2020–21 Denver Pioneers men's basketball team

2020–21 Denver Pioneers men's basketball
2020–21 Denver Pioneers men's basketball
Conference	Summit League
Record	2–19 (1–13 The Summit)
Head coach	Rodney Billups (5th season);
Assistant coaches	Bacari Alexander; Raman Sposato; Dwight Thorne II;
Home arena	Hamilton Gymnasium
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Denver Pioneers men's basketball team represented the University of Denver in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Pioneers, led by fifth-year head coach Rodney Billups, played their home games at Hamilton Gymnasium in Denver, Colorado, as members of the Summit League. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Pioneers finished the season 2–19, 1–13 in Summit League play to finish in last place. They failed to qualify for the Summit League tournament.

2020–21 Summit League men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
South Dakota State	9	–	3	.750	16	–	7	.696
South Dakota	11	–	4	.733	14	–	11	.560
North Dakota State	11	–	5	.688	15	–	12	.556
Oral Roberts †	10	–	5	.667	18	–	11	.621
North Dakota	8	–	8	.500	9	–	17	.346
Kansas City	7	–	7	.500	11	–	13	.458
Western Illinois	5	–	9	.357	7	–	15	.318
Omaha	3	–	11	.214	5	–	20	.200
Denver	1	–	13	.071	2	–	19	.095

† 2021 Summit League Tournament winner

On March 1, 2021, the school fired Billups after five seasons as head coach.^[1] On March 29, the school named former Stanford associate head coach Jeff Wulbrun the team's new head coach.^[2]

Previous season

The Pioneers finished the 2019–20 season 7–24, 3–13 in Summit League play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Summit League tournament to North Dakota State.^[3]

Roster

2020–21 Denver Pioneers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Kobey Lam	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	Williston State College	Vaughan, Ontario
G	1	Korey Hess	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	Arapahoe High School	Centennial, Colorado
G	2	Roscoe Eastmond	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	So	Wheeler High School	Marietta, Georgia
G	3	Jase Townsend	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Skyline High School	Dallas, Texas
G	4	Taelyr Gatlin	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Brighton High School	Jackson, Mississippi
G	5	Drake Muller	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Greenhill School	Cedar Hill, Texas
G	11	Noah Baylis	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Fr	Flint Powers Catholic High School	Flint, Michigan
G	12	Iseri Palacio	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Fort Collins High School	Fort Collins, Colorado
G	13	Khalil Johnson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Three Rivers Community College	Long Island, New York
G	14	Ryan Heath	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	DeWitt High School	Lansing, Michigan
F	15	James Sanders IV	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Fountain-Fort Carson High School	Fountain, Colorado
F	20	Sam Hines Jr.	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Wheeler High School	Marietta, Georgia
F	21	Robert Jones	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	Prior Lake High School	Prior Lake, Minnesota
F	22	Tristan Green	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Ranger College	Boerne, Texas
F	24	Frank Ryder	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Sr	Colorado	Boulder, Colorado
G	30	Eric Moenkhaus	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Lincoln Trail College	Greenwood, Indiana
F	42	JaVonni Bickham	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	Minnehaha Academy	Minneapolis, Minnesota

Head coach

Rodney Billups (Denver)

Assistant coach(es)

Bacari Alexander (Detroit Mercy)
Raman Sposato (Oregon)
Dwight Thorne II (Colorado)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 4, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 25, 2020* 6:00 pm	Colorado Christian	Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols		Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
November 28, 2020* 1:00 pm	Regis	W 82–66	1–0	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
December 2, 2020*	at Air Force	Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols		Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO
December 6, 2020* 1:00 pm	UC Riverside	L 63–83	1–1	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
December 9, 2020* 7:00 pm, MWN	at Wyoming	L 61–83	1–2	Arena-Auditorium Laramie, WY
December 12, 2020* 1:00 pm	Dixie State	L 70–73	1–3	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
December 16, 2020* 6:00 pm, Altitude 2	Northern Colorado	L 75–83	1–4	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
December 19, 2020* 12:00 pm, Altitude	Texas State	L 68–70	1–5	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
December 22, 2021* 1:00 pm, Altitude	Northern Arizona	L 65–68	1–6	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
December 29, 2021* 7:00 pm	at Grand Canyon	Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols		GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ
Summit League regular season
January 2, 2021 3:00 pm, MidcoSN	at South Dakota	L 54–93	1–7 (0–1)	Sanford Coyote Sports Center (559) Vermillion, SD
January 3, 2021 3:00 pm, MidcoSN	at South Dakota	L 57–79	1–8 (0–2)	Sanford Coyote Sports Center (420) Vermillion, SD
January 15, 2021 1:00 pm	Oral Roberts	L 84–88	1–9 (0–3)	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
January 16, 2021 1:00 pm	Oral Roberts	L 82–91	1–10 (0–4)	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
January 22, 2021 6:30 pm	at North Dakota State	L 58–70	1–11 (0–5)	Scheels Center (1,277) Fargo, ND
January 23, 2021 6:30 pm, MidcoSN	at North Dakota State	L 58–84	1–12 (0–6)	Scheels Center (1,568) Fargo, ND
January 29, 2021 7:00 pm, Altitude 2	South Dakota State	Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols		Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
January 30, 2021 7:00 pm, Altitude 2	South Dakota State	Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols		Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
February 5, 2021 1:00 pm	North Dakota	L 82–85 ^OT	1–13 (0–7)	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
February 6, 2021 1:00 pm	North Dakota	W 85–81 ^OT	2–13 (1–7)	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
February 12, 2021 6:00 pm	at Western Illinois	L 69–75	2–14 (1–8)	Western Hall Macomb, IL
February 13, 2021 6:00 pm	at Western Illinois	L 75–82	2–15 (1–9)	Western Hall Macomb, IL
February 19, 2021 6:00 pm	at Kansas City	L 57–68	2–16 (1–10)	Swinney Recreation Center Kansas City, MO
February 20, 2021 6:00 pm	at Kansas City	L 69–80	2–17 (1–11)	Swinney Recreation Center Kansas City, MO
February 26, 2021 1:00 pm	Omaha	L 76–80	2–18 (1–12)	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
February 27, 2021 6:00 pm	Omaha	L 76–80	2–19 (1–13)	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain.

Source^[4]^[5]

References

^ "University Of Denver Fires Men's Basketball Coach Rodney Billups". March 1, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
^ "Jeff Wulbrun named DU Pioneers' new men's basketball head coach, replacing Rodney Billups". The Denver Post. March 29, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
^ "Denver Falls in Heartbreaker to No. 1 NDSU, 71-69". University of Denver Athletics. March 7, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Denver Athletics. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ "2020-21 Denver Pioneers Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 19, 2022.

[1] "University Of Denver Fires Men's Basketball Coach Rodney Billups". March 1, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2022.

[2] "Jeff Wulbrun named DU Pioneers' new men's basketball head coach, replacing Rodney Billups". The Denver Post. March 29, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2022.

[3] "Denver Falls in Heartbreaker to No. 1 NDSU, 71-69". University of Denver Athletics. March 7, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.

[4] "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Denver Athletics. Retrieved December 4, 2020.

[5] "2020-21 Denver Pioneers Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 19, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]