1997–98 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team

1997–98 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball
1997–98 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
Record	25–9 (12–4 A-10)
Head coach	Jim Harrick (1st season);
Assistant coach	Jerry DeGregorio (1st season)
Home arena	Keaney Gymnasium
	Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →

1997–98 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
No. 24 Temple	13	–	3	.813	21	–	9	.700
Rhode Island	12	–	4	.750	25	–	9	.735
UMass	12	–	4	.750	21	–	11	.656
St. Bonaventure	6	–	10	.375	17	–	15	.531
Saint Joseph's	3	–	13	.188	11	–	17	.393
Fordham	2	–	14	.125	6	–	21	.222
West
No. 23 Xavier †	11	–	5	.688	22	–	8	.733
George Washington	11	–	5	.688	24	–	9	.727
Dayton	11	–	5	.688	21	–	12	.636
Virginia Tech	5	–	11	.313	10	–	17	.370
Duquesne	5	–	11	.313	11	–	19	.367
La Salle	5	–	11	.313	9	–	18	.333

† 1998 Atlantic 10 Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997–98 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team represented the University of Rhode Island in the 1997–98 college basketball season. This was head coach Jim Harrick's first of two seasons at Rhode Island. The Rams competed in the Atlantic 10 Conference and played their home games at Keaney Gymnasium. They finished the season 25–9, 12–4 in A-10 play and lost in the semifinals of the 1998 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament. They were invited to the 1998 NCAA tournament where they advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to Stanford in the Midwest Regional final.

As of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, this is the furthest any Rhode Island men's team has ever advanced in the NCAA tournament.

Roster

1997–98 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	12	Cuttino Mobley	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
G	21	Tyson Wheeler	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sr	New London, Connecticut
F		Lamar Odom	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	Fr	Queens, New York
F/C	34	Antonio Reynolds-Dean	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Marietta, Georgia

Head coach

Jim Harrick

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 17, 1997*	No. 21	North Carolina-Wilmington	W 78–69	1–0	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Nov 19, 1997*	No. 20	at No. 12 Connecticut	L 67–80	1–1	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, Connecticut
Nov 30, 1997*		at Boston University	W 86–63	2–1	Case Gym Boston, Massachusetts
Dec 3, 1997*		at Brown	W 75–57	3–1	Pizzitola Sports Center Providence, Rhode Island
Dec 9, 1997*		Providence	W 69–58	4–1	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Dec 13, 1997*		UNLV	W 91–73	5–1	Keaney Gymnasium (6,429) Kingston, Rhode Island
Dec 22, 1997*	No. 22	Ohio	W 85–72	6–1	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Dec 29, 1997*	No. 24	vs. No. 7 Stanford Cable Car Classic	L 69–70	6–2	San Jose Arena (6,109) San Jose, California
Dec 30, 1997*	No. 24	vs. Penn Cable Car Classic	W 96–89	7–2	San Jose Arena San Jose, California
Jan 4, 1998	No. 24	at Temple	W 74–64	8–2 (1–0)	Liacouras Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 6, 1998	No. 23	at Saint Joseph's	W 83–68	9–2 (2–0)	Hagan Arena Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 10, 1998	No. 23	Duquesne	W 83–76	10–2 (3–0)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 13, 1998	No. 20	at La Salle	W 84–73	11–2 (4–0)	The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 15, 1998*	No. 20	Tulane	W 85–61	12–2	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 17, 1998	No. 20	at St. Bonaventure	L 81–86	12–3 (4–1)	Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, New York
Jan 22, 1998	No. 22	Virginia Tech	W 73–66	13–3 (5–1)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 25, 1998*	No. 22	at No. 21 Cincinnati	L 82–88	13–4	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 29, 1998	No. 21	UMass	L 57–74	13–5 (5–2)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 1, 1998	No. 21	at Fordham	W 75–70	14–5 (6–2)	Rose Hill Gym Bronx, New York
Feb 3, 1998		Saint Joseph's	W 94–76	15–5 (7–2)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 7, 1998*		California	W 72–63	16–5	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 8, 1998		St. Bonaventure	W 67–66	17–5 (8–2)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 10, 1998	No. 25	at No. 17 George Washington	W 69–61	18–5 (9–2)	Charles E. Smith Center Washington, D.C.
Feb 14, 1998	No. 25	Temple	L 67–68	18–6 (9–3)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 18, 1998		at No. 18 UMass	W 87–85 ^2OT	19–6 (10–3)	Mullins Center Amherst, Massachusetts
Feb 21, 1998		at Dayton	L 62–71	19–7 (10–4)	University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio
Feb 24, 1998		Xavier	W 69–68	20–7 (11–4)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 28, 1998		Fordham	W 71–57	21–7 (12–4)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Atlantic 10 tournament
Mar 5, 1998*	(E2)	vs. (W3) Dayton Quarterfinals	W 83–70	22–7	The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 6, 1998*	(E2)	vs. (W1) Xavier Semifinals	L 80–95	22–8	The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1998*	(8 MW)	vs. (9 MW) No. 25 Murray State First round	W 97–74^[1]	23–8	Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Mar 15, 1998*	(8 MW)	vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Kansas Second Round	W 80–75^[2]^[3]	24–8	Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Mar 20, 1998*	(8 MW)	vs. (13 MW) Valparaiso Midwest Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 74–68^[4]	25–8	Scottrade Center St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 22, 1998*	(8 MW)	vs. (3 MW) No. 10 Stanford Midwest Regional final – Elite Eight	L 77–79^[5]	25–9	Scottrade Center St. Louis, Missouri
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in EST.

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	21	20	23	—	—	—	22	24	23	20	22	21	—	25	—	—	—	—	Not released
Coaches	25	25^	—	—	—	—	—	—	25	23	22	21	23	24	25	—	—	—	11

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a week 2 poll

Awards and honors

Cuttino Mobley – Atlantic 10 Player of the Year
Tyson Wheeler – AP Honorable Mention All-American

1998 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Team
2	41	Cuttino Mobley	Houston Rockets
2	47	Tyson Wheeler	Toronto Raptors

^[6]

References

^ "Harrick and Rhode Island Post a Bittersweet Win". The New York Times. March 14, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
^ "Rhode Island Stuns Kansas". The New York Times. March 16, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
^ "Rhode Island Sends Kansas Home Early". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
^ "URI, Stanford in Final Eight". The Washington Post. March 21, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
^ "Stanford Defeats Rhode Island in Midwest Regional final, 79-77". The New York Times. March 23, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
^ "1998 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[ncaa-racers-1] "Harrick and Rhode Island Post a Bittersweet Win". The New York Times. March 14, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[ncaa-ku1-2] "Rhode Island Stuns Kansas". The New York Times. March 16, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[ncaa-ku2-3] "Rhode Island Sends Kansas Home Early". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[ncaa-valpo-4] "URI, Stanford in Final Eight". The Washington Post. March 21, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[ncaa-stan-5] "Stanford Defeats Rhode Island in Midwest Regional final, 79-77". The New York Times. March 23, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[6] "1998 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Rhode Island Rams men's basketball
Venues	Rodman Hall (1928–1953) Keaney Gymnasium (1953–2002) Ryan Center (2002–present)
Rivalries	Providence
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25