2017–18 Eastern Washington Eagles men's basketball team

2017–18 Eastern Washington Eagles men's basketball
CBI, First round
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	20–15 (13–5 Big Sky)
Head coach	Shantay Legans (1st season)
Associate head coach	Nick Booker
Assistant coaches	David Riley Bobby Suarez
Home arena	Reese Court
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

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.

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.^[1]

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.^[2] Senior forward Bogdan Bliznyuk was named to the preseason All-Big Sky team.^[3]

2017–18 Eastern Washington Eagles men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Tyler Kidd  5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr O'Dea HS Skagit Valley College Seattle, Washington G 2 Ty Gibson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Issaquah HS Issaquah, Washington G 4 Sir Washington 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Sr Clark HS Las Vegas, Nevada F 5 Richard Polanco 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Army and Navy Academy Santiago de los Caballeros, DR G 10 Jacob Davison 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Fr Cantwell-Sacred Heart HS Montebello, California G 11 Jack Perry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Camberwell Grammar School Melbourne, Australia G 12 Grant Gibb (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS So Mark Morris HS Longview, Washington G 13 Luka Vulikić 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So None Belgrade, Serbia F 14 Mason Peatling 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Beaconhills College HS Melbourne, Australia C 15 Benas Griciūnas 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 244 lb (111 kg) RS Sr Findlay Prep Auburn/Charlotte Šilutė, Lithuania G 20 Cody Benzel (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Ferris HS Spokane, Washington F 23 Brendan Howard 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Great Falls HS Great Falls, Montana G/F 24 Kim Aiken 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr East Valley HS Redlands, California G 25 Steven Beo (I)  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Richland HS BYU Richland, Washington F 32 Bogdan Bliznyuk (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Todd Beamer HS Lutsk, Ukraine F 34 Jesse Hunt 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Sir Francis Drake HS Geraldton, Australia F 35 Tanner Groves  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Shadle Park HS Spokane, Washington G 42 Joshua Thomas 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Fr Central Valley HS Spokane, Washington	Head coach Shantay Legans (Fresno State) Assistant coach(es) Nick Booker (Davidson) David Riley (Whitworth) Bobby Suarez (Florida Gulf Coast) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Source^[4][5]

• 2017–18 Eastern Washington Eagles women's basketball team