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

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnersh ...

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 in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

as members of the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC ) is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and the Mid-A ...

. 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 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 ...

, 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 withdrew from the tournament due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

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 (), or App State, is a public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dou ...

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

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places *Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy *Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily Surname *House of Gonza ...

in the first round.

Previous season

The

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

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, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History Coppin State Universi ...

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; wo ...

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