2017–18 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team

2017–18 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball
Conference	Atlantic Sun Conference
Record	14–16 (7–7 ASUN)
Head coach	Brian Kennedy (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Jeff Rafferty Stephen Sauers Kim Waiters
Home arena	Wellness and Events Center

2017–18 ASUN men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Florida Gulf Coast	12	–	2		.857			23	–	12		.657
Lipscomb †	10	–	4		.714			23	–	10		.697
Jacksonville	8	–	6		.571			15	–	18		.455
NJIT	7	–	7		.500			14	–	16		.467
North Florida	7	–	7		.500			14	–	19		.424
Kennesaw State	6	–	8		.429			10	–	20		.333
Stetson	4	–	10		.286			12	–	20		.375
USC Upstate	2	–	12		.143			7	–	25		.219
† 2018 ASUN Tournament winner

The 2017–18 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team represented the New Jersey Institute of Technology during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Highlanders, led by second-year head coach Brian Kennedy, played their home games at the Wellness and Events Center in Newark, New Jersey as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). They finished the season 14–16, 7–7 in ASUN play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament to North Florida.

The season marked the first season for the Wellness and Events Center, a $110 million athletic center on the school's campus.^[1]

Previous season

The Highlanders finished the 2016–17 season 11–20, 3–11 in ASUN play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament to Lipscomb.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Tim Coleman	2	G	6'5"	210	RS Senior	Union, NJ	Graduated
Damon Lynn	5	G	5'11"	165	Senior	Hillside, NJ	Graduated
James McMillon	15	G	6'1"	185	Junior	Newark, NJ	Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons
Ron Alston	21	G/F	6'6"	195	Freshman	Alexandria, VA	Transferred to Fairmont State
Osa Izevbuwa	23	G	6'3"	230	Senior	Staten Island, NY	Graduated
Rob Ukawuba	25	G	6'4"	210	Senior	East Brunswick, NJ	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Diandre Wilson	15	G	6'2"	170	Junior	Pompano Beach, FL	Junior college transferred from Mott CC

2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
David Kachelries #90 PG	Emmaus, PA	Emmaus High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 60
SanAntonio Brinson SF	Augusta, GA	South Kent School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Oct 14, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 59
Shawndale Jones #121 SG	Pittsburgh, PA	The Kiski School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	N/A	Oct 25, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 58
Zach Cooks PG	Lawrenceville, GA	Berkmar High School	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	140 lb (64 kg)	Aug 6, 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 27, 2017.

