# 2016–17 East Carolina Pirates men's basketball team

The 2016–17 East Carolina Pirates men's basketball team represented East Carolina University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Pirates were led by seventh year head coach Jeff Lebo and played their home games at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum as third year members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 15–18, 6–12 in AAC play to finish in ninth place. They defeated Temple in the first round of the AAC tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to SMU.
On January 16, 2017, head coach Jeff Lebo underwent hip surgery and was unable to coach for the rest of the season. Assistant coach Michael Perry took over as acting head coach beginning with the January 22 game.

## Previous season

The Pirates finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 12–20, 4–14 in AAC play to finish in a tie for ninth place in conference. They lost to South Florida in the first round of the AAC tournament.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Grant Bryant | 1 | F | 6'7" | 200 | Sophomore | Kennesaw, GA | Transferred to Tampa |
| Charles Foster | 3 | G | 6'0" | 160 | Junior | Louisville, KY | Graduate transferred to Kentucky Wesleyan |
| Prince Williams | 4 | G | 6'5" | 200 | Senior | Raleigh, NC | Walk-on; graduated |
| Lance Tejada | 5 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Sophomore | Pompano Beach, FL | Transferred to Lehigh |
| Drew Bost | 24 | G | 5'10" | 175 | Senior | Raleigh, NC | Walk-on; graduated |
| Peyton Robbins | 31 | G | 6'3" | 210 | Senior | Raleigh, NC | Walk-on; graduated |
| Michael Zangari | 34 | F | 6'9" | 240 | Senior | Etters, PA | Graduated |
| Marshall Guilmette | 41 | F | 6'10" | 250 | RS Junior | Kennesaw, GA | Career season ending injury |
| Kanu Aja | 44 | F | 6'9" | 255 | Senior | Baltimore, MD | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Isaac Fleming | 5 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Junior | Wilmington, DE | Transferred from Hawaii. Under NCAA transfer rules, Fleming will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Andre Washington | 31 | C | 7'0" | 240 | Senior | Roanoke, VA | Transferred from Wake Forest. Will be eligible to play immediately since Washington graduated from Wake Forest. |

## Incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Raquan Wilkins #41 SF | Atlanta, GA | Westlake High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Mar 30, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| Elijah Hughes #44 SF | Somers, NY | Kennedy Catholic High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jun 10, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| Jeremy Carter-Sheppard #63 SG | Chesterfield, VA | John Marshall High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Jun 12, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 72 ||||||
| Shawn Williams PG | Maumelle, AR | Southwest Christian Academy | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Sep 11, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 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 August 13, 2016. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| K.J. Davis SG | Portsmouth, VA | I. C. Norcom High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | N/A | Aug 3, 2016 |
| 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 14, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Grambling State | W 72–57 | 1–0 | Williams Arena (4,805) Greenville, NC |
| 11/14/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | North Carolina A&T | W 61–51 | 2–0 | Williams Arena (4,177) Greenville, NC |
| 11/17/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Charlotte | L 64–76 | 2–1 | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,281) Charlotte, NC |
| 11/20/2016* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Stetson Savannah Invitational | W 73–50 | 3–1 | Williams Arena (3,387) Greenville, NC |
| 11/22/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Florida A&M Savannah Invitational | W 82–62 | 4–1 | Williams Arena (3,341) Greenville, NC |
| 11/25/2016* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Mercer Savannah Invitational semifinals | L 66–70 | 4–2 | Savannah Civic Center Savannah, GA |
| 11/26/2016* 5:00 pm | | vs. Air Force Savannah Invitational | W 70–63 | 4–2 | Savannah Civic Center Savannah, GA |
| 11/29/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Hampton | W 68–48 | 6–2 | Williams Arena (3,631) Greenville, NC |
| 12/03/2016* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | North Carolina Central | W 69–56 | 7–2 | Williams Arena (4,638) Greenville, NC |
| 12/06/2016* 7:00 pm, RSN | | at No. 14 Virginia | L 53–76 | 7–3 | John Paul Jones Arena (13,813) Charlottesville, VA |
| 12/15/2016* 7:00 pm, ASN/ESPN3 | | College of Charleston | L 35–53 | 7–4 | Williams Arena (3,462) Greenville, NC |
| 12/20/2016* 6:30 pm | | at UNC Wilmington | L 71–81 | 7–5 | Trask Coliseum (5,200) Wilmington, NC |
| 12/22/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Presbyterian | W 76–56 | 8–5 | Williams Arena (3,667) Greenville, NC |
| AAC regular season ||||||
| 12/28/2016 7:00 pm, ESPNews | | South Florida | W 60–49 | 9–5 (1–0) | Williams Arena (4,163) Greenville, NC |
| 12/31/2016 12:00 pm, ASN/ESPN3 | | SMU | L 44-75 | 9–6 (1–1) | Williams Arena (3,698) Greenville, NC |
| 01/03/2017 7:15 pm, ESPNews | | at UCF | L 45–48 | 9–7 (1–2) | CFE Arena (3,088) Orlando, FL |
| 01/07/2017 12:00 pm, ASN/ESPN3 | | at Temple | L 62–81 | 9–8 (1–3) | Liacouras Center (5,613) Philadelphia, PA |
| 01/11/2017 6:00 pm, ESPNews | | Houston | L 58–74 | 9–9 (1–4) | Williams Arena (4,197) Greenville, NC |
| 01/15/2017 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | No. 22 Cincinnati | L 46–55 | 9–10 (1–5) | Williams Arena (4,597) Greenville, NC |
| 01/22/2017 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at UConn | L 65–72 | 9–11 (1–6) | XL Center (5,676) Hartford, CT |
| 01/25/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Tulsa | W 69–66 | 10–11 (2–6) | Williams Arena (3,537) Greenville, NC |
| 1/28/2017 3:30 pm, ESPNews | | at Memphis | L 50–57 | 10–12 (2–7) | FedEx Forum (10,684) Memphis, TN |
| 02/01/2017 9:30 pm, ESPNews | | at SMU | L 46–86 | 10–13 (2–8) | Moody Coliseum (6,723) Dallas, TX |
| 02/04/2017 2:00 pm, ASN/ESPN3 | | Tulane | W 74–65 | 11–13 (3–8) | Williams Arena (4,177) Greenville, NC |
| 02/11/2017 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at South Florida | L 57–64 | 11–14 (3–9) | USF Sun Dome (2,901) Tampa, FL |
| 02/15/2017 7:00 pm, ESPNews | | Temple | W 78–64 | 12–14 (4–9) | Williams Arena (3,741) Greenville, NC |
| 02/18/2017 4:00 pm, ESPNews | | UCF | L 58–61 | 12–15 (4–10) | Williams Arena (4,518) Greenville, NC |
| 02/21/2017 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Tulane | W 76–73 | 13–15 (5–10) | Devlin Fieldhouse (1,142) New Orleans, LA |
| 02/26/2017 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Tulsa | L 66–74 | 13–16 (5–11) | Reynolds Center (4,449) Tulsa, OK |
| 03/01/2017 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | UConn | W 66–62 | 14–16 (6–11) | Williams Arena (4,354) Greenville, NC |
| 03/05/2017 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Houston | L 51–73 | 14–17 (6–12) | Hofheinz Pavilion (8,479) Houston, TX |
| AAC tournament ||||||
| 03/09/17 3:30 pm, ESPNU | (9) | vs. (8) Temple First round | W 80–69 | 15–17 | XL Center (4,874) Hartford, CT |
| 03/10/17 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | (9) | vs. (1) No. 12 SMU Quarterfinals | L 77–81 | 15–18 | XL Center (1,844) Hartford, CT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||