# 2016–17 Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball team

The 2016–17 Southern Miss Golden Eagles men's basketball team represented the University of Southern Mississippi during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Eagles, led by third-year head coach Doc Sadler, played their home games at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 9–22, 6–12 in C-USA play to finish in 12th place. They lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to Rice.

## Previous season

The Golden Eagles finished the 2015–16 season 8–21, 5–13 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for 12th place. Due to an ongoing NCAA investigation into NCAA violations and illegal benefits for players under former coach Donnie Tyndall, they self-imposed a postseason ban for the second consecutive year, which included the C-USA tournament.

## Preseason

The Golden Eagles were picked to finish in 13th place in the preseason Conference USA poll.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Kourtlin Jackson | 2 | G | 6'4" | 190 | RS Senior | Des Moines, IA | Graduated |
| Keljin Blevins | 10 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Sophomore | Hot Springs, AR | Transferred to Montana State |
| Michael O'Donnell | 14 | F | 6'6" | 188 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Norville Carey | 21 | F | 6'7" | 228 | Senior | British Virgin Islands | Walk-on; graduate transferred to Rider |
| Jamie Champman | 25 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | Mobile, AL | Walk-on; graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Marcus Cooper | 25 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Junior | Van Nuys, CA | Junior college transferred from Northeastern Junior College. |
| Dominic Magee | 54 | G | 6'4" | 180 | RS Sophomore | Harvey, LA | Transferred from Grand Canyon. Under NCAA transfer rules, Magee will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |
| Tyree Griffin | 55 | G | 5'10" | 165 | Junior | New Orleans, LA | Transferred from Oklahoma State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Griffin will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

## Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Josh Conley SF | Sylmar, CA | Moravian Prep | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jul 16, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: POST ||||||
| 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 4, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/03/2016* 7:00 pm | | Mississippi College | W 96–95 $^{2OT}$ | | Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, MS |
| 11/07/2016* 7:00 pm | | William Carey | W 79–60 | | Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, MS |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm | | Tougaloo | W 101–96 $^{2OT}$ | 1–0 | Reed Green Coliseum (2,569) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 11/15/2016* 7:00 pm | | at LSU | L 61–78 | 1–1 | Maravich Center (6,942) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 11/18/2016* 7:00 pm | | Union (TN) | W 60–44 | 2–1 | Reed Green Coliseum (2,513) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 11/21/2016* 7:00 pm | | Alabama A&M | W 63–55 | 3–1 | Reed Green Coliseum (2,202) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm | | South Alabama | L 55–78 | 3–2 | Reed Green Coliseum (2,333) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 12/04/2016* 3:30 pm | | at Jackson State | L 64–75 | 3–3 | Williams Assembly Center Jackson, MS |
| 12/06/2016* 6:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Florida State | L 49–98 | 3–4 | Donald L. Tucker Center (5,116) Jackson, MS |
| 12/10/2016* 4:30 pm | | Tulane | L 64–71 | 3–5 | Reed Green Coliseum (3,609) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 12/19/2016* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Mississippi State | L 44–86 | 3–6 | Mississippi Coliseum (4,301) Jackson, MS |
| 12/22/2016* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. San Diego State Diamond Head Classic quarterfinals | L 51–66 | 3–7 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,942) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/23/2016* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Stephen F. Austin Diamond Head Classic consolation 2nd round | L 64–67 | 3–8 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,873) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/25/2016* 1:30 pm, ESPNU | | at Hawaii Diamond Head Classic 7th place game | L 46–60 | 3–9 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,769) Honolulu, HI |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| 01/01/2017 2:00 pm | | Louisiana Tech | L 55–79 | 3–10 (0–1) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,761) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 01/05/2017 7:00 pm | | UTSA | W 77–59 | 4–10 (1–1) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,126) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 01/07/2017 4:00 pm | | UTEP | W 73–65 | 5–10 (2–1) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,161) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 01/12/2017 6:00 pm | | at Old Dominion | L 50–54 | 5–11 (2–2) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (6,523) Norfolk, VA |
| 01/14/2017 6:00 pm, CI | | at Charlotte | L 66–82 | 5–12 (2–3) | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,457) Charlotte, NC |
| 01/19/2017 7:00 pm | | North Texas | W 75–65 | 6–12 (3–3) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,285) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 01/21/2017 4:00 pm | | Rice | L 58–61 | 6–13 (3–4) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,366) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 01/26/2017 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Middle Tennessee | L 56–72 | 6–14 (3–5) | Murphy Center (5,498) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/28/2017 7:00 pm | | at UAB | L 43–87 | 6–15 (3–6) | Bartow Arena (4,915) Birmingham, AL |
| 02/02/2017 7:00 pm | | Marshall | W 91–76 | 7–15 (4–6) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,373) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 02/04/2017 4:00 pm | | WKU | L 47–64 | 7–16 (4–7) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,946) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 02/09/2017 7:00 pm | | at UTSA | L 51–57 | 7–17 (4–8) | Convocation Center (1,189) San Antonio, TX |
| 02/11/2017 8:00 pm | | at UTEP | L 50–80 | 7–18 (4–9) | Don Haskins Center (6,930) El Paso, TX |
| 02/16/2017 7:00 pm | | FIU | W 69-66 $^{OT}$ | 8–18 (5–9) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,494) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 02/18/2017 4:00 pm | | Florida Atlantic | W 94–82 | 8–19 (5–10) | Reed Green Coliseum (4,137) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 02/23/2017 7:00 pm | | at Rice | L 71–72 | 8–20 (5–11) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,589) Houston, TX |
| 02/25/2017 2:00 pm | | at North Texas | W 76–53 | 9–20 (6–11) | The Super Pit (3,360) Denton, TX |
| 03/04/2017 1:00 pm | | at Louisiana Tech | L 65–93 | 9–21 (6–12) | Thomas Assembly Center (3,102) Ruston, LA |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| 03/08/2017 2:00 pm, CI | (12) | vs. (5) Rice First round | L 75–86 | 9–22 | Legacy Arena (3,207) Birmingham, AL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Source. ||||||