2020–21 Tulane Green Wave men's basketball team

2020–21 Tulane Green Wave men's basketball
2020–21 Tulane Green Wave men's basketball
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Head coach	Ron Hunter (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Ray McCallum; Claude Pardue; Kevin Johnson;
Home arena	Devlin Fieldhouse
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Wichita State	11	–	2	.846	16	–	6	.727
No. 6 Houston †	14	–	3	.824	28	–	4	.875
Memphis	11	–	4	.733	20	–	8	.714
SMU	7	–	4	.636	11	–	6	.647
Cincinnati	8	–	6	.571	12	–	11	.522
UCF	8	–	10	.444	11	–	12	.478
Tulsa	7	–	9	.438	11	–	12	.478
South Florida	4	–	10	.286	9	–	13	.409
Temple	4	–	10	.286	5	–	11	.313
Tulane	4	–	12	.250	10	–	13	.435
East Carolina	2	–	10	.167	8	–	11	.421

† 2021 AAC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2020–21 Tulane Green Wave men's basketball team represents Tulane University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Green Wave, led by second-year head coach Ron Hunter, play their home games at Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans, Louisiana as seventh-year members of the American Athletic Conference.

Previous season

The Green Wave 12–18, 4–14 in AAC play to finish in 12th place. They entered as the No. 12 seed in the AAC Tournament, which was ultimately cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Charlie Russell Jr.	0	G/F	6'7"	190	Freshman	New Orleans, LA	Transferred to UMass Lowell^[1]
K. J. Lawson	1	G/F	6'7"	215	Graduate Student	Memphis, TN	Graduated
Ray Ona Embo	3	G	6'5"	195	RS Junior	Lognes, France	Left team (mid-season)^[2]
TeShuan Hightower	5	G	6'5"	190	Junior	Lithonia, GA	Dismissed from team^[3]
Kevin Zhang	12	F	6'10"	220	Sophomore	Shenyang, China	Play professionally
Nic Thomas	14	G	6'1"	185	Graduate Student	Arlington, TX	Graduated
Grant Quinn	15	G	6'5"	200	RS Junior	Lewisville, TX	Walk-on; did not return
Christion Thompson	25	G	6'4"	215	Graduate Student	Gonzales, LA	Graduated
Cameron Galic	32	G	6'6"	205	Junior	Bethesda, MD	Walk-on; did not return

Incoming Transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Ryan Murphy	G	6'2"	185	Graduate Student	Calabasas, CA	Transferred from Pittsburgh after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.^[4]
Oton Jankovic	F	6'10"	212	Sophomore	Zagreb, Croatia	Transferred from Vanderbilt. Under NCAA transfer rules, Jankovic will have to sit out for the 2020–21 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.^[5]
Gabe Watson	G	6'2"	192	Junior	Jackson, MS	Transferred from Southern Miss. Under NCAA transfer rules, Watson will have to sit out for the 2020–21 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.^[6]
Jaylen Forbes	G	6'4"	186	Sophomore	Florence, MS	Transferred from Alabama. Under NCAA transfer rules, Forbes will have to sit out for the 2020–21 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.^[7]
Kevin Cross	F	6'8"	240	Sophomore	Little Rock, AR	Transferred from Nebraska. Under NCAA transfer rules, Cross will have to sit out for the 2020–21 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.^[8]

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jadan Coleman SG	Madison, AL	Bob Jones High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	Nov 15, 2018
Jadan Coleman SG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Sion James PG	Buford, GA	Lanier High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sep 1, 2019
Sion James PG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings: 247Sports: 131
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 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 14 April 2020.

Tulane will also add Preferred Walk-on Ben Callahan-Gold a 6'7" G/F from Northfield Mount Hermon School. Ben is the son of comedian Judy Gold.^[9]

Roster

2020–21 Tulane Green Wave men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Gabe Watson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	Jr	St. Joseph Southern Miss	Jackson, MS
G	1	Sion James	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Lanier	Buford, GA
G	2	Jordan Walker	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	RS Jr	The Patrick School Seton Hall	Port Washington, NY
F	3	Tylan Pope	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	RS Fr	Franklinton	Franklinton, LA
F	4	Nobal Days	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	So	Racine Park	Racine, WI
F	5	Kevin Cross	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	So	Mills HS Nebraska	Little Rock, AR
F	10	Oton Jankovic	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Montverde Academy Vanderbilt	Zagreb, Croatia
F	11	Ibrahim Ali	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	RS So	Maumelle Arkansas	Lagos, Nigeria
G	12	Jadan Coleman	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	Fr	Bob Jones	Madison, AL
C	13	Buay Koka	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Jr	The Patrick School	Nasir, South Sudan
G	23	R. J. McGee	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	TaylorMade Academy	Chicago, IL
G	24	Ryan Murphy	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	GS	Calabasas Pittsburgh	Calabasas, CA
G	25	Jaylen Forbes	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	So	Florence HS Alabama	Florence, MS
G	32	Ben Callahan-Gold (W)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Northfield Mount Hermon	New York, NY
G	34	Alec Zaccardo (W)	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Jr	Lincoln-Sudbury Regional MassBay CC	Boston, MA

Head coach

Ron Hunter (Miami (OH))

Assistant coach(es)

