The 2017–18 Eastern Washington Eagles men's basketball team represented Eastern Washington University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles were led by first-year head coach Shantay Legans and played their home games at Reese Court in Cheney, Washington as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 20–15, 13–5 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for third place. At the Big Sky tournament they defeated Portland State and Southern Utah to advance to the championship game where they lost to Montana. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the first round to Utah Valley.
Previous season The Eagles finished the 2016–17 season 22–12, 13–5 in Big Sky play to finish in second place. As the No. 2 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Sacramento State in the quarterfinals before losing to Weber State in the semifinals. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the first round to Wyoming.
On March 29, 2017, head coach Jim Hayford left Eastern Washington to take the head coaching job at in-state rival Seattle and was replaced by top assistant Shantay Legans.
Offseason Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Julian Harrell 0 G 6'5" 195 RS Senior Los Angeles, CA Graduated Michael Wearne 5 G 6'2" 175 Freshman Croydon, Australia Transferred Jacob Wiley 24 F 6'7" 220 RS Senior Newport, WA Graduated/Went undrafted in 2017 NBA draft Geremy McKay 40 F 6'7" 225 RS Sophomore Melbourne, Australia Transferred Mario Soto 42 G 6'6" 205 RS Sophomore Irvine, CA Walk-on; didn't return Felix Von Hofe 44 F 6'5" 200 Senior Melbourne, Australia Graduated
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Tyler Kidd 0 G 5'11" Junior Seattle, WA Junior college transferred from Skagit Valley College. Benas Griciūnas 15 C 7'0" 244 RS Junior Šilutė, Lithuania Transferred from Charlotte. Was eligible to play immediately since Griciūnas graduated from Charlotte. Steven Beo 25 G 6'3" 180 Sophomore Richland, WA Transferred from BYU. Under NCAA transfer rules, Beo was required to sit out the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.
2017 recruiting class
Preseason In separate preseason polls of league coaches and media, the Eagles were picked to finish in seventh place (coaches) and sixth place (media) in the Big Sky. Senior forward Bogdan Bliznyuk was named to the preseason All-Big Sky team.
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
!colspan=9 style=| CBI
Source
See also 2017–18 Eastern Washington Eagles women's basketball team
References