# 2016–17 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Southern Utah Thunderbirds basketball team represented Southern Utah University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thunderbirds were led by first-year head coach Todd Simon and played their home games at the Centrum Arena in Cedar City, Utah as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 6–27, 3–15 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for 11th. As the No. 11 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Montana State in the first round before losing to Weber State in the quarterfinals.

## Previous season

The Thunderbirds finished the season 5–24, 3–15 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for 11th place. They lost in the first round of the Big Sky tournament to North Dakota. On March 9, 2016, head coach Nick Robinson was fired. On March 22, the school hired Todd Simon as head coach.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Travon Langston | 3 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | Las Vegas, NV | Graduated |
| Trey Kennedy | 4 | G | 6'3" | 195 | Junior | Las Vegas, NV | Transferred to Midwestern State |
| Daniel Melifonwu | 12 | F | 6'9" | 220 | Freshman | San Diego, CA | Transferred to Connors State College |
| Christian Thompson | 25 | G/F | 6'7" | 180 | Senior | Phoenix, AZ | Graduated |
| Casey Oliverson | 32 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Senior | Logan, UT | Graduated |
| A. J. Hess | 35 | G/F | 6'6" | 210 | Senior | Carefree, AZ | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jadon Cohee | 12 | G | 6'4" | 182 | Junior | Langley, BC | Transferred from Seattle. Under NCAA transfer rules, Cohee will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Christian Musoko | 34 | F | 6'8" | 235 | Junior | Kinshasa, Congo | Junior college transferred from Salt Lake CC |
| Elliott Smith | | F | 6'6" | 185 | Junior | Oakley, CA | Junior college transferred from Harcum College |
| Hamdi Karoui | | F | 6'7" | 220 | Junior | Paris, France | Junior college transferred from College of Eastern Utah |

