2019–20 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs were led by second-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). They 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.

2019–20 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	20–14 (8–10 MVC)
Head coach	Darian DeVries (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Larry Blunt Marty Richter Matt Woodley
Home arena	Knapp Center
Seasons ← 2018–19 2020–21 →

2019–20 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Northern Iowa	14	–	4		.778			25	–	6		.806
Loyola Chicago	13	–	5		.722			21	–	11		.656
Indiana State	11	–	7		.611			18	–	12		.600
Bradley †	11	–	7		.611			23	–	11		.676
Southern Illinois	10	–	8		.556			16	–	16		.500
Missouri State	9	–	9		.500			16	–	17		.485
Valparaiso	9	–	9		.500			19	–	16		.543
Drake	8	–	10		.444			20	–	14		.588
Illinois State	5	–	13		.278			10	–	21		.323
Evansville	0	–	18		.000			9	–	23		.281
† 2020 MVC tournament winner

Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the previous season 24–10 (12–6 MVC) to share of MVC regular season championship with Loyola–Chicago. The shared title was the Bulldogs' first since the 2007–08 season. After falling in the MVC tournament semifinals, they received a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to Southern Utah.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Brady Ellingson	24	G	6'4"	193	RS Senior	Menomonee Falls, WI	Graduated.
Matt Gray	13	F	6'8"	224	Freshman	Orange, Australia	Transferred to Salt Lake Community College.
Nick McGlynn	35	F	6'8"	244	Senior	Stoughton, WI	Graduated.
Nick Norton	20	G	5'10"	166	RS Senior	Bloomington, IL	Graduated.
Luke Vaske	10	G	6'0"	182	Freshman	Norwalk, IA	Walk-on; didn't return.

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Brady Ernst	31	F	6'10"	230	Redshirt Senior	Clinton, IA	Transferred from Florida Gulf Coast. Was eligible to play immediately since he graduated from FGCU.
Jonah Jackson	20	G	6'3"	210	Junior	Merrillville, IN	Junior college transferred from John A. Logan College.

2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Joseph Yesufu #49 PG	Bolingbrook, IL	Bolingbrook High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Aug 26, 2018
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (76)
Nate Ferguson PF	Lemont, IL	Lemont High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	N/A	Aug 26, 2018
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Issa Samake PF	Des Moines, Iowa	Grand View Christian School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jun 24, 2018
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Okay Djamgouz G	Toronto, Canada	London Basketball Academy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Apr 23, 2019
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved October 12, 2017.

