The 2019–20 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team represented

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...

in the

2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 5, 2019. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season concluded prematurely on March 12, 2020. The 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was sch ...

. The Buccaneers, led by fifth-year head coach

Steve Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...

, played their home games at the

Freedom Hall Civic Center Freedom Hall Civic Center is a multi-purpose arena in Johnson City, Tennessee. Starting in 2014, it became the basketball venue for East Tennessee State University. History Former and current entertainment include concerts from Van Halen, Bon ...

Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it Tennessee's eighth-most populous cit ...

, as members of the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

. They finished the season 30–4, 16–2 in SoCon play to finish as the SoCon regular season champions. They defeated VMI, Western Carolina and Wofford to become champions of the SoCon tournament. They earned the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. However, the NCAA Tournament was cancelled amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On April 30, 2020, head coach Steve Forbes resigned to become the head coach at Wake Forest. He finished at ETSU with a five-year record of 130–43.

Previous season

The

Buccaneers Buccaneers were a kind of privateer or free sailors, and pirates particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 unti ...

finished the 2018–19 season 24–10 overall, 13–5 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for third place. In the SoCon tournament, they defeated

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

in the quarterfinals, before losing to Wofford in the semifinals. They received an invitation to the CIT, where they lost to Green Bay in the first round.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, SoCon tournament , - , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball seasons East Tennessee State

East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball The East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team represents East Tennessee State University (ETSU), located in Johnson City, Tennessee, in men's college basketball. East Tennessee State is coached by Brooks Savage and currently competes ...

Southern Conference men's basketball champion seasons