# 2016–17 Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball team represented the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Vaqueros, led by first-year head coach Lew Hill, played their home games at the UTRGV Fieldhouse as members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the regular season 10–22, 2–12 in WAC play to finish in seventh place. Due to Grand Canyon's ineligibility for postseason play, they received the No. 6 seed in the WAC tournament where they lost in the quarterfinals to UMKC.

## Previous season

The Vaqueros finished the 2015–16 season 8–22, 4–10 in WAC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament to Seattle.
On March 15, 2016, the school removed Dan Hipsher as head coach. On March 31, the school hired Lew Hill as head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Everett Osborne | 0 | G | 6'4" | 190 | RS Senior | Los Angeles, CA | Graduated |
| Mike Lopez | 2 | G | 6'1" | 185 | Sophomore | Abilene, TX | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| J. J. Thompson | 3 | G | 6'0" | 190 | RS Senior | Irving, TX | Graduated |
| Shaquille Hines | 24 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Joaquin Pistokache | 30 | G | 6'2" | 175 | RS Junior | Mission, TX | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Ot Elmore | 33 | G | 6'2" | 175 | RS Sophomore | Charleston, WV | Transferred to Marshall |
| Dakota Slaughter | 35 | F | 6'7" | 222 | RS Senior | Fishers, IN | Graduated |
| Christopher Ikuenobe | 44 | F | 6'9" | 240 | RS Junior | Warri, Nigeria | Graduate transferred to Rogers State |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Michael Nwabuzor | 0 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Junior | Lakewood, CA | Junior college transferred from Central Arizona College. |
| Gage Loy | 35 | F | 6'9" | 210 | Junior | Wichita, KS | Junior college transferred from Garden City CC |

## 2016 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| D. J. Johnson SF | McAllen, TX | McAllen Memorial High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Anthony Thomas Jr. SF | Dallas, TX | Justin F. Kimball High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Bryce Cheney SF | Phoenix, AZ | Moon Valley High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| 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 16, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/04/2016* 7:00 pm | | UT Tyler | W 101–75 | | UTRGV Fieldhouse Edinburg, TX |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/13/2016* 7:00 pm | | at UT Martin | L 80–88 | 0–1 | Skyhawk Arena (1,094) Martin, TN |
| 11/14/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Memphis Emerald Coast Classic | L 75–94 | 0–2 | FedEx Forum (9,217) Memphis, TN |
| 11/16/2016* 7:00 pm | | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi South Texas Showdown | L 72–94 | 0–3 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (2,002) Edinburg, TX |
| 11/20/2016* 4:00 pm, BTN+ | | at Iowa Emerald Coast Classic | L 67–95 | 0–4 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,596) Iowa City, IA |
| 11/22/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Southeast Missouri State | L 72–83 | 0–5 | Show Me Center (1,139) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| 11/25/2016* 12:30 pm | | vs. Grambling State Emerald Coast Classic Pool B semifinals | W 101–93 | 1–5 | The Arena at NWFSC (380) Niceville, FL |
| 11/25/2016* 11:30 am | | vs. St. Francis Brooklyn Emerald Coast Classic Pool B championship | W 71–61 | 2–5 | The Arena at NWFSC (200) Niceville, FL |
| 11/29/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi South Texas Showdown | L 68–84 | 2–6 | American Bank Center (2,003) Corpus Christi, TX |
| 12/03/2016* 6:05 pm | | at Portland State | L 74–87 | 2–7 | Peter Stott Center (408) Portland, OR |
| 12/05/2016* 9:00 pm | | at Portland | L 89–90 $^{2OT}$ | 2–8 | Chiles Center (1,562) Portland, OR |
| 12/07/2016* 7:00 pm, SPCSN | | Texas State | W 72–61 | 3–8 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,126) Edinburg, TX |
| 12/12/2016* 7:00 pm, SPCSN | | North Florida | W 98–84 | 4–8 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (724) Edinburg, TX |
| 12/16/2016* 7:00 pm, SPCSN | | Lamar | W 95–81 | 5–8 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (835) Edinburg, TX |
| 12/17/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Houston | L 58–83 | 5–9 | Hofheinz Pavilion (2,856) Houston, TX |
| 12/21/2016* 7:00 pm, SPCSN | | Wayland Baptist | W 86–55 | 6–9 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (807) Edinburg, TX |
| 12/29/2016* 7:00 pm, SPCSN | | Our Lady of the Lake | W 97–81 | 7–9 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,028) Edinburg, TX |
| 12/31/2016* 2:00 pm, SPCSN | | Texas A&M–Kingsville | W 96–78 | 8–9 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (844) Edinburg, TX |
| WAC regular season ||||||
| 01/05/2017 7:00 pm | | at Chicago State | W 83–64 | 9–9 (1–0) | Jones Convocation Center (833) Chicago, IL |
| 01/07/2017 7:00 pm | | at UMKC | L 79–83 | 9–10 (1–1) | Municipal Auditorium (1,539) Kansas City, MO |
| 01/12/2017 7:00 pm, SPCSN | | Cal State Bakersfield | L 81–88 | 9–11 (1–2) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,330) Edinburg, TX |
| 01/14/2017 7:00 pm, ASN | | Grand Canyon | L 66–79 | 9–12 (1–3) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,614) Edinburg, TX |
| 01/21/2017 7:00 pm, SPCSN | | Chicago State | W 85–77 $^{OT}$ | 10–12 (2–3) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,308) Edinburg, TX |
| 01/26/2017 8:00 pm | | at Utah Valley | L 81–92 | 10–13 (2–4) | UCCU Center (1,347) Orem, UT |
| 01/28/2017 9:00 pm | | at Seattle | L 84–96 | 10–14 (2–5) | KeyArena (1,561) Seattle, WA |
| 02/04/2017 7:00 pm, SPCSN | | UMKC | L 60–73 | 10–15 (2–6) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,610) Edinburg, TX |
| 02/09/2017 8:00 pm | | at Grand Canyon | L 57–76 | 10–16 (2–7) | GCU Arena (5,897) Phoenix, AZ |
| 02/11/2017 9:00 pm | | at Cal State Bakersfield | L 53–75 | 10–17 (2–8) | Icardo Center (2,312) Bakersfield, CA |
| 02/18/2017 7:00 pm, SPCSN Alt. | | New Mexico State | L 101–107 | 10–18 (2–9) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (2,234) Edinburg, TX |
| 02/23/2017 7:00 pm, SPCSN Alt. | | Seattle | L 77–86 | 10–19 (2–10) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,325) Edinburg, TX |
| 02/25/2017 7:00 pm, SPCSN Alt. | | Utah Valley | L 68–88 | 10–20 (2–11) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,465) Edinburg, TX |
| 03/04/2017 8:00 pm, AggieVision | | at New Mexico State | L 81–107 | 10–21 (2–12) | Pan American Center (5,233) Las Cruces, NM |
| WAC tournament ||||||
| 03/09/2017 9:00 pm | (6) | vs. (3) UMKC Quarterfinals | L 78–82 $^{OT}$ | 10–22 | Orleans Arena (1,854) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Source. ||||||