2017–18 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 La Salle Explorers basketball team represented La Salle University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Explorers, led by 14th-year head coach John Giannini, played their home games at Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 13–19, 7–11 in A-10 play to finish in a three-way tie for 10th place. As the No. 12 seed in the A-10 tournament, they lost in the first round to Massachusetts.^[1]

2017–18 La Salle Explorers men's basketball
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Record	13–19 (7–11 A-10)
Head coach	John Giannini (14th season)
Assistant coaches	Horace Owens Sean Neal Donnie Carr
Home arena	Tom Gola Arena
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Rhode Island	15	–	3		.833			26	–	8		.765
St. Bonaventure	14	–	4		.778			26	–	8		.765
Davidson †	13	–	5		.722			21	–	12		.636
Saint Joseph's	10	–	8		.556			16	–	16		.500
VCU	9	–	9		.500			18	–	15		.545
Saint Louis	9	–	9		.500			17	–	16		.515
George Mason	9	–	9		.500			16	–	17		.485
Richmond	9	–	9		.500			12	–	20		.375
Dayton	8	–	10		.444			14	–	17		.452
Duquesne	7	–	11		.389			16	–	16		.500
George Washington	7	–	11		.389			15	–	18		.455
La Salle	7	–	11		.389			13	–	19		.406
Massachusetts	5	–	13		.278			13	–	20		.394
Fordham	4	–	14		.222			9	–	22		.290
† 2018 A10 Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

On March 23, 2018, head coach John Giannini and the school mutually agreed to part ways after 14 seasons.^[2] Giannini left with a 212–226 record at La Salle. On April 8, the school hired Villanova assistant Ashley Howard as head coach.^[3]

Previous season

The Explorers finished the 2016–17 season 15–15, 9–9 in A-10 play to finish in a tie for seventh place. As the No. 8 seed in the A-10 tournament, they lost to Davidson in the first round.^[4]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Cleon Roberts	3	G	6'6"	190	RS Senior	Miami, FL	Graduated
Hank Davis	4	G	5'11"	170	Senior	Cherry Hill, NJ	Graduated
Yevgen Sakhniuk	12	F	6'7"	235	Junior	Kyiv, Ukraine	Transferred to Philadelphia
Jordan Price	21	G	6'5"	220	RS Senior	Decatur, GA	Graduated
Demetrius Henry	24	F/C	6'9"	225	RS Junior	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Left the program^[5]

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Traci Carter	24	G	6'0"	175	Junior	Philadelphia, PA	Marquette

2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jamir Moultrie #70 PG	Bishop McNamara High School	Forestville, MD	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	Oct 28, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 72
Miles Brookins #81 PF	Mater Dei High School	Santa Ana, CA	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Oct 12, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 69
Dajour Joseph SF	Lauderdale Lakes, FL	Combine Prep Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Oct 31, 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 October 26, 2017.

2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jared Kimbrough #62 C	Neptune, NJ	Neptune High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	N/A	Sep 9, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 70
Jack Clark SF	Wyncote, PA	Cheltenham High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Oct 5, 2017
	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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 26, 2017.

Preseason

In a poll of the league’s head coaches and select media members at the conference's media day, the Hawks were picked to finish in ninth place in the A-10.^[6] Senior forward B.J. Johnson was named to the conference's preseason second team.^[6]

