# 2016–17 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team represented Kent State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Flashes, led by sixth year head coach Rob Senderoff, played their home games at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, also known as the MAC Center, as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. Kent State finished the regular season 22–14, 10–8 in MAC play to finish fourth in the MAC East division. As the No. 6 seed in the MAC tournament, the Flashes defeated Central Michigan, Buffalo, Ohio, and Akron to win the tournament for the first time since 2008. As a result, the Flashes received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 14 seed in the South region. In the first round, they lost to UCLA.

## Previous season

The Golden Flashes finished the 2015–16 season 19–13, 10–8 in MAC play to finish in a tie for third place in the East Division. They lost in the first round of the MAC tournament to Bowling Green. Despite having 19 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Xavier Pollard | 1 | G | 6'4" | 210 | RS Senior | Bronx, NY | Graduated |
| Marvin Jones | 3 | F/C | 6'10" | 205 | RS Junior | Chicago, IL | Graduate transferred to Texas Southern |
| Chris Ortiz | 4 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Senior | Brooklyn, NY | Graduated |
| Kellon Thomas | 5 | G | 5'11" | 190 | RS Junior | Indianapolis, IN | Graduate transferred to IUPUI |
| Kahliq Spicer | 21 | F | 6'9" | 230 | Senior | Detroit, MI | Graduated |
| Raasean Davis | 32 | F | 6'8" | 260 | Sophomore | Chicago, IL | Transferred to North Carolina Central |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Adonis DeLaRosa | 1 | C | 7'0" | 280 | RS Sophomore | Bronx, NY | Junior college transferred from Williston State |
| Jerrelle DeBerry | 3 | G | 6'5" | 200 | Junior | Milwaukee, WI | Junior college transferred from Indian Hills CC |
| Taishaun Johnson | 4 | G | 6'0" | 172 | Junior | Indianapolis, IN | Transferred from South Alabama. Under NCAA transfer rules, Johnson will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Leo Edwards | 33 | F | 6'8" | 235 | Junior | Detroit, MI | Junior college transferred from Santa Fe College |
| Kevin Zabo | 55 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Junior | Gatineau, QE | Junior college transferred from Indian Hills CC |

### 2016 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Yavari Hall SG | Warrensville Heights, OH | Warrensville Heights High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jun 16, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 74 ||||||
| Danny Pippen PF | Detroit, MI | Allen Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | N/A | Oct 4, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 74 ||||||
| Mitch Peterson SG | Richfield, OH | Walsh Jesuit High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | May 1, 2015 |
| 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 5, 2016. ||||||

