2018–19 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Southern Utah Thunderbirds basketball team represented Southern Utah University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thunderbirds were led by third-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 17–17, 9–11 in Big Sky play to finish in seventh place. They defeated Idaho State and Northern Colorado to advance to the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament where they lost to Eastern Washington. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Drake in the first round before losing in the second round to Cal State Bakersfield.

2018–19 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball
CIT, Second round
Conference	Big Sky Conference
2018–19 record	17–17 (9–11 Big Sky)
Head coach	Todd Simon (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	John Wardenburg Chris Pompey Trent Angelucci
Home arena	America First Events Center

2018–19 Big Sky men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Montana †	16	–	4		.800			26	–	9		.743
Northern Colorado	15	–	5		.750			21	–	11		.656
Eastern Washington	12	–	8		.600			16	–	18		.471
Weber State	11	–	9		.550			18	–	15		.545
Portland State	11	–	9		.550			16	–	16		.500
Montana State	11	–	9		.550			15	–	17		.469
Southern Utah	9	–	11		.450			17	–	17		.500
Northern Arizona	8	–	12		.400			10	–	21		.323
Sacramento State	8	–	12		.400			15	–	16		.484
Idaho State	7	–	13		.350			11	–	19		.367
Idaho	2	–	18		.100			5	–	27		.156
† Big Sky Tournament winner

Previous season

The Thunderbirds finished the 2017–18 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.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Jamil Jackson	1	G/F	6'6"	190	Sophomore	Minneapolis, MN	Transferred to IUPUI
Jordan Lyons	5	G/F	6'7"	200	Freshman	Brampton, ON	Transferred to Vincennes
Jadon Cohee	12	G	6'4"	205	RS Junior	Langley, BC	Graduate transferred to British Columbia
Taelin Webb	13	G	5'11"	195	RS Junior	Fresno, CA	Walk-on; left the team due to personal reasons
James McGee	14	G	6'2"	200	RS Senior	San Clemente, CA	Graduated
Jamal Aytes	15	F	6'6"	240	RS Senior	San Diego, CA	Graduated
Christian Musoko	34	F/C	6'8"	245	Senior	Kinshasa, Congo	Graduated
Joel Swallow	44	F	6'9"	230	RS Sophomore	Howell, UT	Walk-on; didn't return

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Jason Richardson	3	G	6'2"	210	RS Junior	Hawthorne, CA	Junior college transferred from Fullerton College
Jakolby Long	13	G	6'5"	207	Junior	Mustang, OK	Transferred from Iowa State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Long will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Daouda Ndiaye	14	C	7'0"	215	Senior	Dakar, Senegal	Transferred from Illinois State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Ndiaye will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have one year of remaining eligibility.

2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Harrison Butler #58 SF	Santa Ana, CA	Mater Dei High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Oct 30, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 78
Josh Cornish SG	Baltimore, MD	Dulaney High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Mar 27, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Maizen Fausett SG	Saratoga Springs, UT	Westlake High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	N/A	Sep 21, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2018-10-05.

