2020–21 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team will represent the University of Tulsa during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Hurricane, led by seventh-year head coach Frank Haith, plays their home games at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma as members of the American Athletic Conference.[1]

2020–21 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball
Conference	American Athletic Conference
2020–21 record	9–7 (6–5 AAC)
Head coach	Frank Haith (7th season)
Assistant coaches	Toby Lane Kwanza Johnson Shea Seals
Home arena	Reynolds Center

2020–21 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 Houston	10	–	2		.833			15	–	2		.882
Wichita State	6	–	2		.750			10	–	4		.714
Memphis	7	–	3		.700			11	–	6		.647
SMU	6	–	4		.600			10	–	4		.714
Tulsa	6	–	5		.545			9	–	7		.563
South Florida	3	–	3		.500			7	–	5		.583
Temple	3	–	6		.333			4	–	6		.400
Cincinnati	2	–	4		.333			4	–	7		.364
East Carolina	2	–	6		.250			8	–	6		.571
Tulane	2	–	6		.250			7	–	6		.538
UCF	2	–	8		.200			4	–	9		.308
† 2021 AAC Tournament winner As of February 4, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Golden Hurricane finished the 2019–20 season 21–10, 13–5 in AAC play to finish in a tie for first place and winning a share of the regular season title. Coach Haith would go on to be honored as American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year for the season. They entered as the No. 3 seed in the AAC Tournament, which was unfortunately cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Martins Igbanu	1	F	6'8"	235	Senior	Lagos, Nigeria	Graduated
Isaiah Hill	4	G	6'0"	165	Freshman	Bakersfield, CA	Transferred to Fresno State.[2]
Lawson Korita	5	G	6'5"	205	Senior	Little Rock, AR	Graduated
Reggie Jones	22	G	6'6"	210	Sophomore	Marion, IN	Transferred to Ball State.[3]
Jeriah Horne	41	F	6'7"	222	RS Junior	Overland Park, KS	Graduate transferred to Colorado.[4]

Incoming transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Rey Idowu	F	6'9"	240	Junior	Melbourne, FL	Transferred from Illinois State. Idowu was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.[5]
Austin Richie	F	6'6"	225	Junior	Glenwood, IL	Junior college transferred from Triton College.[5]

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Keshawn Williams PG	Chicago, Illinois	Bloom High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Oct 22, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: NR
Peyton Urbancic SG	Naples, Florida	First Baptist Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Feb 27, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: NR
Christian Shumate SF	Chicago Heights, Illinois	Bloom High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Apr 17, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: NR
Bradley Alcime F	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Archbishop McCarthy	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jul 9, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: 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: "Tulsa 2020 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. "2020 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 24/7 Sports Commits". 247sports.com.

Tulsa will also add Preferred Walk-on Ari Seals a 6'3" guard from Frisco High School in Frisco, Texas. Seals is the son of current Tulsa assistant Shea Seals.

2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2021 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Gavyn Elkamil CG	Branson, Missouri	Link Year Prep	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Aug 10, 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: "Tulsa 2021 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved 1 Oct 2020. "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 1 Oct 2020. "2021 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Basketball 24/7 Sports Commits". 247sports.com. Retrieved 1 Oct 2020.

Preseason

AAC preseason media poll

On October 28, The American released the preseason Poll and other preseason awards[6]

Coaches Poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Houston	99 (2)
2	Memphis	90 (2)
3	SMU	80
4	Cincinnati	77
5	South Florida	61
6	Tulsa	50
7	Wichita State	44
8	UCF	37
9	East Carolina	34
10	Temple	18
11	Tulane	15

Preseason Awards

• All-AAC First Team – Brandon Rachal

Roster

2020–21 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Curtis Haywood II 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Brewster Academy Georgia Tech Oklahoma City, OK F 1 Brandon Rachal 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Natchitoches Central HS LSU Pearl River CC Natchitoches, LA G 2 Keyshawn Embery-Simpson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So Midwest City HS Arkansas Midwest City, OK G 3 Elijah Joiner 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Curie Metropolitan HS Chicago, IL G 4 Keshawn Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Bloom HS Chicago, IL G 5 Peyton Urbancic 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr First Baptist Academy Naples, FL G 10 Ryan Gendron (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Fr Bishop Kelley HS Oklahoma State Tulsa, OK G 11 Darien Jackson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 189 lb (86 kg) Sr Blue Valley Northwest HS Overland Park, KS C 12 Emmanuel Ugboh 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sr Quality Education Academy Iowa Western CC Lagos, Nigeria F 13 Bradley Alcime 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Archbishop McCarthy Fort Lauderdale, FL F 15 Josh Earley 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Bishop Miege HS Shawnee Mission, KS F 22 Christian Shumate 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Bloom HS Chicago Heights, IL G 23 Ari Seals (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 171 lb (78 kg) Fr Frisco HS Frisco, TX F 25 Rey Idowu 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Clearwater Academy Illinois State Melbourne, FL F 32 Austin Richie 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Bloom HS Northern Illinois Triton College Glenwood, IL	Head coach Frank Haith (Elon) Assistant coach(es) Kwanza Johnson (Tulsa) Shea Seals (Tulsa) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: July 19, 2020

Schedule and results

COVID-19 impact

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Golden Hurricane's schedule is subject to change, including the cancellation or postponement of individual games, the cancellation of the entire season, or games played either with minimal fans or without fans in attendance and just essential personnel.

