2020–21 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team

2020–21 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball
2020–21 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	5–10 (4–8 Big East)
Head coach	LaVall Jordan (4th season);
Assistant coaches	Emerson Kampen (5th season); Omar Lowery (4th season); Will Vergollo (1st season);
Home arena	Hinkle Fieldhouse
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 18 Villanova	11	–	4	.733	18	–	7	.720
No. 19 Creighton	14	–	6	.700	22	–	9	.710
UConn	11	–	6	.647	15	–	8	.652
St. John's	10	–	9	.526	16	–	11	.593
Seton Hall	10	–	9	.526	14	–	13	.519
Providence	9	–	10	.474	13	–	13	.500
Xavier	6	–	7	.462	13	–	8	.619
Georgetown †	7	–	9	.438	13	–	13	.500
Marquette	8	–	11	.421	13	–	14	.481
Butler	8	–	12	.400	10	–	15	.400
DePaul	2	–	13	.133	5	–	14	.263

† 2021 Big East tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2020–21 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represents Butler University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They are coached by LaVall Jordan, in his fourth year as head coach of his alma mater. The Bulldogs play their home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana as members of the Big East Conference.

Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2019–20 season 23–9, 10–8 in Big East play which put them in fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the Big East Tournament, they were slated to play Providence in the quarterfinals, but the Tournament was cancelled at halftime of the first game of the quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the rest of the NCAA postseason.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Derrik Smits	21	C	7'1"	235	Graduate	Zionsville, IN	Completed college eligibility^[a]
Sean McDermott	22	G	6'6"	195	RS Senior	Pendleton, IN	Graduated
Henry Baddley	20	G/F	6'4"	185	Senior	Wadsworth, OH	Graduated
Kamar Baldwin	3	G	6'1"	190	Senior	Winder, GA	Graduated
Jordan Tucker	1	F	6'7"	220	Junior	White Plains, NY	Declared for NBA Draft
Khalif Battle	4	G	6'5"	175	Freshman	Edison, NJ	Transferred to Temple

^ Smits was a graduate transfer in the 2019–20 season, having graduated from Valparaiso in 2019.

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Jair Bolden	52	G	6'3"	210	Graduate	Brooklyn, NY	Transferred from South Carolina. Immediately eligible to play as he graduated from South Carolina. Due to an NCAA ruling that all individuals who participate in winter sports in 2020–21 will receive an extra year of eligibility, he will have two years of remaining eligibility instead of one.
Bo Hodges	–	G	6'5"	210	RS Junior	Nashville, TN	Transferred from East Tennessee State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Hodges will redshirt for the 2020–21 season and have one year of remaining eligibility.

Recruiting classes

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Chuck Harris PG	Washington, D.C.	Gonzaga High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	May 15, 2019
Chuck Harris PG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Myles Wilmoth PF	Spring Valley, NY	St. Andrew's School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jul 3, 2019
Myles Wilmoth PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Myles Tate PG	Roebuck, SC	Dorman High School	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Aug 5, 2019
Myles Tate PG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Carlos "Scooby" Johnson SF	Benton Harbor, MI	Benton Harbor High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Oct 2, 2019
Carlos "Scooby" Johnson SF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Jakobe Coles PF	Denton, TX	Guyer High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Oct 6, 2019
Jakobe Coles PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Butler Commits". Rivals.com. "ESPN- Butler Bulldogs Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2021 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jayden Taylor SG	Indianapolis, IN	Perry Meridian High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sep 19, 2019
Jayden Taylor SG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Pierce Thomas SF	Brownsburg, IN	Brownsburg High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Feb 27, 2020
Pierce Thomas SF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
D.J. Hughes PF	Indianapolis, IN	Lawrence North High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jun 26, 2020
D.J. Hughes PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2021 Butler Commits". Rivals.com. "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2020–21 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	52	Jair Bolden	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	GS	Westtown School (South Carolina)	Brooklyn, NY
F	25	Christian David	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Vermont Academy	Milton, Ontario
G	2	Aaron Thompson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Paul VI Catholic	Glenn Dale, MD
F	10	Bryce Nze	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	RS Sr	Arrowhead (Milwaukee)	Hartland, WI
G	–	Bo Hodges (I)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Jr	Maplewood (East Tennessee State)	Nashville, TN
G	0	Campbell Donovan (W)	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	RS Jr	Bishop Dwenger	Fort Wayne, IN
F	33	Bryce Golden	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	Jr	St. James School	Winchester, VA
F	24	Markeese Hastings	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS So	Godwin Heights	Wyoming, MI
F	30	Mike Parker (W)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS So	Coastal Christian	Wilmington, NC
F/C	35	John-Michael Mulloy	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	So	Carmel	Carmel, IN
G	3	Chuck Harris	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Gonzaga College	Washington, D.C.
F	5	Myles Wilmoth	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	St. Andrew's School	Spring Valley, NY
F	11	Carlos "Scooby" Johnson	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	Benton Harbor	Benton Harbor, MI
G	12	Myles Tate	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	Dorman	Roebuck, SC
F	21	JaKobe Coles	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Guyer	Denton, TX

Head coach

LaVall Jordan (Butler)

Assistant coach(es)

