2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team

2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball
ConferenceAmerica East Conference
Record7–12 (6–10 America East)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Jeff Rafferty
  • Kim Waiters
  • Joe Gutowski
  • Danny Manuel
Home arenaWellness and Events Center
Seasons
2020–21 America East Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
UMBC 10 – 4   .714 14 – 6   .700
Vermont 10 – 4   .714 10 – 5   .667
New Hampshire 9 – 6   .600 10 – 9   .526
Hartford † 8 – 6   .571 15 – 9   .625
Albany 6 – 6   .500 7 – 9   .438
UMass Lowell 7 – 8   .467 11 – 12   .478
Stony Brook 7 – 9   .438 9 – 14   .391
NJIT 6 – 10   .375 7 – 12   .368
Binghamton 4 – 10   .286 4 – 14   .222
Maine 2 – 6   .250 2 – 7   .222
Maine suspended its season on February 13, 2021.
† 2021 AmEast tournament winner

The 2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team represented the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Highlanders, led by fifth-year head coach Brian Kennedy, played their home games at the Wellness and Events Center in Newark, New Jersey as first-year members of the America East Conference. In a season limited by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they finished the season 7–12, 6–10 in America East play to finish in eighth place. They lost to Albany in the first round of the America East tournament.

Previous season

The Highlanders finished the 2019–20 season 9–21, 6–10 in ASUN play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament to Liberty.[1]

This was the final season the Highlanders were a member of the ASUN. On June 14, 2020, it was announced that they would become a full member of the America East Conference beginning July 1.[2]

Roster

2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Adetokunbo Bakare 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr St. Benedict's Prep Newark, NJ
G 1 Dylan O'Hearn 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Carolina Basketball Academy
Western Oklahoma State CC 		Westland, MI
F 2 San Antonio Brinson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr South Kent School Thomson, GA
F 3 Miles Coleman 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr William T. Dwyer HS
Indian River State College 		West Palm Beach, FL
G 4 Zach Cooks 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Berkmar HS Lawrenceville, GA
G 5 Diego Willis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Canarias Basketball Academy Hermosillo, Mexico
F 13 Jason Murphy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Fr St. Frances Academy Owings Mills, MD
F 21 Souleymane Diakite 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Saint Benedict's Prep Bamako, Mali
G 23 Antwuan Butler 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Cardinal O'Hara HS
Austin Peay 		Philadelphia, PA
G 24 Mekhi Gray 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Putnam Science Academy Montrose, NY
F 32 Xavier Mayo 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So The Hill School Beacon, NY
F 33 Kjell de Graaf 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Canarias Basketball Academy Rotterdam, Netherlands
F 35 Da'mir Faison 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Fr Hazleton Area HS Philadelphia, PA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: December 2, 2020

Schedule and results

On November 25, 2020, NJIT paused activities following positive Covid-19 tests and canceled all non-conference games that the school had not yet announced.[3]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
December 19, 2020*
4:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Temple L 60–72  0–1
 Liacouras Center 
Philadelphia, PA
December 23, 2021*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Rider W 81–66  1–1
 Alumni Gymnasium 
Lawrenceville, NJ
America East regular season
December 27, 2020
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Vermont L 78–92  1–2
(0–1) 		Patrick Gym 
Burlington, VT
December 28, 2020
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Vermont W 81–80 2OT 2–2
(1–1) 		Patrick Gym 
Burlington, VT
January 2, 2021
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		at UMass Lowell W 73–67  3–2
(2–1) 		Costello Athletic Center 
Lowell, MA
January 3, 2021
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		at UMass Lowell L 60–74  3–3
(2–2) 		Costello Athletic Center 
Lowell, MA
January 9, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Maine W 63–54  4–3
(3–2) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
January 10, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		Maine L 41–45  4–4
(3–3) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
January 16, 2021
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Albany L 75–83  4–5
(3–4) 		SEFCU Arena 
Albany, NY
January 17, 2021
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Albany L 71–83  4–6
(3–5) 		SEFCU Arena 
Albany, NY
January 23, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Stony Brook W 74–65  5–6
(4–5) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
January 24, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Stony Brook L 44–56  5–7
(4–6) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
January 31, 2021
12:00 pm, ESPN3 		UMBC W 69–65  6–7
(5–6) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
February 1, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		UMBC L 71–75  6–8
(5–7) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
February 13, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Hartford W 67–57  7–8
(6–7) 		Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion 
West Hartford, CT
February 14, 2021
 ESPN3 		at Hartford L 61–75  7–9
(6–8) 		Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion 
West Hartford, CT
February 20, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN3 		Binghamton L 63–76  7–10
(6–9) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
February 21, 2021
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		Binghamton L 58–72  7–11
(6–10) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
America East tournament
February 27, 2021
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		(8) (5) Albany
First round 		L 66–76  7–12
 Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion 
West Hartford, CT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Source[4]

References

  1. ^ "NJIT vs. Liberty - Game Recap - March 3, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  2. ^ "NJIT Welcomed as 10th America East Member Institution".
  3. ^ https://www.njithighlanders.com/news/2020/11/25/njit-mens-basketball-pauses-team-activitiesaspx[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics. Retrieved December 2, 2020.