Roster

2017–18 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Pookie Powell 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Jr Dr. Philips Memphis Orlando, FL G 1 Johnnie Shuler 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Theodore Roosevelt Washington, D.C. G 2 Amar Stukes 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Sr La Salle College HS Philadelphia, PA G 3 Jamir Moultrie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Bishop McNamara Washington, D.C. F/C 4 Miles Brookins 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 207 lb (94 kg) Fr Mater Dei Cypress, CA C 5 Tony Washington 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Sr The Miller School (VA) Detroit, MI G 10 Isiah Deas 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Coastal Academy (NJ) Brooklyn, NY G 13 Saul Phiri 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Putnam Science Academy (CT) Haverhill, MA G/F 20 B. J. Johnson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Sr Lower Merion Syracuse Philadelphia, PA G/F 23 Dajour Joseph 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 207 lb (94 kg) Fr Combine Academy (NC) Haverhill, MA G 25 Traci Carter   6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Life Center Academy (NJ) Marquette Philadelphia, PA C 31 Cian Sullivan 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Fr St. Andrews Prep (RI) Tralee, Ireland	Head coach John Giannini (North Central (IL)) Assistant coach(es) Horace Owens (Rhode Island) Sean Neal (La Salle) Donnie Carr (La Salle) 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	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 2, 2017* 7:30 pm		at No. 23 Seton Hall Charity Exhibition	L 74–87		Walsh Gymnasium (1,140) South Orange, NJ
Nov 4, 2017* 2:00 pm		Shippensburg	W 74–60		Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
Non-conference regular season
Nov 11, 2017* 3:00 pm		Saint Peter's Hall of Fame Tip Off	W 61–40	1–0	Tom Gola Arena (2,822) Philadelphia, PA
Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm, NBCSP		at Penn Big 5	W 75–71 ^2OT	2–0	Palestra (2,073) Philadelphia, PA
Nov 16, 2017* 7:00 pm		South Alabama Hall of Fame Tip Off	W 81–73	3–0	Tom Gola Arena (1,488) Philadelphia, PA
Nov 18, 2017* 2:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. No. 20 Northwestern Hall of Fame Tip Off Naismith Bracket semifinals	L 74–82	3–1	Mohegan Sun Arena  Uncasville, CT
Nov 19, 2017* 3:00 pm, ESPN2		vs. Boston College Hall of Fame Tip Off Naismith Bracket third place game	L 61–82	3–2	Mohegan Sun Arena  Uncasville, CT
Nov 22, 2017* 6:00 pm		vs. No. 11 Miami (FL) Reading Showcase	L 46–57	3–3	Santander Arena (6,735) Reading, PA
Nov 26, 2017* 5:00 pm, NBCSN		Temple Big 5	W 87–83	4–3	Tom Gola Arena (2,855) Philadelphia, PA
Dec 1, 2017* 2:00 pm, CBSSN		vs. Towson Hall of Fame Belfast Classic semifinals	L 60–67	4–4	SSE Arena (5,256) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Dec 2, 2017* 9:30 am, CBSSN		vs. Holy Cross Hall of Fame Belfast Classic 3rd place game	W 58–54	5–4	SSE Arena (3,882) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Dec 7, 2017* 7:00 pm		Drexel	L 70–72	5–5	Tom Gola Arena (1,451) Philadelphia, PA
Dec 10, 2017* 12:00 pm, FS1		at No. 4 Villanova Big 5	L 68–77	5–6	Wells Fargo Center (10,611) Philadelphia, PA
Dec 17, 2017* 4:30 pm		Mercer	W 95–85	6–6	Tom Gola Arena (1,251) Philadelphia, PA
Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Bucknell	L 81–87	6–7	Sojka Pavilion (2,553) Lewisburg, PA
Atlantic 10 regular season
Dec 30, 2017 2:00 pm		Saint Louis	W 83–60	7–7 (1–0)	Tom Gola Arena (1,437) Philadelphia, PA
Jan 3, 2018 7:00 pm		at Rhode Island	L 62–74	7–8 (1–1)	Ryan Center (4,549) Kingston, RI
Jan 6, 2018 2:00 pm, NBCSN		VCU	L 74–80	7–9 (1–2)	Tom Gola Arena (2,312) Philadelphia, PA
Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm, NBCSN		at Massachusetts	L 79–86 ^OT	7–10 (1–3)	Mullins Center (2,056) Amherst, MA
Jan 13, 2018 12:30 pm, NBCSN		at Duquesne	L 94–101 ^3OT	7–11 (1–4)	Palumbo Center (2,145) Pittsburgh, PA
Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm		Fordham	W 75–67	8–11 (2–4)	Tom Gola Arena (1,458) Philadelphia, PA
Jan 20, 2018 2:30 pm, NBCSN		at Richmond	L 74–81	8–12 (2–5)	Robins Center (6,686) Richmond, VA
Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm		Massachusetts	W 87–72	9–12 (3–5)	Tom Gola Arena (1,214) Philadelphia, PA
Jan 31, 2018 7:00 pm, Stadium		at Davidson	L 65–84	9–13 (3–6)	John M. Belk Arena (3,248) Davidson, NC
Feb 3, 2018 4:00 pm, CBSSN		Saint Joseph's Big 5	W 81–78	10–13 (4–6)	Tom Gola Arena (3,045) Philadelphia, PA
Feb 7, 2018 7:00 pm		at George Washington	L 69–80	10–14 (4–7)	Charles E. Smith Center (2,017) Washington, DC
Feb 10, 2018 8:00 pm		at Saint Louis	L 62–70	10–15 (4–8)	Chaifetz Arena (5,229) St. Louis, MO
Feb 13, 2018 7:00 pm		St. Bonaventure	L 68–79	10–16 (4–9)	Tom Gola Arena (1,312) Philadelphia, PA
Feb 17, 2018 2:00 pm		George Mason	W 69–62	11–16 (5–9)	Tom Gola Arena (2,801) Philadelphia, PA
Feb 20, 2018 7:00 pm, CBSSN		No. 18 Rhode Island	L 93–95 ^OT	11–17 (5–10)	Tom Gola Arena (1,841) Philadelphia, PA
Feb 24, 2018 2:00 pm		at Fordham	W 73–60	12–17 (6–10)	Rose Hill Gymnasium (2,366) Bronx, NY
Feb 28, 2018 7:00 pm		Dayton	W 71–53	13–17 (7–10)	Tom Gola Arena (1,378) Philadelphia, PA
Mar 3, 2018 2:00 pm, Stadium		at Saint Joseph's Big 5	L 70–78	13–18 (7–11)	Hagan Arena (4,200) Philadelphia, PA
Atlantic 10 tournament
Mar 7, 2018 6:00 pm, Stadium	(12)	vs. (13) Massachusetts First round	L 67–69	13–19	Capital One Arena (5,333) Washington, DC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[7][8]

References

1. "UMass holds off La Salle 69-67 in A10 Tournament first round". FOX Sports. March 7, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
2. "La Salle splits with coach John Giannini after 14 years". lancasteronline.com. Associated Press. March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}
3. "Ashley Howard will be next La Salle basketball coach - Philly". Philly.com. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
4. "Davidson vs. La Salle - Game Recap - March 9, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
5. "Demetrius Henry explains his departure from La Salle". A-10 Talk. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
6. "Rhode Island Picked to Win A-10 Men's Basketball". Atlantic10.com. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
7. "La Salle Explorers Basketball 2017-18 Schedule - Explorers Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
8. "The Official Athletics Website of La Salle University Athletics". www.goexplorers.com. Retrieved October 26, 2017.