# 2016–17 VMI Keydets basketball team

The 2016–17 VMI Keydets basketball team represented the Virginia Military Institute in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Keydets were led by second-year head coach Dan Earl and played their home games out of Cameron Hall in Lexington, Virginia, their home since 1981. The Keydets played as a member of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 6–24, 3–15 in SoCon play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the SoCon tournament to Samford.

## Previous season

The Keydets finished the 2015–16 season with an overall record 9–21, and a 4–14 mark in SoCon play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the SoCon tournament to Samford.

## Preseason
### Departures

VMI lost only three seniors from the previous season.
| Name | Position | Class | Reason |
| Tim Marshall | SG | Sr. | Graduated |
| Phillip Anglade | F | Sr. | Graduated |
| Jordan Weethee | F | Sr. | Graduated |

### Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Tyler Creammer C | Parkton, NC | The Miller School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 17, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ||||||
| Will Miller SF | South Boston, VA | Halifax County High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Nov 11, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Chuchu Enechionyia SG | Lorton, VA | South County High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 14, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Garrett Gilkeson SG | Parkersburg, WV | Parkersburg South High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Apr 14, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Keith Smith PG | Danville, CA | Montverde Academy | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Apr 14, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| 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: "ESPN – VMI Basketball Recruiting 2016". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018. ||||||

## Roster
### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| F/C | Armani Branch | Fred Iruafemi | Tyler Creammer |
| SF | Trey Chapman | Will Miller | |
| SG | QJ Peterson | Garrett Gilkeson | |
| SG | Julian Eleby | Austin Vereen | |
| PG | Adrian Rich | Keith Smith | |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Richmond | L 69–72 | 0–1 | Robins Center (7,201) Richmond, VA |
| 11/15/2016* 7:00 pm | | Southern Virginia | W 78–47 | 1–1 | Cameron Hall (896) Lexington, VA |
| 11/19/2016* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Virginia Tech | L 72–88 | 1–2 | Cassell Coliseum (7,714) Blacksburg, VA |
| 11/22/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Presbyterian | L 67–77 | 1–3 | Templeton Center (430) Clinton, SC |
| 11/26/2016* 7:00 pm | | Campbell | L 53–67 | 1–4 | Cameron Hall (912) Lexington, VA |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Radford | L 67–74 | 1–5 | Dedmon Center (1,329) Radford, VA |
| 12/03/2016* 7:00 pm | | Gardner–Webb | L 68–86 | 1–6 | Cameron Hall (1,097) Lexington, VA |
| 12/10/2016* 2:00 pm, RTPT | | at No. 15 West Virginia | L 55–90 | 1–7 | WVU Coliseum (9,023) Morgantown, WV |
| 12/13/2016* 7:00 pm | | Charleston Southern | W 88–83 | 2–7 | Cameron Hall (902) Lexington, VA |
| 12/20/2016* 7:00 pm | | Frostburg State | W 72–53 | 3–7 | Cameron Hall (770) Lexington, VA |
| 12/23/2016* 7:00 pm, SPCSN | | at Dayton | L 56–92 | 3–8 | UD Arena (12,612) Dayton, OH |
| SoCon regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2016 4:00 pm | | at East Tennessee State | L 75–102 | 3–9 (0–1) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,051) Johnson City, TN |
| 01/05/2017 7:30 pm | | at Mercer | L 50–68 | 3–10 (0–2) | Hawkins Arena (2,754) Macon, GA |
| 01/07/2017 1:00 pm | | at The Citadel | L 74–79 | 3–11 (0–3) | McAlister Field House (1,301) Charleston, SC |
| 01/12/2017 7:00 pm | | Western Carolina | W 79–78 | 4–11 (1–3) | Cameron Hall (718) Lexington, VA |
| 01/14/2017 1:00 pm | | UNC Greensboro | L 82–91 | 4–12 (1–4) | Cameron Hall (889) Lexington, VA |
| 01/19/2017 7:00 pm | | at Wofford | L 70–88 | 4–13 (1–5) | Benjamin Johnson Arena (1,458) Spartanburg, SC |
| 01/21/2017 4:00 pm | | at Furman | L 72–89 | 4–14 (1–6) | Timmons Arena (1,734) Greenville, SC |
| 01/25/2017 7:00 pm | | at Chattanooga | W 80–64 | 5–14 (2–6) | McKenzie Arena (2,847) Chattanooga, TN |
| 01/28/2017 1:00 pm | | Samford | L 67–69 | 5–15 (2–7) | Cameron Hall (2,387) Lexington, VA |
| 02/02/2017 7:00 pm | | East Tennessee State | L 71–81 | 5–16 (2–8) | Cameron Hall (1,094) Lexington, VA |
| 02/09/2017 7:00 pm | | Mercer | L 51–81 | 5–17 (2–9) | Cameron Hall (1,023) Lexington, VA |
| 02/11/2017 1:00 pm | | The Citadel | W 101–78 | 6–17 (3–9) | Cameron Hall (3,479) Lexington, VA |
| 02/13/2017 7:00 pm, ASN | | Furman | L 52–80 | 6–18 (3–10) | Cameron Hall (866) Lexington, VA |
| 02/15/2017 7:00 pm | | Chattanooga | L 68–74 | 6–19 (3–11) | Cameron Hall (969) Lexington, VA |
| 02/18/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Samford | L 61–80 | 6–20 (3–12) | Pete Hanna Center (2,358) Homewood, AL |
| 02/22/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wofford | L 63–81 | 6–21 (3–13) | Cameron Hall (1,310) Lexington, VA |
| 02/25/2017 5:00 pm | | at UNC Greensboro | L 67–74 | 6–22 (3–14) | Greensboro Coliseum (2,132) Greensboro, NC |
| 02/27/2017 7:00 pm | | at Western Carolina | L 68–81 | 6–23 (3–15) | Ramsey Center (981) Cullowhee, NC |
| SoCon tournament ||||||
| 03/03/2017 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | (10) | vs. (7) Samford First Round | L 61–79 | 6–24 | U.S. Cellular Center (2,930) Asheville, NC |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source. ||||||