# 2020–21 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Rhode Island Rams basketball team represented the University of Rhode Island during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rams, led by third-year head coach David Cox, played their home games at the Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 10–15, 7–10 in A-10 play, to finish in 10th place. They lost in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament to Dayton.

## Previous season

The Rams finished the 2019–20 season 21–9, 13–5 in A-10 play, to finish in third place. They were to play the winner of Duquesne and Fordham in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament, but the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic prior to Rhode Island playing a game. The remainder of the season was cancelled due to the pandemic.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Tyrese Martin | 4 | G | 6'6" | 205 | Sophomore | Allentown, PA | Transferred to UConn |
| Cyril Langevine | 10 | F | 6'8" | 230 | Senior | East Orange, NJ | Graduated |
| Jeff Dowtin | 11 | F | 6'3" | 185 | Senior | Washington, D.C. | Graduated |
| Eric Dadika | 13 | G | 6'0" | 175 | Senior | Milltown, NJ | Graduated |
| Jordan Green | 20 | G | 5'9" | 160 | Senior | The Bronx, NY | Graduated |
| Jacob Toppin | 21 | F | 6'8" | 190 | Freshman | Brooklyn, NY | Transferred to Kentucky |
| Elijah Wood | 33 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Freshman | Milltown, NJ | Decommitted, transferred to Nebraska |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Allen Bertrand | 4 | G | 6'5" | 200 | Junior | Philadelphia, PA | Transferred from Towson |
| Malik Martin | 12 | G | 6'6" | 210 | Junior | Staten Island, NY | Transferred from Charlotte |
| Umberto Brusadin | 14 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Graduate | Latina, Italy | Transferred from Caldwell, walk-on |
| Jalen Carey | 15 | G | 6'3" | 186 | RS-Sophomore | Harlem, NY | Transferred from Syracuse |
| Makhi Mitchell | 21 | C | 6'9" | 230 | Sophomore | Washington, D.C. | Transferred from Maryland |
| Makhel Mitchell | 22 | C | 6'10" | 245 | Sophomore | Washington, D.C. | Transferred from Maryland |

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ishmael Leggett SG | Washington, D.C. | St. John's College High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Sep 19, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Tres Berry PG | Cleveland, TN | Scotland Campus | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 189 lb (86 kg) | Apr 10, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 64 ||||||
| 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: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### 2021 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Abdou Samb PF | Upper Marlboro, MD | Frederick Douglass (MD) | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 10, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A 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. ||||||

## Roster
### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| C | Makhel Mitchell | Makhi Mitchell | Ileri Ayo-Faleye |
| PF | Malik Martin | Jermaine Harris | Tres Berry |
| SF | Antwan Walker | D.J. Johnson | Umberto Brusadin |
| SG | Fatts Russell | Ishmael Leggett | Brandon Borde |
| PG | Jeremy Sheppard | Allen Betrand | Jalen Carey |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 25, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN | | vs. No. 18 Arizona State 2K Empire Classic semifinals | L 88–94 $^{OT}$ | 0–1 | 19 – Sheppard | 8 – Walker | 6 – Russell | Mohegan Sun Arena (0) Uncasville, CT |
| November 26, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN | | vs. Boston College 2K Empire Classic third-place game | L 64–69 | 0–2 | 23 – Russell | 6 – Walker | 3 – Russell | Mohegan Sun Arena (0) Uncasville, CT |
| November 28, 2020* 5:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | vs. South Florida Hall of Fame Tip-Off semifinals | W 84–68 | 1–2 | 16 – Collins | 7 – Durr | 4 – Collins | Mohegan Sun Arena (0) Uncasville, CT |
| November 29, 2020* 5:30 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. San Francisco Hall of Fame Tip-Off final | W 84–71 | 2–2 | 21 – Russell | 10 – Walker | 4 – Russell | Mohegan Sun Arena (0) Uncasville, CT |
| December 2, 2020* 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Seton Hall | W 76–63 | 3–2 | 17 – Russell | 11 – Mitchell | 2 – Russell | Ryan Center (0) Kingston, RI |
| December 9, 2020* 4:30 p.m., BTN | | at No. 13 Wisconsin | L 62–73 | 3–3 | 13 – Sheppard | 10 – Walker | 1 – tied (4) | Kohl Center (0) Madison, WI |
| December 13, 2020* 12:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Western Kentucky | L 65–68 | 3–4 | 16 – Johnson | 6 – Walker | 4 – Russell | Diddle Arena (1,070) Bowling Green, KY |
| Atlantic 10 regular season |||||||||
| December 18, 2020 TBA, ESPN | | Davidson | L 57–68 | 3–5 (0–1) | 20 – Martin | 10 – Walker | 6 – Russell | Ryan Center (0) Kingston, RI |
| December 30, 2020 TBA, ESPN+ | | St. Bonaventure | W 63–57 | 4–5 (1–1) | 17 – Sheppard | 10 – tied (2) | 5 – Russell | Ryan Center (0) Kingston, RI |
| January 3, 2021 4:30 p.m., NBCSN | | Saint Joseph's | W 85–77 $^{OT}$ | 5–5 (2–1) | 20 – Russell | 8 – tied (2) | 8 – Russell | Ryan Center (0) Kingston, RI |
| January 6, 2021 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Richmond | L 73–80 | 5–6 (2–2) | 18 – Russell | 8 – Walker | 4 – Russell | Robins Center (0) Richmond, VA |
| January 9, 2021 2:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at VCU | W 83–68 | 6–6 (3–2) | 23 – Russell | 9 – Russell | 5 – Clark | Siegel Center (250) Richmond, VA |
| January 13, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UMass | L 78–80 $^{OT}$ | 6–7 (3–3) | 23 – Mitchell | 7 – Russell | 7 – Sheppard | Mullins Center (0) Amherst, MA |
| January 16, 2021 5:00 p.m., NBCSN | | George Mason | W 80–60 | 7–7 (4–3) | 18 – Russell | 10 – Mitchell | 4 – Russell | Ryan Center (0) Kingston, RI |
| January 20, 2021 6:00 p.m., NBCSN | | at Duquesne | L 69–71 | 7–8 (4–4) | 16 – Mitchell | 11 – Mitchell | 6 – Russell | Kerr Fitness Center (0) McCandless, PA |
| January 24, 2021 2:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Fordham | W 52–42 | 8–8 (5–4) | 16 – Sheppard | 9 – Sheppard | 2 – Sheppard | Ryan Center (0) Kingston, RI |
| January 27, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at La Salle | W 73–60 | 9–8 (6–4) | 25 – Sheppard | 5 – Sheppard | 6 – Russell | Tom Gola Arena (0) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 30, 2021 4:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Dayton | L 56–67 | 9–9 (6–5) | 16 – Sheppard | 6 – Sheppard | 2 – Sheppard | UD Arena (0) Dayton, OH |
| February 3, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | VCU | L 62–63 | 9–10 (6–6) | 17 – Leggett | 7 – Mitchell | 6 – Sheppard | Ryan Center (0) Kingston, RI |
| February 6, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | UMass | L 63–75 | 9–11 (6–7) | 26 – Walker | 14 – Walker | 6 – Sheppard | Ryan Center (0) Kingston, RI |
| February 10, 2021 9:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Saint Louis | L 60–67 | 9–12 (6–8) | 16 – Sheppard | 8 – Mitchell | 3 – Sheppard | Chaifetz Arena St. Louis, MO |
| February 16, 2021 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Dayton | W 91–89 $^{2OT}$ | 10–12 (7–8) | 20 – Russell | 12 – Mitchell | 7 – Russell | Ryan Center (0) Kingston, RI |
| February 21, 2021 11:30 a.m., NBCSN | | at George Washington | L 70–78 | 10–13 (7–9) | 16 – Leggett | 9 – Russell | 10 – Russell | Charles E. Smith Center Washington, D.C. |
| February 27, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Duquesne | L 75–86 | 10–14 (7–10) | 27 – Russell | 6 – Martin | 5 – Russell | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Pittsburgh, PA |
| Atlantic 10 tournament |||||||||
| March 4, 2021 3:30 p.m., NBCSN | (10) | vs. (7) Dayton Second round | L 72–84 | 10–15 | 17 – Martin | 9 – Russell | 8 – Russell | Siegel Center (250) Richmond, VA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. |||||||||
Source: