The 2020–21 Northeast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in January and ended in March 2021.

The NEC tournament was held in March with the higher-seeded team hosting each game.

Changes from last season Robert Morris left the conference and joined the Horizon League.

Head coaches Team Head coach Previous position Year at school Overall record NEC record NEC tournament championshipsBryant Jared Grasso Iona (asst.) 3 0Central Connecticut Donyell Marshall Buffalo(asst.) 5 0Fairleigh Dickinson Greg Herenda UMass Lowell 8 2 LIU Derek Kellogg UMass 4 1Merrimack Joe Gallo Robert Morris(asst.) 5 0Mount St. Mary's Dan Engelstad Southern Vermont 3 0Sacred Heart Anthony Latina Sacred Heart(asst.) 8 0St. Francis Brooklyn Glenn Braica St. John's(asst.) 11 0Saint Francis (PA) Rob Krimmel Saint Francis(asst.) 9 0Wagner Bashir Mason Wagner(asst.) 9 0 Notes: All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. Year at school includes 2020–21 season. Overall and NEC/NCAA records are from time at current school and are before the beginning of the 2020–21 season. Because the current LIU athletic program inherited the athletic history of LIU Brooklyn, Kellogg's record includes his two seasons at LIU Brooklyn before the LIU athletic merger. Previous jobs are head coaching jobs unless otherwise noted.

Preseason

Preseason coaches poll Sources: RankTeam 1. Fairleigh Dickinson (6) 2. LIU (4) 3. Bryant (tie) 4. Mount St. Mary's (tie) 5. St. Francis Brooklyn 6. St. Francis (PA) 7. Merrimack 8. Wagner 9. Central Connecticut 10. Sacred Heart

() first place votes

Preseason All-NEC team Sources: Recipient School Damian Chong Qui, (Junior, Guard)Mount St. Mary'sTy Flowers (RS-Senior, Forward)LIU Chauncey Hawkins (Senior, Guard)St. Francis Brooklyn Jahlil Jenkins, (Senior, Guard)Fairleigh DickinsonElyjah Williams, (Senior, Forward)Fairleigh Dickinson

NEC regular season

Player of the week Throughout the regular season, the Northeast Conference offices named player(s) of the week and rookie(s) of the week.

Week Player of the week Rookie of the weekNovember 30, 2020 Mark Flagg, St. Francis (PA) Pier-Olivier Racine, FDU Maxwell Land, St. Francis (PA)December 7, 2020 Peter Kiss, Bryant Joe Munden Jr., FDU December 14, 2020 Travis Atson, St. Francis Brooklyn Elyjah Williams, FDU Joe Munden Jr., FDU December 23, 2020 Michael Green III, Bryant Mike Sixsmith, Sacred HeartJanuary 11, 2021Peter Kiss (2), Bryant Tyler Thomas, Sacred HeartMatas Spokas, Sacred HeartJanuary 18, 2021 Alex Morales, Wagner Damian Chong Qui, MSMUJosh Reaves, MSMUJanuary 25, 2021Jordan Minor, Merrimack Damian Chong Qui (2), MSMU Maxwell Land (2), St. Francis (PA)February 2, 2021 Eral Penn, LIU Jahlil Jenkins, FDUBryce Johnson, Sacred HeartFebruary 8, 2021Alex Morales (2), WagnerDeLonnie Hunt, WagnerFebruary 15, 2021 Alex Morales (3), Wagner Damian Chong Qui (3), MSMUDeLonnie Hunt (2), WagnerFebruary 23, 2021Ty Flowers, LIUDeLonnie Hunt (3), WagnerMarch 1, 2021 Alex Morales (4), WagnerMike Sixsmith (2), Sacred Heart

School Player of the week Awards Rookie of the week Awards Bryant30 Central Connecticut00 Fairleigh Dickinson23 LIU20Merrimack10Mount St. Mary's30 Sacred Heart0410Saint Francis (PA)12Wagner43

