# 2016–17 LSU Tigers basketball team

The 2016–17 LSU Tigers basketball team represented Louisiana State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Johnny Jones, who was in his fifth season at LSU. They played their home games at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as a member of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 10–21, 2–16 in SEC play to finish in a tie for 13th place. They lost in the First Round of the SEC tournament to Mississippi State.
On March 10, head coach Johnny Jones was fired. He finished at LSU with a five-year record of 90–72. On March 20, LSU hired VCU head coach Will Wade as their next head coach.

## Previous season

The LSU Tigers finished the season 19–14, 11–7 in SEC play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They defeated Tennessee in the quarterfinals of the 2016 SEC tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Texas A&M. On March 13, the day after losing to Texas A&M by 33 points, they announced they would not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Keith Hornsby | 4 | G | 6'4" | 210 | RS Senior | Williamsburg, VA | Graduated |
| Josh Gray | 5 | G | 6'1" | 177 | Senior | Lake Charles, LA | Graduated |
| Darcy Malone | 22 | C | 7'0" | 246 | Junior | Canberra, Australia | Transferred to Cal State Fullerton |
| Ben Simmons | 25 | F | 6'10" | 240 | Freshman | Melbourne, Australia | Declare for 2016 NBA draft |
| Tim Quarterman | 55 | G | 6'6" | 190 | Junior | Savannah, GA | Declare for 2016 NBA draft |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Duop Reath | 2 | F | 6'10" | 220 | Junior | South Sudan | Junior college transferred from Lee College |
| Branden Jenkins | 10 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Junior | Maywood, IL | Junior college transferred from Lee College |

### Class of 2016 signees

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Skylar Mays #24 PG | Baton Rouge, LA | Findlay College Prep | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Aug 10, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Wayde Sims #43 PF | Baton Rouge, LA | University Laboratory School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Jun 28, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Kieran Hayward SG | Sydney, Australia | St. Joseph's College | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Nov 7, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: 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: "LSU 2016 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016. "2016 LSU Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016. ||||||

