The 2020–21 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs are led by third-year head coach Darian DeVries. They played their home games at Knapp Center on campus in Des Moines, Iowa, as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Bulldogs finished the season 26–5, 15–3 in MVC play to finish in second place. In the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament, they advanced to the semifinals after Northern Iowa was forced to forfeit due to COVID-19 issues. They defeated Missouri State in the semifinals before losing to Loyola in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 11 seed in the First Four. They defeated Wichita State to advance to the First Round where they were eliminated by USC.

Previous season The Bulldogs finished the season 20–14, 8–10 in MVC play to finish in eighth place. They defeated Illinois State and Northern Iowa to advance to the semifinals of the MVC tournament where they lost to Bradley. All postseason tournaments were thereafter canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Offseason

Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Brady Ernst 31 F 6'10" 230 RS Senior Clinton, IA Graduated. Samm Jones 1 G 5'11" 196 Junior Minneapolis, MN Transferred to Davenport University. Liam Robbins 21 C 7'0" 235 Sophomore Davenport, IA Transferred to Minnesota.

Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School ShanQuan Hemphill 4 F 6'6" 195 Senior Gary, IN Transferred from Green Bay. Missed almost all of 2019–20 season with lower body injury; petitioned for and was granted a medical waiver that gave him a sixth season of eligibility. Darnell Brodie 51 F 6'10" 275 Junior Newark, NJ Transferred from Seton Hall. Played just 3 games during 2019–20 season due to injuries and illnesses. Granted hardship waiver that gave him immediate eligibility for 2020–21 season.

2020 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season

!colspan=9 style=| MVC regular season

!colspan=12 style=| MVC tournament

!colspan=12 style=| NCAA tournament

Source

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References