2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team

The 2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team represented the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Highlanders, led by fifth-year head coach Brian Kennedy, played their home games at the Wellness and Events Center in Newark, New Jersey as first-year members of the America East Conference. In a season limited by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they finished the season 7–12, 6–10 in America East play to finish in eighth place. They lost to Albany in the first round of the America East tournament.

2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball
Conference	America East Conference
Record	7–12 (6–10 America East)
Head coach	Brian Kennedy (5th season)
Assistant coaches	Jeff Rafferty Kim Waiters Joe Gutowski Danny Manuel
Home arena	Wellness and Events Center
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 America East Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UMBC	10	–	4		.714			14	–	6		.700
Vermont	10	–	4		.714			10	–	5		.667
New Hampshire	9	–	6		.600			10	–	9		.526
Hartford †	8	–	6		.571			15	–	9		.625
Albany	6	–	6		.500			7	–	9		.438
UMass Lowell	7	–	8		.467			11	–	12		.478
Stony Brook	7	–	9		.438			9	–	14		.391
NJIT	6	–	10		.375			7	–	12		.368
Binghamton	4	–	10		.286			4	–	14		.222
Maine	2	–	6		.250			2	–	7		.222
Maine suspended its season on February 13, 2021.
† 2021 AmEast tournament winner

Previous season

The Highlanders finished the 2019–20 season 9–21, 6–10 in ASUN play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament to Liberty.^[1]

This was the final season the Highlanders were a member of the ASUN. On June 14, 2020, it was announced that they would become a full member of the America East Conference beginning July 1.^[2]

Roster

2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Adetokunbo Bakare 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr St. Benedict's Prep Newark, NJ G 1 Dylan O'Hearn 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Carolina Basketball Academy Western Oklahoma State CC Westland, MI F 2 San Antonio Brinson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr South Kent School Thomson, GA F 3 Miles Coleman 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr William T. Dwyer HS Indian River State College West Palm Beach, FL G 4 Zach Cooks 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Berkmar HS Lawrenceville, GA G 5 Diego Willis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Canarias Basketball Academy Hermosillo, Mexico F 13 Jason Murphy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Fr St. Frances Academy Owings Mills, MD F 21 Souleymane Diakite 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Saint Benedict's Prep Bamako, Mali G 23 Antwuan Butler 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Cardinal O'Hara HS Austin Peay Philadelphia, PA G 24 Mekhi Gray 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Putnam Science Academy Montrose, NY F 32 Xavier Mayo 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So The Hill School Beacon, NY F 33 Kjell de Graaf 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Canarias Basketball Academy Rotterdam, Netherlands F 35 Da'mir Faison 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Fr Hazleton Area HS Philadelphia, PA	Head coach Brian Kennedy (Monmouth) Assistant coach(es) Jeff Rafferty (Springfield) Kim Waiters (Robert Morris) Joe Gutowski (Roanoke) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: December 2, 2020

Schedule and results

On November 25, 2020, NJIT paused activities following positive Covid-19 tests and canceled all non-conference games that the school had not yet announced.^[3]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
December 19, 2020* 4:30 pm, ESPN+		at Temple	L 60–72	0–1	Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
December 23, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Rider	W 81–66	1–1	Alumni Gymnasium  Lawrenceville, NJ
America East regular season
December 27, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Vermont	L 78–92	1–2 (0–1)	Patrick Gym  Burlington, VT
December 28, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Vermont	W 81–80 2OT	2–2 (1–1)	Patrick Gym  Burlington, VT
January 2, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at UMass Lowell	W 73–67	3–2 (2–1)	Costello Athletic Center  Lowell, MA
January 3, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at UMass Lowell	L 60–74	3–3 (2–2)	Costello Athletic Center  Lowell, MA
January 9, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Maine	W 63–54	4–3 (3–2)	Wellness and Events Center  Newark, NJ
January 10, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Maine	L 41–45	4–4 (3–3)	Wellness and Events Center  Newark, NJ
January 16, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at Albany	L 75–83	4–5 (3–4)	SEFCU Arena  Albany, NY
January 17, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at Albany	L 71–83	4–6 (3–5)	SEFCU Arena  Albany, NY
January 23, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Stony Brook	W 74–65	5–6 (4–5)	Wellness and Events Center  Newark, NJ
January 24, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Stony Brook	L 44–56	5–7 (4–6)	Wellness and Events Center  Newark, NJ
January 31, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN3		UMBC	W 69–65	6–7 (5–6)	Wellness and Events Center  Newark, NJ
February 1, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+		UMBC	L 71–75	6–8 (5–7)	Wellness and Events Center  Newark, NJ
February 13, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Hartford	W 67–57	7–8 (6–7)	Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion  West Hartford, CT
February 14, 2021  ESPN3		at Hartford	L 61–75	7–9 (6–8)	Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion  West Hartford, CT
February 20, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Binghamton	L 63–76	7–10 (6–9)	Wellness and Events Center  Newark, NJ
February 21, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN3		Binghamton	L 58–72	7–11 (6–10)	Wellness and Events Center  Newark, NJ
America East tournament
February 27, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN+	(8)	(5) Albany First round	L 66–76	7–12	Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion  West Hartford, CT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source^[4]

References

1. "NJIT vs. Liberty - Game Recap - March 3, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
2. "NJIT Welcomed as 10th America East Member Institution".
3. https://www.njithighlanders.com/news/2020/11/25/njit-mens-basketball-pauses-team-activitiesaspx%5B%5D
4. "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics. Retrieved December 2, 2020.