2:00 pm | | vs. Cal Poly NIU Thanksgiving Classic | W 72–66 | 5–1 | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| Nov 30, 2016* 7:00 pm | | FIU | W 84–81 $^{OT}$ | 6–1 | Alumni Gym (1,388) Elon, NC |
| Dec 4, 2016* 1:00 pm, FS1 | | at Georgetown BB&T Classic | L 74–77 | 6–2 | Verizon Center (8,645) Washington, D.C. |
| Dec 6, 2016* 7:00 pm, 67–78 | | UNC Asheville | L 67–78 | 6–3 | Alumni Gym (1,421) Elon, NC |
| Dec 10, 2016* 4:00 pm | | at Radford | L 56–68 | 6–4 | Dedmon Center (1,177) Radford, VA |
| Dec 18, 2016* 2:00 pm | | at Saint Peter's | W 68–53 | 7–4 | Yanitelli Center (500) Jersey City, NJ |
| Dec 21, 2016* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 5 Duke | L 61–72 | 7–5 | Greensboro Coliseum (9,733) Greensboro, NC |
| Dec 28, 2016* 8:00 pm | | Central Penn | W 89–60 | 8–5 | Alumni Gym (847) Elon, NC |
| CAA regular season ||||||
| Dec 31, 2016 2:00 pm | | College of Charleston | L 54–66 | 8–6 (0–1) | Alumni Gym (1,055) Elon, NC |
| Jan 2, 2017 7:00 pm | | at UNC Wilmington | L 63–79 | 8–7 (0–2) | Trask Coliseum (4,350) Wilmington, NC |
| Jan 5, 2017 7:00 pm | | at William & Mary | L 85–88 | 8–8 (0–3) | Kaplan Arena (2,117) Williamsburg, VA |
| Jan 7, 2017 7:00 pm | | Towson | W 72–61 | 9–8 (1–3) | Alumni Gym (884) Elon, NC |
| Jan 12, 2017 7:00 pm | | Hofstra | W 96–80 | 10–8 (2–3) | Alumni Gym (1,607) Elon, NC |
| Jan 14, 2017 4:00 pm | | at James Madison | L 59–60 | 10–9 (2–4) | JMU Convocation Center (2,918) Harrisonburg, VA |
| Jan 19, 2017 7:00 pm | | Drexel | W 93–73 | 11–9 (3–4) | Alumni Gym (1,452) Elon, NC |
| Jan 21, 2017 7:00 pm | | William & Mary | W 71–62 | 12–9 (4–4) | Alumni Gym (1,446) Elon, NC |
| Jan 26, 2017 7:00 pm | | at Northeastern | W 51–49 | 13–9 (5–4) | Matthews Arena (1,249) Boston, MA |
| Jan 28, 2017 4:00 pm | | at Hofstra | W 84–70 | 14–9 (6–4) | Mack Sports Complex Hempstead, NY |
| Feb 2, 2017 7:00 pm, ASN | | James Madison | W 67–61 | 15–9 (7–4) | Alumni Gym (1,535) Elon, NC |
| Feb 4, 2017 5:00 pm | | at College of Charleston | L 58–71 | 15–10 (7–5) | TD Arena (4,081) Charleston, SC |
| Feb 9, 2017 7:00 pm | | at Delaware | L 74–76 $^{OT}$ | 15–11 (7–6) | Bob Carpenter Center (1,784) Newark, DE |
| Feb 11, 2017 4:00 pm, ASN | | UNC Wilmington | W 77–76 | 16–11 (8–6) | Alumni Gym (1,738) Elon, NC |
| Feb 16, 2017 7:00 pm | | at Towson | L 66–85 | 16–12 (8–7) | SECU Arena (1,931) Towson, MD |
| Feb 18, 2017 2:00 pm | | at Drexel | W 65–56 | 17–12 (9–7) | Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,217) Philadelphia, PA |
| Feb 23, 2017 7:00 pm | | Northeastern | L 104–105 $^{2OT}$ | 17–13 (9–8) | Alumni Gym (1,278) Elon, NC |
| Feb 25, 2017 7:00 pm | | Delaware | W 81–59 | 18–13 (10–8) | Alumni Gym (1,714) Elon, NC |
| CAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 4, 2017 2:30 pm, CSN | (5) | vs. (4) William & Mary Quarterfinals | L 66–71 | 18–14 | North Charleston Coliseum (4,096) North Charleston, SC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||