2020–21 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team
American college basketball season
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 .
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
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:
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
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
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]
^ 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
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ 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
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons NCAA Final Four appearances in italics