# 2018–19 Charleston Cougars men's basketball team

The 2018–19 College of Charleston Cougars men's basketball team represented the College of Charleston during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars, led by fifth-year head coach Earl Grant, played their home games at the TD Arena in Charleston, South Carolina as members of the Colonial Athletic Association.

## Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2017–18 season 26–8, 14–4 in CAA play to share the regular season title with Northeastern. At the CAA tournament they defeated Drexel, William & Mary, and Northeastern to become CAA Tournament champions. They earned the CAA's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as a #13 seed where they lost in the first round to Auburn.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| John Eck | 4 | G | 6'4" | 170 | Senior | Hilton Head Island, SC | Left team |
| Evan Bailey | 11 | F | 6'6" | 210 | Senior | Canton, OH | Graduated |
| Cameron Johnson | 12 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Senior | Athens, GA | Graduated |
| Joe Chealey | 13 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Senior | Orlando, FL | Graduated |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jaylen Richard SG | Durham, NC | Charles E. Jordan High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Apr 23, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Quan McCluney SF | Gastonia, NC | Gaston Day School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Jul 28, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Isaih Moore SF | Sumter, SC | Sumter High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Oct 20, 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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Brenden Tucker #35 PG | Dacula, GA | Dacula High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 24, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 79 |||||||
| Trevon Reddish PG | McDonough, GA | Eagles Landing Christian Academy | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Sep 30, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 |||||||
| DeAngelo Epps SF | Charlotte, NC | Charlotte Country Day | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | May 16, 2018 |
| 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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Benedict | W 95–43 | | TD Arena (2,987) Charleston, SC |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Presbyterian | W 85–73 | 1–0 | TD Arena (3,711) Charleston, SC |
| November 10, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Carolina | W 77–74 | 2–0 | Ramsey Center (1,689) Cullowhee, NC |
| November 13, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Rhode Island A10–CAA Challenge | W 66–55 | 3–0 | TD Arena (4,276) Charleston, SC |
| November 18, 2018* 4:00 pm, FSOK | | at Oklahoma State AdvoCare Invitational campus game | L 58–70 | 3–1 | Gallagher-Iba Arena (6,595) Stillwater, OK |
| November 22, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. No. 19 LSU AdvoCare Invitational quarterfinals | L 55–67 | 3–2 | HP Field House (2,226) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| November 23, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. UAB AdvoCare Invitational | W 74–51 | 4–2 | HP Field House (2,185) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| November 25, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Memphis AdvoCare Invitational | W 78–75 | 5–2 | HP Field House (1,933) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| November 28, 2018* 7:00 pm | | South Carolina State | W 83–70 | 6–2 | TD Arena (4,167) Charleston, SC |
| December 1, 2018* 4:00 pm | | Charlotte | W 72–64 | 7–2 | TD Arena (4,134) Charleston, SC |
| December 9, 2018* 2:00 pm | | Georgia College | W 87–59 | 8–2 | TD Arena (3,987) Charleston, SC |
| December 15, 2018* 4:00 pm, NBCSN | | at VCU | W 83–79 | 9–2 | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| December 18, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Siena | W 83–58 | 10–2 | Times Union Center (4,614) Albany, NY |
| December 21, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Coastal Carolina | W 73–71 | 11–2 | TD Arena (4,054) Charleston, SC |
| CAA regular season ||||||
| December 29, 2018 7:00 pm | | at UNC Wilmington | W 73–66 | 12–2 (1–0) | Trask Coliseum (3,748) Wilmington, NC |
| January 3, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Towson | W 67–55 | 13–2 (2–0) | SECU Arena (1,058) Towson, MD |
| January 5, 2019 7:00 pm | | at James Madison | L 58–69 | 13–3 (2–1) | JMU Convocation Center (2,224) Harrisonburg, VA |
| January 10, 2019 7:00 pm | | Drexel | L 78–79 | 13–4 (2–2) | TD Arena (4,116) Charleston, SC |
| January 12, 2019 4:00 pm | | Delaware | W 71–58 | 14–4 (3–2) | TD Arena (4,320) Charleston, SC |
| January 17, 2019 7:00 pm, NESNPlus | | at Northeastern | L 60–69 | 14–5 (3–3) | Matthews Arena (1,074) Boston, MA |
| January 19, 2019 4:00 pm | | at Hofstra | L 72–86 | 14–6 (3–4) | Mack Sports Complex (2,217) Hempstead, NY |
| January 24, 2019 7:00 pm | | Elon | W 72–53 | 15–6 (4–4) | TD Arena (3,714) Charleston, SC |
| January 26, 2019 4:00 pm | | William & Mary | W 74–59 | 16–6 (5–4) | TD Arena (4,569) Charleston, SC |
| January 31, 2019 7:00 pm | | James Madison | W 70–53 | 17–6 (6–4) | TD Arena (3,933) Charleston, SC |
| February 2, 2019 4:00 pm | | Towson | W 54–53 | 18–6 (7–4) | TD Arena (4,194) Charleston, SC |
| February 7, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Delaware | W 83–75 | 19–6 (8–4) | Bob Carpenter Center (1,726) Newark, DE |
| February 9, 2019 4:00 pm | | at Drexel | W 86–84 | 20–6 (9–4) | Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,175) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 14, 2019 7:00 pm | | Hofstra | L 95–99 | 20–7 (9–5) | TD Arena (4,095) Charleston, SC |
| February 16, 2019 4:00 pm | | Northeastern | W 88–79 | 21–7 (10–5) | TD Arena (4,867) Charleston, SC |
| February 21, 2019 7:00 pm | | at William & Mary | L 84–86 $^{OT}$ | 21–8 (10–6) | Kaplan Arena (3,658) Williamsburg, VA |
| February 23, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Elon | W 84–74 | 22–8 (11–6) | Schar Center (3,623) Elon, NC |
| March 2, 2019 4:00 pm | | UNC Wilmington | W 70–61 | 23–8 (12–6) | TD Arena (4,898) Charleston, SC |
| CAA tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2019 8:30 pm | (3) | vs. (6) Drexel CAA Tournament Quarterfinal | W 73–61 | 24–8 | North Charleston Coliseum (4,040) North Charleston, SC |
| March 11, 2019 8:30 pm, CBSSN | (3) | vs. (2) Northeastern CAA Tournament Semifinal | L 67–70 | 24–9 | North Charleston Coliseum (3,599) North Charleston, SC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
Source