The 2020–21 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team represented the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...

in the

2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 25, 2020 and concluded on March 14, 2021. The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 18 and concluded on April 5. Season ...

. This is the 100th season of Tiger basketball, the third under head coach

Penny Hardaway Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway pla ...

, and the eighth as members of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

. They play their home games at the

FedEx Forum FedExForum is a multi-purpose arena located in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It is the home of the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA and the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of the University of Memphis, both of whom previously played home g ...

. They finished the season 20-8, 11-4 to finish in 3rd place. They defeated UCF in the quarterfinals of the AAC Tournament before losing in the semifinals to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. They received an invitation to the NIT where they defeated

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

, Boise State, Colorado State, and

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

to become NIT Champions.

Previous season

The

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

finished the 2019–20 season 21–10, 10–8 in AAC play to finish in sixth place. They entered as the No. 6 seed in the AAC tournament, which was ultimately cancelled due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

2020 recruiting class

Memphis will also add Preferred Walk-on Conor Glennon a 5'10" PG from Brother Rice High School in

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Preseason Awards

* Preseason Rookie of the Year - Moussa Cisse * All-AAC Second Team - Landers Nolley, D.J. Jeffries

Roster

*Nov 19, 2020 - Prior to the start of season, Isaiah Stokes was suspended for the year. *Dec 31, 2020 - Ahmad Rand elected to transfer to

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

after the fall semester. *Jan 19, 2021 - 2021 commit Jordan Nesbitt enrolled a semester early. *Jan 22, 2021 - Lance Thomas entered the transfer portal. He would eventually transfer to

South Alabama South Alabama is the various parts of southern Alabama. Although it is not a strictly defined geographic region, it generally includes all Alabama counties south of the Black Belt (region of Alabama), Black Belt. In that view, ''South Alabama'' co ...

Schedule and results

COVID-19 impact

Due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the Tigers' schedule was 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. The game against

scheduled for March 7th was moved to Houston.

Schedule

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Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

Awards and honors

American Athletic Conference honors

All-AAC Awards

* Freshman of the Year: Moussa Cisse *Sixth Man of the Year : Boogie Ellis

All-AAC First Team

*Landers Nolley II

All-AAC Freshman Team

*Moussa Cisse Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Memphis Tigers men's basketball seasons

Memphis Tigers men's basketball The Memphis Tigers men's basketball team represents the University of Memphis in NCAA Division I men's college basketball. The Tigers have competed in the American Athletic Conference since 2013. As of 2020, the Tigers had the 26th highest winni ...

National Invitation Tournament championship seasons