Roster

2018–19 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Dato Aphkhazava 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Fr None Batumi, Georgia G 1 Kenton Eskridge 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Mt. Zion Prep Atlanta, GA G 2 Brandon Better 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Crossland HS Moberly Area CC Suitland, MD G 3 Jason Richardson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr Junípero Serra HS Fullerton College Gardena, CA G 4 Dre Marin 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Apollo HS Glendale, AZ G 5 Dillon Glendenning (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Fr Findlay Prep Dallas, TX F 10 Jacob Calloway 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr On Point Academy Juneau, AK F 12 Maizen Fausett 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Westlake HS Saratoga Springs, UT G 13 Jakolby Long  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Jr Mustang HS Iowa State Mustang, OK C 14 Daouda Ndiaye  7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Windermere Prep Illinois State Dakar, Senegal G 15 Harrison Butler 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Mater Dei HS Santa Ana, CA G 21 Josh Cornish 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Dulaney HS Cockeysville, MD F/C 22 Ivan Madunic 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr None Split, Croatia G/F 23 Cameron Oluyitan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Jr Clements HS Boise State Houston, TX F 25 Dwayne Morgan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Sr St. Frances Academy UNLV Baltimore, MD G/F 30 Elijah Graves (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Liberty HS Las Vegas, NV F 32 Andre Adams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Jr IMG Academy Arizona State Avondale, AZ G 33 Matthew Johnson (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Coronado HS Las Vegas, NV	Head coach Todd Simon (UNLV) Assistant coach(es) John Wardenburg (BYU) Chris Pompey (Pittsburgh) Trent Angelucci (South Carolina) 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
Oct 30, 2018* 6:30 pm		Life Pacific	W 96–53		America First Events Center (2,356) Cedar City, UT
Non-conference regular season
Nov 6, 2018* 6:30 pm		West Coast Baptist	W 109–63	1–0	America First Events Center (1,572) Cedar City, UT
Nov 10, 2018* 7:00 pm		at San Jose State	W 66–59	2–0	Event Center Arena (371) San Jose, CA
Nov 18, 2018* 2:00 pm		at Seattle	W 73–70	3–0	Redhawk Center (999) Seattle, WA
Nov 23, 2018* 8:00 pm, MWN		at UNLV	L 71–76	3–1	Thomas & Mack Center (7,567) Paradise, NV
Nov 29, 2018* 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		San Diego Christian	W 111–64	4–1	America First Events Center (2,363) Cedar City, UT
Dec 5, 2018* 8:00 pm		at Long Beach State	L 71–82	4–2	Walter Pyramid (1,876) Long Beach, CA
Dec 8, 2018* 2:30 pm, ESPN3		at Central Michigan	L 86–95	4–3	McGuirk Arena (1,832) Mount Pleasant, MI
Dec 15, 2018* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Pepperdine	W 78–69 ^OT	5–3	America First Events Center (1,772) Cedar City, UT
Dec 21, 2018* 9:00 pm, P12N		at USC	L 49–91	5–4	Galen Center (3,125) Los Angeles, CA
Big Sky regular season
Dec 29, 2018 2:00 pm, Pluto TV		Montana State	L 62–92	5–5 (0–1)	America First Events Center (1,802) Cedar City, UT
Dec 31, 2018 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		Montana	L 76–89	5–6 (0–2)	America First Events Center (1,451) Cedar City, UT
Jan 3, 2019 7:05 pm		at Idaho State	L 68–88	5–7 (0–3)	Holt Arena (1,461) Pocatello, ID
Jan 5, 2019 7:00 pm		at Weber State Old Oquirrh Bucket	W 90–82 ^OT	6–7 (1–3)	Dee Events Center (6,751) Ogden, UT
Jan 12, 2019 2:00 pm, Pluto TV		Northern Arizona	W 84–82	7–7 (2–3)	America First Events Center (1,856) Cedar City, UT
Jan 17, 2019 6:00 pm, Pluto TV		Portland State	W 83–69	8–7 (3–3)	America First Events Center (2,307) Cedar City, UT
Jan 19, 2019 2:00 pm, Pluto TV		Sacramento State	W 76–71	9–7 (4–3)	America First Events Center (1,672) Cedar City, UT
Jan 24, 2019 7:00 pm		at Northern Colorado	L 68–79	9–8 (4–4)	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,368) Greeley, CO
Jan 28, 2019 2:00 pm		at Northern Arizona	L 77–80 ^OT	9–9 (4–5)	Walkup Skydome (705) Flagstaff, AZ
Feb 2, 2019 3:05 pm		at Eastern Washington	L 79–82	9–10 (4–6)	Reese Court (1,244) Cheney, WA
Feb 4, 2019 8:00 pm		at Idaho	W 75–64	10–10 (5–6)	Cowan Spectrum (634) Moscow, ID
Feb 7, 2019 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		Weber State Old Oquirrh Bucket	W 65–53	11–10 (6–6)	America First Events Center (3,069) Cedar City, UT
Feb 9, 2019 2:00 pm, Pluto TV		Idaho State	W 78–72	12–10 (7–6)	America First Events Center (1,871) Cedar City, UT
Feb 14, 2019 8:05 pm		at Sacramento State	L 73–84	12–11 (7–7)	Hornets Nest (615) Sacramento, CA
Feb 16, 2019 8:05 pm		at Portland State	L 69–78	12–12 (7–8)	Viking Pavilion (1,130) Portland, OR
Feb 21, 2019 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		Eastern Washington	W 76–62	13–12 (8–8)	America First Events Center (1,578) Cedar City, UT
Feb 23, 2019 2:00 pm, Pluto TV		Idaho	W 85–76	14–12 (9–8)	America First Events Center (1,604) Cedar City, UT
Mar 2, 2019 7:00 pm		at Montana	L 54–70	14–13 (9–9)	Dahlberg Arena (4,383) Missoula, MT
Mar 4, 2019 7:00 pm		at Montana State	L 83–90	14–14 (9–10)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse  Bozeman, MT
Mar 7, 2019 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		Northern Colorado	L 53–70	14–15 (9–11)	America First Events Center (2,172) Cedar City, UT
Big Sky Tournament
Mar 13, 2019 1:00 pm, Pluto TV	(7)	vs. (10) Idaho State First round	W 94–80	15–15	CenturyLink Arena  Boise, ID
Mar 14, 2019 6:30 pm, Eleven	(7)	vs. (2) Northern Colorado Quarterfinals	W 83–63	16–15	CenturyLink Arena  Boise, ID
Mar 15, 2019 9:00 pm, Eleven	(7)	vs. (3) Eastern Washington Semifinals	W 77–61	16–16	CenturyLink Arena (2,900) Boise, ID
CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
Mar 22, 2019* 6:30 pm, watchcit.com		Drake First round	W 80–73 ^OT	17–16	America First Events Center (2,714) Cedar City, UT
Mar 25, 2019* 6:30 pm, watchcit.com		Cal State Bakersfield Second round	L 67–70	17–17	America First Events Center (3,027) Cedar City, UT
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time.

References