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
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	0–9 (0–0 WAC)
Head coach	Lance Irvin (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Rodell Davis Brett Putz
Home arena	Jones Convocation Center
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 WAC men's basketball standings

v t e	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
† 2021 WAC tournament winner * Ineligible for the 2021 NCAA tournament due to transition period Chicago State suspended their season on December 23, 2020

Previous season

Main article: 2019–20 Chicago State Cougars men's basketball team

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

Departures

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

• 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

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	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
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (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: "Chicago State 2020 Player Commits". ESPN. Retrieved January 9, 2021. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved January 9, 2021.

Preseason

WAC media poll

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

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 Lance Irvin (Idaho) Assistant coach(es) Rodell Davis (Iowa) Tommy Strine (Anderson (IN)) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: March 2, 2021

Schedule

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

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

Ranking movements
Legend: — = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings