2020–21 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team represented Xavier University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Big East Conference. Led by third-year head coach Travis Steele, they played their home games at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. They finished the season 13-8, 6-7 in Big East Play to finish in 7th place. They lost in the first round of the Big East tournament to Butler.

2020–21 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	13–8 (6–7 Big East)
Head coach	Travis Steele (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Jonas Hayes (3rd season) Ben Johnson (3rd season) Dante Jackson (3rd season)
Home arena	Cintas Center
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Big East men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 18 Villanova	11	–	4		.733			18	–	7		.720
No. 19 Creighton	14	–	6		.700			22	–	9		.710
UConn	11	–	6		.647			15	–	8		.652
St. John's	10	–	9		.526			16	–	11		.593
Seton Hall	10	–	9		.526			14	–	13		.519
Providence	9	–	10		.474			13	–	13		.500
Xavier	6	–	7		.462			13	–	8		.619
Georgetown †	7	–	9		.438			13	–	13		.500
Marquette	8	–	11		.421			13	–	14		.481
Butler	8	–	12		.400			10	–	15		.400
DePaul	2	–	13		.133			5	–	14		.263
† 2021 Big East tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Musketeers finished the 2019–20 season 19–13, 8–10 in Big East play to finish tied for sixth place.^[1] As the No. 7 seed in the Big East tournament, Xavier was defeated by DePaul in the first round.^[2] The next day, the remainder of the Big East tournament and all other postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.^[3][4]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Dahmir Bishop	2	G	6'5"	178	Freshman	Philadelphia, PA	Transferred to Saint Joseph's (mid-season)^[5]
Quentin Goodin	3	G	6'4"	194	Senior	Campbellsville, KY	Graduated
Tyrique Jones	4	F	6'9"	239	Senior	Bloomfield, CT	Graduated
Leighton Schrand	10	G	6'2"	166	Senior	Villa Hills, KY	Graduated
Bryce Moore	11	G	6'3"	194	Graduate Student	Indianapolis, IN	Completed college eligibility^[a]
Dontarius James	12	F	6'7"	228	Sophomore	Kershaw, SC	Transferred to Jacksonville State^[6]
Naji Marshall	13	F	6'7"	220	Junior	Atlantic City, NJ	Declared for NBA draft^[7]
Myles Hanson	34	G	6'7"	215	RS Sophomore	Chaska, MN	Walk-on; transferred to Stonehill College^[8]

1. Moore was a graduate transfer in the 2019–20 season, having graduated from Western Michigan in 2019.

Incoming transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Nate Johnson	G	6'3"	180	Graduate Student	Miami, FL	Transferred from Gardner-Webb after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.^[9]
Bryan Griffin	F	6'8"	230	Graduate Student	Pomona, NY	Transferred from Mercy College after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.^[10]
Adam Kunkel	G	6'3"	165	Junior	Hebron, KY	Transferred from Belmont. Kunkel was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.^[11]^[12]
Ben Stanley	F	6'6"	225	RS Junior	Baltimore, MD	Transferred from Hampton. Stanley was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility on December 16. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.^[13]^[14]

Recruiting classes

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Dwon Odom PG	Alpharetta, GA	St. Francis HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jul 29, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:
C. J. Wilcher SG	Roselle, NJ	Roselle Catholic HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jun 7, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:
Colby Jones SG	Birmingham, AL	Mountain Brook HS	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Aug 14, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:
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: "Xavier 2020 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 23, 2020. "2020 Xavier Musketeers Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 23, 2020. "Xavier 2020 Basketball Commits". 247sports.com. Retrieved July 23, 2020.

2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2021 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Cesare Edwards PF	Hartsville, SC	Hartsville HS	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jun 26, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:
Elijah Tucker PF	Canton, GA	Cherokee HS	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Aug 14, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:
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: "Xavier 2021 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2020. "2021 Xavier Musketeers Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 14, 2020. "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2020. "Xavier 2021 Basketball Commits". 247sports.com. Retrieved August 14, 2020.

