# 2017–18 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs were led by first-year head coach Niko Medved. They played their home games at Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 17–17, 10–8 in MVC play to finish in to finish in a tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament to Bradley. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Abilene Christian in the first round in a game referred to as the Lou Henson Classic. In the second round they were defeated by Northern Colorado.
On March 22, 2018, it was announced that head coach Niko Medved had accepted the head coaching position at Colorado State, where he had previously served as an assistant. A week after Medved's departure, Drake hired Creighton assistant and Iowa native Darian DeVries for the head coaching job.

## Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2016–17 season They finished the season 7–24, 5–13 to finish in a tie for ninth place in MVC play. They lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament to Bradley.
Fourth-year head coach Ray Giacoletti resigned on December 6, 2016, after the first eight games of the season. Assistant coach Jeff Rutter was named interim head coach. Following the season, the school chose not to keep Jeff Rutter as head coach and hired Niko Medved, former head coach at Furman, as the Bulldogs' new head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Bill Wampler | 2 | F | 6'6" | 200 | Sophomore | Eau Claire, WI | Transferred to Wright State |
| T. J. Thomas | 10 | F | 6'8" | 205 | Junior | Stone Mountain, GA | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Jacob Enevold | 11 | C | 7'0" | 246 | Senior | Lunderskov, Denmark | Graduated |
| A. J. Rutter | 14 | G | 6'1" | 180 | RS Junior | Ames, IA | Walk-on; didn't return |
| Will Halfon | 21 | G | 6'2" | 200 | Freshman | Greenwood Village, CO | Walk-on; didn't return |
| Nick Girardi | 24 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Freshman | Fort Collins, CO | Walk-on; didn't return |
| Johannes Dolven | 25 | F | 6'8" | 230 | RS Freshman | Oslo, Norway | Transferred to Barry |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jalen Gibbs SG | Waldorf, Md | North Point High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | Apr 25, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Noah Thomas PG | Sydney, Australia | 22Ft Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A | May 6, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Antonio Pilipovic SF | Cologne, Germany | RheinStars Köln | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Jul 13, 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 October 1, 2017. ||||||

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Adam Thistlewood SF | Golden, CO | Golden High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Aug 27, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Kendle Moore PG | Danville, IL | Danville High School | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Sep 3, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| James Moors PF | Auckland, New Zealand | Westlake Boys High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 15, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Messiah Jones SF | Chicago, IL | Neal F. Simeon Career Academy | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Oct 1, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Montrell Horsey PG | Joppa, MD | Joppatowne High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Oct 22, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Larry Wise SG | Waxahachie, TX | Waxahachie High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Dec 2, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A |||||||
| Matthew Gray PF | Orange, Australia | Canobolas Rural Technology High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | N/A | Dec 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. Retrieved October 1, 2017. |||||||

