2020–21 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball team represented Chicago State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars were led by third-year head coach Lance Irvin. They played their home games at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center as members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 0–9, 0–0 in WAC play before suspending the season due to COVID-19 and an insufficient number of players.

2020–21 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Record0–9 (0–0 WAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Rodell Davis
  • Brett Putz
Home arenaJones Convocation Center
Seasons
2020–21 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Grand Canyon 9 3   .750 17 7   .708
Utah Valley 9 4   .692 11 11   .500
New Mexico State 7 6   .538 12 8   .600
California Baptist* 6 6   .500 13 10   .565
Seattle 4 5   .444 12 11   .522
Tarleton State* 5 7   .417 10 10   .500
Dixie State* 4 10   .286 8 13   .381
Texas–Rio Grande Valley 2 5   .286 9 10   .474
Chicago State 0 0   0 9   .000
* Ineligible for the 2021 NCAA tournament due to transition period
Chicago State suspended their season on December 23, 2020
2021 WAC tournament winner

Previous season edit

The 2019–20 Cougars finished the 2019–20 season 4–25, 0–14 in WAC play to finish in last place. They were set to be the eighth overall seed in the WAC tournament, but the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Offseason edit

Departures edit

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Leondre Townsen 2 G 6'5" 160 Freshman Chicago, Illinois Left program
Amir Gholizadeh 10 F 6'6" 195 Freshman Toronto, Ontario Transferred to Tallahassee CC
Christian Jacob 13 F 6'8" 230 Senior Gary, Indiana Graduated
Noah Bigirumwami 15 F 6'10" 225 RS-Junior Santa Clarita, California Left program
Jace Colley 23 F 6'7" 200 Junior Preston, Nova Scotia Left program
Eugene Witherspoon 32 F 6'6" 200 Senior Chicago, Illinois Graduated

Transfers edit

  • Levelle Ziegler - East LA College
  • Isaiah Simpson - Santa Monica College
  • Aaris-Monte Bonds - Southeastern CC
  • Coreyoun Rushin - Idaho State
  • Jordan Polynice - East LA College

2020 recruiting class edit

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Lou Demuth
C
Luxembourg City, LUX BBC Gréngewald Hueschtert 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 235 lb (107 kg) May 27, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/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:

  • "Chicago State 2020 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  • "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021.

Preseason edit

WAC media poll edit

The WAC men's basketball media poll was released on October 27, 2020. Chicago State was picked to finish ninth.[1]

WAC Preseason Poll
Predicted finish Team
1 New Mexico State (8)
2 Grand Canyon (1)
3 UTRGV
4 California Baptist
5 Seattle U
6 Tarleton State
7 Utah Valley
8 Dixie State
9 Chicago State

Roster edit

2020–21 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 0 Rajeir Jones 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Baltimore, Maryland
G 1 Andrew Lewis 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Milwaukee, Wisconsin
PG 2 Levelle Zeigler 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Oakland, California
G 3 Isaiah Lewis 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 155 lb (70 kg) RS Fr Romulus, Michigan
F 4 Ke'Sean Davis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Compton, California
G 5 Xavier Johnson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Sr Dallas, Texas
F 10 Carlo Marble 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr West Des Moines, Iowa
F 11 Kalil Whitehead 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Detroit, Michigan
C 12 Isaiah Simpson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Richmond, Virginia
F 13 Aaris-Monte Bonds 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Denver, Colorado
F 15 Coreyoun Rushin 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Chicago, Illinois
C 20 Lou Demuth 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
G/F 23 Jordan Polynice 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Santa Clarita, California
C 35 Solomon Hunt 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 272 lb (123 kg) Sr Pomona, California
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: March 2, 2021

