2020–21 ASUN Conference men's basketball season

The 2020–21 ASUN 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 began in January 2021 and concluded in March 2021.^[1] It was the 43rd season of ASUN Conference basketball. This season was also the first ASUN season for Bellarmine, which started a transition from NCAA Division II when it joined the ASUN on July 1, 2020.^[2]

2020–21 ASUN Conference men's basketball season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Number of teams	9
Regular season
Champions	Liberty
Season MVP	Darius McGhee, Liberty
Tournament
Champions	Liberty
Runners-up	North Alabama
Finals MVP	Darius McGhee, Liberty

2020–21 ASUN men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Liberty †	11	–	2		.846			23	–	6		.793
Bellarmine *	10	–	3		.769			14	–	8		.636
Lipscomb	9	–	6		.600			15	–	12		.556
North Florida	6	–	6		.500			8	–	15		.348
North Alabama *	7	–	8		.467			13	–	11		.542
Florida Gulf Coast	4	–	5		.444			10	–	8		.556
Stetson	7	–	9		.438			12	–	15		.444
Jacksonville	5	–	9		.357			11	–	13		.458
Kennesaw State	2	–	13		.133			5	–	19		.208
* ineligible for the 2021 NCAA tournament due to transition period Jacksonville suspended their season on February 26, 2021
† 2021 ASUN Tournament winner

Preseason awards

Preseason awards were announced by the league office on November 5, 2020.^[3]

Preseason men's basketball coaches poll

(First place votes in parentheses)

1. Lipscomb (5) 74
2. Liberty (2) 66
3. Stetson (1) 64
4. North Florida (1) 56
5. FGCU 45
6. North Alabama 40
7. Jacksonville 29
8. Bellarmine 18
9. Kennesaw State 13

Preseason men's basketball media poll

(First place votes in parentheses)

1. Lipscomb (16) 256
2. Liberty (10) 245
3. Stetson (4) 202
4. North Florida (2) 192
5. FGCU 156
6. North Alabama 146
7. Jacksonville 108
8. Kennesaw State 68
9. Bellarmine 62

Honors

• Preseason Player of the Year: Ahsan Asadullah, Lipscomb
• Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Elijah Cuffee, Liberty
• Fan-Voted Preseason Player of the Year: Caleb Catto, FGCU
• Fan-Voted Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Alex Peterson, Kennesaw State

Conference matrix

	Bellarmine	Florida Gulf Coast	Jacksonville	Kennesaw State	Liberty	Lipscomb	North Alabama	North Florida	Stetson
vs. Bellarmine	—	0−2	0−2	0−2	1−0	2−0	0−2	0−0	0−2
vs. Florida Gulf Coast	2−0	—	0−0	1−0	0−0	1−1	0−2	0−0	1−1
vs. Jacksonville	2−0	0−0	—	0−2	2−0	1−1	2−0	1−1	1−1
vs. Kennesaw State	2−0	0−1	2−0	—	2−0	2−0	2−0	2−0	1−1
vs. Liberty	0−1	0−0	0−2	0−2	—	1−1	0−2	0–2	1–1
vs. Lipscomb	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	—	–0	1–1	1–1
vs. North Alabama	2–0	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–0	0–1	—	1–1	1–1
vs. North Florida	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	—	1–1
vs. Stetson	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	—
Total	10−3	4−5	5−9	2−13	11−2	9−6	7−8	6−6	7−9

All-ASUN awards

ASUN weekly awards

Week	Player(s) of the Week	School	Newcomer of the Week	School
Nov 30	Darius McGhee	Liberty	Romeao Ferguson	Lipscomb
Dec 7	Keegan McDowell	Liberty	Dontarius James	Jacksonville
Dec 14	Caleb Catto	FGCU	Dontarius James	Jacksonville
Dec 21	Emmanuel Littles & Rob Perry	North Alabama & Stetson	Chase Johnston	Stetson
Dec 28	Cyrus Largie	FGCU	Eli Abaev	FGCU
Jan 4	Kevion Nolan	Jacksonville	Kevion Nolan	Jacksonville
Jan 11	Dontarius James	Jacksonville	Dontarius James	Jacksonville
Jan 19	Ethan Claycomb	Bellarmine	Romeao Ferguson	Lipscomb
Jan 25	Mervin James	North Alabama	Jose Placer	North Florida
Feb 1	Rob Perry	Stetson	Jose Placer	North Florida
Feb 8	Pedro Bradshaw & Jalen Warren	Bellarmine & FGCU	Romeao Ferguson	Lipscomb
Feb 15	Ahsan Asadullah	Lipscomb	Dontarius James	Jacksonville
Feb 22	Bryce Workman	Jacksonville	Romeao Ferguson	Lipscomb
Mar 1

End-of-season awards

Honor	Recipient
Player of the Year	Darius McGhee, Liberty
Coach of the Year	Ritchie McKay, Liberty
Defensive Player of the Year	Elijah Coffee, Liberty
Newcomer of the Year	Romeao Ferguson, Lipscomb
Freshman of the Year	Chase Johnston, Stetson
All-ASUN First Team	Darius McGhee, Liberty
	Ahsan Asadullah, Lipscomb
	Pedro Bradshaw, Bellarmine
	Dylan Penn, Bellarmine
	Carter Hendricksen, North Florida
All-ASUN Second Team	Dontarius James, Jacksonville
	Elijah Coffee, Liberty
	Romaeo Ferguson, Lipscomb
	Mervin James, North Alabama
	Jose Placer, North Florida
All-ASUN Freshmen Team	Chase Johnston, Stetson
	Chris Youngblood, Kennesaw State
	Detalian Brown, North Alabama
	Jonathan Aybar, North Florida
	Josh Smith, Stetson

Source^[4]

References

1. "@ASUN_MBB Teams Set to Conclude Non-League Play; Conference Action Begins New Year's Day". ASUN Conference. December 24, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
2. "ASUN Conference Announces Addition of Bellarmine University" (Press release). ASUN Conference. June 18, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
3. "Lipscomb Seletected Atop @ASUN_MBB Preseason Poll; Asadullah, Cuffee Earn Superlative Honors" (Press release). ASUN Conference. November 5, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
4. "Liberty's McGhee Tabbed Player of the Year; 2020-21 @ASUN_MBB Awards Announced" (Press release). ASUN Conference. March 3, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.