# 2017–18 VMI Keydets basketball team

The 2017–18 VMI Keydets basketball team represented the Virginia Military Institute in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Keydets were led by third-year head coach Dan Earl and played their home games out of Cameron Hall in Lexington, Virginia, their home since 1981, as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 9–21, 4–14 in SoCon play to finish in ninth place. They lost in the first round of the SoCon tournament to The Citadel.

## Previous season

The Keydets finished the 2016–17 season with an overall record of 6–24, and a 3–15 mark in SoCon play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the SoCon tournament to Samford. They lost their three leading scorers and rebounders in QJ Peterson, Julian Eleby, and Trey Chapman.

## Preseason
### Departures

VMI experienced noticeable roster turnover from the previous year, losing their three starting seniors as well as several other players to transfer. This included the Keydets' leading scorer and rebounder, QJ Peterson, who averaged nearly 20 points per game. Overall, VMI lost 71% of their point production, over half of their rebounding, and 63% of their assists to either graduation or transfer.
| Name | Position | Class | Reason |
| Chuchu Enechionyia | G/F | Fr. | Transferred to Lincoln Trail College (NJCAA) |
| Kuony Deng | F | Fr. | Transferred to Independence Community College |
| Marcus Larsson | G | Fr. | Transferred to West Virginia Wesleyan |
| Adrian Rich | G | So. | Left school |
| Will Weethee | G | So. | Left team |
| D'Andre Mahaffey | F | So. | Transferred to Talladega College (NAIA) |
| Trey Chapman | F | Sr. | Graduated |
| QJ Peterson | G | Sr. | Graduated |
| Julian Eleby | G | Sr. | Graduated |

### Coaching changes

The offseason saw the departure of two VMI assistant coaches. On April 7, 2017, Rice head coach Scott Pera announced the hiring of Chris Kreider as an assistant coach. Kreider had been with the Keydets for the previous two seasons under head coach Dan Earl. Five days later, on April 12, 2017, it was announced that Jason Slay, who had also been in his second year with the program, was given an assistant coaching position at Youngstown State.
In May, Earl announced the hiring of VMI basketball standout Austin Kenon as an assistant. Kenon played for VMI and ranks first in program history with 349 made three-pointers. Also that month, Earl added Kevin Carroll to the coaching staff, who had previously been the head coach at Division II Maryville University for seven seasons.

## Roster

Ref:

### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| C | Tyler Creammer | Fred Iruafemi | |
| G/F | Austin Vereen | Will Miller | Tragen Fahl |
| SF | Garrett Gilkeson | Sarju Patel | Myles Lewis |
| SG | Bubba Parham | Jordan Ratliffe | Ta'Vonne Bond |
| PG | Keith Smith | Greg Parham | |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at N.C. State | L 67–102 | 0–1 | PNC Arena (14,805) Raleigh, NC |
| November 14* 7:00 pm | | at Duquesne | L 61–77 | 0–2 | A.J. Palumbo Center (1,307) Pittsburgh, PA |
| November 18* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Presbyterian | W 78–58 | 1–2 | Cameron Hall (765) Lexington, VA |
| November 21* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Ohio Valley | W 81–66 | 2–2 | Cameron Hall (765) Lexington, VA |
| November 25* 4:00 pm | | American | L 64–69 | 2–3 | Bender Arena (422) Washington, DC |
| November 28* 7:30 pm | | at Charleston Southern | W 76–68 | 3–3 | CSU Field House (881) North Charleston, SC |
| December 2* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Radford | L 50–63 | 3–4 | Cameron Hall (2,681) Lexington, VA |
| December 5* 7:00 pm | | at Davidson | L 51–74 | 3–5 | John M. Belk Arena Davidson, NC |
| December 9* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Longwood | W 81–70 | 4–5 | Cameron Hall (2,642) Lexington, VA |
| December 14* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Southern Wesleyan | W 90–52 | 5–5 | Cameron Hall (661) Lexington, VA |
| December 22* 7:00 pm, CBS6 | | at VCU | L 65–75 | 5–6 | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| Southern Conference regular season ||||||
| December 30 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Furman | L 57–87 | 5–7 (0–1) | Cameron Hall (637) Lexington, VA |
| January 4, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wofford | L 53–92 | 5–8 (0–2) | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (1,879) Spartanburg, SC |
| January 6 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UNC Greensboro | L 61–63 | 5–9 (0–3) | Cameron Hall (571) Lexington, VA |
| January 13 4:00 pm | | at East Tennessee State | L 48–89 | 5–10 (0–4) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,218) Johnson City, TN |
| January 15 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Carolina | L 58–65 | 5–11 (0–5) | Ramsey Center (1,420) Cullowhee, NC |
| January 18 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Mercer | L 56–62 | 5–12 (0–6) | Cameron Hall (961) Lexington, VA |
| January 20 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | The Citadel | W 88–81 | 6–12 (1–6) | Cameron Hall (3,500) Lexington, VA |
| January 24 7:00 pm | | Wofford | L 46–63 | 6–13 (1–7) | Cameron Hall (882) Lexington, VA |
| January 27 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Chattanooga | W 70–69 | 7–13 (2–7) | McKenzie Arena (4,778) Chattanooga, TN |
| January 29 8:00 pm | | at Samford | L 79–93 | 7–14 (2–8) | Pete Hanna Center (1,006) Homewood, AL |
| February 1 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UNC Greensboro | L 51–73 | 7–15 (2–9) | Greensboro Coliseum (2,572) Greensboro, NC |
| February 8 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Western Carolina | L 60–72 | 7–16 (2–10) | Cameron Hall (1,043) Lexington, VA |
| February 10 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | East Tennessee State | L 56–70 | 7–17 (2–11) | Cameron Hall (3,253) Lexington, VA |
| February 15 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Mercer | L 58–82 | 7–18 (2–12) | Hawkins Arena (2,702) Macon, GA |
| February 17 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at The Citadel | W 75–71 | 8–18 (3–12) | McAlister Field House (3,213) Charleston, SC |
| February 20 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Furman | L 54–76 | 8–19 (3–13) | Timmons Arena (1,403) Greenville, SC |
| February 23 7:00 pm | | Samford | L 82–89 | 8–20 (3–14) | Cameron Hall (2,899) Lexington, VA |
| February 25 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Chattanooga | W 68–65 | 9–20 (4–14) | Cameron Hall (1,147) Lexington, VA |
| Southern Conference tournament ||||||
| March 2 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | (9) | vs. (8) The Citadel First round | L 70–78 | 9–21 | U.S. Cellular Center (2,138) Asheville, NC |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source. ||||||