# 2017–18 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball team represented Chicago State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars, led by eighth-year head coach Tracy Dildy, played their home games at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center as members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 3–29, 1–13 in WAC play to finish in last place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament to New Mexico State.
The Cougars had the worst average point margin in Division I at –22.7 points, despite winning two games by over 40 points.
After the season, Chicago State fired Dildy during the week of March 5, 2018, although it was not officially announced until a week later. After a nearly a five-month search, Lance Irvin, a Chicago native and former assistant coach at DePaul and several other schools, was named the new head coach of the Cougars on August 7.

## Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2016–17 season 6–26, 1–13 in WAC play to finish in last place. Due to Grand Canyon's ineligibility for postseason play, they received the No. 7 seed in the WAC tournament where they lost in the quarterfinals to New Mexico State.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Clemmye Owens V | 2 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Senior | Toledo, OH | Graduated |
| Anthony Eaves | 5 | G | 6'2" | 160 | Sophomore | Louisville, KY | Graduate transferred to Cumberlands |
| Trayvon Palmer | 15 | G/F | 6'5" | 200 | Senior | Milwaukee, WI | Graduated |
| Joshua Batson | 21 | G | 6'0" | 175 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Gentry Hunt | 30 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Junior | Glenwood, IL | Graduate transferred to Grand Valley State |
| Jordan Madrid-Andrews | 33 | F | 6'8" | 240 | Senior | Denver, CO | Graduated |
| Brian Greene Jr. | 35 | G | 6'3" | 210 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Charles Dent | 42 | F | 6'6" | 239 | Junior | Chicago, IL | Walk-on; transferred |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Leonard Caples C | Chicago, IL | North Lawndale College Prep High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A | Oct 7, 2016 |
| 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 8:00 pm, BTN+ | | at Iowa | L 62–95 | 0–1 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (12,100) Iowa City, IA |
| Nov 12, 2017* 4:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 20 Purdue Battle 4 Atlantis campus game | L 42–111 | 0–2 | Mackey Arena (13,509) West Lafayette, IN |
| Nov 14, 2017* 7:05 pm | | Silver Lake | W 101–53 | 1–2 | Jones Convocation Center (650) Chicago, IL |
| Nov 16, 2017* 6:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at No. 13 Notre Dame | L 66–105 | 1–3 | Joyce Center (8,046) Notre Dame, IN |
| Nov 18, 2017* 11:00 am, ESPN3 | | at Northern Iowa Battle 4 Atlantis campus game | L 44–82 | 1–4 | McLeod Center (3,051) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Nov 23, 2017* 7:05 pm | | East–West | W 113–65 | 2–4 | Jones Convocation Center (355) Chicago, IL |
| Nov 23, 2017* 11:00 am | | at UMBC Battle 4 Atlantis | L 73–84 | 2–5 | Retriever Activities Center (334) Baltimore, MD |
| Nov 24, 2017* 11:00 am | | vs. Presbyterian Battle 4 Atlantis | L 73–75 | 2–6 | Retriever Activities Center (113) Baltimore, MD |
| Nov 26, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Drake | L 67–79 | 2–7 | Knapp Center (2,386) Des Moines, IA |
| Nov 29, 2017* 8:00 pm, FS2 | | at Marquette | L 69–95 | 2–8 | BMO Harris Bradley Center (11,685) Milwaukee, WI |
| Dec 2, 2017* 2:05 pm | | Northern Illinois | L 77–95 | 2–9 | Jones Convocation Center (463) Chicago, IL |
| Dec 9, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Oakland | L 50–82 | 2–10 | Athletics Center O'rena (3,286) Rochester, MI |
| Dec 11, 2017* 6:00 pm, FS1 | | at Northwestern | L 31–96 | 2–11 | Allstate Arena (5,007) Evanston, IL |
| Dec 16, 2017* 2:05 pm | | Bradley | L 58–84 | 2–12 | Jones Convocation Center (750) Chicago, IL |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at SIU Edwardsville | L 76–88 | 2–13 | Vadalabene Center (1,005) Edwardsville, IL |
| Dec 27, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Wisconsin | L 70–82 | 2–14 | Kohl Center (17,022) Madison, WI |
| Dec 30, 2017* 3:30 pm | | at Western Michigan | L 71–92 | 2–15 | University Arena (2,364) Kalamazoo, MI |
| WAC regular season ||||||
| Jan 6, 2018 2:05 pm | | New Mexico State | L 60–97 | 2–16 (0–1) | Jones Convocation Center (563) Chicago, IL |
| Jan 11, 2018 9:00 pm | | at Seattle | L 64–67 | 2–17 (0–2) | Connolly Center (911) Seattle, WA |
| Jan 13, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Utah Valley | L 58–83 | 2–18 (0–3) | UCCU Center (3,741) Orem, UT |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:05 pm | | Grand Canyon | L 58–86 | 2–19 (0–4) | Jones Convocation Center (463) Chicago, IL |
| Jan 20, 2018 2:05 pm | | Cal State Bakersfield | L 78–89 | 2–20 (0–5) | Jones Convocation Center (363) Chicago, IL |
| Jan 27, 2018 3:05 pm | | Texas–Rio Grande Valley | L 81–87 | 2–21 (0–6) | Jones Convocation Center (463) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 1, 2018 9:00 pm | | at Cal State Bakersfield | L 61–91 | 2–22 (0–7) | Icardo Center (2,343) Bakersfield, CA |
| Feb 3, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Grand Canyon | L 55–89 | 2–23 (0–8) | GCU Arena (7,244) Phoenix, AZ |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:05 pm | | Utah Valley | L 57–97 | 2–24 (0–9) | Jones Convocation Center (163) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 10, 2018 2:05 pm | | Seattle | L 81–91 | 2–25 (0–10) | Jones Convocation Center (163) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm | | at UMKC | L 67–76 | 2–26 (0–11) | Municipal Auditorium (1,325) Kansas City, MO |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm | | at New Mexico State | L 67–78 | 2–27 (0–12) | Pan American Center (4,404) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Texas–Rio Grande Valley | L 75–83 | 2–28 (0–13) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,088) Edinburg, TX |
| Mar 3, 2018 4:35 pm | | UMKC | W 96–82 | 3–28 (1–13) | Jones Convocation Center (553) Chicago, IL |
| WAC tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | (8) | vs. (1) New Mexico State Quarterfinals | L 70–97 | 3–29 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Source. ||||||