The Gamecocks, led by second-year head coach Ray Harper, played their home games at the Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Alabama as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).

They defeated Tennessee Tech in the quarterfinals of the OVC tournament before losing in the semifinals to Murray State.

As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, its first-ever appearance, where it lost in the first round to Louisville.

In a vote of conference coaches and sports information directors, Jacksonville State was picked to finish in 2nd place in the OVC.

Malcolm Drumwright and Norbertas Giga were named to the 2017–18 preseason all-OVC men's basketball team.