Schedule edit

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 25, 2020*
4:00 p.m.
vs. Ohio
Illinois Multi–team Event
L 61–84  0–1
 11  I. Lewis   7  Bonds   3  Bonds  State Farm Center (132)
Champaign, IL
Nov 26, 2020*
11:00 a.m., BTN
at No. 8 Illinois
Illinois Multi–team Event
L 38–97  0–2
 10  Johnson   2  Marble   4  I. Lewis  State Farm Center (143)
Champaign, IL
Nov 27, 2020*
3:00 p.m.
vs. North Carolina A&T
Illinois Multi–team Event
L 44–74  0–3
 12  Tied   8  Davis   4  Johnson  State Farm Center (155)
Champaign, IL
Dec 3, 2020*
2:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Eastern Illinois L 56–78  0–4
 11  Tied   8  Bonds   3  Bonds  Lantz Arena (0)
Charleston, IL
Dec 5, 2020*
4:00 p.m., BTN
at Northwestern L 66–111  0–5
 18  Zeigler   4  Tied   6  Johnson  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
Dec 9, 2020*
2:00 p.m., NBCSCHI
at Loyola Chicago L 51–88  0–6
 12  Zeigler   6  Davis   3  Johnson  Gentile Arena (0)
Chicago, IL
Dec 15, 2020*
2:00 p.m., ESPN3
at Illinois State L 62–91  0–7
 22  Johnson   12  Davis   2  Tied  Redbird Arena (0)
Normal, IL
Dec 18, 2020*
6:00 p.m., ESPN3
at Northern Illinois L 54–64  0–8
 23  Johnson   8  Rushin   4  Zeigler  Convocation Center (0)
DeKalb, IL
Dec 20, 2020*
2:00 p.m., ESPN3
at Drake L 67–111  0–9
 18  Zeigler   9  Rushin   3  Marble  Knapp Center (331)
Des Moines, IA
Dec 22, 2020*
12:00 p.m., B12N
at Iowa State Canceled due to insufficient number of available players Hilton Coliseum 
Ames, IA
WAC regular season
Jan 8, 2021
4:00 p.m., WACDN
UTRGV Season suspended due to COVID-19 Jones Convocation Center 
Chicago, IL
Jan 9, 2021
4:00 p.m., WACDN
UTRGV Season suspended due to COVID-19 Jones Convocation Center 
Chicago, IL
Jan 15, 2021
8:00 p.m., WACDN
at Grand Canyon Season suspended due to COVID-19 GCU Arena 
Phoenix, AZ
Jan 16, 2021
5:00 p.m., WACDN
at Grand Canyon Season suspended due to COVID-19 GCU Arena 
Phoenix, AZ
Jan 22, 2021
1:00 p.m., WACDN
California Baptist Season suspended due to COVID-19 Jones Convocation Center 
Chicago, IL
Jan 23, 2021
12:00 p.m., WACDN
California Baptist Season suspended due to COVID-19 Jones Convocation Center 
Chicago, IL
Jan 29, 2021
8:00 p.m., WACDN
at Seattle Season suspended due to COVID-19 Redhawk Center 
Seattle, WA
Jan 30, 2021
8:00 p.m., WACDN
at Seattle Season suspended due to COVID-19 Redhawk Center 
Seattle, WA
Feb 5, 2021
2:00 p.m., WACDN
Utah Valley Season suspended due to COVID-19 Jones Convocation Center 
Chicago, IL
Feb 6, 2021
2:00 p.m., WACDN
Utah Valley Season suspended due to COVID-19 Jones Convocation Center 
Chicago, IL
Feb 12, 2021
1:00 p.m., WACDN
at Tarleton State Season suspended due to COVID-19 Wisdom Gymnasium 
Stephenville, TX
Feb 13, 2021
1:00 p.m., WACDN
at Tarleton State Season suspended due to COVID-19 Wisdom Gymnasium 
Stephenville, TX
Feb 26, 2021
2:00 p.m., WACDN
Dixie State Season suspended due to COVID-19 Jones Convocation Center 
Chicago, IL
Feb 27, 2021
2:00 p.m., WACDN
Dixie State Season suspended due to COVID-19 Jones Convocation Center 
Chicago, IL
Mar 5, 2021
 WACDN
vs. New Mexico State Season suspended due to COVID-19 Eastwood High School Gymnasium 
El Paso, TX
Mar 6, 2021
 WACDN
vs. New Mexico State Season suspended due to COVID-19 Eastwood High School Gymnasium 
El Paso, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Source[2]

Rankings edit

Ranking movements
Legend: — = Not ranked
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415161718Final
APNot released
Coaches

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

References edit

  1. ^ "WAC Coaches Select NM State, Aggies' Rice as Preseason Favorites". WACSports.com. October 27, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  2. ^ "2020–21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Chicago State University Athletics. Retrieved January 8, 2021.