# 2021–22 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team

The 2021–22 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team represented La Salle University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Explorers, led by fourth-year head coach Ashley Howard, played their home games at Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 11–19, 5–13 in A-10 play to finish in a tie for 12th place. As the No. 12 seed in the A-10 tournament, they defeated Saint Joseph's in the first round before losing to Saint Louis in the second round.
On March 21, 2022, the school fired head coach Ashley Howard.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Explorers finished the 2020–21 season 9–16, 6–11 in A-10 play to finish in 12th place. They lost in the first round of the A-10 tournament to Saint Joseph's.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| David Beatty | 1 | G | 6'2" | 200 | Senior | Philadelphia, PA | Graduate transferred to North Carolina A&T |
| Scott Spencer | 2 | G | 6'6" | 210 | RS Senior | Suffolk, VA | Graduate transferred to Tulane |
| Derrius Ward | 10 | G | 6'6" | 185 | Freshman | Philadelphia, PA | Transferred to Harcum College |
| Jared Kimbrough | 24 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Junior | Neptune, NJ | Transferred to Hartford |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Josh Nickelberry | 10 | G | 6'4" | 205 | Junior | Fayetteville, NC | Louisville |
| Mamadou Doucoure | 14 | F | 6'9" | 250 | RS Senior | Bamako, Mali | Rutgers |

### 2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Daeshon Shepherd SG | Philadelphia, PA | Archbishop Wood High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Andrés Marrero SG | Caracas, Venezuela | Upper Room Christian School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Jun 26, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Khalil Brantley PG | Charlotte, NC | Our Saviour Lutheran School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Jun 26, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| 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 October 23, 2021. ||||||

## Roster

Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Sacred Heart | L 81–86 $^{OT}$ | 0–1 | Tom Gola Arena (1,637) Philadelphia, PA |
| November 13, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Albany | W 67–64 | 1–1 | Tom Gola Arena Philadelphia, PA |
| November 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at Delaware | L 82–85 $^{OT}$ | 1–2 | Bob Carpenter Center (2,032) Newark, DE |
| November 20, 2021* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Army | W 61–58 | 2–2 | Tom Gola Arena (1,712) Philadelphia, PA |
| November 28, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. No. 7 Villanova Philadelphia Big 5 | L 46–72 | 2–3 | Palestra (5,841) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 1, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Temple Philadelphia Big 5 | L 57-73 | 2–4 | Liacouras Center (4,025) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 4, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Holy Cross | W 84–65 | 3–4 | Tom Gola Arena (1,326) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 7, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 81–55 | 4–4 | Tom Gola Arena (1,172) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 11, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Penn Philadelphia Big 5 | W 76-74 | 5–4 | Tom Gola Arena (2,617) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 18, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Bucknell | L 70-82 | 5–5 | Sojka Pavilion (1,230) Lewisburg, PA |
| December 21, 2021* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Drexel | Canceled due to COVID-19 | Canceled due to COVID-19 | Tom Gola Arena Philadelphia, PA |
| Atlantic 10 regular season ||||||
| December 30, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Fordham | L 61–69 | 5–6 (0–1) | Tom Gola Arena (1,147) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 8, 2022 2:00 p.m., USA | | VCU | L 66–85 | 5–7 (0–2) | Tom Gola Arena (1,721) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 11, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | St. Bonaventure | L 76–80 $^{OT}$ | 5–8 (0–3) | Tom Gola Arena (1,321) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 17, 2022 4:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Saint Joseph's | W 75–64 | 6–8 (1–3) | Hagan Arena (1,795) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 19, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Rhode Island Rescheduled from January 2 | L 54–56 | 6–9 (1–4) | Ryan Center (4,379) Kingston, RI |
| January 22, 2022 4:30 p.m., USA | | Richmond | L 56–64 | 6–10 (1–5) | Tom Gola Arena (2,137) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 26, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UMass | L 71–77 | 6–11 (1–6) | Tom Gola Arena (1,389) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 29, 2022 12:00 p.m., USA | | at No. 25 Davidson | L 69–77 | 6–12 (1–7) | John M. Belk Arena (3,938) Davidson, NC |
| February 2, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at George Washington | L 87–89 | 6–13 (1–8) | Charles E. Smith Center (919) Washington, D.C. |
| February 5, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | George Mason | W 83–78 | 7–13 (2–8) | Tom Gola Arena (2,217) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 8, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Saint Louis | L 57–75 | 7–14 (2–9) | Tom Gola Arena (1,121) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 12, 2022 4:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Richmond | L 63–77 | 7–15 (2–10) | Robins Center (6,801) Richmond, VA |
| February 16, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Saint Louis Rescheduled from January 5 | L 64–90 | 7–16 (2–11) | Chaifetz Arena (4,671) St. Louis, MO |
| February 19, 2022 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UMass | L 74–80 | 7–17 (2–12) | Mullins Center (2,009) Amherst, MA |
| February 23, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Fordham | L 54–60 | 7–18 (2–13) | Rose Hill Gymnasium (687) Bronx, NY |
| February 26, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Dayton | W 62–60 | 8–18 (3–13) | Tom Gola Arena (2,473) Philadelphia, PA |
| March 2, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Saint Joseph's | W 49–48 | 9–18 (4–13) | Tom Gola Arena (2,812) Philadelphia, PA |
| March 5, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Duquesne | W 85–76 | 10–18 (5–13) | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (2,003) Pittsburgh, PA |
| Atlantic 10 tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (12) | vs. (13) Saint Joseph's First round | W 63–56 | 11–18 | Capital One Arena Washington, D.C. |
| March 10, 2022 2:30 p.m., USA/Peacock | (12) | vs. (5) Saint Louis Second round | L 51-71 | 11–19 | Capital One Arena Washington, D.C. |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
Source