# 2020–21 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team represented the University of Toledo during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rockets, led by 11th-year head coach Tod Kowalczyk, played their home games at Savage Arena, as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Rockets finished the season 21–9, 15–4 in MAC play to win MAC regular season championship. They defeated Ball State in the first round of the MAC tournament before losing to eventual tournament champions Ohio in the second round. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost to Richmond in the first round.

## Previous season

The Rockets finished the 2019–20 season 17–15, 8–10 in MAC play to finish third place in the West division. They defeated Western Michigan in the first round of the MAC tournament before the tournament and all subsequent postseason tournaments were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Gavin Bizeau | 0 | F | 6'11" | 210 | Sophomore | Plainfield, IN | Transferred to Marian University |
| T. J. Smith | 1 | F | 6'8" | 195 | Freshman | Matteson, IL | Transferred to Barry |
| Aaron Etherington | 2 | F | 6'6" | 215 | Freshman | Fishers, IN | Transferred to Indianapolis |
| Donavan Moore | 5 | G | 6'3" | 175 | Freshman | Hillsboro, IL | Transferred to Green Bay |
| Dylan Alderson | 21 | G | 6'5" | 205 | Junior | Clarkston, MI | Transferred to Indiana Wesleyan |
| Willie Jackson | 23 | F | 6'6" | 215 | Senior | Cleveland, OH | Graduated |
| Luke Knapke | 30 | C | 6'11" | 245 | Senior | Maria Stein, OH | Graduated |

### 2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ryan Rollins #85 SG | Macomb, MI | Dakota | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Nov 13, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ||||||
| Jamere Hill SG | Joliet, IL | Joliet West | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jan 11, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Ra'Heim Moss SG | Springfield, OH | SPIRE Academy | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Nov 30, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| 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. Retrieved December 2, 2020. ||||||

