2016–17 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball team represented the University of Vermont during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Catamounts, led by sixth-year head coach John Becker, played their home games at Patrick Gym in Burlington, Vermont and were members of the America East Conference. They finished the season 29–6, 16–0 in America East play to win the America East regular season championship. In the America East tournament, they defeated Maine, New Hampshire and Albany to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As a No. 13 seed in the Midwest region, they lost to No. 4-seeded Purdue in the first round.

2016–17 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball
America East regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	America East Conference
Record	29–6 (16–0 America East)
Head coach	John Becker (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Kyle Cieplicki Ryan Schneider Hamlet Tibbs
Home arena	Patrick Gym

2016–17 America East Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Vermont †	16	–	0		1.000			29	–	6		.829
Stony Brook	12	–	4		.750			18	–	14		.563
Albany	10	–	6		.625			21	–	14		.600
New Hampshire	10	–	6		.625			20	–	12		.625
UMBC	9	–	7		.563			21	–	13		.618
UMass Lowell*	5	–	11		.313			11	–	20		.355
Hartford	4	–	12		.250			9	–	23		.281
Binghamton	3	–	13		.188			12	–	20		.375
Maine	3	–	13		.188			7	–	25		.219
* Ineligible for postseason during transition to Division I.
† 2017 America East tournament winner

Previous season

The Catamounts finished the 2015–16 season 23–14, 11–5 in America East play to finish in a tie for third place. They defeated Maine and New Hampshire to advance to the championship game of the America East tournament where they lost to Stony Brook. They received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational. There, they defeated Western Carolina and Seattle to advance to the semifinals before losing to Nevada.

Preseason

Vermont was picked to finish first in the preseason America East poll. Trae Bell-Haynes was selected to the preseason All-America East team.

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Dylan Sinnickson	5	F	6'5"	195	Senior	Sands Point, NY	Walk-on; graduated
Ethan O'Day	32	F	6'9"	201	Senior	Mansfield, CT	Graduated

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Samuel Dingba	5	F	6'5"	205	Junior	Yaoundé, Cameroon	Transferred from Quinnipiac. Under NCAA transfer rules, Dinga will not play for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.

2016 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Anthony Lamb #86 PF	Rochester, NY	Greece Athena High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sep 7, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 65
Ben Shungu PG	Burlington, VT	Rice Memorial High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jan 19, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 0
Kian Dalyrimple SG	Dix Hills, NY	Half Hallow Hills West High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	May 12, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 0
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 29, 2016.