Roster

2020–21 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 C. J. Wilcher 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Roselle Catholic HS Roselle, NJ G 1 Paul Scruggs 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 196 lb (89 kg) Sr Prolific Prep Indianapolis, IN F 2 Daniel Ramsey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 233 lb (106 kg) So Norcross HS Cordele, GA G 3 Colby Jones 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Mountain Brook HS Birmingham, AL G 5 Adam Kunkel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 176 lb (80 kg) Jr Belmont Hebron, KY G 10 Nate Johnson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) GS Gardner-Webb Miami, FL G 11 Dwon Odom 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr St. Francis HS Alpharetta, GA F 13 Bryan Griffin 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) GS Mercy College Pomona, NY F 14 Ben Stanley 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Jr Hampton Baltimore, MD G 15 Spencer Cody (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr DePaul Prep Chicago, IL G 20 Ramon Singh (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 187 lb (85 kg) Jr La Lumiere School Sydney, Australia G 21 Zak Swetye (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Darien HS Darien, CT F 22 Dieonte Miles 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Fr Walton-Verona HS Walton, KY G 24 KyKy Tandy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So University Heights Academy Hopkinsville, KY F 25 Jason Carter 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 227 lb (103 kg) RS Sr Ohio Johnstown, OH F 32 Zach Freemantle 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Bergen Catholic HS Teaneck, NJ	Head coach Travis Steele (Butler) Assistant coach(es) Jonas Hayes (Georgia) Ben Johnson (Minnesota) Dante Jackson (Xavier) 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	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 25, 2020* 12:00 p.m., FS1		Oakland Xavier Invitational	W 101–49	1–0	21 – Freemantle	12 – Freemantle	8 – Scruggs	Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH
November 26, 2020* 12:00 p.m., FS1		Bradley Xavier Invitational	W 51–50	2–0	19 – Freemantle	11 – Carter	7 – Scruggs	Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH
November 27, 2020* 12:00 p.m., GoXavier.com		Toledo Xavier Invitational	W 76–73	3–0	24 – Tandy	13 – Carter	7 – Scruggs	Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH
November 30, 2020* 7:00 p.m., FS1		Eastern Kentucky	W 99–96 ^OT	4–0	24 – Freemantle	13 – Freemantle	6 – Odom	Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH
December 2, 2020* 7:00 p.m., FS1		Tennessee Tech	W 79–48	5–0	14 – Johnson	12 – Carter	9 – Scruggs	Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH
December 6, 2020* 3:00 p.m., ESPN		at Cincinnati Crosstown Shootout	W 77–69	6–0	20 – Scruggs	9 – Freemantle	5 – Scruggs	Fifth Third Arena (300) Cincinnati, OH
December 9, 2020* 8:00 p.m., FS1		Oklahoma Big East/Big 12 Battle	W 99–77	7–0	28 – Freemantle	6 – Johnson	8 – Scruggs	Cintas Center  Cincinnati, OH
Big East regular season
December 12, 2020 6:30 p.m., FS2		at Providence	Postponed due to COVID-19					Alumni Hall (–) Providence, RI
December 18, 2020 2:00 p.m., FS1		at DePaul	Postponed due to COVID-19					Wintrust Arena (–) Chicago, IL
December 20, 2020 2:00 p.m., FS1		Marquette	W 91–88	8–0 (1–0)	29 – Scruggs	7 – Freemantle	6 – Scruggs	Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH
December 23, 2020 3:00 p.m., FS1	No. 22	at No. 13 Creighton	L 61–66	8–1 (1–1)	12 – Johnson	6 – Jones	4 – Scruggs	CHI Health Center Omaha (1,673) Omaha, NE
December 30, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1		Seton Hall	L 68–85	8–2 (1–2)	20 – Freemantle	9 – Freemantle	8 – Scruggs	Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH
January 2, 2021 2:00 p.m., FS1		No. 4 Villanova	Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic					Cintas Center (–) Cincinnati, OH
January 6, 2021 8:00 p.m., CBSSN		St. John's	W 69–60	9–2 (2–2)	16 – Jones	16 – Carter	3 – Tied	Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH
January 10, 2021 11:00 a.m., FOX		Providence	W 74–73	10–2 (3–2)	17 – Freemantle	8 – Freemantle	5 – Kunkel	Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH
January 13, 2021 6:30 p.m., FS1		Villanova	Postponed due to COVID-19					Cintas Center (–) Cincinnati, OH
January 16, 2021 3:30 p.m., CBSSN		at Seton Hall	Postponed due to COVID-19					Prudential Center (–) Newark, NJ
January 20, 2021 8:30 p.m., CBSSN		at No. 23 Connecticut	Postponed due to COVID-19					Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (–) Storrs, CT
January 26, 2021 6:30 p.m., FS1		Georgetown	Postponed due to COVID-19					Cintas Center (–) Cincinnati, OH
January 29, 2021 6:30 p.m., FS1		at Butler	W 68–55	11–2 (4–2)	24 – Scruggs	10 – Freemantle	3 – Scruggs	Hinkle Fieldhouse (2,084) Indianapolis, IN
February 3, 2021 5:00 p.m., FS1		at DePaul	Postponed due to COVID-19					Wintrust Arena (–) Chicago, IL
February 7, 2021 2:30 p.m., FOX		at No. 3 Villanova	Postponed due to COVID-19					Finneran Pavilion (–) Villanova, PA
February 11, 2021 3:30 p.m., FS1		DePaul	Postponed due to COVID-19					Cintas Center (–) Cincinnati, OH
February 13, 2021 12:00 p.m., FOX		Connecticut	L 72–80	11–3 (4–3)	30 – Freemantle	15 – Freemantle	12 – Scruggs	Cintas Center (922) Cincinnati, OH
February 16, 2021 8:30 p.m., FS1		at St. John's	L 84–93	11–4 (4–4)	22 – Freemantle	10 – Freemantle	6 – Tied	Carnesecca Arena (0) Queens, NY
February 21, 2021 7:00 p.m., FS1		Butler	W 63–51	12–4 (5–4)	17 – Freemantle	11 – Jones	6 – Scruggs	Cintas Center (922) Cincinnati, OH
February 24, 2021 9:00 p.m., FS1		at Providence	L 68–83	12–5 (5–5)	24 – Freemantle	12 – Freemantle	3 – Tied	Alumni Hall (0) Providence, RI
February 27, 2021 5:00 p.m., FOX		No. 13 Creighton	W 77–69	13–5 (6–5)	23 – Scruggs	11 – Freemantle	5 – Scruggs	Cintas Center (922) Cincinnati, OH
March 2, 2021 7:00 p.m., FS1		at Georgetown	L 66–72	13–6 (6–6)	14 – Tandy	12 – Freemantle	4 – Jones	Capital One Arena (0) Washington, D.C.
March 7, 2021 9:00 p.m., FS1		at Marquette	L 59–66	13–7 (6–7)	18 – Scruggs	6 – Tied	3 – 3 Tied	Fiserv Forum (1,800) Milwaukee, WI
Big East tournament
March 10, 2021 6:00 p.m, FS1	(7)	vs. (10) Butler First round	L 69–70	13–8	14 – Tied	9 – Jones	4 – Tied	Madison Square Garden (–) New York, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

