# 2018–19 VMI Keydets basketball team

The 2018–19 VMI Keydets basketball team represented the Virginia Military Institute in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Keydets were led by fourth-year head coach Dan Earl and played their home games out of Cameron Hall in Lexington, Virginia, their home since 1981, as members of the Southern Conference. The Keydets finished the season 11–21, 4–14 in SoCon play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place. As the No. 8 seed in the SoCon tournament, they defeated Western Carolina in the first round before losing to top-seeded Wofford in the quarterfinals.

## Previous season

The Keydets finished the 2017–18 campaign with a 9–21 overall record, and a 4–14 mark in SoCon play to finish in ninth place. The nine wins were three more than the previous season under Earl. They lost in the first round of the SoCon tournament to The Citadel. It was the fourth consecutive season that VMI had failed to advance in the Southern Conference tournament.

## Preseason
### Departures

The Keydets lost only two seniors from the previous year's team in Fred Iruafemi and Armani Branch. Iruafemi was the team's fourth-leading rebounder and averaged 2.4 points per game. Branch did not play the entire year as he was sidelined with an injury and received a medical redshirt. He chose to transfer and spend his final season of eligibility at Norfolk State.
| Name | Position | Class | Reason |
| Keith Smith | G | So. | Transferred to Cal Poly |
| Armani Branch | F | Sr. | Graduated; transferred to Norfolk State |
| Fred Iruafemi | F | Sr. | Graduated |

### Coaching changes

On July 3, 2018, VMI head coach Dan Earl announced the addition of Steve Enright as an assistant coach. Enright came from Bridgewater College where he had served for three years on the Eagles' coaching staff. He was also an assistant under head coach Dan Hurley at Rhode Island. Enright replaced Steve Lepore, who left for an assistant coaching position with Eastern Kentucky after three years of service under Earl.

## Roster

Ref:

### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| C | Jake Stephens | Tyler Creammer | |
| PF | Myles Lewis | Will Miller | Tragen Fahl |
| SF | Garrett Gilkeson | Connor Arnold | |
| SG | Sarju Patel | Ta'Vonne Bond | |
| PG | Bubba Parham | Greg Parham | |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, SoCon Network | | Washington College | W 89–56 | 1–0 | Cameron Hall (762) Lexington, VA |
| November 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Pittsburgh | L 55–94 | 1–1 | Petersen Events Center (4,321) Pittsburgh, PA |
| November 11, 2018* 1:00 pm | | Goucher | W 98–34 | 2–1 | Cameron Hall (612) Lexington, VA |
| November 14, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | USC Upstate | W 78–72 | 3–1 | Cameron Hall (826) Lexington, VA |
| November 18, 2018* 6:00 pm, SECN | | at No. 10 Kentucky | L 82–92 | 3–2 | Rupp Arena (20,207) Lexington, KY |
| November 20, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Kentucky Christian | W 106–80 | 4–2 | Cameron Hall (594) Lexington, VA |
| November 23, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Stetson | W 87–79 $^{OT}$ | 5–2 | Edmunds Center (364) DeLand, FL |
| November 27, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | American | L 64–74 | 5–3 | Cameron Hall (922) Lexington, VA |
| December 1, 2018* 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Longwood | L 45–65 | 5–4 | Willett Hall (1,428) Farmville, VA |
| December 5, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Virginia Tech | L 68–89 | 5–5 | Cassell Coliseum (7,748) Blacksburg, VA |
| December 9, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Chattanooga | L 65–83 | 5–6 (0–1) | McKenzie Arena (2,301) Chattanooga, TN |
| December 12, 2018* 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Presbyterian | L 70–103 | 5–7 | Templeton Center (373) Clinton, SC |
| December 21, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | North Alabama | W 89–68 | 6–7 | Cameron Hall (600) Lexington, VA |
| December 29, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Samford | L 68–96 | 6–8 (0–2) | Pete Hanna Center (734) Homewood, AL |
| January 5, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UNC Greensboro | L 68–71 | 6–9 (0–3) | Cameron Hall (600) Lexington, VA |
| January 10, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Furman | L 57–89 | 6–10 (0–4) | Cameron Hall (700) Lexington, VA |
| January 12, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Wofford | L 76–90 | 6–11 (0–5) | Cameron Hall (700) Lexington, VA |
| January 17, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at East Tennessee State | L 82–85 | 6–12 (0–6) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,286) Johnson City, TN |
| January 19, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Western Carolina | W 91–83 | 7–12 (1–6) | Cameron Hall (2,500) Lexington, VA |
| January 24, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Mercer | L 68–88 | 7–13 (1–7) | Hawkins Arena (2,376) Macon, GA |
| January 26, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at The Citadel | L 82–84 | 7–14 (1–8) | McAlister Field House (3,864) Charleston, SC |
| January 31, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UNC Greensboro | L 66–93 | 7–15 (1–9) | Greensboro Coliseum Complex (2,639) Greensboro, NC |
| February 7, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Chattanooga | L 70–71 | 7–16 (1–10) | Cameron Hall (657) Lexington, VA |
| February 9, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Samford | L 77–84 (OT) | 7–17 (1–11) | Cameron Hall (912) Lexington, VA |
| February 14, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Wofford | L 84–95 | 7–18 (1–12) | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (2,014) Spartanburg, SC |
| February 16, 2019 4:300 pm, ESPN+ | | at Furman | L 62–96 | 7–19 (1–13) | Timmons Arena (2,381) Greenville, SC |
| February 21, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | East Tennessee State | L 70–94 | 7–20 (1–14) | Cameron Hall (715) Lexington, VA |
| February 23, 2019 7:30 pm | | at Western Carolina | W 83–78 | 8–20 (2–14) | Ramsey Center (2,587) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 28, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Mercer | W 84–71 | 9–20 (3–14) | Cameron Hall (833) Lexington, VA |
| March 2, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | The Citadel | W 81–78 | 10–20 (4–14) | Cameron Hall (2,900) Lexington, VA |
| Southern Conference tournament ||||||
| March 8, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | (8) | vs. (9) Western Carolina First round | W 96–83 | 11–20 | U.S. Cellular Center (2,138) Asheville, NC |
| March 8, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | (8) | vs. (1) Wofford Quarterfinals | L 72–99 | 11–21 | U.S. Cellular Center (5,443) Asheville, NC |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source. ||||||