Against other conferences

Regular Season NEC vs Power ConferencesRecord ACC 1–2Big East 0–4Big Ten 0–4Big 12 0–0SEC 0–0NEC vs Power Conferences Total 1–10Other NCAA Division I ConferencesRecordAmerica East 2–3AAC 0–0A-Sun 0–1Atlantic-10 1–1Big South 0-0Big West 0–0CAA 0–2C-USA 0–0Horizon League 0–0Ivy League 0–0MAAC 0–2Mid-American 0–0MEAC 1–0OVC 0–0Patriot League 0–2SoCon 0–0Southland 0–0SWAC 0–0The Summit 0–0Sun Belt 0–0WAC 0–0WCC 0–0Other Division I Total4–11NCAA Division I Total5–21As of December 29, 2019 In bold are the Power Five conferences.

Postseason NEC vs Power ConferencesRecord ACC 0–0Big East 0–0Big Ten 0–0Big 12 0–0SEC 0–0NEC vs Power Conferences Total 0–0Other NCAA Division I ConferencesRecordAmerica East0–0AAC0–0A-Sun 0–0Atlantic-10 0–0Big South0-0Big West0–0 CAA 0–0C-USA0–0Horizon League0–0Ivy League 0–0MAAC 0–0Mid-American0–0MEAC 0-0OVC 0–0Patriot League 0–0SoCon 0–0Southland 0–0SWAC 0–1The Summit 0–0Sun Belt 0–0WAC 0–0WCC 0–0Other Division I Total0–1NCAA Division I Total0–1

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.   BryantCCSUFDULIUMerrimackMSMUSacred HeartSFBSFUWagnervs. Bryant – 0–2 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 vs. Central Conn. 2–0 – 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson 0–2 1–1 – 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 vs. LIU 2–0 0–2 2–0 – 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 vs. Merrimack 2–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 – 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–0 vs. Mount St. Mary's 0–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 – 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–0vs. Sacred Heart 0–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 – 1–1 1–1 1–1vs. St. Francis Brooklyn 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 – 1–1 2–0 vs. Saint Francis (PA) 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 – 2–0vs. Wagner 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 –Total 10–4 5–13 8–10 9–9 9–9 9–7 9–7 9–9 5–13 13–5

All-NEC honors and awards At the conclusion of the regular season, the conference selects outstanding performers based on a poll of league coaches, below are the results.

Honor Recipient Player of the Year Alex Morales, Wagner Coach of the Year Bashir Mason, Wanger Defensive Player of the Year Nana Opoku, Mount St. Mary's Rookie of the Year DeLonnie Hunt, Wanger Most Improved Player of the Year Tyler Thomas, Sacred Heart All-NEC First Team Damian Chong Qui, Mount St. Mary’s   Elijah Ford, Wagner Peter Kiss, Bryant   Alex Morales, Wagner Eral Penn, LIU      All-NEC Second Team Ty Flowers, LIU   Michael Green III, Bryant    Chauncey Hawkins, St. Francis Brooklyn  Jahlil Jenkins, Fairleigh Dickinson    Tyler Thomas, Sacred Heart    All-NEC Third Team Travis Atson, St. Francis Brooklyn  Ramiir Dixon-Conover , Saint Francis (PA) Jordan Minor, Merrimack  Mikey Watkins, Merrimack Elyjah Williams, Fairleigh Dickinson  All-NEC Rookie Team Malik Edmead, Merrimack    DeLonnie Hunt, Wagner   Maxwell Land, Saint Francis (PA)Joe Munden Jr., Faireigh Dickinson    Mike Sixsmith, Sacred Heart          

Postseason

NEC tournament Due to complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, only the top four teams in the Northeast Conference were eligible to compete in the 2021 NEC tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.

NCAA tournament

Seed Region School First Four #16 East Mount St. Mary's vs Texas Southern, L 52-60

See also 2020–21 Northeast Conference women's basketball season

References

External links NEC website