Roster

2019–20 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) 179 lb (81 kg) RS So Florida Southwestern State Merrillville Merrillville, IN G 1 Samm Jones (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 196 lb (89 kg) RS Jr Northwestern De La Salle Minneapolis, MN F 2 Tremell Murphy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Sr Florida Southwestern State Griffith Griffith, IN G 3 Garrett Sturtz (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Newton Newton, IA G 4 Anthony Murphy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 189 lb (86 kg) Sr Florida Southwestern State Griffith Griffith, IN G 10 Okay Djamgouz 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr London Basketball Academy Toronto Canada F 11 Antonio Pilipovic 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Sr RheinStars Köln Cologne, Germany G 12 Roman Penn 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS So Siena Bishop Noll Calumet City, IL F 13 Issa Samake 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Grand View Christian Des Moines, IA G 14 Noah Thomas 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 163 lb (74 kg) Jr 22 Ft Academy Sydney, Australia G 20 Jonah Jackson 3 ft 0 in (0.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr John A. Logan College Merrillville Merrillville, IN F 21 Liam Robbins 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Assumption Davenport, IA G/F 22 Andrew Barrett (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Alleman Rock Island, IL G 23 Joseph Yesufu 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Bolingbrook Bolingbrook, IL F 24 Nate Ferguson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Lemont Lemont, IL G 25 Connor Gholson (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 182 lb (83 kg) RS So Newton Newton, IA F 31 Brady Ernst 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 244 lb (111 kg) RS Sr Florida Gulf Coast Clinton Clinton, IA	Head coach Darian DeVries (Northern Iowa) Assistant coach(es) Larry Blunt (James Madison) Marty Richter (Simpson) Matt Woodley (Drake) 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
Exhibition
Nov 2, 2019* 12:00 pm		Upper Iowa	W 95–88		Knapp Center (2,388) Des Moines, IA
Non-conference regular season
Nov 7, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Kennesaw State	W 86–55	1–0	Knapp Center (2,780) Des Moines, IA
Nov 11, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Cincinnati	L 59–81	1–1	Fifth Third Arena (10,133) Cincinnati, OH
Nov 13, 2019* 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+		Kansas City	W 76–58	2–1	Knapp Center (2,415) Des Moines, IA
Nov 17, 2019* 3:00 pm, ESPN3		Simpson	W 98–53	3–1	Knapp Center (2,528) Des Moines, IA
Nov 21, 2019* 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+		Lehigh	W 74–58	4–1	Knapp Center (2,333) Des Moines, IA
November 25, 2019* 12:45 pm, FloSports		vs. Miami (Ohio) Gulf Coast Showcase First Round	L 59–67	4–2	Hertz Arena (563) Estero, FL
November 26, 2019* 10:00 am, FloSports		vs. Northeastern Gulf Coast Showcase Consolation 2nd Round	W 59–56	5–2	Hertz Arena (427) Estero, FL
November 27, 2019* 12:30 pm, FloSports		vs. Murray State Gulf Coast Showcase 5th Place Game	W 63–53	6–2	Hertz Arena (653) Estero, FL
Dec 3, 2019* 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+		Milwaukee	W 56–53	7–2	Knapp Center (2,373) Des Moines, IA
Dec 7, 2019* 5:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+		Southeast Missouri State	W 78–73	8–2	Knapp Center (2,723) Des Moines, IA
Dec 14, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at No. 14 Dayton	L 47–78	8–3	UD Arena (13,407) Dayton, OH
Dec 17, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Mount Marty	W 92–74	9–3	Knapp Center (2,468) Des Moines, IA
Dec 21, 2019* 1:00 pm, MWN		at Air Force	W 85–80	10–3	Clune Arena (1,791) Colorado Springs, CO
MVC regular season
Dec 31, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Bradley	L 72–80	10–4 (0–1)	Carver Arena (5,416) Peoria, IL
Jan 4, 2020 5:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+		Indiana State	W 80–76	11–4 (1–1)	Knapp Center (3,490) Des Moines, IA
Jan 7, 2020 8:00 pm, CBSSN		Loyola–Chicago	W 65–62	12–4 (2–1)	Knapp Center (3,164) Des Moines, IA
Jan 11, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Valparaiso	L 61–66	12–5 (2–2)	Athletics–Recreation Center (3,190) Valparaiso, IN
Jan 16, 2020 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+		Illinois State	W 84–74	13–5 (3–2)	Knapp Center (2,641) Des Moines, IA
Jan 19, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Southern Illinois	L 49–66	13–6 (3–3)	SIU Arena (4,337) Carbondale, IL
Jan 22, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Evansville	W 73–50	14–6 (4–3)	Ford Center (4,913) Evansville, IN
Jan 26, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Missouri State	W 71–69	15–6 (5–3)	Knapp Center (3,593) Des Moines, IA
Jan 29, 2020 6:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+		at Indiana State	L 56–58	15–7 (5–4)	Hulman Center (3,414) Terre Haute, IN
Feb 1, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN3		Southern Illinois	L 72–79	15–8 (5–5)	Knapp Center (4,053) Des Moines, IA
Feb 5, 2020 8:00 pm, FSMIW/NBCS		Bradley	W 73–60	16–8 (6–5)	Knapp Center (3,328) Des Moines, IA
Feb 8, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Northern Iowa	L 73–83	16–9 (6–6)	McLeod Center (6,497) Cedar Falls, IA
Feb 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Missouri State	L 62–97	16–10 (6–7)	JQH Arena (3,185) Springfield, MO
Feb 16, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3		Evansville	W 85–80	17–10 (7–7)	Knapp Center (4,067) Des Moines, IA
Feb 19, 2020 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+		Valparaiso	W 77–75 OT	18–10 (8–7)	Knapp Center (3,783) Des Moines, IA
Feb 22, 2020 3:30 pm, FSMW/NBCSC		at Illinois State	L 53–57	18–11 (8–8)	Redbird Arena (5,063) Normal, IL
Feb 25, 2020 7:00 pm, NBCSC		at Loyola–Chicago	L 60–64	18–12 (8–9)	Gentile Arena (3,358) Chicago, IL
Feb 29, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN2		Northern Iowa	L 43–70	18–13 (8–10)	Knapp Center (7,152) Des Moines, IA
MVC tournament
March 5, 2020 6:05 pm, FSMW/NBCSC	(8)	vs. (9) Illinois State First round	W 75–65	19–13	Enterprise Center (5,212) St. Louis, MO
March 6, 2020 12:05 pm, FSMW/NBCSC	(8)	vs. (1) Northern Iowa Quarterfinals	W 77–56	20–13	Enterprise Center (7,399) St. Louis, MO
March 7, 2020 2:35 pm, CBSSN	(8)	vs. (4) Bradley Semifinals	L 66–76	20–14	Enterprise Center (8,145) St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[1]