# 2015–16 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball team

The 2015–16 North Dakota Fighting Hawks Men's Basketball team represented the University of North Dakota during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by tenth year head coach Brian Jones and played their home games at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. They were members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 17–16, 10–8 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They defeated Southern Utah and Idaho State to advance to the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament where they lost to Weber State. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to UC Irvine.

## Previous season

North Dakota finished the season 8–22, 4–14 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for tenth place. They failed to qualify for the Big Sky tournament.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Jaron Nash | 1 | F | 6'8" | 195 | Senior | Waterloo, Iowa | Graduated |
| Cole Stefan | 2 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | Minnetonka, Minnesota | Graduated |
| Estan Tyler | 3 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Junior | St. Paul, Minnesota | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Lenny Antwi | 12 | G | 6'1" | 190 | Senior | Montreal, Quebec | Graduated |
| Terrel De Rouen | 14 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Junior | Las Cruces, New Mexico | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Kraiq Shields | 22 | F | 6'8" | 190 | Freshman | Kyle, Texas | Transferred to Midland College |
| Chad Calcaterra | 33 | F | 6'9" | 235 | Senior | Cloquet, Minnesota | Graduated |
| Josiah Coleman | 35 | F | 6'5" | 195 | Junior | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | Transferred to UT Permian Basin |
| Ryan Salmonson | 41 | C | 6'10" | 235 | Senior | Colfax, California | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Corey Baldwin | 1 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Junior | Bridgeport, Connecticut | Junior college transferred from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M |
| Wheeler Baker | 13 | G | 6'2" | 175 | Sophomore | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Transferred from Albany. Under NCAA transfer rules, Baker will have to sit out for the 2015–16 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |

## 2015 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Adam McDermott SG | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | Xavier High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 22, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Cortez Seales PG | Eldridge, Iowa | North Scott High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 23, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Josh Collins SF | Minneapolis, Minnesota | De La Salle High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 28, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Conner Avants PF | Edmond, Oklahoma | Deer Creek-Lamont High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Apr 11, 2015 |
| 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 September 25, 2015. ||||||

### 2016 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Billy Brown SG | Spirit Lake, Iowa | Spirit Lake High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Jun 22, 2015 |
| 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 25, 2015. |||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||
| 11/13/2015* 3:00 pm | Minnesota–Morris | W 99–69 | 1–0 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,430) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 11/17/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Wisconsin | L 64–78 | 1–1 | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, Wisconsin |
| 11/21/2015* 3:00 pm | vs. Bowling Green FGCU Classic | W 77–59 | 2–1 | Alico Arena (3,562) Fort Myers, Florida |
| 11/22/2015* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Florida Gulf Coast FGCU Classic | L 60–73 | 2–2 | Alico Arena (3,412) Fort Myers, Florida |
| 11/23/2015* 3:00 pm | vs. Youngstown State FGCU Classic | L 69–79 | 2–3 | Alico Arena (3,854) Fort Myers, Florida |
| 11/28/2015* 2:00 pm, MidcoSN | Northern Iowa | L 51–97 | 2–4 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,302) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 12/01/2015* 7:00 pm | Waldorf FGCU Classic | W 78–58 | 3–4 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,521) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 12/05/2015* 7:00 pm | at Bradley | W 65–59 $^{2OT}$ | 4–4 | Carver Arena (5,557) Peoria, Illinois |
| 12/11/2015* 7:30 pm, MidcoSN/FCS Central | North Dakota State | L 67–69 | 4–5 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,593) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 12/17/2015* 7:30 pm | Valley City State | W 80–59 | 5–5 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,349) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 12/22/2015* 7:00 pm, FSKC | at Kansas State | L 49–63 | 5–6 | Bramlage Coliseum (12,440) Manhattan, Kansas |
| Big Sky regular season |||||
| 12/31/2015 5:00 pm | Idaho | L 71–74 | 5–7 (0–1) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,436) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 01/02/2016 2:00 pm | Eastern Washington | W 79–71 | 6–7 (1–1) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,542) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 01/07/2016 8:00 pm | at Weber State | L 62–74 | 6–8 (1–2) | Dee Events Center (6,456) Ogden, Utah |
| 01/09/2016 8:00 pm | at Idaho State | W 84–76 | 7–8 (2–2) | Holt Arena (1,526) Pocatello, Idaho |
| 01/14/2016 7:00 pm | Montana State | W 85–68 | 8–8 (3–2) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,608) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 01/16/2016 2:00 pm, MidcoSN/FCS Central | Montana | L 61–65 | 8–9 (3–3) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (3,287) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 01/21/2016 7:30 pm | at Northern Arizona | W 101–59 | 9–9 (4–3) | Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, Arizona |
| 01/23/2016 5:00 pm | at Southern Utah | W 88–72 | 10–9 (5–3) | Centrum Arena (1,337) Cedar City, Utah |
| 01/30/2016 8:00 pm | at Northern Colorado | L 70–71 | 10–10 (5–4) | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,016) Greeley, Colorado |
| 02/04/2016 7:00 pm | Idaho State | W 76–60 | 11–10 (6–4) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,764) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 02/06/2016 2:00 pm, MidcoSN/FCS Central | Weber State | W 78–71 | 12–10 (7–4) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,148) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 02/11/2016 8:05 pm | at Eastern Washington | L 85–95 | 12–11 (7–5) | Reese Court (1,650) Cheney, Washington |
| 02/13/2015 9:00 pm | at Idaho | L 64–65 | 12–12 (7–6) | Cowan Spectrum (1,537) Moscow, Idaho |
| 02/20/2016 2:00 pm | Northern Colorado | W 74–73 | 13–12 (8–6) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,424) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 02/25/2016 7:00 pm, MidcoSN2/FCS Central | Portland State | W 80–77 | 14–12 (9–6) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,734) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 02/27/2016 2:00 pm, MidcoSN/FCS Central | Sacramento State | W 97–71 | 15–12 (10–6) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,893) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| 03/03/2016 8:00 pm | at Montana | L 46–71 | 15–13 (10–7) | Dahlberg Arena (4,003) Missoula, Montana |
| 03/05/2016 3:05 pm | at Montana State | L 82–89 | 15–14 (10–8) | Worthington Arena (2,585) Bozeman, Montana |
| Big Sky tournament |||||
| 03/08/2016* 4:30 pm | vs. Southern Utah First round | W 85–80 | 16–14 | Reno Events Center (1,406) Reno, Nevada |
| 03/10/2016* 4:30 pm | vs. Idaho State Quarterfinals | W 83–49 | 17–14 | Reno Events Center (1,003) Reno, Nevada |
| 03/11/2016* 7:30 pm | vs. Weber State Semifinals | L 78–83 $^{OT}$ | 17–15 | Reno Events Center (2,362) Reno, Nevada |
| CIT |||||
| 03/16/2016* 7:00 pm | UC Irvine First round | L 86–89 $^{OT}$ | 17–16 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,263) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||