2020–21 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball season

The 2020–21 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in December and will conclude in March 2021. This season is the 40th season of MAAC basketball.

2020–21 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationNovember, 2020–March, 2021
Number of teams11
2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Tournament
2020–21 MAAC men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Siena8–2 .800  8–2  .800
Iona3–1 .750  5–3  .625
Monmouth10–4 .714  10–5  .667
Saint Peter's6–4 .600  9–6  .600
Marist7–7 .500  9–7  .563
Canisius3–3 .500  3–3  .500
Niagara6–8 .429  7–9  .438
Quinnipiac3–4 .429  5–6  .455
Manhattan4–8 .333  5–8  .385
Rider4–8 .333  4–11  .267
Fairfield3–8 .273  3–13  .188
† 2021 MAAC Tournament winner
As of February 7, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the MAAC revised their scheduling policy for conference games as follows:[1]

  • A 20-game double round robin conference schedule with five home series and five away series for each team.
  • A Friday/Saturday playing schedule at the same venue for both games, with 24 hours of spacing between the two contests. The men’s and women’s schedules will mirror each other so that the women’s program may be playing a team for a 2-game home series, with the men’s program playing the same opponent on the road - and vice versa in subsequent weeks.
  • Make up week retained for the second to last week of the season.
  • The use of the same officiating crew for both games of a series, when possible.
  • When teams are traveling, only institutional staff and student-athletes that are designated as Tier 1, along with Tier 2 Presidents, Athletic Directors, Senior Woman Administrators and key conference staff members are permitted entrance to a team’s facility.
  • Retained a ban on fan attendance at venues through December.
  • Approved the threshold for the minimum number of players available for the game to be contested as 8 counter (scholarship) players and at least one coach.

The 2021 MAAC Tournament is scheduled to be held from March 9 through March 13 at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the second year in a row.

Head Coaches

Coaching changes

On March 13, 2020, Tim Cluess stepped down as head coach of the Iona Gaels due to health concerns.[2] A day later, the school named former Louisville coach Rick Pitino the Gaels' new head coach.[3]

Coaches
Team Head coach Previous job Year at school Overall record MAAC record MAAC Tournament championships
Canisius Reggie Witherspoon Chattanooga
(asst.)		 5 66–65 43–33 0
Fairfield Jay Young Rutgers
(asst.)		 2 12–20 8–12 0
Iona Rick Pitino Louisville 1 0–0 0–0 0
Manhattan Steve Masiello Louisville
(asst.)		 10 140–149 88–84 2
Marist John Dunne Saint Peter's 3 19–42 13–25 1
Monmouth King Rice Vanderbilt
(asst.)		 10 149–146 82–54 0
Niagara Greg Paulus George Washington
(asst.)		 2 12–20 9–11 0
Quinnipiac Baker Dunleavy Villanova
(asst.)		 4 43–51 28–28 0
Rider Kevin Baggett Rider
(assoc. HC)		 9 141–116 92–62 0
Saint Peter's Shaheen Holloway Seton Hall
(asst.)		 3 28–34 20–18 0
Siena Carmen Maciariello Siena
(asst.)		 2 20–10 15–5 0

Notes:

  • All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Year at school includes 2020–21 season.
  • Overall and MAAC records are from time at current school and are before the beginning of the season.
  • Previous jobs are head coaching jobs unless otherwise noted.

Preseason

Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank Team [4]
1. Siena (11)
2. Iona
T3. Monmouth
T3. Saint Peter's
5. Manhattan
6. Niagara
7. Quinnipiac
8. Fairfield
9. Marist
10. Canisius
11. Rider

() first place votes

Preseason All-MAAC teams
2020-21 MAAC Men's Basketball Preseason All-MAAC Teams [4]
First Team Second Team Third Team
  • †Deion Hammond – Monmouth
  • †Marcus Hammond – Niagara
  • KC Ndefo – Saint Peter's
  • †Manny Camper – Siena
  • †Jalen Pickett – Siena
  • Majesty Brandon – Canisius
  • Asante Gist – Iona
  • Isaiah Ross – Iona
  • Warren Williams – Manhattan
  • Tyrese Williams – Quinnipiac
  • Jesus Cruz – Fairfield
  • Raheem Solomon – Niagara
  • Jacob Rigoni – Quinnipiac
  • Daryl Banks – Saint Peter's
  • Doug Edert – Saint Peter's