Ray McCallum (Ball State)
Claude Pardue (Emory)
Kevin Johnson (Texas–Pan American)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
TBD* TBD		Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
Non-conference regular season
November 27, 2020* TBD	IUPUI, Northeastern, or UC Davis Tulane Classic	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
November 28, 2020* TBD	IUPUI, Northeastern, or UC Davis Tulane Classic	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
November 29, 2020* TBD	IUPUI, Northeastern, or UC Davis Tulane Classic	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
December 5, 2020* TBD	Central Michigan	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
December 22, 2020* TBD	at Florida State	Donald L. Tucker Center Tallahassee, FL
TBD* TBD	Southern Miss	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
AAC regular season
	Cincinnati	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
	at Cincinnati	Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
	East Carolina	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
	at East Carolina	Williams Arena Greenville, NC
	Houston	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
	at Houston	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
	at Memphis	FedEx Forum Memphis, TN
	Memphis	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
	at SMU	Moody Coliseum University Park, TX
	SMU	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
	at South Florida	Yuengling Center Tampa, FL
	South Florida	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
	at Temple	Liacouras Center Philadelphia, PA
	Temple	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
	at Tulsa	Reynolds Center Tulsa, OK
	Tulsa	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
	at UCF	Addition Financial Arena Orlando, FL
	UCF	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
	Wichita State	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
	at Wichita State	Charles Koch Arena Wichita, KS
AAC Tournament
TBD TBD	vs.	Dickies Arena Fort Worth, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

^ Langone, Matt (27 Apr 2020). "Notebook: UMass Lowell's Noel testing NBA draft waters". lowellsun.com. Lowell Sun. Retrieved 30 Apr 2020.
^ Smith, Guerry [@Guersmith] (9 Dec 2019). "#Tulane guard Ray Ona Embo has left the team and returned to France, coach Ron Hunter said after Sunday's win over Southern. Backing up Jordan Walker, Ona Embo was averaging 5.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 21.8 minutes" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 Apr 2020 – via Twitter. {{Cite tweet}}: |date= / |number= mismatch (help)
^ Schlabach, Mark (26 Apr 2020). "Tulane guard Teshaun Hightower charged with murder in Georgia". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 26 Apr 2020.
^ Vukovcan, Mike (2 Apr 2020). "Former Pitt Guard Ryan Murphy Decides On Tulane". pittsburghsportsnow.com. Retrieved 18 Apr 2020.
^ "Men's Basketball Adds Vanderbilt Transfer Oton Jankovic". tulanegreenwave.com. Tulane Athletics. 17 Apr 2020. Retrieved 21 Apr 2020.
^ Rothstein, Jon [@JonRothstein] (18 Apr 2020). "Source: Southern Miss transfer Gabe Watson has committed to Tulane" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 Apr 2020 – via Twitter.
^ "Tulane Men's Basketball Adds Alabama Transfer Jaylen Forbes". wgno.com. WGNO. 22 Apr 2020. Retrieved 30 Apr 2020.
^ Rothstein, Jon [@JonRothstein] (1 May 2020). "Source: Nebraska transfer Kevin Cross has committed to Tulane" (Tweet). Retrieved 1 May 2020 – via Twitter.
^ Burack, Emily. "Judy Gold's son will be playing Div. I college basketball, and Ben Stiller is cheering him on". jta.org. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 25 Jun 2020.

[1] Langone, Matt (27 Apr 2020). "Notebook: UMass Lowell's Noel testing NBA draft waters". lowellsun.com. Lowell Sun. Retrieved 30 Apr 2020.

[2] Smith, Guerry [@Guersmith] (9 Dec 2019). "#Tulane guard Ray Ona Embo has left the team and returned to France, coach Ron Hunter said after Sunday's win over Southern. Backing up Jordan Walker, Ona Embo was averaging 5.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 21.8 minutes" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 Apr 2020 – via Twitter. {{Cite tweet}}: |date= / |number= mismatch (help)

[3] Schlabach, Mark (26 Apr 2020). "Tulane guard Teshaun Hightower charged with murder in Georgia". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 26 Apr 2020.

[4] Vukovcan, Mike (2 Apr 2020). "Former Pitt Guard Ryan Murphy Decides On Tulane". pittsburghsportsnow.com. Retrieved 18 Apr 2020.

[5] "Men's Basketball Adds Vanderbilt Transfer Oton Jankovic". tulanegreenwave.com. Tulane Athletics. 17 Apr 2020. Retrieved 21 Apr 2020.

[6] Rothstein, Jon [@JonRothstein] (18 Apr 2020). "Source: Southern Miss transfer Gabe Watson has committed to Tulane" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 Apr 2020 – via Twitter.

[7] "Tulane Men's Basketball Adds Alabama Transfer Jaylen Forbes". wgno.com. WGNO. 22 Apr 2020. Retrieved 30 Apr 2020.

[8] Rothstein, Jon [@JonRothstein] (1 May 2020). "Source: Nebraska transfer Kevin Cross has committed to Tulane" (Tweet). Retrieved 1 May 2020 – via Twitter.

[9] Burack, Emily. "Judy Gold's son will be playing Div. I college basketball, and Ben Stiller is cheering him on". jta.org. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 25 Jun 2020.

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v t e Tulane Green Wave men's basketball
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