2016-2017 Evansville Purple Aces

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2016-2017 Evansville Purple Aces Roster

# Player Class Pos HT WT Birth Date Birth City Nationality High School/Prep School
33 Silas Adheke RS-Fr FC 6-8 245 - Lagos Nigeria Hamilton Heights Christian Academy
2 Christian Benzon Sr F 6-4 195 Sep 18, 1993 Copenhagen Denmark The Rock High School
3 Jaylon Brown Sr G 6-0 185 Sep 11, 1994 Fishers (IN) United States Fishers High School
4 Jaiveon Eaves Fr SG 6-2 205 Feb 10, 1998 Madisonville (KY) United States Madisonville-North Hopkins High School
25 Duane Gibson Jr G 6-3 195 Feb 24, 1995 Cleveland (OH) United States Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School
5 Solomon Hainna Jr F 6-7 195 - Inglewood (CA) United States Palisades Charter High School
35 John Hall RS-Fr F 6-7 208 - Philadelphia (PA) United States Standard of Excellence Academy
44 David Howard Sr F 6-8 225 - Nashville (TN) United States Montgomery Bell Academy
50 Blake Simmons RS-Sr F 6-5 210 - Newburgh (IN) United States Castle High School
12 Dru Smith Fr SG 6-2 203 Dec 30, 1997 Evansville (IN) United States Reitz High School
0 Ryan Taylor So G 6-6 190 Feb 1, 1995 Gary (IN) United States St. John's Northwest Military Academy
15 Dalen Traore Jr C 6-9 230 Dec 12, 1995 Petit-Badien Ivory Coast Northwood Temple Academy
14 Sergej Vucetic Sr C 7-1 238 Dec 15, 1992 Vrbas Serbia AIM Academies
23 Willie Wiley Sr F 6-7 215 - Springfield (IL) United States Springfield High School

Recent Evansville Purple Aces History

Season Record Conference Rank Conference Tournament Post-Season Tournament
2023-2024 17-18 (6-14) 10th (MVC) 2nd Rnd CBI 2nd Rnd
2022-2023 5-27 (1-19) 12th (MVC) 1st Rnd N/A
2021-2022 6-24 (2-16) 10th (MVC) 1st Rnd N/A
2020-2021 9-16 (7-11) 5th (MVC) 2nd Rnd N/A
2019-2020 9-23 10th (MVC) 1st Rnd N/A
2018-2019 11-21 (5-13) 10th (MVC) 1st Rnd N/A
2017-2018 17-15 (7-11) 7th (MVC) 1st Rnd N/A
2016-2017 16-17 (6-12) 8th (MVC) 2nd Rnd N/A
2015-2016 25-9 (12-6) 2nd (MVC) Runner Up N/A
2014-2015 24-12 (9-9) 5th (MVC) 2nd Rnd CIT Champion
2013-2014 14-19 (6-12) 8th (MVC) 2nd Rnd N/A
2012-2013 21-15 (10-8) 4th (MVC) 2nd Rnd CIT 4th Rnd
2011-2012 16-16 (9-9) 3rd (MVC) 3rd Rnd CBI 1st Rnd
2010-2011 16-16 (9-9) 6th (MVC) 2nd Rnd CBI 2nd Rnd
2009-2010 9-21 (3-15) 10th (MVC) 1st Rnd N/A
2008-2009 17-14 (8-10) 5th (MVC) 2nd Rnd CIT 1st Rnd
2007-2008 9-21 (3-15) 10th (MVC) 1st Rnd N/A
2006-2007 14-17 (6-12) 7th (MVC) 1st Rnd N/A
2005-2006 10-19 (5-13) 7th (MVC) 2nd Rnd N/A
2004-2005 11-17 (5-13) 9th (MVC) 1st Rnd N/A
2003-2004 7-22 (5-13) 8th (MVC) 2nd Rnd N/A
2002-2003 12-16 (8-10) 5th (MVC) 2nd Rnd N/A

2016-2017 Evansville Purple Aces Awards & Honors

Player Award / Honor
Jaylon Brown NABC All-District (16) Second Team
Jaylon Brown MVC All-Conference Second Team
Jaylon Brown MVC All-Tournament Team
Dru Smith MVC All-Freshman Team
Jaylon Brown MVC Player of the Week (Dec 26, 2016)
Ryan Taylor MVC Newcomer of the Week (Dec 19, 2016)
Ryan Taylor MVC Newcomer of the Week (Feb 13, 2017)

2016-2017 Evansville Purple Aces Depth Chart

  PG SG SF PF C
Starters J. Brown D. Gibson C. Benzon R. Taylor D. Howard
Rotation   D. Smith W. Wiley   D. Traore
Rotation     S. Hainna   S. Vucetic
Lim PT   J. Eaves      

2016-2017 Evansville Purple Aces Stat Leaders

Player GP MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TOV
Jaylon Brown 33 36.8 20.9 4.4 3.1 1.0 0.1 2.5
Ryan Taylor 33 31.3 14.1 2.9 1.5 0.6 0.5 1.3
Duane Gibson 30 28.3 7.1 4.2 3.8 1.0 0.6 2.3
David Howard 32 21.8 6.9 5.2 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.8
Christian Benzon 33 25.8 6.0 4.5 1.4 0.7 0.2 1.2
Dru Smith 28 22.5 5.3 2.6 2.9 0.8 0.4 1.2
Willie Wiley 24 14.9 4.6 2.6 0.4 0.6 0.4 0.8
Jaiveon Eaves 24 9.7 3.0 1.7 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.5
Sergej Vucetic 24 11.1 2.9 2.1 0.2 0.0 0.5 1.0
Dalen Traore 21 11.8 2.3 2.7 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.6
Solomon Hainna 28 10.6 1.9 2.2 0.2 0.4 0.0 0.5

2016-2017 Evansville Purple Aces Front Office

Staff Member Position Start Season Previous Job
Marty Simmons Head Coach 2007-2008 Assistant Coach (Evansville, 1997 to 2002)
Geoff Alexander Assistant Coach 2012-2013 N/A
Doug Novsek Assistant Coach 2015-2016 Associate Head Coach (Nevada, 2009 to 2015)
Lennox Forrester Assistant Coach 2015-2016 Head Coach (SIU-Edwardsville, 2007 to 2015)
Kim Gentry Director of Basketball Development 2008-2009 N/A
Chad Harmon Video Coordinator 2016-2017 Assistant Coach (Monmouth (IL), 2015 to 2016)
Mark Spencer Athletic Director 2014-2015 N/A
Sunny Park Director of Sports Performance 2015-2016 N/A
Kavon Lacey Director of Basketball Operations 2014-2015 N/A
Bob Pristash Associate Athletic Director of Communications 2016-2017 Director of Sports Information (Evansville, 2012 to 2016)
Terry Collins Head Athletic Trainer 1987-1988 N/A
Troy Coppus Assistant Athletic Trainer 2007-2008 N/A
Clay Trainum Director of Media Relations 2016-2017 N/A