The 2017–18 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball team represented the University of North Dakota during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Fighting Hawks, led by 12th-year head coach Brian Jones, played their home games at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 12–20, 6–12 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They defeated Montana State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Montana.
This season was the last for North Dakota as a full Big Sky member. On July 1, 2018, the school will join the Summit League in all sports except for football, in which it will remain a Big Sky member before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020.
Previous season The Fighting Hawks finished the 2016–17 season 22–10, 14–4 in Big Sky play to win the Big Sky regular season championship. In the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Portland State, Idaho, and Weber State to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and the school's first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament. As a No. 15 seed in the West region, they lost to No. 2-seeded and No. 4-ranked Arizona in the first round.
Offseason
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Corey Baldwin 1 G 6'3" 190 Senior Bridgeport, CT Graduated Carson Shanks 5 C 7'0" 230 RS Junior Prior Lake, MN Graduate transferred to Loyola–Chicago Shane Benton 10 C 7'0" 230 RS Senior Cedar Rapids, IA Graduated Wheeler Baker 13 G 6'2" 175 Sophomore Brooklyn Park, MN Left the team for personal reasons Thomas Blake 20 G 6'2" 200 RS Senior Hagerstown, MD Walk-on; graduated Quinton Hooker 21 G 6'0" 205 Senior Brooklyn Park, MD Graduated Devon Pekas 25 G 6'4" 210 Senior Hawley, MN Graduated Drick Bernstine 43 F 6'8" 220 RS Junior Aurora, CO Graduate transferred to Washington State
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Jaqwan McCauley 10 G/F 6'6" 210 Junior Greensboro, NC Junior college transferred from Tyler Junior College. Dale Jones 13 F 6'7" 227 Senior Waterloo, IA Transferred from Iowa. Will be eligible to play immediately since Jones graduated from Iowa.
2017 incoming recruits
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=| Regular season
!colspan=9 style=| Big Sky tournament
References