2017–18 Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball team represented Florida Atlantic University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by fourth-year head coach Michael Curry, played their home games at the FAU Arena in Boca Raton, Florida as members of Conference USA (C-USA). They finished the season 12–19, 6–12 in C-USA play, to finish in a tie for 11th place. They lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to UAB.

2017–18 Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball
Conference	Conference USA
Record	12–19 (6–12 C-USA)
Head coach	Michael Curry (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Charlemagne Gibbons Ron Oliver Jorge Sanz
Home arena	FAU Arena
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 Conference USA men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Middle Tennessee	16	–	2		.889			25	–	8		.758
Old Dominion	15	–	3		.833			25	–	7		.781
Western Kentucky	14	–	4		.778			27	–	11		.711
Marshall †	12	–	6		.667			25	–	11		.694
UTSA	11	–	7		.611			20	–	15		.571
UAB	10	–	8		.556			20	–	13		.606
North Texas	8	–	10		.444			20	–	18		.526
FIU	8	–	10		.444			14	–	18		.438
Southern Miss	7	–	11		.389			16	–	18		.471
Louisiana Tech	7	–	11		.389			17	–	16		.515
Florida Atlantic	6	–	12		.333			12	–	19		.387
UTEP	6	–	12		.333			11	–	20		.355
Rice	4	–	14		.222			7	–	24		.226
Charlotte	2	–	16		.111			6	–	23		.207
† 2018 C-USA Tournament winner

March 16, 2018, head coach Michael Curry was fired after four seasons at Florida Atlantic.^[1] On March 22, it was announced that the school had hired Florida assistant head coach Dusty May as head coach.^[2]

Previous season

The Owls finished the 2016–17 season 10–20, 6–12 in C-USA play, to finish in a tie for 11th place. They lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to Marshall.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Adonis Filer	0	G	6'3"	195	RS Senior	Chicago Heights, IL	Graduated
Jeantal Cylla	1	G	6'6"	210	Sophomore	Lake Worth, TX	Transferred to UNC Wilmington
William Gibbons	4	G	6'1"	180	Junior	Lithonia, GA	Graduate transferred to Mid-America Christian
Nick Rutherford	10	G	6'3"	197	Sophomore	Allen, TX	Transferred to Monmouth
Frank Booker	11	G	6'4"	190	RS Junior	Augusta, GA	Graduate transferred to South Carolina
Marcus Neely	13	G	6'2"	215	RS Senior	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Graduated
Jordan Phillips	21	F	6'5"	195	Freshman	Colorado Springs, CO	Transferred to Coastal Alabama CC
Jesse Hill	24	F	6'8"	225	Sophomore	Waretown, NJ	Graduate transferred to Tarleton State
Connor Shorten	30	F	6'9"	245	Sophomore	Gladstone, NJ	Left the team for personal reasons

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Payton Hulsey	0	G	6'5"	215	Senior	Memphis, TN	Transferred from College of Charleston. Will be eligible to play immediately since Hulsey graduated from College of Charleston.
Je'Quan Perry	1	G	6'4"	215	Junior	Charleston, SC	Junior college transferred from Spartanburg Methodist
Anthony Adger	3	G	6'1"	185	RS Junior	Anderson, SC	Junior college transferred from Spartanburg Methodist
Simeon Lepichev	21	F	6'10"	235	Junior	Sofia, Bulgaria	Junior college transferred from Kankakee CC
Amir Smith	32	F	6'6"		Junior	Houston, TX	Junior college transferred from State Fair CC

2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Byron Abrams PG	Conyers, GA	Heritage High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Mar 21, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Chisom Obidike C	Uwani, Nigeria	Comenius School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	214 lb (97 kg)	Mar 21, 2016
	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 November 15, 2017.

