1997–98 Richmond Spiders men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1997–98 Richmond Spiders men's basketball
CAA tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Round of 32
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Record	23–8 (12–4 CAA)
Head coach	John Beilein (1st season)
Home arena	Robins Center
Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →

1997–98 CAA men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
UNC Wilmington	13	–	3	.813	20	–	11	.645
William & Mary	13	–	3	.813	20	–	7	.741
Richmond †	12	–	4	.750	23	–	8	.742
Old Dominion	8	–	8	.500	12	–	16	.429
James Madison	6	–	10	.375	11	–	16	.407
George Mason	6	–	10	.375	9	–	18	.333
American	5	–	11	.313	9	–	19	.321
East Carolina	5	–	11	.313	10	–	17	.370
VCU	4	–	12	.250	9	–	19	.321

† 1998 CAA tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997–98 Richmond Spiders men's basketball team represented the University of Richmond in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball during the 1997–98 season. Richmond competed as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) under first-year head basketball coach John Beilein and played its home games at the Robins Center.

Richmond finished third in the CAA regular-season standings with a 12–4 conference record, and won the CAA tournament to earn an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA tournament. In the opening round, the Spiders defeated the seventh-ranked, No. 3 seed South Carolina, 62–61,^[1] at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. Richmond lost in the second round to No. 11 seed Washington, 81–66,^[2] to finish with a 23–8 record.

Roster

1997–98 Richmond Spiders men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	3	Jarod Stevenson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Seventy-First
C	45	Eric Poole	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Sr

Head coach

John Beilein

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 city, state
Non-Conference Regular season
Nov 16, 1997* 7:00 pm		Virginia NationsBank Virginia Challenge	W 83–79 ^2OT	1–0	Robins Center (8,463) Richmond, Virginia
Nov 19, 1997*		No. 4 North Carolina	L 65–84	1–1	Robins Center Richmond, Virginia
Nov 24, 1997*		at Florida Atlantic	W 81–50	2–1	FAU Arena Boca Raton, Florida
Nov 29, 1997*		at Wake Forest	L 67–71	2–2	Lawrence Joel Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dec 5, 1997*		vs. Samford San Francisco Tournament	W 70–38	3–2	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Dec 6, 1997*		at San Francisco San Francisco Tournament	L 60–64	3–3	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Dec 20, 1997*		at Campbell	W 71–49	4–3	Carter Gymnasium Buies Creek, North Carolina
Dec 29, 1997*		vs. UNC Asheville Dr. Pepper Classic	W 71–55	5–3
Dec 30, 1997*		vs. UNC Greensboro Dr. Pepper Classic	W 83–72	6–3
CAA Regular season
Jan 3, 1998		at James Madison	W 87–68	7–3 (1–0)	Convocation Center Harrisonburg, Virginia
Non-Conference Regular season
Jan 7, 1998*		Drexel	W 66–57	8–3	Robins Center Richmond, Virginia
CAA Regular season
Jan 10, 1998		UNC Wilmington	W 61–58	9–3 (2–0)	Robins Center Richmond, Virginia
Jan 14, 1998		American	W 73–57	10–3 (3–0)	Robins Center Richmond, Virginia
Jan 17, 1998		at East Carolina	L 67–77	10–4 (3–1)	Minges Coliseum Greenville, North Carolina
Jan 19, 1998		William & Mary	W 70–59	11–4 (4–1)	Robins Center Richmond, Virginia
Jan 21, 1998		at Old Dominion	L 57–62	11–5 (4–2)	ODU Fieldhouse Norfolk, Virginia
Jan 24, 1998		at VCU	W 56–52	12–5 (5–2)	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Jan 28, 1998		George Mason	W 87–65	13–5 (6–2)	Robins Center Richmond, Virginia
Jan 31, 1998		James Madison	W 57–50	14–5 (7–2)	Robins Center Richmond, Virginia
Feb 4, 1998		East Carolina	W 79–64	15–5 (8–2)	Robins Center Richmond, Virginia
Feb 7, 1998		at William & Mary	L 70–73	15–6 (8–3)	William & Mary Hall Williamsburg, Virginia
Feb 9, 1998		at UNC Wilmington	L 59–62	15–7 (8–4)	Trask Coliseum Wilmington, North Carolina
Feb 16, 1998		at American	W 77–41	16–7 (9–4)	Bender Arena Washington, D.C.
Feb 18, 1998		at George Mason	W 61–56	17–7 (10–4)	Patriot Center Fairfax, Virginia
Feb 21, 1998		VCU	W 67–61	18–7 (11–4)	Robins Center Richmond, Virginia
Feb 23, 1998		Old Dominion	W 85–77	19–7 (12–4)	Robins Center Richmond, Virginia
CAA Tournament
Feb 25, 1998*	(3)	(6) George Mason Quarterfinals	W 66–49	20–7	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Feb 28, 1998*	(3)	(7) American Semifinals	W 66–64	21–7	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Mar 1, 1998*	(3)	(1) UNC Wilmington Championship Game	W 79–64	22–7	Robins Center Richmond, Virginia
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1998*	(14 E)	vs. (3 E) No. 14 South Carolina First Round	W 62–61	23–7	MCI Center Washington, D.C.
Mar 14, 1998*	(14 E)	vs. (11 E) Washington Second Round	L 66–81	23–8	MCI Center Washington, D.C.
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern.

^[3]

Awards and honors

Jarod Stevenson – CAA Player of the Year

References

^ "No. 14 Richmond strikes again, ousts No. 3 S. Carolina". The Baltimore Sun. March 13, 1998. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
^ White, Joseph (March 15, 1998). "Huskies ride MacCulloch into Sweet Sixteen". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 1G.
^ "2019–20 Richmond Spiders Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Richmond Athletics. p. 117. Retrieved July 31, 2021.

v t e Richmond Spiders men's basketball
Venues	Millhiser Gymnasium (1922–1947) Blues Armory (1947–1950) Grays Armory (1950–1951) Benedictine High School Gymnasium (1951–1954) Richmond Arena (1954–1971) Richmond Coliseum (1971–1972) Robins Center (1972–present)
Rivalries	VCU
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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 1942–43 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