# 2016–17 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represented Marshall University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thundering Herd, led by third-year head coach Dan D'Antoni, played their home games at the Cam Henderson Center and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 20–15, 10–8 in C-USA play to finish in sixth place. They defeated Florida Atlantic, Old Dominion, and Louisiana Tech to advance to the championship game of the C-USA tournament. There they lost to top-seeded Middle Tennessee. Despite finishing with 20 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.
On January 24, 2017, assistant coach Chris Duhon resigned following an arrest for driving on a revoked license three days earlier.

## Previous season

The Thundering Herd finished the 2015–16 season 17–16, 12–6 in C-USA play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They defeated UTEP in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament before losing in the semifinals to Middle Tennessee.

## Preseason

The Thundering Herd was picked to finish in fourth place in the preseason Conference USA poll. Jon Elmore and Ryan Taylor were selected to the preseason All-Conference USA team.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Brett Bowling | 3 | G | 6'4" | 192 | Sophomore | Pineville, West Virginia | Walk-on; transferred to West Virginia Wesleyan |
| Justin Edmonds | 23 | G | 6'4" | 220 | RS Senior | Albion, Michigan | Graduated |
| James Kelly | 24 | F | 6'8" | 259 | Senior | Ann Arbor, Michigan | Graduated |
| Aleksandar Dozic | 32 | F | 6'9" | 220 | Freshman | Podgorica, Montenegro | Transferred to Marist |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Rondale Watson | 23 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Junior | Lewisburg, West Virginia | Transferred from Wake Forest. Under NCAA transfer rules, Watson will have to sit out in the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of eligibility left. |
| Ot Elmore | 24 | G | 6'3" | 190 | RS Junior | Charleston, West Virginia | Transferred from Texas–Rio Grande Valley. Will be eligible to play immediately since Elmore graduated from UTRGV. |

## Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Phil Bledsoe #102 PF | Wheeling, West Virginia | Wheeling Park High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 212 lb (96 kg) | Sep 14, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ||||||
| Jannson Williams PF | Newnan, Georgia | Newnan High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Jun 18, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Ky're Allison PG | Portsmouth, Ohio | Portsmouth High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 7, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR ||||||
| 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: "Marshall Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 4, 2016. "2016 Marshall Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved August 4, 2016. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 4, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 4, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 4, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/03/2016* 6:00 pm | | West Virginia State | W 93–70 | | Cam Henderson Center (5,178) Huntington, WV |
| 11/06/2016* 2:00 pm | | Charleston (WV) | W 100–76 | | Cam Henderson Center (5,138) Huntington, WV |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/12/2016* 12:00 pm | | North Carolina Central Global Sports Invitational | W 81–69 | 1–0 | Cam Henderson Center (5,375) Huntington, WV |
| 11/16/2016* 7:00 pm | | Morehead State | W 85–77 | 2–0 | Cam Henderson Center (5,872) Huntington, WV |
| 11/19/2016* 5:00 pm | | Western Carolina Global Sports Invitational | W 98–63 | 3–0 | Cam Henderson Center (5,741) Huntington, WV |
| 11/21/2016* 7:00 pm | | Jackson State Global Sports Invitational | W 71–61 | 4–0 | Cam Henderson Center (4,785) Huntington, WV |
| 11/25/2016* 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Ohio State Global Sports Invitational | L 70–111 | 4–1 | Value City Arena (14,355) Columbus, OH |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm | | Ohio | W 98–88 | 5–1 | Cam Henderson Center (6,031) Huntington, WV |
| 12/03/2016* 4:00 pm | | at Eastern Kentucky | L 80–89 | 5–2 | McBrayer Arena (2,100) Richmond, KY |
| 12/06/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Chattanooga | L 85–96 | 5–3 | McKenzie Arena (3,064) Chattanooga, TN |
| 12/10/2016* 7:00 pm | | Toledo | W 111–105 $^{OT}$ | 6–3 | Cam Henderson Center (5,696) Huntington, WV |
| 12/17/2016* 7:30 pm | | at Akron | L 88–99 | 6–4 | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,598) Akron, OH |
| 12/19/2016* 6:00 pm | | West Virginia Wesleyan | W 81–65 | 7–4 | Cam Henderson Center (5,196) Huntington, WV |
| 12/22/2016* 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | at No. 24 Cincinnati | L 91–93 $^{OT}$ | 7–5 | Fifth Third Arena (10,540) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/28/2016* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Pittsburgh | L 106–112 | 7–6 | Peterson Events Center (8,028) Pittsburgh, PA |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2016 1:00 pm | | at FIU | W 94–70 | 8–6 (1–0) | FIU Arena (598) Miami, FL |
| 01/02/2017 7:00 pm | | at Florida Atlantic | W 89–72 | 9–6 (2–0) | FAU Arena (1,009) Boca Raton, FL |
| 01/05/2017 7:00 pm | | Old Dominion | W 90–86 $^{OT}$ | 10–6 (3–0) | Cam Henderson Center (4,573) Huntington, WV |
| 01/07/2017 7:00 pm | | Charlotte | W 110–93 | 11–6 (4–0) | Cam Henderson Center (6,617) Huntington, WV |
| 01/12/2017 8:00 pm, beIN | | at Middle Tennessee | L 57–69 | 11–7 (4–1) | Murphy Center (4,598) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/14/2017 2:00 pm | | at UAB | L 78–94 | 11–8 (4–2) | Bartow Arena (3,275) Birmingham, AL |
| 01/21/2017 6:00 pm, ASN | | WKU | W 94–80 | 12–8 (5–2) | Cam Henderson Center (6,813) Huntington, WV |
| 01/26/2017 7:00 pm | | UTSA | W 92–71 | 13–8 (6–2) | Cam Henderson Center (5,297) Huntington, WV |
| 01/28/2017 7:00 pm | | UTEP | L 68–91 | 13–9 (6–3) | Cam Henderson Center (6,781) Huntington, WV |
| 02/02/2017 8:00 pm | | at Southern Miss | L 76–91 | 13–10 (6–4) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,373) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 02/04/2017 7:30 pm | | at Louisiana Tech | L 90–94 | 13–11 (6–5) | Thomas Assembly Center (4,804) Ruston, LA |
| 02/11/2017 6:00 pm, FCS | | at WKU | W 84–79 | 14–11 (7–5) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,742) Bowling Green, KY |
| 02/16/2017 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | UAB | W 74–59 | 15–11 (8–5) | Cam Henderson Center (5,637) Huntington, WV |
| 02/18/2017 6:00 pm, ASN | | Middle Tennessee | L 86–97 | 15–12 (8–6) | Cam Henderson Center (7,620) Huntington, WV |
| 02/23/2017 8:00 pm, beIN | | at Old Dominion | L 65–86 | 15–13 (8–7) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (6,248) Norfolk, VA |
| 02/25/2017 6:00 pm, ASN | | at Charlotte | W 93–89 | 16–13 (9–7) | Dale F. Halton Arena (7,040) Charlotte, NC |
| 03/02/2017 7:00 pm | | Rice | L 88–89 | 16–14 (9–8) | Cam Henderson Center (4,994) Huntington, WV |
| 03/04/2017 7:00 pm | | North Texas | W 106–104 | 17–14 (10–8) | Cam Henderson Center (6,017) Huntington, WV |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| 03/08/2017 9:00 pm, CI | (6) | vs. (11) Florida Atlantic First round | W 89–74 | 18–14 | Legacy Arena (6,410) Birmingham, AL |
| 03/09/2017 9:00 pm, ASN | (6) | vs. (3) Old Dominion Quarterfinals | W 64–63 | 19–14 | Legacy Arena (4,005) Birmingham, AL |
| 03/10/2017 3:00 pm, CBSSN | (6) | vs. (2) Louisiana Tech Semifinals | W 93–77 | 20–14 | Legacy Arena (3,299) Birmingham, AL |
| 03/11/2017 8:30 pm, CBSSN | (6) | vs. (1) Middle Tennessee Championship | L 72–83 | 20–15 | Legacy Arena (3,956) Birmingham, AL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||