Roster

2017–18 Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Payton Hulsey 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Sr Southwind/College of Charleston Memphis, TN G 1 Je'Quan Perry 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Charleston Collegiate Spartanburg Methodist College Charleston, SC G 2 Jason Massey 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Sr American Heritage Brown Cooper City, FL G 3 Anthony Adger 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Jr Crescent Spartanburg Methodist College Anderson, SC G 4 Byron Abrams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Heritage Decatur, GA F 5 William Pfister 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr NW Florida State Strasbourg, France G 10 Devorious Brown 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Morgan County Madison, GA F 11 Tre' Maloney (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 208 lb (94 kg) RS So Dillard Georgia Highlands College Fort Lauderdale, FL G 14 Gerdarius Troutman 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Taylor County Georgia Highlands College Butler, GA F 15 Jailyn Ingram 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Morgan County Madison, GA F/C 21 Simeon Lepichev 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 226 lb (103 kg) Jr Kankakee CC Sofia, Bulgaria C 30 Kevin Rostamian (W) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 270 lb (122 kg) So Cypress Bay Hillsborough CC Weston, FL F 32 Amir Smith 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Ridge Point State Fair CC Houston, TX C 33 Ronald Delph 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) RS Sr Lake Region Auburn Winter Haven, FL C 35 Chisom Obidike 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 214 lb (97 kg) Fr Comenius School Uwani, Nigeria	Head coach Michael Curry (Georgia Southern) Assistant coach(es) Charlemagne Gibbons (Auburn Montgomery) Ron Oliver (Michigan) Jorge Sanz (Florida Atlantic) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: August 24, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 4, 2017* 4:30 p.m., ESPN3		at Lynn	W 68–53		de Hoernle Center  Boca Raton, FL
Non-conference regular season
November 10, 2017* 8:00 p.m., ESPN3		at South Florida	L 59–60	0–1	USF Sun Dome (4,192) Tampa, FL
November 16, 2017* 11:00 a.m.		Edward Waters	W 91–59	1–1	FAU Arena (1,791) Boca Raton, FL
November 20, 2017* 7:30 p.m.		vs. Towson Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals	L 52–76	1–2	Germain Arena (823) Estero, FL
November 21, 2017* 1:30 p.m.		vs. Northern Illinois Gulf Coast Showcase consolation 2nd round	W 77–67	2–2	Germain Arena (841) Estero, FL
November 22, 2017* 1:30 p.m.		vs. Missouri State Gulf Coast Showcase 5th-place game	L 60–71	2–3	Germain Arena (868) Estero, FL
November 28, 2017* 3:30 p.m.		Ave Maria	W 91–54	3–3	FAU Arena  Boca Raton, FL
December 2, 2017* 7:00 p.m.		Bethune–Cookman	W 93–75	4–3	FAU Arena (881) Boca Raton, FL
December 5, 2017* 7:00 p.m.		at Florida Gulf Coast	W 92–88	5–3	Alico Arena (3,418) Fort Myers, FL
December 10, 2017* 12:00 p.m.		Webber International	W 106–46	6–3	FAU Arena  Boca Raton, FL
December 16, 2017* 7:00 p.m.		Arkansas State	L 63–64	6–4	FAU Arena  Boca Raton, FL
December 19, 2017* 8:00 p.m., FSSW+		at No. 21 Texas Tech	L 54–90	6–5	United Supermarkets Arena (7,731) Lubbock, TX
December 23, 2017* 3:30 p.m., BTN		at Minnesota	L 60–95	6–6	Williams Arena (12,357) Minneapolis, MN
Conference USA regular season
December 30, 2017 7:00 p.m.		at FIU	L 57–58	0–1 (6–7)	FIU Arena (589) Miami, Florida
January 4, 2018 7:00 p.m.		UAB	L 44–75	6–8 (0–2)	FAU Arena (1,091) Boca Raton, FL
January 6, 2018 5:00 p.m.		Middle Tennessee	L 57–61	6–9 (0–3)	FAU Arena  Boca Raton, FL
January 11, 2018 9:00 p.m.		at UTEP	W 73–66	7–9 (1–3)	Don Haskins Center (5,643) El Paso, TX
January 13, 2018 3:00 p.m.		at UTSA	W 73–69	8–9 (2–3)	Convocation Center (985) San Antonio, TX
January 18, 2018 7:00 p.m.		Charlotte	W 75–64	9–9 (3–3)	FAU Arena (1,307) Boca Raton, FL
January 21, 2018 2:00 p.m.		Old Dominion	L 62–73	9–10 (3–4)	FAU Arena (1,307) Boca Raton, FL
January 25, 2018 8:00 p.m., ESPN3		at North Texas	L 53–59	9–11 (3–5)	The Super Pit (1,952) Denton, TX
January 27, 2018 3:00 p.m.		at Rice	W 63–62	10–11 (4–5)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,866) Houston, TX
February 1, 2018 7:00 p.m., Stadium		Louisiana Tech	L 62–67	10–12 (4–6)	FAU Arena (1,472) Boca Raton, FL
February 3, 2018 7:00 p.m.		Southern Miss	L 66–77	10–13 (4–7)	FAU Arena (1,559) Boca Raton, FL
February 8, 2018 8:30 p.m.		at Western Kentucky	L 63–75	10–14 (4–8)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,617) Bowling Green, KY
February 10, 2018 7:00 p.m.		at Marshall	L 68–79	10–15 (4–9)	Cam Henderson Center (5,761) Huntington, WV
February 17, 2018 2:00 p.m.		FIU	W 77–72	11–15 (5–9)	FAU Arena (1,198) Boca Raton, FL
February 22, 2018 7:00 p.m.		Rice	L 76–79 OT	11–16 (5–10)	FAU Arena (1,188) Boca Raton, FL
February 24, 2018 7:00 p.m.		North Texas	W 74–54	12–16 (6–10)	FAU Arena (1,221) Boca Raton, FL
March 1, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3		at Old Dominion	L 64–69	12–17 (6–11)	Ted Constant Convocation Center (6,673) Norfolk, VA
March 3, 2018 7:30 p.m.		at Charlotte	L 78–85	12–18 (6–12)	Dale F. Halton Arena (4,587) Charlotte, NC
Conference USA tournament
March 7, 2018 9:00 p.m., Stadium	(11)	vs. (6) UAB First round	L 73–82	12–19	The Ford Center at The Star  Frisco, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[3][4]

References

1. Richardson, Shandel (March 16, 2018). "Florida Atlantic fires men's basketball coach Michael Curry". Sun-Sentinel. Boca Raton, FL. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
2. Richardson, Shandel (April 6, 2019). "FAU names former Gators assistant Dusty May as new men's basketball coach". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
3. "2017-18 Men's Basketball Schedule". fausports.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
4. "Florida Atlantic Owls Schedule 2017-18". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 24, 2024.