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. т = Tied with team above or below.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	—	—	RV	RV	22	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	—	—^	RV	RV	22	20T	RV	RV	RV	RV

^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

1. "2019-20 Xavier Musketeers Roster and Stats". Retrieved June 29, 2020.
2. "DePaul vs. Xavier - Game Recap - March 11, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
3. West, Jenna. "Big East Cancels Tournament Over Coronavirus". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
4. "2020 NCAA Tournament canceled due to growing threat of coronavirus pandemic". CBSSports.com. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
5. Jensen, Mike (January 10, 2020). "Former Imhotep star Dahmir Bishop transfers to St. Joseph's from Xavier". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
6. Clark, Dave (April 17, 2020). "Xavier Musketeers transfer Dontarius James commits to Jacksonville University Dolphins". cincinnati.com. The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
7. Baum, Adam (March 26, 2020). "Report: Xavier's Naji Marshall has declared for the 2020 NBA Draft". cincinnati.com. The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
8. Rapay, Eugene (August 17, 2020). "Big East offer tracker (Aug. 17): UConn, Xavier add commits, new offers, decisions, and more!". bigeastcoastbias.com. Retrieved August 25, 2020. A destination has been added for former Xavier guard Myles Hanson. He will be transferring to Stonehill. Sit one, play one.
9. Baum, Adam (March 28, 2020). "FaceTime campus tour helps Xavier basketball land grad transfer Nate Johnson". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
10. Baum, Adam (March 29, 2020). "'No place I'd rather be': Xavier basketball adds size in Mercy College transfer Bryan Griffin". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
11. Baum, Adam (July 25, 2020). "'Ready to be a Musketeer': Xavier lands Belmont transfer, Cooper grad Adam Kunkel". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
12. Baum, Adam (December 5, 2020). "Xavier's 3 quarantined players are back and Adam Kunkel's waiver has been approved". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
13. Clark, Dave (July 29, 2020). "Ben Stanley, Hampton transfer, commits to Xavier Musketeers". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
14. Bieler, Des (December 17, 2020). "NCAA grants blanket waiver to transfer athletes, most of whom can play right away". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 22, 2020.