Roster

2016–17 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Ben Shungu (W)  6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Rice Memorial Burlington, VT G/F 1 Josh Hearlihy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 213 lb (97 kg) RS Jr Northfield Mount Hermon Tulane Los Angeles, CA G 2 Trae Bell-Haynes 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Bill Crothers Secondary Toronto, ON F 3 Anthony Lamb 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 227 lb (103 kg) Fr Greece Athena Rochester, NY G 4 David Urso (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Central Catholic Pittsburgh, PA F 5 Sam Dingba  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Salisbury School Qunnipiac Yaoundé, Cameroon F 12 Darren Payen 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 217 lb (98 kg) RS Sr Hamden Hall Hofstra Milford, CT G 14 Cam Ward 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Marshall Marshall, WI G 15 Kian Dalyrimple  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 177 lb (80 kg) Fr Half Hollow Hills West Dix Hills, NY G 20 Ernie Duncan 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Harrison Evansville, IN G 21 Everett Duncan  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Harrison Evansville, IN G 24 Dre Wills 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Mercersburg Academy Indianapolis, IN F 25 Drew Urquhart 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 219 lb (99 kg) Jr Eastside Catholic Vancouver, BC F 32 Josh Speidel  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Columbus North Columbus, IN G/F 34 Kurt Steidl 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 181 lb (82 kg) Sr Ridgefield Ridgefield, CT F 35 Payton Henson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Jr Siloam Springs Tulane Siloam Springs, AR F 44 Nate Rohrer (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Jr Leland Underhill, VT	Head coach John Becker (Catholic) Assistant coach(es) Kyle Cieplicki (Vermont) Ryan Schneider (Marist) Hamlet Tibbs (West Virginia) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
10/29/2016* 7:00 pm		Quebec–Montreal	W 89–66		Patrick Gym (2,028) Burlington, VT
11/07/2016* 7:00 pm		Saint Michael's	W 94–65		Patrick Gym (2,404) Burlington, VT
Non-conference regular season
11/12/2016* 1:00 pm		at Quinnipiac	W 94–70	1–0	TD Bank Sports Center (1,517) Hamden, CT
11/14/2016* 7:00 pm, FS2		at Providence	L 58–80	1–1	Dunkin' Donuts Center (8,310) Providence, RI
11/16/2016* 7:00 pm		at Marist	W 76–72	2–1	McCann Field House (1,112) Poughkeepsie, NY
11/19/2016* 1:00 pm		Lyndon State Gulf Coast Showcase Opening Round	W 79–20	3–1	Patrick Gym (1,955) Burlington, VT
11/21/2016* 11:00 am		vs. Wofford Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals	W 60–59	4–1	Germain Arena  Estero, FL
11/22/2016* 5:00 pm		vs. Hofstra Gulf Coast Showcase semifinals	W 87–73	5–1	Germain Arena  Estero, FL
11/23/2016* 7:30 pm		vs. Houston Gulf Coast Showcase finals	L 71–72	5–2	Germain Arena  Estero, FL
11/26/2016* 1:00 pm		Yale	W 67–65	6–2	Patrick Gym (2,173) Burlington, VT
12/01/2016* 6:30 pm		at No. 20 South Carolina	L 50–68	6–3	Colonial Life Arena (11,579) Columbia, SC
12/07/2016* 7:00 pm		Dartmouth	W 73–58	7–3	Patrick Gym (2,186) Burlington, VT
12/10/2016* 1:00 pm		Northeastern	L 57–59	7–4	Patrick Gym (2,284) Burlington, VT
12/17/2016* 1:00 pm		Eastern Michigan	W 82–74	8–4	Patrick Gym (1,775) Burlington, VT
12/21/2016* 7:00 pm, FSN		at No. 13 Butler	L 69–81	8–5	Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,898) Indianapolis, IN
12/29/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Siena	W 76–60	9–5	Times Union Center (6,176) Albany, NY
01/02/2017* 7:00 pm		Harvard	W 82–71	10–5	Patrick Gym (2,312) Burlington, VT
America East regular season
01/05/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Maine	W 90–77	11–5 (1–0)	Cross Insurance Center (798) Bangor, ME
01/08/2017 4:00 pm		Hartford	W 85–54	12–5 (2–0)	Patrick Gym (2,192) Burlington, VT
01/11/2017 7:00 pm		at Binghamton	W 67–50	13–5 (3–0)	Binghamton University Events Center (1,878) Vestal, NY
01/13/2017 7:00 pm		UMBC	W 81–72	14–5 (4–0)	Patrick Gym (2,341) Burlington, VT
01/16/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at New Hampshire	W 71–59	15–5 (5–0)	Lundholm Gym (881) Durham, NH
01/19/2017 7:00 pm		UMass Lowell	W 81–67	16–5 (6–0)	Patrick Gym (2,326) Burlington, VT
01/25/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Albany	W 60–49	17–5 (7–0)	SEFCU Arena (2,822) Albany, NY
01/28/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Stony Brook	W 71–64	18–5 (8–0)	Island Federal Credit Union Arena (4,009) Stony Brook, NY
02/01/2017 7:00 pm		Maine	W 74–53	19–5 (9–0)	Patrick Gym (2,384) Burlington, VT
02/04/2017 7:00 pm		at Hartford	W 79–66	20–5 (10–0)	Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (1,898) Hartford, CT
02/06/2017 7:00 pm		Binghamton	W 71–51	21–5 (11–0)	Patrick Gym (2,615) Burlington, VT
02/09/2017 9:00 pm, ESPNU		New Hampshire	W 82–74	22–5 (12–0)	Patrick Gym (1,775) Burlington, VT
02/12/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at UMBC	W 77–74	23–5 (13–0)	Retriever Activities Center (1,219) Catonsville, MD
02/15/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at UMass Lowell	W 87–66	24–5 (14–0)	Tsongas Center (2,540) Lowell, MA
02/22/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Albany	W 62–50	25–5 (15–0)	Patrick Gym (3,266) Burlington, VT
02/25/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Stony Brook	W 66–51	26–5 (16–0)	Patrick Gym (3,266) Burlington, VT
America East tournament
03/01/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3	(1)	(8) Maine Quarterfials	W 86–41	27–5	Patrick Gym (3,266) Burlington, VT
03/06/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3	(1)	(4) New Hampshire Semifinals	W 74–41	28–5	Patrick Gym (3,266) Burlington, VT
03/11/2017 12:00 pm, ESPN2	(1)	(3) Albany Championship	W 56–53	29–5	Patrick Gym (3,266) Burlington, VT
NCAA tournament
03/16/2017* 7:27 pm, truTV	(13 MW)	vs. (4 MW) No. 15 Purdue First Round	L 70–80	29–6	BMO Harris Bradley Center (18,025) Milwaukee, WI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest Region. All times are in Eastern Time.