Roster

2017–18 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Abdul Lewis 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Jr Newark East Side South Alabama Newark, NJ F 1 Taj Price 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Newark East Side Newark, NJ F 2 San Antonio Brinson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Thomson/South Kent School Augusta, GA G/F 3 Chris Jenkins 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Sr Gill St. Bernard's Hofstra Hillside, NJ G 4 Zach Cooks 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Fr Berkmar Lawrenceville, GA G 10 David Kachelries 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Emmaus Emmaus, PA G 11 Shyquan Gibbs 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 150 lb (68 kg) So St. Anthony Hillside, NJ G/F 12 Anthony Tarke 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Gaithersburg Gaithersburg, MD G 14 Reilly Walsh 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr St. Peter's Boys Staten Island, NY G 15 Diandre Wilson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Blanche Ely Mott CC Fort Lauderdale, FL G 23 Shawndale Jones 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr The Kiski School Pittsburgh, PA G 32 Donovan Greer 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Hillcrest Academy San Jacinto College Houston, TX F 34 Mohamed Bendary 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So St. Anthony Jersey City, NJ	Head coach Brian Kennedy (Monmouth) Assistant coach(es) Jeff Rafferty (Springfield) Stephen Sauers (Albany) Kim Waiters (Robert Morris) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 11, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3		Wagner	L 49–60	0–1	13 – Tarke	12 – Lewis	4 – Lewis	Wellness and Events Center (2,907) Newark, NJ
November 14, 2017* 7:00 pm		Lafayette	W 96–80	1–1	20 – Wilson	15 – Lewis	2 – Tied	Wellness and Events Center (851) Newark, NJ
November 18, 2017* 4:00 pm, FS2		at No. 22 Seton Hall	L 53–82	1–2	10 – Lewis	5 – Tied	2 – Lewis	Prudential Center (6,743) Newark, NJ
November 22, 2017* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Kean	W 116–63	2–2	23 – Jones	7 – Lewis	5 – Tied	Wellness and Events Center (200) Newark, NJ
November 25, 2017* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Drexel	W 65–53	3–2	14 – Walsh	11 – Lewis	3 – Tied	Wellness and Events Center (677) Newark, NJ
November 28, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		LIU Brooklyn	W 73–69	4–2	23 – Lewis	18 – Lewis	4 – Lewis	Wellness and Events Center (407) Newark, NJ
November 30, 2017* 7:00 pm, ATTPT		at No. 19 West Virginia	L 69–102	4–3	13 – Tarke	7 – Lewis	2 – Cooks	WVU Coliseum (8,882) Morgantown, WV
December 3, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		UMass Lowell	W 78–65	5–3	18 – Tarke	6 – Tarke	3 – Tied	Wellness and Events Center  Newark, NJ
December 7, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN Plus		at Rutgers	L 64–73	5–4	19 – Tarke	12 – Tarke	3 – Tied	Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,732) Piscataway, NJ
December 9, 2017* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Iona	L 70–74 ^OT	5–5	21 – Tarke	15 – Lewis	3 – Tied	Wellness and Events Center (460) Newark, NJ
December 12, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Colgate	L 77–87	5–6	21 – Tarke	10 – Lewis	5 – Tarke	Cotterell Court (377) Hamilton, NY
December 16, 2017* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Fairleigh Dickinson	W 71–68	6–6	17 – Tied	8 – Wilson	3 – Tied	Wellness and Events Center (435) Newark, NJ
December 22, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Bryn Athyn	W 99–53	7–6	15 – Wilson	9 – Brinson	5 – Cooks	Wellness and Events Center (566) Newark, NJ
December 28, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Buffalo	L 81–86 ^OT	7–7	23 – Wilson	9 – Jones	2 – Tied	Alumni Arena (2,111) Buffalo, NY
January 3, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Brown	L 69–70	7–8	17 – Tarke	8 – Tied	6 – Tarke	Pizzitola Sports Center (336) Providence, RI
Atlantic Sun Conference regular season
January 6, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN3		USC Upstate	W 98–87	8–8 (1–0)	21 – Tarke	7 – Jones	9 – Bendary	Wellness and Events Center (618) Newark, NJ
January 11, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Stetson	L 67–80	8–9 (1–1)	23 – Tarke	6 – Tied	5 – Cooks	Edmunds Center (398) Deland, FL
January 13, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Florida Gulf Coast	L 54–68	8–10 (1–2)	12 – Cooks	8 – Tied	2 – Tied	Alico Arena (3,517) Fort Myers, FL
January 18, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		North Florida	W 91–59	9–10 (2–2)	17 – Wilson	6 – Tied	5 – Gibbs	Wellness and Events Center (555) Newark, NJ
January 20, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Jacksonville	L 61–63	9–11 (2–3)	16 – Lewis	14 – Lewis	3 – Gibbs	Wellness and Events Center (692) Newark, NJ
January 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Kennesaw State	W 66–60	10–11 (3–3)	27 – Tarke	9 – Tarke	4 – Wilson	KSU Convocation Center (1,119) Kennesaw, GA
January 27, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Lipscomb	L 79–86 ^OT	10–12 (3–4)	20 – Tarke	9 – Bendary	3 – Tied	Wellness and Events Center (662) Newark, NJ
January 29, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Kennesaw State	W 74–71	11–12 (4–4)	20 – Lewis	7 – Tarke	4 – Gibbs	Wellness and Events Center (593) Newark, NJ
February 3, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3		at Lipscomb	L 71–77	12–12 (5–4)	27 – Tied	13 – Lewis	5 – Lewis	Allen Arena (1,650) Nashville, TN
February 8, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Florida Gulf Coast	L 70–75	12–13 (5–5)	23 – Lewis	9 – Lewis	3 – Tied	Wellness and Events Center (661) Newark, NJ
February 10, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Stetson	L 80–84	12–14 (5–6)	21 – Cooks	13 – Lewis	4 – Cooks	Wellness and Events Center (788) Newark, NJ
February 15, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Jacksonville	W 71–69	13–14 (6–6)	18 – Tarke	8 – Lewis	3 – Cooks	Swisher Gymnasium (827) Jacksonville, FL
February 17, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at North Florida	L 75–86	13–15 (6–7)	20 – Tied	11 – Tarke	5 – Tarke	UNF Arena (2,292) Jacksonville, FL
February 22, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at USC Upstate	W 76–67	14–15 (7–7)	13 – Jones	11 – Lewis	4 – Tied	G. B. Hodge Center (833) Spartanburg, SC
Atlantic Sun tournament
February 26, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3	(4)	(5) North Florida Quarterfinals	L 76–80	14–16	15 – Brinson	12 – Lewis	4 – Gibbs	Wellness and Events Center (1,235) Newark, NJ
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[2][3]

References

1. "'We don't have anything like this.' NJIT unveils $110M athletic center". NJ.com. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
2. "2017-18 Men's Basketball Schedule". New Jersey Institute of Technology. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
3. "NJIT Highlanders Basketball 2017-18 Schedule - Highlanders Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 14, 2017.