2020–21 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs are led by third-year head coach Darian DeVries. They played their home games at Knapp Center on campus in Des Moines, Iowa, as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Bulldogs finished the season 26–5, 15–3 in MVC play to finish in second place. In the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament, they advanced to the semifinals after Northern Iowa was forced to forfeit due to COVID-19 issues. They defeated Missouri State in the semifinals before losing to Loyola in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 11 seed in the First Four. They defeated Wichita State to advance to the First Round where they were eliminated by USC.

2020–21 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	26–5 (15–3 MVC)
Head coach	Darian DeVries (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Larry Blunt Marty Richter Matt Gatens
Home arena	Knapp Center
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 17 Loyola Chicago †	16	–	2		.889			26	–	5		.839
Drake	15	–	3		.833			26	–	5		.839
Missouri State	12	–	6		.667			17	–	7		.708
Indiana State	11	–	7		.611			15	–	10		.600
Evansville	7	–	11		.389			9	–	16		.360
Valparaiso	7	–	11		.389			10	–	18		.357
Northern Iowa	7	–	11		.389			10	–	15		.400
Bradley	6	–	12		.333			12	–	16		.429
Southern Illinois	5	–	13		.278			12	–	14		.462
Illinois State	4	–	14		.222			7	–	18		.280
† 2021 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the season 20–14, 8–10 in MVC play to finish in eighth place. They defeated Illinois State and Northern Iowa to advance to the semifinals of the MVC tournament where they lost to Bradley. All postseason tournaments were thereafter canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.^[1][2]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Brady Ernst	31	F	6'10"	230	RS Senior	Clinton, IA	Graduated.
Samm Jones	1	G	5'11"	196	Junior	Minneapolis, MN	Transferred to Davenport University.
Liam Robbins	21	C	7'0"	235	Sophomore	Davenport, IA	Transferred to Minnesota.

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
ShanQuan Hemphill	4	F	6'6"	195	Senior	Gary, IN	Transferred from Green Bay. Missed almost all of 2019–20 season with lower body injury; petitioned for and was granted a medical waiver that gave him a sixth season of eligibility.
Darnell Brodie	51	F	6'10"	275	Junior	Newark, NJ	Transferred from Seton Hall. Played just 3 games during 2019–20 season due to injuries and illnesses. Granted hardship waiver that gave him immediate eligibility for 2020–21 season.

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Bryceson Burns #11 G/F	Houston, TX	Westfield High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Apr 8, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Jordan Kwiecinski #21 PF	Chicago, IL	Loyola Academy	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jul 27, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 20, 2020.