### Class of 2017 signees

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Galen Alexander SF | Lafayette, LA | Lafayette Christian Academy | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Jul 17, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Brandon Rachal SG | Natchitoches, LA | Natchitoches Central High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 12, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| 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: "LSU 2017 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016. "2017 LSU Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| 11/07/2016* 7:00 pm | | Reinhardt | W 113–80 | | 26 – Reath | 13 – Reath | 9 – Blakeney | Maravich Center (1,224) Baton Rouge, LA |
| Regular season |||||||||
| 11/12/2016* 1:00 pm | | Wofford | W 91–69 | 1–0 | 23 – Reath | 14 – Reath | 6 – Mays | Maravich Center (6,690) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 11/15/2016* 7:00 pm | | Southern Miss | W 78–61 | 2–0 | 26 – Blakeney | 6 – Tied | 6 – Tied | Maravich Center (6,942) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 11/18/2016* 7:00 pm | | North Florida | W 78–70 | 3–0 | 20 – Blakeney | 6 – Epps | 8 – Patterson | Maravich Center (6,953) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 11/23/2016* 11:00 am, ESPN2 | | vs. Wichita State Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | L 47–82 | 3–1 | 12 – Blakeney | 8 – Patterson | 2 – Mays | Imperial Arena (1,604) Nassau, Bahamas |
| 11/24/2016* 8:30 pm, AXS TV | | vs. Old Dominion Battle 4 Atlantis 2nd round consolation | W 66–60 | 4–1 | 24 – Sampson | 10 – Reath | 2 – Tied | Imperial Arena (1,060) Nassau, Bahamas |
| 11/25/2016* 6:00 pm, AXS TV | | vs. VCU Battle 4 Atlantis 5th place game | L 74–85 | 4–2 | 14 – Tied | 5 – Reath | 7 – Patterson | Imperial Arena (1,201) Nassau, Bahamas |
| 11/30/2016* 8:00 pm, SECN | | Houston | W 84–65 | 5–2 | 23 – Blakeney | 9 – Victor | 11 – Mays | Maravich Center (6,695) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 12/13/2016* 8:00 pm, SECN | | North Carolina Central | W 70–66 | 6–2 | 27 – Blakeney | 11 – Victor | 5 – Patterson | Maravich Center (6,415) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 12/17/2016* 5:00 pm, SECN | | Texas Southern | W 88–80 | 7–2 | 21 – Reath | 10 – Victor | 4 – Tied | Maravich Center (7,222) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 12/19/2016* 7:00 pm | | College of Charleston | W 75–65 | 8–2 | 23 – Reath | 10 – Tied | 4 – Mays | Maravich Center (6,619) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 12/22/2016* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Wake Forest | L 76–110 | 8–3 | 21 – Blakeney | 9 – Victor | 3 – Mays | LJVM Coliseum (9,643) Winston-Salem, NC |
| 12/29/2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | Vanderbilt | L 89–96 | 8–4 (0–1) | 24 – Blakeney | 7 – Blakeney | 6 – Patterson | Maravich Center (7,853) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 01/04/2017 8:00 pm, SECN | | at Missouri | W 88–77 | 9–4 (1–1) | 24 – Blakeney | 8 – Sampson, Sims | 3 – 4 tied | Mizzou Arena (9,404) Columbia, MO |
| 01/07/2017 2:30 pm, SECN | | Mississippi State | L 78–95 | 9–5 (1–2) | 17 – Blakeney | 13 – Reath | 6 – Patterson | Maravich Center (7,626) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 01/11/2017 7:30 pm, SECN | | at Texas A&M | L 62–92 | 9–6 (1–3) | 17 – Blakeney | 7 – Blakeney | 4 – Tied | Reed Arena (8,033) College Station, TX |
| 01/14/2017 2:30 pm | | Alabama | L 66–81 | 9–7 (1–4) | 12 – Tied | 9 – Reath | 4 – Jenkins | Maravich Center (8,419) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 01/18/2017 7:30 pm, SECN | | at Auburn | L 74–78 | 9–8 (1–5) | 15 – Epps | 13 – Epps | 4 – Tied | Auburn Arena (8,327) Auburn, AL |
| 01/21/2017 7:30 pm, SECN | | at Arkansas | L 86–99 | 9–9 (1–6) | 22 – Mays | 7 – Reath | 6 – Mays | Bud Walton Arena (16,099) Fayetteville, AR |
| 01/25/2017 8:00 pm, SECN | | No. 25 Florida | L 71–106 | 9–10 (1–7) | 15 – Duop | 9 – Blakeney | 7 – Mays | Maravich Center (7,009) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 01/28/2017* 1:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Texas Tech Big 12/SEC Challenge | L 64–77 | 9–11 (1–7) | 23 – Blakeney | 11 – Reath | 6 – Patterson | United Supermarkets Arena (11,056) Lubbock, TX |
| 02/01/2017 8:00 pm, SECN | | No. 19 South Carolina | L 63–88 | 9–12 (1–8) | 16 – Sampson | 11 – Sims | 3 – Blakeney | Maravich Center (6,478) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 02/04/2017 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | Texas A&M | L 73–85 | 9–13 (1–9) | 21 – Sampson | 16 – Reath | 4 – Mays | Maravich Center (7,059) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 02/07/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 15 Kentucky | L 85–92 | 9–14 (1–10) | 31 – Blakeney | 4 – Patterson | 5 – Blakeney | Rupp Arena (23,652) Lexington, KY |
| 02/11/2017 7:30 pm, SECN | | Arkansas | L 70–78 | 9–15 (1–11) | 21 – Blakeney | 15 – Reath | 5 – Mays | Maravich Center (7,132) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 02/14/2017 8:00 pm, SECN | | at Ole Miss | L 76–96 | 9–16 (1–12) | 29 – Blakeney | 11 – Epps | 3 – Mays | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (7,131) Oxford, MS |
| 02/18/2017 2:30 pm, SECN | | at Alabama | L 72–90 | 9–17 (1–13) | 28 – Blakeney | 6 – Sampson | 4 – Sampson | Coleman Coliseum (15,383) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| 02/21/2017 6:00 pm, SECN | | Auburn | L 75–98 | 9–18 (1–14) | 29 – Blakeney | 8 – Sims | 4 – Mays | Maravich Center (6,638) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 02/25/2017 5:00 pm, SECN | | at Georgia | L 80–82 | 9–19 (1–15) | 20 – Blakeney | 6 – Sampson | 6 – Sampson | Stegeman Coliseum (10,042) Athens, GA |
| 03/01/2017 6:00 pm, SECN | | Tennessee | W 92–82 | 10–19 (2–15) | 24 – Sampson | 6 – Reath | 4 – Mays | Maravich Center (6,557) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 03/04/2017 5:00 pm, SECN | | at Mississippi State | L 76–88 | 10–20 (2–16) | 15 – Blakeney | 12 – Reath | 6 – Patterson | Humphrey Coliseum (6,739) Starkville, MS |
| SEC Tournament |||||||||
| 03/08/2017 6:00 pm, SECN | (13) | vs. (12) Mississippi State First Round | L 52–79 | 10–21 | 13 – Mays | 7 – Patterson | 4 – Mays | Bridgestone Arena (8,567) Nashville, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||
Source: