2020–21 Temple Owls men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Temple Owls men's basketball team represented Temple University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by second-year head coach Aaron McKie, play their home games at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia as a member of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 5–11, 4–10 in AAC Play to finish in 9th place. They lost in the first round of the AAC tournament to South Florida.

2020–21 Temple Owls men's basketball
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Record	5–11 (4–10 AAC)
Head coach	Aaron McKie (2nd season)
Associate head coach	Monté Ross
Assistant coaches	Chris Clark Jimmy Fenerty
Home arena	Liacouras Center
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

Previous season

The Owls finished the 2019–20 season 14–17, 6–12 in AAC play to finish in tenth place. They entered as the No. 10 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
Alani Moore	0	G	5'10"	170	Senior	Washington, D.C.	Graduated
Quinton Rose	1	G	6'8"	195	Senior	Rochester, New York	Graduated
Monty Scott	2	G	6'5"	185	RS Junior	Union, New Jersey	Graduate transferred to Portland State[1]
Josh Pierre-Louis	3	G	6'3"	180	Freshman	Plainfield, New Jersey	Transferred to UC Santa Barbara[2]
Nate Pierre-Louis	15	G	6'4"	170	Junior	Plainfield, New Jersey	Play professionally[3]
Justyn Hamilton	21	F	6'10"	190	Junior	Charlotte, North Carolina	Transferred to Kent State[4]
Anto Keshgegian	32	G	6'3"	185	Senior	Media, Pennsylvania	Walk–on; graduated
Damion Moore	44	C	6'11"	255	Senior	Vaughn, Mississippi	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Khalif Battle	G	6'5"	175	Sophomore	Edison, New Jersey	Transferred from Butler. Battle was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility.[5] Will have three years of remaining eligibility.[6]
Sage Tolbert	F	6'8"	210	Junior	Richmond, Texas	Transferred from Southeast Missouri State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Tolbert will have to sit out the 2020–21 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.[7]
Brendan Barry	G	6'2"	180	Graduate Student	Fair Haven, New Jersey	Transferred from Dartmouth after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.[8]
Colin Daly	G	6'4"	185	Senior	Havertown, Pennsylvania	Walk–on; transferred from West Chester.[9]

2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jahlil White #64 SF	Wildwood, New Jersey	Wildwood Catholic High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jul 19, 2019
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 76
Quincy Ademokoya #75 SF	Dacula, Georgia	Dacula High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Oct 12, 2019
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: NR
Nick Jourdain PF	Wayne, New Jersey	Covenant College Prep	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Mar 18, 2020
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Jeremiah Williams #77 SF	Chicago, Illinois	Simeon Career Academy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Apr 22, 2020
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 93
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.

2021 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2021)
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Brandon Sanders C	Miami, FL	South Miami High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jul 13, 2020
	Star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: NR
Hysier Miller PG	Philadelphia, PA	Neumann Goretti High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Aug 7, 2020
	Star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 78
Zach Hicks PF	Cherry Hill, NJ	Camden Catholic High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sep 4, 2020
	Star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 80
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 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 9, 2020.

Preseason

AAC preseason media poll

On October 28, The American released the preseason Poll and other preseason awards^[10]

Coaches Poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Houston	99 (2)
2	Memphis	90 (2)
3	SMU	80
4	Cincinnati	77
5	South Florida	61
6	Tulsa	50
7	Wichita State	44
8	UCF	37
9	East Carolina	34
10	Temple	18
11	Tulane	15

Roster

2020–21 Temple Owls men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Khalif Battle 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Trenton Catholic Academy Butler Edison, New Jersey G 1 Damian Dunn 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Fr Meadowcreek High School Kinston, North Carolina F 2 Jahlil White 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Wildwood Catholic High School Wildwood, New Jersey F 3 Sage Tolbert III  6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Combine Academy Southeast Missouri State New Orleans, Louisiana F 4 J. P. Moorman 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Greensboro Day School Greensboro, North Carolina F 10 Jake Forrester 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Westtown School Indiana Harrisburg, Pennsylvania F 11 Nick Jourdain 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Covenant College Prep Wayne, New Jersey G 13 Tai Strickland 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS So St. Petersburg High School Wisconsin Tampa, Florida F 14 Arashma Parks 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS So The Phelps School North Royalton, Ohio G 15 Brendan Barry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) GS Rumson-Fair High School Dartmouth Fair Haven, New Jersey G 21 Colin Daly (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Archbishop Carroll High School West Chester Havertown, Pennsylvania F 22 De'Vondre Perry 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Baltimore Polytechnic Baltimore, Maryland G 23 Quincy Ademokoya 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Dacula High School Dacula, Georgia F 24 Tim Waddington (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Sr Central Bucks High School South Warrington, Pennsylvania G 25 Jeremiah Williams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Simeon Career Academy Chicago, Illinois	Head coach Aaron McKie (Temple) Assistant coach(es) Monté Ross (Winston Salem State) Chris Clark (Temple) Shawn Trice (Penn) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

COVID-19 impact

Main article: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Owls' schedule is subject to change, including the cancellation or postponement of individual games, the cancellation of the entire season, or games played either with minimal fans or without fans in attendance and just essential personnel.

• On November 26, Temple paused activities following positive COVID-19 tests within their program for 14 days. This resulted in the cancellation of participation in the Hall of Fame Tip Off (alongside Rhode Island and Virginia Tech) as well as games against La Salle, Villanova, and Saint Joseph's.^[11][12]
• The games at Cincinnati scheduled for February 4 was moved to Philadelphia.^[13]
• The game at East Carolina rescheduled for February 11 was moved to Philadelphia.^[14][15]
• The game vs. Cincinnati rescheduled for February 12 was moved to Cincinnati.^[16][17]
• The game at South Florida rescheduled to February 21 was moved to Philadelphia.^[18]
• The game vs. South Florida scheduled for February 24 was moved to Tampa.^[19]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
December 3, 2020* 7:00 p.m.		at No. 12 Villanova Philadelphia Big 5	Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues[20]					Finneran Pavilion  Villanova, PA
December 12, 2020* 3:00 p.m., NBCSN		at Saint Joseph's Philadelphia Big 5/Rivalry	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[21]					Hagan Arena  Philadelphia, PA
December 19, 2020* 4:30 p.m., ESPN+		NJIT Previously scheduled for Nov. 25	W 72–60	1–0	18 – Dunn	14 – Perry	5 – Dunn	Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
December 22, 2020 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at No. 6 Houston	L 50–76	1–1 (0–1)	12 – Moorman II	8 – Perry	4 – Williams	Fertitta Center (1,859) Houston, TX
December 30, 2020 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		SMU	L 71–79	1–2 (0–2)	17 – Barry	12 – Forrester	3 – Moorman II	Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
January 2, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPNU		Memphis	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[22]					Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
January 11, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at SMU	L 68–79	1–3 (0–3)	17 – Dunn	8 – Moorman II	5 – Dunn	Moody Coliseum (1,417) University Park, TX
January 14, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		UCF	W 62–55	2–3 (1–3)	20 – Dunn	13 – Moorman II	4 – Williams	Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
January 16, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Tulane	W 65-57	3-3 (2-3)	18 – Dunn	10 – Forrester	5 – Williams	Devlin Fieldhouse (100) New Orleans, LA
January 23, 2021 12:00 p.m., CBS		No. 8 Houston Previously scheduled for Feb. 8	L 51–68	3–4 (2–4)	15 – Forrester	8 – Forrester	6 – Williams	Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
January 26, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Tulsa Previously scheduled for Mar. 2	W 76–67	4–4 (3–4)	22 – Battle	11 – Battle	8 – Williams	Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
January 31, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		Tulane	L 64–81	4–5 (3–5)	15 – Forrester	11 – Williams	9 – Williams	Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
February 4, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN2		Cincinnati	L 60–63	4–6 (3–6)	16 – Dunn	7 – Moorman II	3 – Tied	Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
February 7, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPNU		at Wichita State	L 67–70	4–7 (3–7)	22 – Dunn	7 – Dunn	3 – Tied	Charles Koch Arena (2,625) Wichita, KS
February 11, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		East Carolina Previously scheduled for Jan. 16	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[23]					Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
February 12, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Cincinnati Previously scheduled for Jan. 20	L 69–71	4–8 (3–8)	17 – Barry	8 – Perry	4 – Williams	Liacouras Center (300) Philadelphia, PA
February 13, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		at East Carolina	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[24]					Williams Arena  Greenville, NC
February 16, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPNU		at Tulsa	L 66–72	4–9 (3–9)	21 – Battle	7 – Battle	4 – Williams	Reynolds Center (100) Tulsa, OK
February 21, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Memphis	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[25]					FedEx Forum  Memphis, TN
February 21, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		South Florida Previously scheduled for Jan. 27	L 76–83	4–10 (3–10)	32 – Battle	10 – Battle	5 – Battle	Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
February 24, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPNU		at South Florida	W 65–47	5–10 (4–10)	22 – Battle	6 – Tied	4 – Battle	Yuengling Center (471) Tampa, FL
February 27, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPNU		at UCF	Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues[26]					Addition Financial Arena  Orlando, FL
March 6, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN2		Wichita State	Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues[27]					Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
AAC tournament
March 11, 2021 Noon, ESPNU	(9)	vs. (8) South Florida First Round	L 71–73	5–11	18 – Battle	11 – Forrester	5 – Battle	Dickies Arena  Fort Worth, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Awards and honors

