The 2017–18 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by head coach Rick Stansbury in his second season and played their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky as fourth-year members of Conference USA.
On October 16, 2017, assistant coach Ben Hansbrough resigned from WKU following his DUI arrest two days prior.
They finished the season 27–11, 14–4 in C-USA play to finish in third place. They defeated UAB and Old Dominion to advance to the championship game of the C-USA tournament where they lost to Marshall.C-USA 2019-20 MEN'S BASKETBALL STATS, retrieved 29 April 2020 They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Boston College, USC, and Oklahoma State to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Utah.2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
Previous season The Hilltoppers finished the 2016–17 season with 15–17, 9–9 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost to UTSA in the first round of the C-USA tournament.
Offseason
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Jabari McGhee 00 F 6'7" 205 RS Sophomore Albany, Georgia Left for the team for personal reasons Tobias Howard 1 G 6'2" 182 Freshman Lithonia, GA Transferred to Chipola College Damari Parris 3 G 6'0" 160 Sophomore Bowie, MD Transferred to Trinity Valley CC Junior Lomomba 5 G 6'5" 205 RS Senior Montreal, QE Graduated Cleveland Thomas 12 G 6'4" 195 RS Senior Baton Rouge, LA Graduated Benjamin Lawson 14 F/C 7'1" 235 Senior Hitchin, England Graduated Marko Stajkovski 21 G 6'7" 195 Freshman Novi Sad, Serbia Transferred to Mineral Area College Willie Carmichael 24 F 6'8" 210 RS Sophomore Apopka, FL Dismissed from the team Que Johnson 32 G 6'6" 205 RS Senior Pontiac, MI Graduated Anton Waters 42 F 6'7" 245 Senior Baltimore, MD Graduated Marty Leahy 43 G 6'5" 210 Freshman Brisbane, Australia Left for the team for personal reasons
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Darius Thompson 15 G 6'4" 196 Graduate Student Murfreesboro, Tennessee Transferred from Virginia. Thompson will play in the 2017–18 season. Dwight Coleby 22 F 6'9" 240 Graduate Student Nassau, Bahamas Transferred from Kansas. Coleby will play in the 2017–18 season. Jared Savage 2 G/F 6'5" 190 Junior Bowling Green, Kentucky Transferred from Austin Peay. Will sit out the 2017–18 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
2017 recruiting class Mitchell Robinson, a McDonald's All-American and a projected first-round pick in the 2018 NBA draft, committed to Western Kentucky a few weeks after the school hired his godfather, Shammond Williams. He signed a National Letter of Intent in November 2016 and enrolled at the school in July 2017. However, later in July, he left the school amid reports that he was unhappy at the school. Head coach Rick Stansbury and the school issued a statement that Robinson was suspended and would not be going on the team's trip to Costa Rica in August. However, asking to be released from his Letter of Intent and being released, he made visits to LSU, Kansas, and New Orleans. At the end of August, he returned to the school and enrolled and stated that he intends to play for Western Kentucky. On September 17, Robinson again left the university announcing he will prepare for the NBA and will not play college basketball.
Costa Rica trip The Hilltoppers announced that they would be participating in a seven-day, three-game foreign tour to Costa Rica in August.
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=|Costa Rica trip
!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=12 style=| Conference USA regular season
!colspan=9 style=| Conference USA Tournament
!colspan=9 style=| NIT
See also 2017–18 WKU Lady Toppers basketball team
References