# 2017–18 Cal State Northridge Matadors men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Cal State Northridge Matadors men's basketball team represented California State University, Northridge (also known as CSUN) during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Matadors, led by fifth-year head coach Reggie Theus, played their home games at the Matadome as members of the Big West Conference. They finished season 6–24, and 3–13 in Big West play and finished in last place. They failed to qualify for the Big West tournament.
On March 6, 2018, the school fired head coach Reggie Theus, along with Athletic Director Brandon Martin following a heated verbal exchange between the two following the dismissal of Theus. On March 13, the school hired former NC State coach Mark Gottfried as head coach.

## Previous season

The Matadors finished the 2016–17 season 11–19, 7–9 in Big West play to finish in sixth place. In the Big West tournament, they lost to Cal State Fullerton in the quarterfinals.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Kendall Smith | 0 | G | 6'3" | 190 | RS Junior | Los Angeles, CA | Transferred to Oklahoma State |
| Darin Johnson | 3 | G | 6'5" | 191 | RS Junior | Miami, FL | Pulled out of 2017 NBA draft; failed to meet NCAA deadline. Signed with an agent. |
| Jason Richardson | 10 | G | 6'2" | 210 | Sophomore | Hawthorne, CA | Walk-on; transferred |
| Siyao Sun | 12 | F | 6'10" | 245 | Freshman | Beijing, China | Walk-On. Did not make roster. |
| Julian Richardson | 13 | G | 6'3" | 201 | Junior | Woodland Hills, CA | Walk-On. Did not make roster. |
| Mehran Nazarian | 14 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Sophomore | Hawthorne, CA | Walk-On. Did not make roster. |
| Antonio Bruno | 15 | G | 5'9" | 155 | Freshman | Youngstown, OH | Walk-On. Did not make roster. |
| Aaron Parks | 22 | G | 6'3" | 210 | Senior | Baltimore, MD | Graduated |
| Jerron Wilbut | 23 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Junior | Chicago, IL | Transferred to Salem International |
| Rakim Lubin | 25 | F | 6'8" | 257 | RS Sophomore | Sacramento, CA | Transferred to LSU–Shreveport |
| Dylan Johns | 45 | C | 6'11" | 240 | Junior | Ipswich, England | Left the team for personal reasons |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Zeno Lake | 10 | G | 6'8" | 215 | Sophomore | Compton, CA | Transferred from East Los Angeles College. Junior college transfer. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Jonathan Guevara | 14 | G | 6'1" | 165 | Sophomore | Los Angeles, CA | Transferred from Cerritos College. Junior college transfer. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Kobe Paras | 21 | G | 6'6" | 200 | Freshman | Manila, Philippines | Transferred from Creighton. Under NCAA transfer rules, Paras will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |
| Carl Brown | 22 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Sophomore | Louisville, KY | Transferred from Mt. San Jacinto College. Junior college transfer. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Lamine Diane F | Dakar, Senegal | Findlay Prep High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Jul 6, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| Terrell Gomez G | Los Angeles, CA | Middlebrooks Academy | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Nov 17, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 60 ||||||
| Jared Pearre F | McKinney, TX | McKinney North | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Aug 30, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Jalon Pipkins G | Paris, TX | Paris High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Nov 5, 2017 |
| 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 28, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:30 pm | Life Pacific | W 76–50 | 1–0 | Matadome (1,232) Northridge, CA |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm | at Fresno State Cancún Challenge campus game | L 73–89 | 1–1 | Save Mart Center (4,864) Fresno, CA |
| Nov 18, 2017* 3:00 pm | at George Mason Cancún Challenge campus game | L 73–78 $^{OT}$ | 1–2 | EagleBank Arena (3,041) Fairfax, VA |
| Nov 21, 2017* 12:00 pm | vs. Southeast Missouri State Cancún Challenge Mayan Division | L 59–74 | 1–3 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Convention Center Cancún, Mexico |
| Nov 22, 2017* 12:30 pm | vs. Binghamton Cancún Challenge Mayan Division | L 65–70 | 1–4 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Convention Center Cancún, Mexico |
| Nov 28, 2017* 7:00 pm, P12N | at California | L 63–83 | 1–5 | Haas Pavilion (6,177) Berkeley, CA |
| Dec 3, 2017* 6:00 pm | at Montana | L 68–86 | 1–6 | Dahlberg Arena (2,734) Missoula, MT |
| Dec 6, 2017* 6:00 pm | at Idaho State | L 66–74 | 1–7 | Holt Arena (1,300) Pocatello, ID |
| Dec 9, 2017* 7:00 pm | Loyola Marymount | L 57–74 | 1–8 | Matadome (745) Northridge, CA |
| Dec 17, 2017* 2:00 pm | at Eastern Washington | L 58–86 | 1–9 | Reese Court (1,279) Cheney, WA |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm | at Sacramento State | L 61–66 | 1–10 | Hornets Nest (538) Sacramento, CA |
| Dec 23, 2017* 3:00 pm | Idaho State | L 55–67 | 1–11 | Matadome (476) Northridge, CA |
| Dec 27, 2017* 7:00 pm | San Diego Christian | W 93–63 | 2–11 | Matadome (276) Northridge, CA |
| Dec 30, 2017* 7:00 pm | Morgan State | W 79–69 | 3–11 | Matadome (479) Northridge, CA |
| Big West regular season |||||
| Jan 6, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Hawaii | L 46–65 | 3–12 (0–1) | Matadome (686) Northridge, CA |
| Jan 10, 2018 7:30 pm, FS West | at Long Beach State | L 70–80 | 3–13 (0–2) | Walter Pyramid (2,315) Long Beach, CA |
| Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm | UC Irvine | L 54–71 | 3–14 (0–3) | Matadome (559) Northridge, CA |
| Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at UC Riverside | W 66–57 | 4–14 (1–3) | Student Recreation Center Arena (507) Riverside, CA |
| Jan 20, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | Cal Poly | W 72–54 | 5–14 (2–3) | Matadome (828) Northridge, CA |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm | at UC Davis | L 56–63 | 5–15 (2–4) | The Pavilion (1,075) Davis, CA |
| Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm | Long Beach State | L 66–70 | 5–16 (2–5) | Matadome (1,207) Northridge, CA |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | UC Davis | L 56–63 | 5–17 (2–6) | Matadome (1,006) Northridge, CA |
| Feb 3, 2018 7:00 pm | at UC Santa Barbara | L 51–75 | 5–18 (2–7) | The Thunderdome (2,229) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Feb 7, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at UC Irvine | L 56–77 | 5–19 (2–8) | Bren Events Center (1,198) Irvine, CA |
| Feb 10, 2018 9:00 pm | at Hawaii | W 77–71 | 6–19 (3–8) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,945) Honolulu, HI |
| Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | UC Riverside | L 62–69 | 6–20 (3–9) | Matadome (615) Northridge, CA |
| Feb 17, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Cal State Fullerton | L 70–88 | 6–21 (3–10) | Titan Gym (786) Fullerton, CA |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm | at Cal Poly | L 86–90 $^{2OT}$ | 6–22 (3–11) | Mott Athletic Center (1,250) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | UC Santa Barbara | L 73–82 | 6–23 (3–12) | Matadome (1,122) Northridge, CA |
| Feb 28, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Cal State Fullerton | L 76–102 | 6–24 (3–13) | Matadome (761) Northridge, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. |||||