• Two previously scheduled games were postponed (vs. Arkansas on December 8 and @ Oral Roberts on December 12) due to a COVID-19 case within Tulsa's program in December 2020.[7]

• The game vs. UCF scheduled for January 9 was moved to March 2 in Orlando due to COVID-19 issues.[8]

• The game vs. Tulane scheduled for January 23 was postponed due to COVID-19 issues in the Tulane program.[9]

• The game vs. South Florida scheduled for February 3 was postponed due to COVID–19 issues in the South Florida program.[10]

• The game vs. SMU originally scheduled for February 13 was moved to Feb 3rd.[11]

• The game @ UCF originally scheduled for February 6 was moved to Tulsa.[12]

• The game vs. Temple originally scheduled for March 2 was rescheduled to January 26.[13]

• The game @ Tulane scheduled for Feb 10th was moved to Tulsa.[14]

Tulsa announced that home games for the first month of the season would be played in front of no fans.[7]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 28, 2020* 6:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. TCU Hall of Fame Classic Semifinals	L 65–71	0–1	19 – Rachal	8 – Rachal	5 – Joiner	T-Mobile Center  Kansas City, MO
November 29, 2020* 1:00 p.m., ESPN2		vs. South Carolina Hall of Fame Classic Third Place Game	L 58–69	0–2	14 – Rachal	7 – Joiner	4 – Jackson	T-Mobile Center  Kansas City, MO
December 4, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		UT Arlington	W 79–64	1–2	19 – Rachal	9 – Jackson	5 – Haywood II	Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
December 8, 2020* 6:00 p.m.		Arkansas	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[7]					Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
December 12, 2020* 2:00 p.m.		at Oral Roberts	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[7]					Mabee Center  Tulsa, OK
December 15, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPNU		Wichita State Rivalry	L 65–69	1–3 (0–1)	17 – Rachal	11 – Rachal	5 – Joiner	Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
December 18, 2020* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Northwestern State	W 82–55	2–3	19 – Richie	8 – Idowu	5 – Williams	Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
December 21, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN2		at Memphis	W 56–49	3–3 (1–1)	14 – Richie	7 – Rachal	6 – Joiner	FedExForum  Memphis, TN
December 23, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Southwestern Christian	W 102–45	4–3	20 – Williams	10 – Rachal	9 – Williams	Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
December 29, 2020 8:00 p.m., ESPN2		No. 5 Houston	W 65–64	5–3 (2–1)	20 – Rachal	7 – Rachal	4 – Joiner	Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
January 2, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Cincinnati	W 70–66	6–3 (3–1)	25 – Rachal	13 – Rachal	4 – Joiner	Fifth Third Arena (300) Cincinnati, OH
January 6, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at South Florida	W 61–51	7–3 (4–1)	15 – Rachal	7 – Joiner	6 – Joiner	Yuengling Center  Tampa, FL
January 13, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Wichita State rivalry	L 53–72	7–4 (4–2)	12 – Jackson	9 – Jackson	3 – Tied	Charles Koch Arena (2,048) Wichita, KS
January 17, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Memphis	W 58–57	8–4 (5–2)	14 – Joiner	5 – Joiner	2 – Tied	Reynolds Center (100) Tulsa, OK
January 20, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at No. 8 Houston	L 59–86	8–5 (5–3)	18 – Rachal	5 – Haywood II	3 – Tied	Fertitta Center (1,859) Houston, TX
January 23, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Tulane	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[15]					Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
January 26, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Temple	L 67–76	8–6 (5–4)	20 – Idowu	4 – Tied	4 – Rachal	Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
January 30, 2021 11:00 a.m., ESPN+		at East Carolina	W 77–68	9–6 (6–4)	21 – Rachal	10 – Rachal	4 – Jackson	Williams Arena (82) Greenville, NC
February 3, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPNU		South Florida	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[16]					Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
February 3, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPNU		SMU	L 63–65	9–7 (6–5)	18 – Haywood II	5 – Tied	3 – Tied	Reynolds Center (100) Tulsa, OK
February 6, 2021 11:00 a.m., ESPN2/ESPNU		UCF						Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
February 10, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Tulane						Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
February 16, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPNU		Temple						Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
February 24, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPNU		Cincinnati						Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
February 27, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		East Carolina						Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
March 2, 2021		at UCF						Addition Financial Arena  Orlando, FL
March 7, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at SMU						Moody Coliseum  University Park, TX
American Conference Tournament
March 11–14, 2021 TBD		vs.						Dickies Arena  Fort Worth, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

1. "#105 Tulsa Men's Basketball 2019–2020 Preview". www.collegesportsmadness.com. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
2. Moore, Jackson (31 Mar 2020). "Bakersfield star Isaiah Hill transferring home to Fresno State". 247sports.com. Retrieved 11 Apr 2020.
3. Tribune sports staff (20 Apr 2020). "Ball State men's basketball adds 2 transfers". Kokomo Tribune. Retrieved 15 Apr 2020.
4. Snow, Brian (9 Apr 2020). "Colorado lands graduate transfer Jeriah Horne". 247sports.com. Retrieved 11 Apr 2020.
5. "Tulsa's Frank Haith Adds Three Student-Athletes to Basketball Signing Class". tulsahurricane.com. 15 Apr 2020. Retrieved 21 Apr 2020.
6. "Houston Tabbed as 2020–21 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Favorite". theAmerican.org. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
7. Hines, Kelly (7 Dec 2020). "TU basketball postpones two games after positive COVID-19 test". tulsaworld.com. Tulsa World. Retrieved 21 Dec 2020.
8. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. 27 Jan 2021.
9. "Tulane-Tulsa Game Scheduled for Jan. 23 Postponed". theamerican.org. 22 Jan 2021.
10. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. 27 Jan 2021.
11. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. 27 Jan 2021.
12. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. 27 Jan 2021.
13. "The American Announces Pair of Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. 22 Jan 2021.
14. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. 3 Feb 2021.
15. "Tulane-Tulsa Game Scheduled for Jan. 23 Postponed". theamerican.org. 22 Jan 2021.
16. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. 27 Jan 2021.