## Preseason

In the conference's preseason poll, the Bulldogs were picked to finish in last place in the MVC. Senior guard Reed Timmer was named to the preseason All-MVC first team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 4, 2017* 1:00 pm | | Minnesota–Crookston | W 86–73 | | Knapp Center (2,062) Des Moines, IA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 11, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Coe | W 101–54 | 1–0 | Knapp Center (2,685) Des Moines, IA |
| November 17, 2017* 7:30 pm | | vs. Wake Forest Paradise Jam quarterfinals | W 77–74 | 2–0 | Vines Center (586) Lynchburg, VA |
| November 18, 2017* 7:30 pm | | vs. Colorado Paradise Jam semifinals | L 81–86 | 2–1 | Vines Center (568) Lynchburg, VA |
| November 19, 2017* 5:00 pm | | vs. Drexel Paradise Jam 3rd place game | W 90–88 $^{2OT}$ | 3–1 | Vines Center (577) Lynchburg, VA |
| November 26, 2017* 2:00 pm, MC22/ESPN3 | | Chicago State | W 79–67 | 4–1 | Knapp Center (2,386) Des Moines, IA |
| November 29, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Omaha | L 73–75 | 4–2 | Baxter Arena (1,525) Omaha, NE |
| December 2, 2017* 5:00 pm | | at Wyoming MW–MVC Challenge | L 89–96 $^{2OT}$ | 4–3 | Arena-Auditorium (4,853) Laramie, WY |
| December 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at South Dakota | L 65–93 | 4–4 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (2,101) Vermillion, SD |
| December 9, 2017* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Omaha | W 93–74 | 5–4 | Knapp Center (2,718) Des Moines, IA |
| December 11, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | L 67–68 | 5–5 | Williams Arena (11,319) Minneapolis, MN |
| December 16, 2017* 1:00 pm, BTN | | vs. Iowa Hy-Vee Classic | L 64–90 | 5–6 | Wells Fargo Arena (13,828) Des Moines, IA |
| December 19, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at South Dakota State | L 74–87 | 5–7 | Frost Arena (1,525) Brookings, SD |
| December 22, 2017* 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN3 | | Maryland Eastern Shore | W 81–57 | 6–7 | Knapp Center (2,214) Des Moines, IA |
| MVC regular season ||||||
| December 28, 2017 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN3 | | Bradley | W 66–64 | 7–7 (1–0) | Knapp Center (2,611) Des Moines, IA |
| December 31, 2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Southern Illinois | W 70–67 | 8–7 (2–0) | SIU Arena (4,230) Carbondale, IL |
| January 3, 2018 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN3 | | Illinois State | W 87–62 | 9–7 (3–0) | Knapp Center (3,113) Des Moines, IA |
| January 6, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Indiana State | W 75–72 | 10–7 (4–0) | Hulman Center (3,249) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 10, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Valparaiso | L 60–77 | 10–8 (4–1) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,710) Valparaiso, IN |
| January 13, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Evansville | W 81–65 | 11–8 (5–1) | Knapp Center (3,313) Des Moines, IA |
| January 16, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Iowa | L 54–68 | 11–9 (5–2) | McLeod Center (3,880) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 20, 2018 3:00 pm, FSMW/NBCSC | | Missouri State | W 61–58 | 12–9 (6–2) | Knapp Center (3,647) Des Moines, IA |
| January 24, 2018 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN3 | | Loyola–Chicago | L 57–80 | 12–10 (6–3) | Knapp Center (3,522) Des Moines, IA |
| January 27, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Evansville | L 73–77 | 12–11 (6–4) | Ford Center (4,295) Evansville, IN |
| January 30, 2018 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN3 | | Southern Illinois | L 67–78 | 12–12 (6–5) | Knapp Center (3,198) Des Moines, IA |
| February 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Bradley | W 78–68 | 13–12 (7–5) | Carver Arena (7,793) Peoria, IL |
| February 7, 2018 7:00 pm, NBCSC | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 57–72 | 13–13 (7–6) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,802) Chicago, IL |
| February 10, 2018 3:00 pm, FSMW | | Northern Iowa | W 71–64 | 14–13 (8–6) | Knapp Center (5,121) Des Moines, IA |
| February 14, 2018 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN3 | | Indiana State | W 90–76 | 15–13 (9–6) | Knapp Center (2,617) Des Moines, IA |
| February 18, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Missouri State | W 67–63 | 16–13 (10–6) | JQH Arena (4,859) Springfield, MO |
| February 21, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Illinois State | L 81–89 $^{OT}$ | 16–14 (10–7) | Redbird Arena (5,028) Normal, IL |
| February 24, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Valparaiso | L 64–69 | 16–15 (10–8) | Knapp Center (4,025) Des Moines, IA |
| MVC tournament ||||||
| March 2, 2018 2:30 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (5) Bradley Quarterfinals | L 61–63 | 16–16 | Scottrade Center (6,410) St. Louis, MO |
| CIT ||||||
| March 12, 2018* 1:00 pm, CBSSN | | Abilene Christian First Round – Lou Henson Classic | W 80–73 $^{OT}$ | 17–16 | Knapp Center (3,565) Des Moines, IA |
| March 18, 2018* 4:00 pm | | at Northern Colorado Second Round | L 72–81 | 17–17 | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,074) Greeley, CO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
* ↑ The tournament was originally scheduled for the Sports and Fitness Center in Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands, but was moved due to damage from Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Organizers decided to solicit hosting bids from the eight participating teams, with Liberty selected as the substitute host on September 29.