† denotes unanimous selection

Preseason Player of the Year
Recipient School
†Jalen Pickett Siena

MAAC Regular Season

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the final head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

  Canisius Fairfield Iona Manhattan Marist Monmouth Niagara Quinnipiac Rider Saint Peter's Siena
vs. Canisius 1–1 2–0 0–2
vs. Fairfield 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0
vs. Iona 1–1 0–2
vs. Manhattan 2–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–0
vs. Marist 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1
vs. Monmouth 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0
vs. Niagara 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0
vs. Quinnipiac 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1
vs. Rider 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0
vs. Saint Peter's 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–1
vs. Siena 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1
Total 3–33–83–14–87–710–46–83–44–86–48–2

Player of the week

Throughout the regular season, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference offices named player(s) of the week and rookie(s) of the week.[5]

Week Player of the week Rookie of the week
November 30, 2020 Fousseyni Drame, Saint Peter's Tymu Chenery, Quinnipiac
December 7, 2020 Isaiah Ross, Iona Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona
December 14, 2020 Ant Nelson, Manhattan Hakim Byrd, Marist
December 21, 2020 Isaiah Ross (2), Iona Nelly Junior Joseph (2), Iona
December 28, 2020 Isaiah Ross (3), Iona Nelly Junior Joseph (3), Iona
January 4, 2021 Marcus Hammond, Niagara Ricardo Wright, Marist
January 11, 2021 Manny Camper, Siena Aidan Carpenter, Siena
January 18, 2021 Jordan King, Siena Colin Golson, Jr., Siena
January 25, 2021 Dwight Murray, Jr., Rider Ricardo Wright (2), Marist
February 1, 2021    
February 8, 2021    
February 15, 2021    
February 22, 2021    
March 1, 2021    
March 8, 2021    

Records against other conferences

2020–21 records against non-conference foes. Records shown for regular season only.

Power 7 Conferences Record
American 0–0
ACC 0–2
Big East 0–5
Big Ten –––
Big 12 –––
Pac-12 –––
SEC –––
Power 7 Total 0–7
Other NCAA Division I Conferences Record
America East 5–4
A-10 1–0
ASUN –––
Big Sky –––
Big South –––
Big West –––
CAA 1–3
C-USA –––
Horizon League –––
Ivy League –––
MAC –––
MEAC 2–1
MVC –––
Mountain West –––
NEC 2–1
OVC –––
Patriot League –––
Pacific West –––
SoCon –––
Southland –––
SWAC –––
The Summit –––
Sun Belt –––
WAC –––
WCC –––
Other Division I Total 11–9
NCAA Division I Total 11–16

Postseason

MAAC Tournament
Main article: 2021 MAAC Men's Basketball Tournament
  First Round
Tuesday, March 9
TBD		 Quarterfinals
Wed/Thur, March 10/11
TBD		 Semifinals
Friday, March 12
TBD		 Championship
Saturday, March 13
TBD
                                     
       
  1    
       
8  
9    
     
     
       
       
  4  
    5    
     
       
     
   
       
       
  2  
       
7  
10    
   
   
       
       
  3  
       
6  
11    

* denotes number of overtimes

NCAA Tournament
Main article: 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

Honors and awards

MAAC Awards
2020-21 MAAC Men's Basketball Major Individual Awards
Award Recipient(s)
Player of the Year  
Coach of the Year  
Rookie of the Year  
Defensive Player of the Year  
Sixth Player of the Year  
2020-21 MAAC Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams
First Team Second Team Third Team Rookie Team
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† denotes unanimous selection

2020–21 Season statistic leaders

Updated on January 24, 2021 [6][7]

References
  1. "MAAC Council of Presidents Revises 2020-21 Basketball Scheduling Policy for COVID-19 Impacted Season". MAAC Sports. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  2. "Iona's Cluess steps down to focus on health". ESPN.com. 2020-03-13. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  3. "Rick Pitino returns to college hoops as Iona coach". ESPN.com. 2020-03-14. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  4. "Siena Selected as Unanimous Men's Basketball Preseason Favorite; Jalen Pickett Named Unanimous Preseason Player of the Year". MAAC Sports. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  5. "Athlete Awards". MAAC Sports. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  6. "2020-2021 Men's Basketball - Overall Statistics". MAAC Sports. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  7. "Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Statistics". ESPN.com. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
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