The 2020–21 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Memphis in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This is the 100th season of Tiger basketball, the third under head coach Penny Hardaway, and the eighth as members of the American Athletic Conference. They play their home games at the FedEx Forum. 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. They received an invitation to the NIT where they defeated Dayton, Boise State, Colorado State, and Mississippi State to become NIT Champions.
Previous season The Tigers 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.
Offseason
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Tyler Harris 1 G 5'9 150 Memphis, TN Transferred to Iowa State Ryan Boyce 12 F 6'6 185 Memphis, TN Transferred to Georgia State (mid-season) Isaiah Maurice 14 F 6'10 224 Durham, NC Graduated James Wiseman 32 C 7'1 240 Nashville, TN Left team (mid-season) Precious Achiuwa 55 F 6'9 225 Port Harcourt, Nigeria Declared for NBA draft; selected 20th overall by the Miami Heat
Incoming transfers Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Ahmad Rand F 6'8" 180 Lincolnton, GA Junior college transferred from USC Salkehatchie. Landers Nolley II F 6'7" 225 Atlanta, GA Transferred from Virginia Tech. Nolley was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. DeAndre Williams F 6'9" 190 Houston, TX Transferred from Evansville. Williams was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility on December 16. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
2020 recruiting class
Memphis will also add Preferred Walk-on Conor Glennon a 5'10" PG from Brother Rice High School in Chicago.
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 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.
Schedule and results
COVID-19 impact
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, 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 Houston scheduled for March 7 was moved to Houston.
Schedule
!colspan=12 style=| Regular season
!colspan=12 style=| AAC Tournament
!colspan=12 style=| NIT
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