# 2021–22 Horizon League men's basketball season

The 2021–22 Horizon League men's basketball season began with practices in September 2021 and ended with the 2022 Horizon League men's basketball tournament in March 2022. This was the 42nd season for Horizon League men's basketball.

## Head coaches
### Coaching changes

* On April 13, 2021, IUPUI announced Ball State assistant Matt Crenshaw as the team's new head coach. Previous head coach Byron Rimm II served as the team's head coach for two years while the program's search for a permanent head coach was prolonged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Preseason
### Preseason coaches poll

2021-22 Horizon League Preseason Coaches Poll :
| Rank | Team (First Place Votes) | Points |
| 1. | Cleveland State (30) | 502 |
| 2. | Wright State (9) | 463 |
| 3. | Northern Kentucky (1) | 406 |
| 4. | Milwaukee (2) | 396 |
| 5. | Detroit Mercy (2) | 350 |
| 6. | Oakland | 340 |
| 7. | Youngstown State | 214 |
| 8. | UIC | 204 |
| 8. | Purdue Fort Wayne | 169 |
| 10. | Robert Morris | 157 |
| 11. | Green Bay | 146 |
| 12. | IUPUI | 85 |

### Preseason All-Horizon League

| First team | Second team |
| Torrey Patton, Cleveland State | DeAndre Gholston, Milwaukee |
| Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy | Trevon Faulkner, Northern Kentucky |
| Patrick Baldwin Jr., Milwaukee | Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky |
| Jalen Moore, Oakland | Jarred Godfrey, Purdue Fort Wayne |
| Grant Basile, Wright State | Tanner Holden, Wright State |
Preseason Player of the Year: Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy

### Preseason watchlists

Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists.
| | Wooden | Erving | Henson |
| Patrick Baldwin Jr., Milwaukee | Y | Y | Y |
| Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy | | | Y |
| Tanner Holden, Wright State | | | Y |
| Jalen Moore, Oakland | | | Y |

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Improvement in ranking |
| | Drop in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll |
| (Italics) | Number of first place votes |
| | | Wk 11 |
| Cleveland State | AP | |
| Cleveland State | C | |
| Detroit Mercy | AP | |
| Detroit Mercy | C | |
| Green Bay | AP | |
| Green Bay | C | |
| IUPUI | AP | |
| IUPUI | C | |
| Milwaukee | AP | |
| Milwaukee | C | |
| Northern Kentucky | AP | |
| Northern Kentucky | C | |
| Oakland | AP | |
| Oakland | C | RV |
| Purdue Fort Wayne | AP | |
| Purdue Fort Wayne | C | |
| Robert Morris | AP | |
| Robert Morris | C | |
| UIC | AP | |
| UIC | C | |
| Wright State | AP | |
| Wright State | C | |
| Youngstown State | AP | |
| Youngstown State | C | |

## Regular season
### Player of the Week awards

| Week | Player of the Week | Freshman of the Week |
| 1 | Grant Basile, Wright State | Patrick Baldwin Jr., Milwaukee |
| 2 | Jamal Cain, Oakland | Sam Vinson, Northern Kentucky |
| 3 | Jamal Cain (2), Oakland | Sam Vinson (2), Northern Kentucky |
| 4 | Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy | Patrick Baldwin Jr. (2), Milwaukee |
| 5 | Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky Dwayne Cohill, Youngstown State | Sam Vinson (3), Northern Kentucky |
| 6 | D'Moi Hodge, Cleveland State | Hubie Pivorius, Northern Kentucky |
| 7 | Grant Basile (2), Wright State | AJ Braun, Wright State |
| 8 | Jamal Cain (3), Oakland | Sam Vinson (4), Northern Kentucky |
| 9 | Antoine Davis (2), Detroit Mercy | Kamari McGee, Green Bay |
| 10 | Kevin Johnson, UIC | Kamari McGee (2), Green Bay |
| 11 | Tanner Holden, Wright State | Sam Vinson (5), Northern Kentucky |
| 12 | Michael Akuchie, Youngstown State | Sam Vinson (6), Northern Kentucky |
| 13 | Grant Basile (3), Wright State | Cade Meyer, Green Bay |
| 14 | Jamal Cain (4), Oakland | Sam Vinson (7), Northern Kentucky |
| 15 | Antoine Davis (3), Detroit Mercy | Jace Carter, UIC |
| 16 | Marques Warrick (2), Northern Kentucky | Kamari McGee (3), Green Bay |
| School | POTW | FOTW |
| Cleveland State | 1 | 0 |
| Detroit Mercy | 3 | 0 |
| Green Bay | 0 | 4 |
| IUPUI | 0 | 0 |
| Milwaukee | 0 | 2 |
| Northern Kentucky | 2 | 8 |
| Oakland | 4 | 0 |
| Purdue Fort Wayne | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Morris | 0 | 0 |
| UIC | 1 | 1 |
| Wright State | 4 | 1 |
| Youngstown State | 2 | 0 |

### Conference matrix

| | CSU | DET | GB | IUPUI | MKE | NKU | OAK | PFW | RMU | UIC | WSU | YSU |
| vs. Cleveland State | – | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| vs. Detroit Mercy | 1–1 | – | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| vs. Green Bay | 2–0 | 0–1 | – | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. IUPUI | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Milwaukee | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | – | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| vs. Northern Kentucky | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | – | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| vs. Oakland | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | – | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Purdue Fort Wayne | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | – | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Robert Morris | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. UIC | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Wright State | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | – | 1–1 |
| vs. Youngstown State | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | – |
| Total | 15–6 | 15–6 | 4–16 | 1–16 | 8–14 | 14–6 | 12–7 | 15–6 | 5–16 | 9–10 | 15–7 | 12–9 |

### Early season tournaments

The following table summarizes the multiple-team events (MTE) or early season tournaments in which teams from the Horizon League participated.
| Team | Tournament | Location | Dates |
| Cleveland State | Lake Erie Challenge | Cleveland, OH Buffalo, NY | November 20–24 |
| Detroit Mercy | Bahamas Championship | Campus sites | November 17–27 |
| Green Bay | Jersey Mike's Classic | St. Petersburg, FL | November 18–21 |
| IUPUI | Roadrunner Invitational | San Antonio, TX | November 15–21 |
| Milwaukee | Fort Myers Tip-Off | Campus sites Fort Myers, FL | November 14–24 |
| Northern Kentucky | Blue Demon Classic | Campus sites | November 18–28 |
| Oakland | Gulf Coast Showcase | Estero, FL | November 22–24 |
| Purdue Fort Wayne | FGCU Invitational | Fort Myers, FL | November 26–28 |
| Robert Morris | Kentucky Classic | Campus sites | November 12–22 |
| UIC | Las Vegas Classic | Las Vegas, NV | November 25–26 |
| Wright State | Naples Invitational | Naples, FL | November 22–24 |
| Youngstown State | Penguin Classic | Youngstown, OH | November 19–21 |