The 2020–21 Norfolk State Spartans men's basketball team represented

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 a ...

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 ...

. The Spartans, led by eighth-year head coach Robert Jones, played their home games at the

Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall is a 4,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Norfolk, Virginia, located to the northeast of Dick Price Stadium on the eastern edge of Norfolk State University. It was built in 1982 to replace Gill Gymnasium as home to the No ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

as members of the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

. With the creation of divisions to cut down on travel 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 identif ...

, they played in the Northern division. They finished the season 17–8, 8–4 in MEAC play to finish in tie for first place in the Northern division. They defeated North Carolina Central in the quarterfinals of the MEAC tournament and advanced to the championship when

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

withdrew from the tournament due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

protocols. They defeated Morgan State to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 16 seed in the West region. They defeated

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

in the First Four, but were eliminated by No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga in the first round.

Previous season

The

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...

finished the 2019–20 season 16–15, 12–4 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for second place. They were scheduled to play

Coppin State Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. In terms of demographics, the Coppin State stu ...

in the quarterfinals of the MEAC tournament, but the remainder of the tournament was canceled due to the ongoing

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, MEAC tournament , - , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA tournament , - , - Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 Norfolk State Spartans men's basketball team Norfolk State Spartans men's basketball seasons

Norfolk State Spartans The Norfolk State Spartans refer to the 14 intercollegiate sports teams representing Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia, in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, tennis and track and field; w ...

Norfolk State Spartans men's basketball The Norfolk State Spartans men's basketball team represents Norfolk State University, located in Norfolk, Virginia, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They currently compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Spartans are currentl ...

Norfolk State Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 ...