## 2016 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Kaijae Yee-Stephens SG | Santa Cruz, CA | Santa Cruz High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Oct 13, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Taylor Miller SG | Las Vegas, NV | Palo Verde High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Maizen Fausett SG | Saratoga Springs, UT | Westlake High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Jacob Calloway SG | Juneau, AK | Thunder Mountain High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Decardo Day PG | Jackson, MS | Callaway High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | May 10, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Ivan Madunic PF | Split, Croatia | | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Apr 21, 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 27, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/29/2016* 6:30 pm | | Master's | W 110–86 | | Centrum Arena (400) Cedar City, UT |
| 11/04/2016* 6:30 pm | | La Verne | W 103–89 | | Centrum Arena (600) Cedar City, UT |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 6:00 pm | | at Valparaiso Men Who Speak Up Main Event | L 65–79 | 0–1 | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,560) Valparaiso, IN |
| 11/14/2016* 6:00 pm | | at Saint Louis Men Who Speak Up Main Event | L 76–88 | 0–2 | Chaifetz Arena (4,725) St. Louis, MO |
| 11/18/2016* 6:30 pm | | Bethesda | W 108–92 | 1–2 | Centrum Arena (600) Cedar City, UT |
| 11/21/2016* 4:00 pm | | vs. Coastal Carolina Men Who Speak Up Main Event Middleweight | L 68–83 | 1–3 | MGM Grand Garden Arena Paradise, NV |
| 11/23/2016* 1:30 pm | | vs. Ball State Men Who Speak Up Main Event Middleweight | L 83–94 | 1–4 | MGM Grand Garden Arena Paradise, NV |
| 11/26/2016* 4:30 pm | | Life Pacific | W 101–56 | 2–4 | Centrum Arena (350) Cedar City, UT |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm | | UNLV | L 81–89 | 2–5 | Centrum Arena (4,249) Cedar City, UT |
| 12/03/2016* 1:00 pm | | at Oakland | L 68–78 | 2–6 | Athletics Center O'rena (2,984) Rochester Hills, MI |
| 12/08/2016* 8:00 pm | | at Loyola Marymount | L 68–75 | 2–7 | Gersten Pavilion (1,561) Los Angeles, CA |
| 12/10/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Cal State Fullerton | L 62–75 | 2–8 | Titan Gym (520) Fullerton, CA |
| 12/17/2016* 4:00 pm | | IUPUI | L 81–101 | 2–9 | Centrum Arena (1,012) Cedar City, UT |
| 12/19/2016* 8:00 pm | | at Seattle | L 75–89 | 2–10 | KeyArena (1,235) Seattle, WA |
| 12/21/2016* 8:00 pm | | at San Jose State | L 82–92 | 2–11 | Event Center (1,289) San Jose, CA |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2016 12:00 pm | | at Northern Arizona | W 93–80 | 3–11 (1–0) | Walkup Skydome (581) Flagstaff, AZ |
| 01/05/2017 7:00 pm | | at Northern Colorado | T 76–76 | 4–11 (2–0) | Bank of Colorado Arena (833) Greeley, CO |
| 01/07/2017 2:00 pm | | at North Dakota | L 65–95 | 4–12 (2–1) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,749) Grand Forks, ND |
| 01/12/2017 6:30 pm | | Sacramento State | L 83–88 | 4–13 (2–2) | Centrum Arena (1,668) Cedar City, UT |
| 01/14/2017 6:30 pm | | Portland State | L 77–88 | 4–14 (2–3) | Centrum Arena (2,658) Cedar City, UT |
| 01/19/2017 7:00 pm | | at Idaho | L 67–79 | 4–15 (2–4) | Cowan Spectrum (889) Moscow, ID |
| 01/21/2017 2:00 pm | | at Eastern Washington | L 68–83 | 4–16 (2–5) | Reese Court (1,621) Cheney, WA |
| 01/26/2017 6:30 pm | | North Dakota | L 89–91 | 4–17 (2–6) | Centrum Arena (2,069) Cedar City, UT |
| 01/28/2017 4:00 pm | | Northern Colorado | L 71–89 | 4–18 (2–7) | Centrum Arena (1,802) Cedar City, UT |
| 02/02/2017 7:00 pm | | at Weber State | W 74–70 | 4–19 (2–8) | Dee Events Center (6,436) Ogden, UT |
| 02/04/2017 7:05 pm | | at Idaho State | L 68–94 | 4–20 (2–9) | Holt Arena (1,721) Pocatello, ID |
| 02/09/2017 6:30 pm | | Montana | L 55–70 | 4–21 (2–10) | Centrum Arena (1,923) Cedar City, UT |
| 02/11/2017 2:00 pm | | Montana State | L 78–83 | 4–22 (2–11) | Centrum Arena (1,761) Cedar City, UT |
| 02/18/2017 2:00 pm | | Northern Arizona | W 84–68 | 5–22 (3–11) | Centrum Arena (1,738) Cedar City, UT |
| 02/23/2017 8:00 pm | | at Portland State | L 86–93 | 5–23 (3–12) | Peter Stott Center (592) Portland, OR |
| 02/25/2017 8:00 pm | | at Sacramento State | L 76–86 | 5–24 (3–13) | Hornets Nest (902) Sacramento, CA |
| 03/02/2017 6:30 pm | | Eastern Washington | L 75–91 | 5–25 (3–14) | Centrum Arena (2,159) Cedar City, UT |
| 03/04/2017 4:00 pm | | Idaho | L 75–84 | 5–26 (3–15) | Centrum Arena (2,010) Cedar City, UT |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| 03/07/2017 8:05 pm | (11) | vs. (6) Montana State First Round | W 109–105 $^{3OT}$ | 6–26 | Reno Events Center (1,507) Reno, NV |
| 03/09/2017 8:05 pm | (11) | vs. (3) Weber State Quarterfinals | L 70–90 | 6–27 | Reno Events Center (1,903) Reno, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||