The 2017–18 Southern Utah Thunderbirds basketball team represented Southern Utah University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thunderbirds were led by second-year head coach Todd Simon and played their home games at the America First Events Center in Cedar City, Utah as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 13–19, 5–13 in Big Sky play to finish in tenth place. In the Big Sky tournament they defeated Idaho State and Idaho to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Eastern Washington.
Previous season The Thunderbirds finished the 2016–17 season 6–27, 3–15 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for 11th. As the No. 11 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Montana State in the first round before losing to Weber State in the quarterfinals.
Offseason Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Randy Onwausor 2 G 6'3" 210 RS Junior Inglewood, CA Graduate transferred to LSU Decardo Day 3 G 6'4" 170 Freshman Jackson, MS Transferred Neema Namdar 4 G 6'1" 170 Freshman Sandy, UT Transferred to Utah State University Eastern John Marshall 5 G 6'1" 180 Senior Phoenix, AZ Graduated Will Joyce 11 F 6'5" 205 Senior Newark, NJ Graduated Race Parsons 13 G 6'4" 185 Senior Monroe, UT Graduated Adonis Saltes 24 G 6'2" 180 Sophomore Pine Ridge, SD Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons Brayden Holker 35 F 6'9" 225 RS Freshman Saratoga Springs, UT Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Jamil Jackson 1 G 6'6" 190 Sophomore Minneapolis, MN Junior college transferred from Williston State College Brandon Better 2 G 6'2" 180 Junior Suitland, MD Junior college transferred from Moberly Area CC Jamal Aytes 15 F 6'6" 235 RS Senior San Diego, CA Transferred from Southern Utah. Will be eligible to play immediately since Aytes graduated from BYU. Cameron Oluyitan 23 G 6'6" 183 Junior Houston, TX Transferred from Boise State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Oluyitan will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. Andre Adams 32 F 6'9" 225 RS Sophomore Avondale, AZ Transferred from Arizona State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Adams will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.
2017 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
! colspan="9" style=| Exhibition
! colspan="9" style=|Non-conference regular season
! colspan="9" style=| Big Sky regular season
! colspan="9" style=| Big Sky tournament
References