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Setric Millner Jr. | 2 | F | 6'6" | 205 | Junior | Little Rock, AR | Transferred from Northwest Florida State College. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| JT Shumate | 32 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Junior | Newark, OH | Transferred from Walsh University. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Jonathan Komagum | 35 | F/C | 6'9" | 215 | Junior | London, England | Transferred from Williston State College. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 25, 2020* 3:15 p.m. | | vs. Bradley Xavier Invitational | L 59–61 | 0–1 | 17 – Millner Jr. | 7 – Komagum | 4 – Jackson | Cintas Center (111) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 26, 2020* 3:15 p.m. | | vs. Oakland Xavier Invitational | W 80–53 | 1–1 | 24 – Littleson | 9 – Millner Jr. | 8 – Jackson | Cintas Center (36) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 27, 2020* 12:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Xavier Xavier Invitational | L 73–76 | 1–2 | 20 – Rollins | 15 – Millner Jr. | 6 – Jackson | Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 1, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Cleveland State | W 70–61 | 2–2 | 17 – Millner Jr. | 11 – Komagum | 5 – Jackson | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| December 4, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Eastern Michigan | W 91–74 | 3–2 (1–0) | 20 – Jackson | 7 – Saunders | 5 – Jackson | Convocation Center (0) Ypsilanti, MI |
| December 9, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 19 Michigan | L 71–91 | 3–3 | 14 – Millner Jr. | 6 – Millner Jr. | 4 – Rollins | Crisler Center (0) Ann Arbor, MI |
| December 12, 2020* ESPN3 | | Kansas City | W 64–57 | 4–3 | 17 – Millner Jr. | 10 – Millner Jr. | 3 – Millner Jr. | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| December 16, 2020* 6:00 p.m., C-USA TV | | at Marshall | W 96–87 $^{OT}$ | 5–3 | 23 – Jackson | 13 – Rollins | 8 – Jackson | Cam Henderson Center (1,222) Huntington, WV |
| December 19, 2020* 2:00 p.m. | | Valparaiso | W 71–55 | 6–3 | 18 – Jackson | 8 – Littleson | 5 – Jackson | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| MAC regular season |||||||||
| December 22, 2020 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Northern Illinois | W 78–55 | 7–3 (2–0) | 18 – Littleson | 11 – Rollins | 6 – Millner Jr. | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| January 2, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Western Michigan | W 70–59 | 8–3 (3–0) | 20 – Rollins | 9 – Shumate | 4 – Jackson | University Arena (0) Kalamazoo, MI |
| January 5, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Kent State | W 84–82 | 9–3 (4–0) | 26 – Littleson | 6 – Rollins | 5 – Jackson | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (0) Kent, OH |
| January 8, 2021 6:30 p.m., CBSSN | | Ohio | W 95–78 | 10–3 (5–0) | 18 – Jackson | 7 – Millner Jr. | 6 – Jackson | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| January 12, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Eastern Michigan | W 96–63 | 11–3 (6–0) | 20 – Saunders | 7 – Millner Jr. | 5 – Jackson | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| January 16, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Akron | L 94–95 $^{OT}$ | 11–4 (6–1) | 24 – Jackson | 9 – Jackson | 10 – Jackson | Rhodes Arena (0) Akron, OH |
| January 19, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Central Michigan | W 89-72 | 12–4 (7–1) | 25 – Rollins | 7 – Rollins | 9 – Jackson | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| January 23, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Kent State | W 76-74 | 13–4 (8–1) | 31 – Jackson | 6 – Millner Jr. | 5 – Jackson | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| January 26, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Miami (OH) | W 90-81 | 14–4 (9–1) | 33 – Shumate | 5 – Rollins | 6 – Rollins | Millett Hall (0) Oxford, OH |
| January 30, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Bowling Green | W 84-66 | 15–4 (10–1) | 19 – Littleson | 12 – Jackson | 7 – Jackson | Stroh Center (0) Bowling Green, OH |
| February 2, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Akron | W 91-76 | 16–4 (11–1) | 25 – Shumate | 11 – Jackson | 8 – Jackson | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| February 6, 2021 12:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Ball State | L 67–81 | 16–5 (11–2) | 13 – Shumate | 8 – Millner Jr. | 4 – Jackson | Worthen Arena (0) Muncie, IN |
| February 9, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Illinois | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Convocation Center (-) DeKalb, IL |
| February 13, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Bowling Green | L 81–88 | 16–6 (11–3) | 27 – Jackson | 14 – Jackson | 8 – Jackson | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| February 16, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Miami (OH) | W 87–75 | 17–6 (12–3) | 25 – Littleson | 10 – Jackson | 11 – Jackson | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| February 19, 2021 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Buffalo | W 80–70 | 18–6 (13–3) | 20 – Jackson | 7 – Millner Jr. | 6 – Jackson | Alumni Arena (0) Amherst, NY |
| February 27, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Western Michigan | W 91–44 | 19–6 (14–3) | 22 – Jackson | 10 – Millner Jr | 8 – Jackson | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| March 2, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Central Michigan | L 79–81 | 19–7 (14–4) | 17 – Rollins | 14 – Jackson | 4 – Jackson | McGuirk Arena (0) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| March 5, 2021 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Ball State | W 89–70 | 20–7 (15–4) | 22 – Jackson | 13 – Jackson | 10 – Jackson | Savage Arena (0) Toledo, OH |
| MAC tournament |||||||||
| Mar 11, 2021 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (8) Ball State Quarterfinals | W 91–89 $^{OT}$ | 21–7 | 29 – Jackson | 12 – Millner Jr. | 4 – Jackson | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (0) Cleveland, OH |
| Mar 12, 2021 5:00 p.m., CBSSN | (1) | vs. (5) Ohio Semifinals | L 80–87 | 21–8 | 29 – Jackson | 10 – Littleson | 2 – Jackson | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (0) Cleveland, OH |
| NIT |||||||||
| Mar 17, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (3) | vs. (2) Richmond First Round – Saint Louis bracket | L 66–76 | 21–9 | 18 – Rollins | 6 – Millner Jr. | 4 – Millner Jr. | UNT Coliseum (731) Denton, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||