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 2019–20 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
2020–21 record	0–9 (0–0 WAC)
Head coach	Lance Irvin (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Rodell Davis Brett Putz
Home arena	Jones Convocation Center

2020–21 WAC men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Grand Canyon	6	–	0		1.000			12	–	3		.800
UTRGV	2	–	0		1.000			8	–	3		.727
Utah Valley	4	–	1		.800			6	–	7		.462
California Baptist*	4	–	3		.571			9	–	5		.643
Dixie State*	2	–	5		.286			6	–	8		.429
Tarleton State*	1	–	5		.167			4	–	8		.333
Seattle	0	–	2		.000			7	–	7		.500
New Mexico State	0	–	3		.000			3	–	4		.429
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 As of February 5, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

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

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: 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: "Chicago State 2020 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. 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 F 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 G 3 Isaiah Lewis 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 155 lb (70 kg) So 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 11 Kalil Whitehead 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Detroit, Michigan F 12 Carlo Marble 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr West Des Moines, Iowa 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) Brett Putz (St. Cloud State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 8, 2019

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Isaiah Simpson	Lou Demuth	Solomon Hunt
PF	Coreyoun Rushin	Aaris-Monte Bonds	Ke'Sean Davis
SF	Carlo Marble	Jordan Polynice
SG	Xavier Johnson	Isaiah Lewis	Rajier Jones
PG	Levelle Ziegler	Kalil Whitehead	Andrew Lewis

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 MTE	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 Illinois Illinois MTE	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 MTE	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.		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.		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 – Ziegler	Convocation Center (0) DeKalb, IL
Dec 20, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ESPN3		at Drake	L 67–111	0–9	18 – Ziegler	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 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, 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
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Source[2]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

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

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

References

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.