# 2017–18 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season

The 2017–18 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season was the 42nd season of Atlantic 10 Conference basketball. The season began with practices in October 2017, followed by the start of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. League play began in late December and ended on March 3, 2018.
With a win over La Salle on February 20, 2018, Rhode Island clinched at least a share of the A-10 regular season championship, their first title since 1981. Three days later, the Rams clinched an outright A-10 title for the first time in school history.
The 2018 A-10 tournament was held at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. from March 7 through 11, 2018. Davidson defeated Rhode Island in the championship game to win the tournament and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Davidson, Rhode Island, and St. Bonaventure were invited to the NCAA tournament. The schools went a combined 2–3 in tournament play.

## Head coaches
### Coaching changes

George Washington head coach Mike Lonergan was fired on September 17, 2016, after the school concluded a two-month investigation into alleged emotional abuse against his players. Maurice Joseph was named interim head coach on September 27. On March 27, 2017, the school removed the interim tag and named Maurice Joseph full-time head coach.
On March 9, 2017, UMass fired head coach Derek Kellogg after nine years and a 155–137 record. On March 31, the school announced they had hired Chattanooga head coach Matt McCall.
Will Wade left VCU to take the head coaching position at LSU following the firing of Johnny Jones. On March 21, 2017 the school hired Rice head coach Mike Rhoades, who had served as associate head coach under Shaka Smart from 2009–2014.
Duquesne fired head coach Jim Ferry on March 13, 2017 after five seasons. The school then hired Akron head coach Keith Dambrot on March 28. Dambrot had a 305-139 record in his 13 years as the Akron head coach.
On March 25, 2017, Dayton head coach Archie Miller left the school to accept the head coaching position at Indiana. The school hired Dayton alum Anthony Grant as the new head coach on March 30.

### Coaches

| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Seasons at school | Overall record | A-10 record | A-10 Championships | NCAA tournaments | NCAA Final Fours | NCAA Championships |
| Davidson | Bob McKillop | Long Island Lutheran High School | 29 | 554–330 (.627) | 45–27 (.625) | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Dayton | Anthony Grant | Oklahoma City Thunder (asst.) | 1 | 14–17 (.452) | 8–10 (.444) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Duquesne | Keith Dambrot | Akron | 1 | 16–16 (.500) | 7–11 (.389) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Fordham | Jeff Neubauer | Eastern Kentucky | 3 | 39–55 (.415) | 19–33 (.365) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Mason | Dave Paulsen | Bucknell | 3 | 47–52 (.475) | 23–30 (.434) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Washington | Maurice Joseph | George Washington (asst.) | 2 | 35–33 (.515) | 17–19 (.472) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| La Salle | John Giannini | Maine | 14 | 212–226 (.484) | 99–131 (.430) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| UMass | Matt McCall | Chattanooga | 1 | 13–20 (.394) | 5–13 (.278) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | Dan Hurley | Wagner | 6 | 113–82 (.579) | 58–46 (.558) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Richmond | Chris Mooney | Air Force | 13 | 237–195 (.549) | 118–97 (.549) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Saint Joseph's | Phil Martelli | Saint Joseph's (asst.) | 23 | 430–309 (.582) | 212–164 (.564) | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Saint Louis | Travis Ford | Oklahoma State | 2 | 29–37 (.439) | 15–21 (.417) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| St. Bonaventure | Mark Schmidt | Robert Morris | 11 | 192–152 (.558) | 95–89 (.516) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| VCU | Mike Rhoades | Rice | 1 | 18–15 (.545) | 9–9 (.500) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Notes:
* All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
* Overall and A-10 records are from time at current school and include the 2017–18 season.

## Preseason
### Preseason poll

Prior to the season at the conference's annual media day, awards and a poll were chosen by a panel of the league's head coaches and select media members.
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Rhode Island (27) |
| 2 | St. Bonaventure (1) |
| 3 | Saint Joseph's |
| 4 | VCU |
| 5 | Dayton |
| 6 | Davidson |
| 7 | Saint Louis |
| 8 | Richmond |
| 9 | La Salle |
| 10 | George Mason |
| 11 | George Washington |
| 12 | Massachusetts |
| 13 | Fordham |
| 14 | Duquesne |
| (first place votes) ||

### Preseason All-Conference Teams

| Award | Recipients |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team | Peyton Aldridge, Davidson |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team | E. C. Matthews, Rhode Island |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team | Jaylen Adams, St. Bonaventure |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team | Matt Mobley, St. Bonaventure |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team | Justin Tillman, VCU |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team | Yuta Watanabe, George Washington |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team | B. J. Johnson, La Salle |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team | Jared Terrell, Rhode Island |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team | De'Monte Buckingham, Richmond |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team | Shavar Newkirk, Saint Joseph's |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team | Mike Lewis II, Duquesne |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team | Joseph Chartouny, Fordham |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team | Otis Livingston, George Mason |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team | Charlie Brown, Jr., Saint Joseph's |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team | Lamarr Kimble, Saint Joseph's |

## Regular season
### Early season tournaments

| Team | Tournament | Finish |
| Davidson | Diamond Head Classic | 7th |
| Dayton | Charleston Classic | 6th |
| George Mason | Cancun Challenge | 4th |
| George Washington | Las Vegas Invitational | 4th |
| La Salle | Hall of Fame Tip Off | 4th |
| UMass | Barclays Center Classic | 0–2 |
| Rhode Island | NIT Season Tip-Off | 2nd |
| Richmond | Cayman Islands Classic | 4th |
| Saint Joseph's | Wooden Legacy | 7th |
| Saint Louis | 2K Sports Classic | 2nd |
| St. Bonaventure | Emerald Coast Classic | 2nd |
| VCU | Maui Invitational | 6th |

### Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team played 18 conference games: one game vs. eight opponents and two games against five opponents.
| | Davidson | Dayton | Duquesne | Fordham | GM | GW | La Salle | UMass | Rhode Island | Richmond | St. Joseph's | St. Louis | St. Bonaventure | VCU |
| vs. Davidson | – | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Dayton | 0–1 | – | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| vs. Duquesne | 1–0 | 1–1 | – | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. Fordham | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | – | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. George Mason | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | – | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. George Washington | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | – | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. La Salle | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. UMass | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | – | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. Rhode Island | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | – | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Richmond | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | – | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Saint Joseph's | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | – | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Saint Louis | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | – | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. St. Bonaventure | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | – | 0–1 |
| vs. VCU | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | – |
| Total | 13–5 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 9–9 | 6–10 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 15–3 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 9–9 |

## Conference Awards

On March 6, 2018, the Atlantic 10 announced its conference awards.
| Award | Recipients |
| Coach of the Year | Dan Hurley, Rhode Island |
| Player of the Year | Peyton Aldridge, Davidson Jaylen Adams, St. Bonaventure |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Yuta Watanabe, George Washington |
| Rookie of the Year | Kellan Grady, Davidson |
| Chris Daniels Most Improved Player of the Year | Luwane Pipkins, Massachusetts LaDarien Griffin, St. Bonaventure |
| Sixth Man of the Year | Tarin Smith, Duquesne |
| First Team | Peyton Aldridge, Davidson Jared Terrell, Rhode Island Jaylen Adams, St. Bonaventure Matt Mobley, St. Bonaventure Justin Tillman, VCU |
| Second Team | Kellan Grady, Davidson Otis Livingston II, George Mason B. J. Johnson, La Salle Luwane Pipkins, Massachusetts Shavar Newkirk, Saint Joseph's |
| Third Team | Josh Cunningham, Dayton Yuta Watanabe, George Washington E. C. Matthews, Rhode Island Grant Golden, Richmond James Demery, Saint Joseph's |
| All-Academic Team | Joseph Chartouny, Fordham Prokop Slanina, Fordham Patrick Steeves, George Washington B. J. Johnson, La Salle Jeff Dowtin, Rhode Island |
| All-Defensive Team | Joseph Chartouny, Fordham Yuta Watanabe, George Washington Stanford Robinson, Rhode Island Javon Bess, Saint Louis Justin Tillman, VCU |
| All-Rookie Team | Kellan Grady, Davidson Jalen Crutcher, Dayton Eric Williams, Jr., Duquesne Grant Golden, Richmond Hasahn French, Saint Louis |

## Postseason
### 2018 A-10 tournament

| First round Wednesday, March 7 Stadium | First round Wednesday, March 7 Stadium | First round Wednesday, March 7 Stadium | Second round Thursday, March 8 NBCSN | Second round Thursday, March 8 NBCSN | Second round Thursday, March 8 NBCSN | Quarterfinals Friday, March 9 NBCSN | Quarterfinals Friday, March 9 NBCSN | Quarterfinals Friday, March 9 NBCSN | | | Semifinals Saturday, March 10 CBSSN | Semifinals Saturday, March 10 CBSSN | Semifinals Saturday, March 10 CBSSN | Championship Sunday, March 11 CBS | Championship Sunday, March 11 CBS | Championship Sunday, March 11 CBS |
| | | | | | | 1 | Rhode Island | 76 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | VCU | 77 | 8 | VCU | 67 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Dayton | 72 | | | | | | 1 | Rhode Island | 90 | |
| | | | | | | | | | 4 | Saint Joseph's | 87 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Saint Joseph's | 68 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | George Mason | 80 | 5 | George Mason | 49 | | | | | | | |
| 12 | La Salle | 67 | 13 | Massachusetts | 75 | | | | | | | | 1 | Rhode Island | 57 |
| 13 | Massachusetts | 69 | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | 3 | Davidson | 58 |
| | | | | | | 2 | St. Bonaventure | 83 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Richmond | 81 | 7 | Richmond | 77 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 10 | Duquesne | 68 | | | | | | 2 | St. Bonaventure | 70 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Davidson | 82 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Davidson | 78 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Saint Louis | 70 | 6 | Saint Louis | 60 | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | George Washington | 78 | 11 | George Washington | 63 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Fordham | 72 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
* denotes overtime period

### NCAA tournament

The winner of the Atlantic 10 tournament, Davidson, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Two other conference school received at-large bids to the Tournament: Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure.
| Seed | Region | School | First Four | First round | Second round | Sweet Sixteen | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
| 7 | Midwest | Rhode Island | N/A | defeated (10) Oklahoma 83–78$^{OT}$ | eliminated by (2) Duke 62–87 | | | | |
| 11 | South | St. Bonaventure | defeated (11) UCLA 65–58 | eliminated by (6) Florida 62–77 | | | | | |
| 12 | South | Davidson | N/A | eliminated by (5) Kentucky 73–78 | | | | | |
| | | W–L (%): | 1–0 (1.000) | 1–2 (.333) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) Total: 2–3 (.400) |