The 2016–17 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team represented Kent State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Flashes, led by sixth year head coach Rob Senderoff, played their home games at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, also known as the MAC Center, as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. Kent State finished the regular season 22–14, 10–8 in MAC play to finish fourth in the MAC East division. As the No. 6 seed in the MAC tournament, the Flashes defeated Central Michigan, Buffalo, Ohio, and Akron to win the tournament for the first time since 2008. As a result, the Flashes received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 14 seed in the South region. In the first round, they lost to UCLA.
Previous season The Golden Flashes finished the 2015–16 season 19–13, 10–8 in MAC play to finish in a tie for third place in the East Division. They lost in the first round of the MAC tournament to Bowling Green. Despite having 19 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.
Offseason
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Xavier Pollard 1 G 6'4" 210 RS Senior Bronx, NY Graduated Marvin Jones 3 F/C 6'10" 205 RS Junior Chicago, IL Graduate transferred to Texas Southern Chris Ortiz 4 F 6'8" 225 Senior Brooklyn, NY Graduated Kellon Thomas 5 G 5'11" 190 RS Junior Indianapolis, IN Graduate transferred to IUPUI Kahliq Spicer 21 F 6'9" 230 Senior Detroit, MI Graduated Raasean Davis 32 F 6'8" 260 Sophomore Chicago, IL Transferred to North Carolina Central
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Adonis DeLaRosa 1 C 7'0" 280 RS Sophomore Bronx, NY Junior college transferred from Williston State Jerrelle DeBerry 3 G 6'5" 200 Junior Milwaukee, WI Junior college transferred from Indian Hills CC Taishaun Johnson 4 G 6'0" 172 Junior Indianapolis, IN Transferred from South Alabama. Under NCAA transfer rules, Johnson will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. Leo Edwards 33 F 6'8" 235 Junior Detroit, MI Junior college transferred from Santa Fe College Kevin Zabo 55 G 6'2" 185 Junior Gatineau, QE Junior college transferred from Indian Hills CC
2016 recruiting class
2017 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style=| MAC regular season
!colspan=9 style=| MAC tournament
!colspan=9 style=| NCAA tournament
See also 2016–17 Kent State Golden Flashes women's basketball team
References