The 2016-17 Emory men’s basketball team came through with yet another exciting and productive season with the squad playing its way to many team and individual accomplishments. 

The Eagles closed out the year with an overall record of 19-8, the school's eighth straight winning campaign.  Emory concluded the University Athletic Association portion of its schedule with a 9-5 ledger, with its third-place finish representing the eighth straight season where it placed third or higher.  Since the 2010-11 season, the Eagles have the No. 1 record among conference teams in overall (139-49) action and the second-best showing in league (68-30) tussles. 

Playing in the postseason for the fifth consecutive year (sixth time ever), Emory was sent on the road to Abilene, Texas, where it notched an 82-69 outcome over Texas Lutheran, the program's fifth straight win in its NCAA Tournament opening contest.  The Eagles then saw their season come to an end in the Round of 32 when it came out on the short end of a 95-85 verdict to host school Hardin-Simmons.

Playing its first seven games of the year on the road or at neutral venues, Emory stood 2-2 after four contests, dropping the opener at Covenant College before capturing both of its endeavors at the Guilford Invitational, one of which was a 69-66 double-overtime grinder against the host Quakers.  A setback to LaGrange College, an eventual NCAA Tournament participant, opened the Oglethorpe Thanksgiving Tournament, but the resilent Eagles closed out the non-conference portion of their schedule with seven straight wins, starting with a 71-62 triumph against Maryville which was followed by a pair of close encounters at Birmingham Southern (75-70) and Piedmont (65-59).  Looking forward to finally playing on its home floor at the Woodruff PE Center, the Eagles rolled to four straight double-digit victories, raising their record to 9-2 heading into UAA play.

The conference portion of the schedule got off to a tough start for the Eagles with a road loss to Rochester followed by a home setback to Washington University. Undaunted, Emory regrouped and ran off five consecutive wins, started with a triumph at the Woodpec over Chicago followed by sweep on the road of Case Western and Carnegie Mellon.  The last weekend in January started off with Emory rallying from a 17-point deficit with 10:41 left in the game to eventually claim a 94-85 victory over Brandeis.  The outcome represented the ream's biggest second-half comeback during Jason Zimmerman's tenure as head coach (previous was a pair of 15-point obstacles in the second half vs. Oglethorpe back on Nov. 17, 2010).  In addition, it was one of a school-record six games that the squad earned a victory when trailing at halftime during the year. Using the momentum from that result, Emory closed out the month with an 84-75 verdict over New York, a game that saw Whit Rapp dish out a school-record 16 assists.  

Life on the road in the UAA is always challenging with that fact being displayed the following weekend when Emory opened the second half of league play with losses at Brandeis and NYU, the latter a one-point result. A subsequent road weekend began on a sour note with a defeat at the hands of Wash U, leaving Emory's overall record at 17-7 and league slate at 5-5.  With little room for error in keeping its streak of NCAA Tourney appearances intact, Emory finished the regular season with a flourish by capturing its last four games, which began with a 99-88 shootout win at Chicago, a game where Adam Gigax tied his career high with 36 points while the team's 61.7 percent (37 of 60) mark from the field represented a season high as well as the program's sixth-best game mark in history.

The Eagles certainly looked forward to their final three games being on their home floor, and they opened with a thrilling Friday evening (Feb. 17) come-from-behind overtime win against Case Western.  Emory had to dig deep for that outcome, trailing by an 84-75 count with 4:39 left in regulation, and surviving Case Western having the ball for the final shot.  After capping off the weekend with a 15-point decision over Carnegie Mellon, the Eagles hosted No. 10 Rochester in the regular-season finale.  In a heavyweight fight that came down to the last second of the game, Emory used a career-high 22 points from senior Austin DaGue to come away with a nailbiting 63-62 Senior Day win, and in the process helped punched Emory's ticket as an at-large berth selection to the postseason.  