Emerson Kampen (Butler)
Omar Lowery (Concordia (WI))
Will Vergollo (Michigan)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 2, 2020^[1]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 6:00 p.m., FS1	Western Michigan	W 66–62^[2]	1–0	21 – Thompson	9 – Bolden	4 – Thompson	Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,500) Indianapolis, IN
November 29, 2020* 6:30 p.m., FS1	Eastern Illinois	Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic					Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
December 6, 2020* 7:00 p.m., FS1	Northern Kentucky	Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic					Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
December 11, 2020* 3:00 p.m., FS1	Kansas State Big East–Big 12 Alliance	Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic					Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
December 14, 2020 5:00 p.m., FS1	St. John's	Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic					Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
December 16, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1	at No. 7 Villanova	L 66–85^[3]	1–1 (0–1)	18 – Bolden	8 – Nze	6 – Thompson	Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
December 19, 2020* 11:30 a.m., FS1	vs. Indiana Crossroads Classic	L 60–68^[4]	1–2	20 – Bolden	10 – Nze	3 – Tied	Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
December 21, 2020* 7:30 p.m., FS1	Southern Illinois	L 73–76^[5]	1–3	22 – Harris	11 – Nze	6 – Harris	Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,412) Indianapolis, IN
December 23, 2020 7:00 p.m., CBSSN	Providence	W 70–64^[6]	2–3 (1–1)	14 – Coles	8 – Tate	7 – Tate	Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,724) Indianapolis, IN
December 30, 2020 5:00 p.m., FS1	at Providence	L 55–71^[7]	2–4 (1–2)	15 – Bolden	6 – Tied	4 – Tate	Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI
January 2, 2021 4:30 p.m., FS1	at Seton Hall	L 60–68^[8]	2–5 (1–3)	22 – Tate	6 – Nze	5 – Tate	Prudential Center Newark, NJ
January 6, 2021 7:00 p.m., FS1	Georgetown	W 63–55 ^[9]	3–5 (2–3)	18 – Harris	7 – Hastings	5 – Harris	Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,355) Indianapolis, IN
January 9, 2021 4:00 p.m., FS1	UConn	L 60–72^[10]	3–6 (2–4)	18 – Nze	6 – Nze	6 – Thompson	Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,879) Indianapolis, IN
January 12, 2021 7:00 p.m., FS1	at St. John's	L 57–69^[11]	3–7 (2–5)	17 – Bolden	14 – Nze	5 – Nze	Carnesecca Arena Queens, NY
January 16, 2021 2:00 p.m., FOX	No. 8 Creighton	W 70–66^[12] ^OT	4–7 (3–5)	17 – Thompson	10 – Tate	6 – Thompson	Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,693) Indianapolis, IN
January 19, 2021 7:00 p.m., CBSSN	at DePaul	W 67–53^[13]	5–7 (4–5)	21 – Bolden	14 – Nze	4 – Tied	Wintrust Arena Chicago, IL
January 22, 2021 9:00 p.m., FS1	Seton Hall	Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic					Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
January 26, 2021 8:30 p.m., FS1	at UConn	L 51–63^[14]	5–8 (4–6)	19 – Golden	9 – Nze	3 – Nze	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
January 29, 2021 5:30 PM, FS1	Xavier	L 55–68^[15]	5–9 (4–7)	16 – Nze	11 – Nze	2 – 3 Tied	Hinkle Fieldhouse (2,084) Indianapolis, IN
February 2, 2021 5:00 PM, FS1	at Marquette	L 67–70	5–10 (4–8)	16 – Harris	12 – Hodges	8 – Hodges	Fiserv Forum Milwaukee, WI
February 6, 2021 TBA, TBA	DePaul						Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
February 10, 2021 TBA, TBA	St. John's						Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
February 13, 2021 TBA, CBSSN	at Georgetown						Capital One Arena Washington, D.C.
February 17, 2021 TBA, FS1	Marquette						Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
February 21, 2021 TBA, FOX/FS1	at Xavier						Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH
February 28, 2021 TBA, CBS	Villanova						Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
March 6, 2021 TBA, FOX/FS1	at Creighton						CHI Health Center Omaha Omaha, NE
Big East Tournament
FS1	vs. TBD Quarterfinal						Madison Square Garden New York, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time ^[16].

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** — = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	—	—
Coaches	—	—

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.

Awards

Name	Award(s)

References

[1] Smits was a graduate transfer in the 2019–20 season, having graduated from Valparaiso in 2019.

[2] "2020-21 Men's Basketball Roster". Butlersports.com. Butler University. Retrieved November 2, 2020.

[3] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2020-11-25-18-butler.html

[4] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2020-12-16-19-villanova.html

[5] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2020-12-19-11-indiana.html

[6] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2020-12-21-19-butler.html

[7] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2020-12-23-18-butler.html

[8] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2020-12-30-17-providence.html

[9] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2021-01-02-16-seton-hall.html

[10] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2021-01-06-19-butler.html

[11] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2021-01-09-16-butler.html

[12] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2021-01-12-19-st-johns-ny.html

[13] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2021-01-16-14-butler.html

[14] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2021-01-19-19-depaul.html

[15] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2021-01-26-20-connecticut.html

[16] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2021-01-30-17-butler.html

[17] ttps://butlersports.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball

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v t e Butler Bulldogs men's basketball
Venues	Butler Fieldhouse (1928–1966) Hinkle Fieldhouse (1966–present)
Culture & lore	The Butler Way Crossroads Classic Dawg Pound Butler Blue
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics