The 2016–17 CAA men's basketball season marked the 32nd season of Colonial Athletic Association basketball. The season began with practices in October 2016, followed by the start of the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in late December and concluded in late February.

On February 23, 2017, UNC Wilmington clinched the regular season CAA championship, their third consecutive CAA championship. The College of Charleston finished in second place.

The CAA tournament was held from March 3–6, 2017 at North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, South Carolina. UNC Wilmington defeated College of Charleston to win the tournament championship, their second consecutive tournament championship. As a result, UNC Wilmington received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. College of Charleston received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament. Towson was invited to play in the College Basketball Invitational, but declined the invitation.

Head coaches

Coaching changes On March 7, 2016, Bruiser Flint was fired as head basketball coach after 15 seasons with Drexel. On March 24, 2016, Drexel announced that Zach Spiker was hired to replace Bruiser Flint as head coach. James Madison, despite finishing with 21 wins, fired head coach Matt Brady on March 14, 2016. He was 139–127 in eight seasons with James Madison. On March 31, 2016, the school hired Louis Rowe, a JMU alum, as head coach. Delaware Head coach Monté Ross was fired following the season. On May 24, the school hired Martin Ingelsby as his replacement.

Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Year at school Overall record CAA record CAA championships NCAA TournamentsCollege of CharlestonEarl GrantClemson(asst.)351–48 25–29 00DelawareMartin IngelsbyNotre Dame(asst.)113–205–1300DrexelZach SpikerArmy19–233–1500ElonMatt MathenyDavidson(asst.)8126–13023–3100HofstraJoe MihalichNiagara469–64 36–34 00James MadisonLouis RoweBowling Green(asst.)110–23 7–1100NortheasternBill CoenBoston College{asst.)11177–174 109–87 11TowsonPat SkerryPittsburgh(asst.)698–101 54–52 00UNC WilmingtonKevin KeattsLouisville(asst.)372–28 41–13 22William & MaryTony ShaverHampden-Sydney College14192–239 110–153 00 Notes: All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. Year at school includes 2016–17 season. Overall and CAA records are from time at current school and are through the end of the 2016–17 season.

Preseason

Preseason poll Source RankTeam1 UNC Wilmington (37)2 Towson (2)3 William & Mary (1)4 College of Charleston5 James Madison6 Hofstra7 Northeastern8 Elon9 Drexel10 Delaware () first place votes

Preseason Awards Source Award RecipientsPreseason Player of the YearChris Flemmings (UNC Wilmington) Preseason All-CAA First Team William Adala Moto (Towson) Jarrell Brantley (College of Charleston) Chris Flemmings (UNC Wilmington) Rokas Gustys (Hofstra) Omar Prewitt (William & Mary) Preseason All-CAA Second Team Shakir Brown (James Madison) Daniel Dixon (William & Mary) Denzel Ingram (UNC Wilmington) Cameron Johnson (College of Charleston) Mike Morsell (Towson) Preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention Brian Bernardi (Hofstra) C. J. Bryce (UNC Wilmington) Chivarsky Corbett (Delaware) Yohanny Dalembert (James Madison) Jeremy Miller (Northeastern) Tyler Seibring (Elon) Rodney Williams (Drexel)

Colonial Athletic Association Preseason Player of the Year: Chris Flemmings (UNC Wilmington)

Regular season

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.   College of CharlestonDelawareDrexelElonHofstraJames MadisonNortheasternTowsonUNC WilmingtonWilliam & Maryvs. College of Charleston – 0–20–20–20–20–21–11–11–11–1vs. Delaware2–00–21–11–12–00–21–12–02–02–0vs. Drexel2–01–1 – 2–01–12–02–02–02–01–1vs. Elon2–01–10–2 – 0–21–11–11–11–11–1vs. Hofstra2–00–21–12–0 – 1–10–22–02–01–1vs. James Madison2–02–00–21–11–1 – 1–11–12–01–1vs. Northeastern1–11–10–21–12–01–1 – 1–12–01–1vs. Towson1–10–20–21–10–21–11–1 – 2–01–1vs. UNC Wilmington1–10–20–21–10–20–20–20–2 – 1–1vs. William & Mary1–10–21–11–11–11–11–11–11–1 – Total14–45–133–1510–87–117–118–1011–715–310–8

CAA Players of the Week

Nov. 14 – T. J. Williams (Northeastern) Nov. 21 – Devontae Cacok (UNCW) Nov. 28 – Luke Eddy (Elon) Dec. 5 – Jarrell Brantley (Charleston), Brian Dawkins (Elon) Dec. 12 – Denzel Ingram (UNCW), Rodney Williams (Drexel) Dec. 19 – Alex Murphy (Northeastern) Dec. 26 – T. J. Williams (Northeastern) (2) Jan. 2 – Daniel Dixon (William & Mary) Jan. 9 – Joe Chealey (Charleston) Jan. 16 – William Adala Moto (Towson), Chris Flemmings (UNCW) Jan. 23 – Tyler Seibring (Elon), Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra) Jan. 30 – Omar Prewitt (William & Mary), Tyler Seibring (Elon) (2) Feb. 6 – Daniel Dixon (William & Mary) (2) Feb. 13 – Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra) (2) Feb. 20 – Mike Morsell (Towson) Feb. 27 – C. J. Bryce (UNCW)

CAA Rookies of the Week

Nov. 14 – Eli Pemberton (Hofstra), Grant Riller (Charleston) Nov. 21 – Kurk Lee (Drexel) Nov. 28 – Max Boursiquot (Northeastern) Dec. 5 – Eli Pemberton (Hofstra)(2) Dec. 12 – Ryan Daly (Delaware) Dec. 19 – Eli Pemberton (Hofstra)(3) Dec. 26 – Kári Jónsson (Drexel) Jan. 2 – Ryan Daly (Delaware)(2) Jan. 9 – Ryan Daly (Delaware)(3) Jan. 16 – Grant Riller (Charleston)(2) Jan. 23 – Ryan Daly (Delaware)(4) Jan. 30 – Grant Riller (Charleston)(3) Feb. 6 – Bolden Brace (Northeastern), Kurk Lee (Drexel)(2) Feb. 13 – Ryan Daly (Delaware)(5), Grant Riller (Charleston)(4) Feb. 20 – Ryan Daly (Delaware)(6) Feb. 27 – Bolden Brace (Northeastern)(2)

CAA honors and awards Award Recipients Coach of the Year Earl Grant (College of Charleston) Player of the Year T. J. Williams (Northeastern) Defensive Player of the Year Devontae Cacok (UNC Wilmington) Rookie of the Year Ryan Daly (Delaware) Dean Ehlers Leadership Award Evan Bailey (College of Charleston) First Team C. J. Bryce (UNC Wilmington) Joe Chealey (College of Charleston) Daniel Dixon (William & Mary) Chris Flemmings (UNC Wilmington) T. J. Williams (Northeastern) Second Team Jarrell Brantley (College of Charleston) Denzel Ingram (UNC Wilmington) Omar Prewitt (William & Mary) Tyler Seibring (Elon) Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra) Third Team Devontae Cacok (UNC Wilmington) Ryan Daly (Delaware) John Davis (Towson) Mike Morsell (Towson) Rodney Williams (Drexel) All-Defensive Team Devon Begley (Northeastern) Jarrell Brantley (College of Charleston) Devontae Cacok (UNC Wilmington) Cameron Johnson (College of Charleston) Deshaun Morman (Towson) All-Rookie Team Ryan Daly (Delaware) Nathan Knight (William & Mary) Kurk Lee (Drexel) Eli Pemberton (Hofstra) Grant Riller (College of Charleston) All-Academic Team William Adala Moto (Towson) Evan Bailey (College of Charleston) Dimitrije Cabarkapa (James Madison) Rokas Gustys (Hofstra) Curtis Lochner (Delaware) John Moran (Drexel) Ambrose Mosley (UNC Wilmington) Paul Rowley (William & Mary) Patrick Ryan (Elon) Hunter Sabety (Hofstra) Steven Santa Ana (Elon) Paulius Satkus (James Madison) Tyler Seibring (Elon) Dainan Swoope (Elon) Rodney Williams (Drexel) All-Tournament Team C. J. Bryce (UNC Wilmington) Jarrell Brantley (College of Charleston) Devontae Cacok (UNC Wilmington) Joe Chealey (College of Charleston) Ryan Daly (Delaware) Denzel Ingram (UNC Wilmington) Tournament MVP C. J. Bryce (UNC Wilmington)

Postseason

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament

SessionGameTime*MatchupScoreAttendance Television First round – Friday March 3, 2017116:00 PMNo. 9 Delaware vs No. 8 Hofstra 81–761,794CAA.tv28:30 PMNo. 10 Drexel vs No. 7 James Madison70–801,889CAA.tv Quarterfinals – Saturday March 4, 20172312:00 PMNo. 9 Delaware vs No. 1 UNC Wilmington82–914,217Comcast SportsNet42:30 PMNo. 5 Elon vs No. 4 William & Mary66–714,096Comcast SportsNet356:00 PMNo. 7 James Madison vs No. 2 College of Charleston62–674,212Comcast SportsNet68:30 PMNo. 6 Northeastern vs No. 3 Towson54–824,143Comcast SportsNet Semifinals – Sunday March 5, 2017472:00 PMNo. 4 William & Mary vs No. 1 UNC Wilmington94–1054,389Comcast SportsNet84:30 PMNo. 3 Towson vs No. 2 College of Charleston59–674,708Comcast SportsNet Championship – Monday March 6, 2017597:00 PMNo. 2 College of Charleston vs No. 1 UNC Wilmington69–786,342CBS Sports Network *Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed

NCAA tournament

The CAA had one bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, that being the automatic bid of UNC Wilmington by winning the conference tournament.

Seed Region School First Four First round Second round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship 12 East UNC WilmingtonN/A Eliminated by (5) Virginia 71–76 BidsW-L (%): TOTAL:

National Invitation Tournament

The College of Charleston was invited to play in the 2017 National Invitation Tournament.

Seed School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship 5 College of Charleston Eliminated by Colorado State 74–81 BidsW-L (%): TOTAL:

References