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| B.J. Dulling SF | Newark, OH | Newark High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Oct 29, 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 5, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/12/2016* 5:00 PM | | vs. Cleveland State Northeast Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer | W 79–74 $^{OT}$ | 1–0 | Beeghly Center Youngstown, OH |
| 11/16/2016* 7:00 PM | | Mississippi Valley State | W 93–63 | 2–0 | MAC Center (2,524) Kent, OH |
| 11/18/2016* 7:00 PM | | Hiram Gulf Coast Showcase | W 111–55 | 3–0 | MAC Center (2,057) Kent, OH |
| 11/21/2016* 5:00 PM | | vs. South Dakota Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals | L 77–80 | 3–1 | Germain Arena Estero, FL |
| 11/22/2016* 1:30 PM | | vs. George Mason Gulf Coast Showcase consolation 2nd round | L 76–80 | 3–2 | Germain Arena Estero, FL |
| 11/23/2016* 11:00 am | | vs. Wofford Gulf Coast Showcase 7th place game | W 66–59 | 4–2 | Germain Arena Estero, FL |
| 11/27/2016* 2:00 PM | | Northeastern | L 70–73 | 4–3 | Matthews Arena (701) Boston, MA |
| 12/02/2016* 7:00 PM | | Grambling State | W 86–57 | 5–3 | MAC Center (2,010) Kent, OH |
| 12/07/2016* 7:00 PM | | Niagara | W 100–72 | 6–3 | MAC Center (2,115) Kent, OH |
| 12/10/2016* 7:00 PM | | NJIT | W 87–71 | 7–3 | MAC Center (2,388) Kent, OH |
| 12/18/2016* 4:00 PM | | Wright State | L 63–68 | 7–4 | MAC Center (1,827) Kent, OH |
| 12/21/2016* 11:00 PM, ESPNU | | at Oregon State | L 50–69 | 7–5 | Gill Coliseum (4,020) Corvallis, OR |
| 12/27/2016* 7:00 PM, ESPNU | | at Texas | W 63–58 | 8–5 | Frank Erwin Center (10,658) Austin, TX |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| 01/03/2017 7:00 PM | | Ball State | W 100–90 | 9–5 (1–0) | MAC Center (2,153) Kent, OH |
| 01/06/2017 9:00 PM, ESPNU | | at Ohio | L 67–85 | 9–6 (1–1) | Convocation Center (4,675) Athens, OH |
| 01/10/2017 7:00 PM | | Northern Illinois | L 70–74 $^{OT}$ | 9–7 (1–2) | MAC Center (2,033) Kent, OH |
| 01/14/2017 2:00 PM | | at Western Michigan | L 88–92 | 9–8 (1–3) | University Arena (2,418) Kalamazoo, MI |
| 01/17/2017 7:00 PM | | Buffalo | L 69–82 | 9–9 (1–4) | MAC Center (2,110) Kent, OH |
| 01/21/2017 7:00 PM, Spectrum | | Toledo | W 85–61 | 10–9 (2–4) | MAC Center (6,327) Kent, OH |
| 01/24/2017 8:00 PM | | at Northern Illinois | W 73–66 | 11–9 (3–4) | Convocation Center (868) DeKalb, IL |
| 01/28/2017 12:00 PM, CBSSN | | Central Michigan | L 98–105 $^{OT}$ | 11–10 (3–5) | MAC Center (3,127) Kent, OH |
| 01/31/2017 7:00 PM | | at Eastern Michigan | W 70–64 | 12–10 (4–5) | Convocation Center (1,198) Ypsilanti, MI |
| 02/04/2017 3:30 PM | | at Miami | W 66–62 | 13–10 (5–5) | Millett Hall (1,474) Oxford, OH |
| 02/07/2017 7:00 PM | | Bowling Green | L 83–84 $^{OT}$ | 13–11 (5–6) | MAC Center (2,629) Kent, OH |
| 02/11/2017 2:00 PM, CBSSN | | at Toledo | L 58–78 | 13–12 (5–7) | Savage Arena (4,829) Toledo, OH |
| 02/14/2017 7:00 PM | | Miami | W 76–72 | 14–12 (6–7) | MAC Center (2,115) Kent, OH |
| 02/17/2017 7:00 PM, ESPNU | | at Akron | W 70–67 | 15–12 (7–7) | James A. Rhodes Arena (5,500) Akron, OH |
| 02/21/2017 7:00 PM | | at Buffalo | W 77–69 | 16–12 (8–7) | Alumni Arena (3,212) Amherst, NY |
| 02/25/2017 7:00 PM, Spectrum Sports | | Ohio | W 70–67 | 17–12 (9–7) | MAC Center (4,183) Kent, OH |
| 02/28/2017 7:00 PM | | at Bowling Green | W 74–67 | 18–12 (10–7) | Stroh Center (2,014) Bowling Green, OH |
| 03/03/2017 9:00 PM, ESPN2 | | Akron | L 56–66 | 18–13 (10–8) | MAC Center (6,327) Kent, OH |
| MAC tournament ||||||
| March 6, 2017 7:00 pm | (6) | (11) Central Michigan First Round | W 116–106 $^{OT}$ | 19–13 | MAC Center (2,139) Kent, OH |
| March 9, 2017 9:00 pm, Spectrum Sports/ESPN3 | (6) | vs. (3) Buffalo Quarterfinals | W 68–65 | 20–13 | Quicken Loans Arena (3,352) Cleveland, OH |
| March 10, 2017 8:00 pm, CBSSN | (6) | vs. (2) Ohio Semifinals | W 68–66 | 21–13 | Quicken Loans Arena (6,065) Cleveland, OH |
| March 11, 2017 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | (6) | vs. (1) Akron Championship | W 70–65 | 22–13 | Quicken Loans Arena (10,376) Cleveland, OH |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 17, 2017* 9:57 pm, truTV | (14 S) | vs. (3 S) No. 8 UCLA First Round | L 80–97 | 22–14 | Golden 1 Center (16,514) Sacramento, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region. All times are in Eastern Time Source. ||||||