2017–18 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball
C-USA regular season champions
NIT, Second Round
Conference	Conference USA
Record	25–8 (16–2 C-USA)
Head coach	Kermit Davis (16th season)
Assistant coaches	Greg Grensing Win Case Ronnie Hamilton
Home arena	Murphy Center
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The 2017–18 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blue Raiders, led by 16th-year head coach Kermit Davis, played their home games at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 25–8 overall, 16–2 in C-USA play to win the regular season championship. In the C-USA tournament, they were defeated in the quarterfinals by Southern Miss in overtime. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, the Blue Raiders received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated Vermont in the first round before losing to Louisville in the second round.

The season marked the first time in the program's history that the Blue Raiders were ranked in the AP Top 25 during the season, coming in at No. 24 on the week of February 19.^[1]

Head coach Kermit Davis left the school on March 19, 2018 to accept the head coaching job at Ole Miss.^[2][3] He finished at Middle Tennessee with a 16-year record of 332–188. On March 24, the Blue Raiders named UNC Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt as the team's new head coach.^[4]

Previous season

The Blue Raiders finished the 2016–17 season 27–4, 17–1 in C-USA play to win the regular season championship.^[5] In the C-USA tournament, they defeated UTSA, UTEP, and Marshall to win the 2017 C-USA Tournament.^[6] As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.^[7] As the No. 12 seed in the South region, they defeated 5-seeded Minnesota in the first round before losing in the second round to 4-seeded Butler.^[8] The team also had several winning streaks during the season winning 8 games in a row in non-conference schedule, 10 games in a row to start conference play and a new school record, then 11 games in a row from mid-conference play all the way through winning the conference tournament and into the NCAA tournament before losing to Butler. The team finished the season with a 31–5, 17–1 record setting new school and conference records for wins in a season and in conference play and had another NCAA tournament upset for the second straight year.

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
T.J. Massenburg PF	Snellville, GA	Shiloh High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	N/A	Oct 2, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Therren Shelton-Szmidt SG	Mississauga, ON	Shiloh High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Oct 9, 2016
	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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 9, 2017.

2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Junior Farquhar PG	Orangeville, ON	Orangeville Prep	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jul 18, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Anthony Crump PG	Canton, MI	Plymouth High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	May 8, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Jayce Johnson SG	Buffalo, NY	Canisius High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jul 27, 2018
	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 October 9, 2017.

Roster