Roster

2020–21 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 D. J. Wilkins 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 182 lb (83 kg) RS Jr Florida Southwestern State Merrillville Merrillville, IN G 1 Joseph Yesufu 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Bolingbrook Bolingbrook, IL F 2 Tremell Murphy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Florida Southwestern State Griffith Griffith, IN G 3 Garrett Sturtz (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Newton Newton, IA F 4 ShanQuan Hemphill 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Green Bay Michigan City Gary, IN G 10 Okay Djamgouz 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 182 lb (83 kg) RS Fr London Basketball Academy Toronto, Canada G/F 11 Bryceson Burns 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Westfield Houston, TX G 12 Roman Penn   6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Jr Siena Bishop Noll Calumet City, IL F 13 Issa Samake 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Fr Grand View Christian Des Moines, IA G 14 Noah Thomas 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 163 lb (74 kg) Sr 22 Ft Academy Sydney, Australia G 20 Jonah Jackson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr John A. Logan College Merrillville Merrillville, IN F 21 Jordan Kwiecinski 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Loyola Academy Chicago, IL G/F 22 Andrew Barrett (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 183 lb (83 kg) Jr Alleman Rock Island, IL F 24 Nate Ferguson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Fr Lemont Lemont, IL G 25 Connor Gholson (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 192 lb (87 kg) RS Jr Newton Newton, IA G 41 Deven Dahlke (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr St. Mary's Phoenix, AZ F 51 Darnell Brodie 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 275 lb (125 kg) Jr Seton Hall Newark East Side Newark, NJ	Head coach Darian DeVries (Northern Iowa) Assistant coach(es) Larry Blunt (James Madison) Marty Richter (Simpson) Matt Gatens (Iowa) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 25, 2020* 1:00 pm, ESPNU		at Kansas State Little Apple Classic	W 80–70	1–0	Bramlage Coliseum  Manhattan, KS
Nov 27, 2020* 1:00 pm		vs. South Dakota Little Apple Classic	W 69–53	2–0	Bramlage Coliseum  Manhattan, KS
Dec 3, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Omaha	W 87–66	3–0	Knapp Center (89) Des Moines, IA
Dec 6, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		St. Ambrose	W 97–53	4–0	Knapp Center  Des Moines, IA
Dec 9, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		McKendree	W 90–66	5–0	Knapp Center (83) Des Moines, IA
Dec 13, 2020* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Air Force	W 81–53	6–0	Knapp Center (141) Des Moines, IA
Dec 18, 2020* 5:00 pm		at South Dakota	W 75–57	7–0	Sanford Coyote Sports Center (382) Vermillion, SD
Dec 20, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Chicago State	W 111–67	8–0	Knapp Center (331) Des Moines, IA
Dec 22, 2020* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		North Dakota	W 88–55	9–0	Knapp Center (325) Des Moines, IA
MVC regular season
Dec 27, 2020 12:00 pm, ESPN+		at Indiana State	W 81–63	10–0 (1–0)	Hulman Center (200) Terre Haute, IN
Dec 28, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN3		at Indiana State	W 73–66	11–0 (2–0)	Hulman Center  Terre Haute, IN
Jan 3, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPNU		Southern Illinois	W 73–55	12–0 (3–0)	Knapp Center  Des Moines, IA
Jan 4, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN		Southern Illinois	W 86–55	13–0 (4–0)	Knapp Center  Des Moines, IA
Jan 26, 2021 7:00 pm, MVC TV		at Missouri State	W 68–61	14–0 (5–0)	JQH Arena (1,989) Springfield, MO
Jan 27, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at Missouri State	W 78–73	15–0 (6–0)	JQH Arena (1,744) Springfield, MO
Jan 31, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Illinois State	W 78–76 ^OT	16–0 (7–0)	Knapp Center (947) Des Moines, IA
Feb 1, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN3	No. 25	Illinois State	W 95–60	17–0 (8–0)	Knapp Center (737) Des Moines, IA
Feb 6, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3	No. 25	at Valparaiso	W 80–77	18–0 (9–0)	Athletics–Recreation Center  Valparaiso, IN
Feb 7, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN+	No. 25	at Valparaiso	L 57–74	18–1 (9–1)	Athletics–Recreation Center  Valparaiso, IN
Feb 10, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN		Northern Iowa	W 80–59	19–1 (10–1)	Knapp Center (971) Des Moines, IA
Feb 13, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN2		No. 22 Loyola–Chicago	L 54–81	19–2 (10–2)	Knapp Center (864) Des Moines, IA
Feb 14, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN2		No. 22 Loyola–Chicago	W 51–50 ^OT	20–2 (11–2)	Knapp Center (921) Des Moines, IA
Feb 17, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Northern Iowa	W 77–69	21–2 (12–2)	McLeod Center (914) Cedar Falls, IA
Feb 21, 2021 3:00 pm, MVC TV		Evansville	W 85–71	22–2 (13–2)	Knapp Center (753) Des Moines, IA
Feb 22, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Evansville	W 74–63	23–2 (14–2)	Knapp Center (675) Des Moines, IA
Feb 26, 2021 6:00 pm, MVC TV		at Bradley	W 80–71	24–2 (15–2)	Carver Arena  Peoria, IL
Feb 27, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Bradley	L 61–67	24–3 (15–3)	Carver Arena  Peoria, IL
MVC tournament
March 5, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN+	(2)	vs. (7) Northern Iowa Quarterfinals	Won by forfeit due to COVID-19 issues at UNI^[a]		Enterprise Center  St. Louis, MO
March 6, 2021 3:00 pm, CBSSN	(2)	vs. (3) Missouri State Semifinals	W 71–69	25–3	Enterprise Center (1,178) St. Louis, MO
March 7, 2021 1:00 pm, CBS	(2)	vs. (1) No. 20 Loyola–Chicago Championship	L 65–75	25–4	Enterprise Center (1,265) St. Louis, MO
NCAA tournament
March 18, 2021 5:27 pm, TBS	(11 W)	vs. (11 W) Wichita State First Four	W 53–52	26–4	Mackey Arena (2,825) West Lafayette, IN
March 20, 2021 3:30 pm, TNT	(11 W)	vs. (6 W) No. 23 USC First Round	L 56–72	26–5	Bankers Life Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[4]

1. Prior to the game, the MVC announced that due to a positive COVID-19 test within the Northern Iowa program and subsequent contact tracing, the Panthers would not have enough available players to compete. Therefore, in accordance with policies that had been in place all season, the contest was canceled and the MVC ruled that Drake would advance to the semifinals.^[3]

Rankings

See also: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	Not released
Coaches	—	—^	—	RV	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

1. Myerberg, Paul. "ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 among major college basketball tournaments cancelled amid coronavirus". USA TODAY. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
2. "NCAA cancels March Madness tournaments, all other winter and spring championships". NBC News. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
3. "MVC STATEMENT ON CANCELATION OF UNI-DRAKE MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME". MVC-Sports.com. Missouri Valley Conference. March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
4. "2020–21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Drake University Athletics.