2020–21 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team

The 2020–21 La Salle Explorers basketball team represented La Salle University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Explorers, led by third-year head coach Ashley Howard, played their home games at Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 9–16, 6–11 in A-10 Play to finish in 12th place. They lost in the first round of the A-10 tournament to Saint Joseph's.

2020–21 La Salle Explorers men's basketball
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Record	9–16 (6–11 A-10)
Head coach	Ashley Howard (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Kyle Griffin Donnie Carr Jamal Robinson
Home arena	Tom Gola Arena

2020–21 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
St. Bonaventure†	11	–	4		.733			16	–	5		.762
VCU	10	–	4		.714			19	–	7		.731
Davidson	7	–	4		.636			13	–	9		.591
Saint Louis	6	–	4		.600			14	–	7		.667
UMass	6	–	4		.600			8	–	7		.533
George Mason	8	–	6		.571			13	–	9		.591
Dayton	9	–	7		.563			14	–	10		.583
Richmond	6	–	5		.545			14	–	9		.609
Duquesne	7	–	7		.500			9	–	9		.500
Rhode Island	7	–	10		.412			10	–	15		.400
George Washington	3	–	5		.375			5	–	12		.294
La Salle	6	–	11		.353			9	–	16		.360
Saint Joseph's	3	–	9		.250			5	–	15		.250
Fordham	2	–	11		.154			2	–	12		.143
† 2021 A10 Tournament winner

Previous season

The Explorers finished the 2019–20 season 15–15, 6–12 in A-10 play to finish in tenth place. Their season ended when the A-10 tournament and all other postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Ayinde Hakim	0	G	5'11"	165	Sophomore	Washington, D.C.	Midseason transfer to UMass Lowell
Isaiah Deas	10	G	6'6"	200	Senior	Brooklyn, NY	Graduated
Ed Croswell	11	F	6'8"	250	Sophomore	Philadelphia, PA	Transferred to Providence
Saul Phiri	13	G	6'4"	215	Senior	Haverhill, MA	Graduated
Brandon Stone	23	F	6'11"	200	Sophomore	Alverton, PA	Midseason transfer to Robert Morris
Moustapha Diagne	35	F	6'9"	230	RS Senior	Rufisque, Senegal	Graduated

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Anwar Gill SG	Washington, DC	Montverde Academy	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Oct 5, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 69
Jhamir Brickus PG	Coatesville, PA	Coatesville Area High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Mar 18, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Tegray Izay C	Montreal, Canada	Archbishop Carroll High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	265 lb (120 kg)	Mar 21, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Derrius Ward SG	Philadelphia, PA	St. Thomas More School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Apr 5, 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: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 21, 2021.

Roster

2020–21 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 David Beatty 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Imhotep Institute Charter South Carolina Philadelphia, PA G 2 Scott Spencer 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Blue Ridge Clemson Suffolk, VA G 3 Christian Ray 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Haverford School Gap, PA G 4 Sherif Kenney 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Orr Academy Washington, D.C. G 5 Jack Clark 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So Cheltenham Wyncote, PA G 10 Derrius Ward 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr St. Thomas More Philadelphia, PA G 11 Anwar Gill 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Montverde Academy Washington, D.C. G 12 Kyle Thompson (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So Archbishop Wood West Chester Horsham, PA G 13 Jhamir Brickus 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Coatesville Coatesville, PA C 14 Tegra Izay 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Fr Archbishop Carroll Montreal, Canada F/C 21 Clifton Moore 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Jr Hatboro-Horsham Indiana Horsham, PA F 24 Jared Kimbrough 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Neptune Neptune, NJ G 25 Andrew Lafond (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Jr St. Joseph's Prep Philadelphia, PA	Head coach Ashley Howard (Drexel) Assistant coach(es) Kyle Griffin (Siena) Donnie Carr (La Salle) Jamal Robinson (Virginia) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 26, 2020* 2:00 p.m., FS1		at St. John's Joe Lapchick Tournament	L 65–82	0–1	Carnesecca Arena  Queens, NY
November 27, 2020* 4:00 p.m.		vs. Saint Peter's Joe Lapchick Tournament	L 51–62	0–2	Carnessecca Arena  Queens, NY
December 6, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Army	L 59–63	0–3	Christl Arena  West Point, NY
December 8, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Lincoln (PA.)	W 80–62	1–3	Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
December 12, 2020* 2:00 p.m.		at Drexel	W 58–48	2–3	Daskalakis Athletic Center  Philadelphia, PA
December 16, 2020 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		UMass	L 66–85	2–4 (0–1)	Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
December 19, 2020* 4:30 p.m.		Delaware	W 71–61	3–4	Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
December 22, 2020* 7:00 p.m.		at Maryland	L 71–84	3–5	Xfinity Center  College Park, MD
December 30, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Dayton	W 67–65	4–5 (1–1)	UD Arena  Dayton, OH
January 2, 2021 6:30 p.m.		Fordham	W 89–52	5–5 (2–1)	Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
January 6, 2021 5:00 p.m.		No. 23 Saint Louis	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
January 9, 2021 7:00 pm, NBCSN		at UMass	L 67–83	5–6 (2–2)	Mullins Center  Amherst, MA
January 13, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+		George Mason	L 42–75	5–7 (2–3)	EagleBank Arena (250) Fairfax, VA
January 16, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Davidson	L 53–77	5–8 (2–4)	Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
January 18, 2021 4:00 pm, CBSSN		Saint Joseph's	W 90–83	6–8 (3–4)	Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
January 23, 2021 2:30 pm, NBCSN		at Richmond	W 84–78	7–8 (4–4)	Robins Center  Richmond, VA
January 27, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN+		Rhode Island	L 60–73	7–9 (4–5)	Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
January 30, 2021 1:00 pm, NBCSN		at VCU	L 62–73	7–10 (4–6)	Siegel Center (250) Richmond, VA
February 3, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Saint Louis	W 82–75	8–10 (5–6)	Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
February 6, 2021 12:30 pm, NBCSN		at Fordham	L 68–76	8–11 (5–7)	Rose Hill Gymnasium  Bronx, NY
February 10, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at St. Bonaventure	L 73–86	8–12 (5–8)	Reilly Center  Olean, NY
February 13, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+		George Washington	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
February 16, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at Saint Louis	L 57–78	8–13 (5–9)	Chaifetz Arena  St. Louis, MO
February 20, 2021 12:30 pm, NBCSN		at Saint Joseph's	L 82–91 OT	8–14 (5–10)	Hagan Arena  Philadelphia, PA
February 24, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Duquesne	W 85–65	9–14 (6–10)	Tom Gola Arena (26) Philadelphia, PA
February 27, 2021 4:30 pm, NBCSN		at George Mason	L 54–89	9–15 (6–11)	EagleBank Arena (250) Fairfax, VA
Atlantic 10 tournament
March 3, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN+	(12)	vs. (13) Saint Joseph's First round	L 66–72	9–16	Siegel Center  Richmond, VA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source