Junior Adam Gigax came through with a huge year, claiming both First Team All-UAA honors and All-South Region accolades as selected by D3hoops.com.  The 6-foot-7 Gigax led the team and placed second among the league leaders in scoring average (18.3 ppg), winding up the campaign with 21 outings of double-figure scoring including 13 performances of 20 or more points.  The team's leading scorer on 14 occasions, his 494 points established a program record for most points by a junior and was the fourth-highest overall total in school annals.  One of D-III's premier long-range shooters, Gigax knocked down 80 three-point field goals, the second-highest mark in Emory history and good for 35th place among D-III plyers during the campaign. The Mason, Ohio, native was chosen as the UAA Player of the Week on three occasions. 

Senior Jim Gordon made the most of his final year in an Emory uniform, starting all 27 Emory contests and ranking second on the team and seventh among UAA players in overall scoring average with a 15.8 points-per-game average.  A Second Team All-UAA pick, the 6-foot-5 Gordon converted 59 three-point field goals, placing second on the club and tying the program's 11th-highest seasonal mark. His 25 double-figure scoring performances were a team high, and he produced six outings of 20 or more points, four of which came during UAA action. 

Junior Whit Rapp continued to direct the Eagles' offensive attack from his point guard position, doling out a school record 230 assists which led the UAA while placing third among all D-III cagers. His per-game average of 8.5 assists established a school seasonal mark, stood first among UAA performers and slotted him third nationally.  Named to the All-UAA Honorable Mention Team, he compiled 10 games of 10 or more assists including a school record of 16 against New York University (Jan. 29), representing the high-water mark by an conference player during the season and just one shy of tying the UAA single-game standard. At the conclusion of the 2016-17 season, Rapp holds down the No. 3 position on the school's all-time ladder with 462 assists. 

One of the big storylines of 2016-17 was the development of junior Christopher Avant. The 6-foot-7 Avant started 24 of the 26 games he appeared in, ranking thhird on the team and 18th among UAA players in overall scoring average (11.6 ppg). He connected on a team-high 58.5 percent from the floor, good for third place on the conference chart and the No. 2 spot on the program's seasonal ladder.  His 6.5 rebounds per game paced the Eagles and was ninth on the UAA chart.  In addition he posted a team-high 74 offensive rebounds and his 2.8 per-game average on that end of the floor was sixth in the league.

In addition to Jim Gordon, Emory had three other seniors close out their careers - Austin DaGue, Jonathan Terry and Johnny Coles.  DaGue saw action in 109 games over his four years, tying the program's second-highest total, and ended up tied for the No. 3 position on the Eagles' all-time ladder with 130 blocked shots.  Another four-year vet, Terry took to the court in 97 contests and concluded his Emory tenure in the No. 19 position on the school's all-time chart with 114 three-point field goals. A two-year member of the program following his transfer from Oxford at Emory, Coles logged a total of 32 games and provided depth to the backcourt as well as serving as an outstanding teammate. 

Other noteworthy accomplishments by the 2016-17 team included:

** Converting 247 three-point field goals, the third-highest total in school history. Emory sank 10 or more triples on 12 occasions including a pair of 13-trey contests (vs. William Peace & Oglethorpe). At the end of the year, Emory had sank at least one three-point field goal in its last 517 games. 

** Ranking 59^th national in three-point field goals per game (9.1 tpg).

** Standing second in the UAA and 50th in D-III in field goal percentage defense (.411)

** Ranking second in the UAA in free throw percentage (.731, 423 of 579).

** Having a total of three players earn All-UAA recognition.

** Compiling a 10-1 won-lost mark at the Woodruff PE Center.  At the conclusion of the ’16-17 campaign, the Eagles had registered a 80-10 record in their last 90 home encounters.  During Zimmerman’s 10 years at the helm of the program, Emory has manufactured an 98-26 slate on its home floor. 

** Scoring 90 or more points on nine occasions.

Honors and Awards