American Athletic Conference honors

All-AAC Awards

• Sportsmanship Award: J.P. Moorman II

All-AAC Third Team

• Khalif Battle

All-AAC Freshman Team

• Damian Dunn

Source^[28]

References

1. Goodman, Jeff [@GoodmanHoops] (May 2, 2020). "Temple transfer Monty Scott is headed to Portland State, per source. Eligible immediately with one year to play" (Tweet). Retrieved May 13, 2020 – via Twitter.
2. Klan, Mike (April 10, 2020). "Reports have guard Josh Pierre-Louis transferring to UCSB". keyt.com. KEYT-TV. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
3. Juliano, Joe (April 29, 2020). "Villanova's Saddiq Bey, St. Joseph's Ryan Daly, and Temple's Nate Pierre-Louis officially file for NBA draft early entry". inquirer.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
4. "Kent State Gets Commitment From Transfer Justyn Hamilton". kentstatesports.com. Kent State Athletics. April 19, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
5. "Khalif Battle's NCAA Waiver Approved; Owls Guard Immediately Eligible to Play". owlsports.com. Temple Athletics. November 25, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
6. Woods, David (March 21, 2020). "Freshman guard Khalif Battle to transfer from Butler". indystar.com. Indianapolis Star. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
7. "Men's Basketball Announces Three Signings". owlsports.com. Temple University Athletics. April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
8. "Graduate Transfer Brendan Barry Signs with Men's Basketball". owlsports.com. Temple University Athletics. November 13, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
9. "Men's Basketball Adds Senior Transfer Colin Daly to Roster". owlsports.com. Temple University Athletics. November 25, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
10. "Houston Tabbed as 2020-21 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Favorite". theAmerican.org. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
11. Collinelli, Dante (November 23, 2020). "Owls' Nov. 29 men's basketball game canceled". temple-news.com. The Temple News. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
12. "Temple, Butler men's basketball teams both on pause after positive coronavirus tests". ESPN. November 26, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
13. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". January 27, 2021.
14. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". January 26, 2021.
15. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". February 10, 2021.
16. "Cincinnati-Temple Game Scheduled for Jan. 20 Postponed". January 19, 2021.
17. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". February 10, 2021.
18. "Pair of American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Games Postponed". theamerican.org. January 20, 2021.
19. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. February 18, 2021.
20. "Temple, Butler men's basketball teams both on pause after positive coronavirus tests". November 26, 2020.
21. "Temple, Butler men's basketball teams both on pause after positive coronavirus tests". November 26, 2020.
22. "Pair of Men's Basketball Games Postponed". theamerican.org. December 31, 2020.
23. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". February 10, 2021.
24. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. February 10, 2021.
25. "The American Announces Changes to Men's Basketball Schedule". theamerican.org. February 16, 2021.
26. "Saturday's Temple-UCF Men's Basketball Game Cancelled". theamerican.org. February 27, 2021.
27. "The American Announces Changes to Final Weekend of Regular Season". theamerican.org. March 2, 2021.
28. "American Athletic Conference Announces Men's Basketball Honors". theamerican.org. March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.