# 2020–21 Richmond Spiders men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Richmond Spiders men's basketball team represented the University of Richmond during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by 16th-year head coach Chris Mooney and played their home games at the Robins Center as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 14–9, 6–5 in A-10 play to finish in 8th place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament to Duquesne. They received an invitation to the NIT where they defeated Toledo in the first round before losing in the quarterfinals to Mississippi State.

## Previous season

The Spiders finished the 2019–20 season 24–7, 14–4 in A-10 play to finish in second place. Their season ended when the A-10 tournament and all other postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jake Wojcik | 11 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Sophomore | San Jose, CA | Transfer to Fairfield |
| Tomas Verbinskis | 21 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Redshirt Sophomore | Klaipeda, Lithuania | Transfer to Lafayette in December 2019 |
In addition, guard Nick Sherod suffered a season-ending knee injury during preseason practice in October 2020.

### Incoming transfer

Guard Connor Crabtree transferred to Richmond from Tulane prior to the 2019–20 season and sat out due to NCAA transfer rules. He will become eligible to play for the Spiders in the 2020–21 season.

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Isaiah Wilson G | Pittsburgh, PA | First Love Academy | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Sep 9, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Andre Weir F | Hollywood, FL | Chaminade-Madonna | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 265 lb (120 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Dji Bailey G | Wilson, NC | Greenfield School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | May 11, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Quentin Southall G | Alexandria, VA | Georgetown Prep (MD) | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| 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: "Rivals.com 2020 Richmond Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 11, 2020. "Scout.com 2020 Richmond Commitments". Scout.com. Retrieved November 11, 2020. "ESPN 2020 Richmond Commitments". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 11, 2020. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 11, 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 11, 2020. ||||||
Weir left the program in December 2020 before he played in any games for the Spiders.

## Preseason

In a preseason poll of league head coaches and select media members, Richmond was chosen as the favorite to win the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2020–21, taking 19 out of 28 first-place votes. Jacob Gilyard was selected to both the preseason all-conference first team and the preseason all-defensive team, while Blake Francis and Grant Golden were both selected to the preseason all-conference second team.

## Schedule and results

The Spiders' opening game of the season against Detroit Mercy as part of the Bluegrass Showcase was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Detroit Mercy program. Two other non-conference games against Charleston and Furman were canceled due to a COVID-related pause by Richmond.
Richmond experienced two additional COVID-related pauses during the season, resulting in multiple changes to the Atlantic 10 portion of the schedule, while adjustments to the schedule for the 2021 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament resulted in additional changes to several teams' schedules over the final two weeks of the regular season.
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| Nov 27, 2020* 6:00 p.m. | | vs. Morehead State Bluegrass Showcase | W 82–64 | 1–0 | 23 – Cayo | 12 – Burton | 5 – Tied | Rupp Arena (261) Lexington, KY |
| Nov 29, 2020* 1:00 p.m., ESPN | | at No. 10 Kentucky Bluegrass Showcase | W 76–64 | 2–0 | 18 – Tied | 7 – Golden | 6 – Gilyard | Rupp Arena (3,075) Lexington, KY |
| Dec 7, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 19 | Wofford | W 77–72 | 3–0 | 18 – Gilyard | 7 – Burton | 6 – Gilyard | Robins Center (0) Richmond, VA |
| Dec 9, 2020* 6:00 p.m., NBCS WA/ESPN+ | No. 19 | Northern Iowa | W 78–68 | 4–0 | 21 – Burton | 13 – Burton | 11 – Gilyard | Robins Center (0) Richmond, VA |
| Dec 13, 2020* 1:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 19 | at No. 11 West Virginia | L 71–87 | 4–1 | 14 – Tied | 10 – Burton | 6 – Gilyard | WVU Coliseum (371) Morgantown, WV |
| Dec 16, 2020* 1:00 p.m., SEC Network | | at Vanderbilt | W 78–67 | 5–1 | 21 – Francis | 8 – Golden | 5 – Gilyard | Memorial Gymnasium (0) Nashville, TN |
| Dec 18, 2020* 6:00 p.m., NBCS WA/ESPN+ | | vs. Loyola–Chicago | W 75–73 | 6–1 | 27 – Francis | 9 – Burton | 3 – Gilyard | Indiana Convention Center (0) Indianapolis, IN |
| Dec 22, 2020* 2:00 p.m., NBCS WA/ESPN+ | | Hofstra | L 71–76 | 6–2 | 15 – Tied | 7 – Burton | 6 – Gilyard | Robins Center Richmond, VA |
| Dec 30, 2020 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Davidson | W 80–74 | 7–2 (1–0) | 22 – Golden | 11 – Burton | 5 – Tied | John M. Belk Arena Davidson, NC |
| Jan 2, 2021 5:00 p.m., CBSSN | | St. Bonaventure | L 66–69 | 7–3 (1–1) | 21 – Francis | 10 – Cayo | 6 – Golden | Robins Center Richmond, VA |
| Jan 6, 2021 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Rhode Island | W 80–73 | 8–3 (2–1) | 22 – Gilyard | 9 – Golden | 5 – Golden | Robins Center Richmond, VA |
| Jan 9, 2021 noon, CBSSN | | at George Mason | W 77–57 | 9–3 (3–1) | 18 – Golden | 10 – Golden | 5 – Gilyard | EagleBank Arena (250) Fairfax, VA |
| Jan 23, 2021 2:30 p.m., NBCSN | | La Salle | L 78–84 | 9–4 (3–2) | 22 – Golden | 12 – Burton | 4 – Tied | Robins Center Richmond, VA |
| Jan 26, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Saint Joseph's | W 79–56 | 10–4 (4–2) | 25 – Burton | 7 – Golden | 7 – Gilyard | Hagan Arena Philadelphia, PA |
| Feb 14, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | St. Mary's College (MD) | W 90–49 | 11–4 | 17 – Francis | 7 – Golden | 4 – Golden | Robins Center Richmond, VA |
| Feb 17, 2021 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at VCU Capital City Classic | L 56–68 | 11–5 (4–3) | 18 – Cayo | 7 – Cayo | 5 – Gilyard | Siegel Center (250) Richmond, VA |
| Feb 20, 2021 4:30 p.m., NBCSN | | Duquesne | W 79–72 | 12–5 (5–3) | 17 – Tied | 8 – Tied | 8 – Golden | Robins Center Richmond, VA |
| Feb 23, 2021 6:00 p.m., NBCS WA+/ESPN+ | | Massachusetts | W 79–65 | 13–5 (6–3) | 20 – Francis | 9 – Gilyard | 6 – Gilyard | Robins Center Richmond, VA |
| Feb 26, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Saint Louis | L 67–72 | 13–6 (6–4) | 24 – Francis | 7 – Burton | 5 – Golden | Chaifetz Arena St. Louis, MO |
| Mar 1, 2021 6:00 p.m., NBCS WA/ESPN+ | | Saint Joseph's | L 73–76 | 13–7 (6–5) | 25 – Cayo | 8 – Tied | 3 – Cayo | Robins Center Richmond, VA |
| A-10 tournament |||||||||
| Mar 4, 2021 11:00 a.m., NBCSN | (8) | (9) Duquesne Second Round | L 62–67 | 13–8 | 18 – Burton | 11 – Burton | 4 – Gilyard | Siegel Center Richmond, VA |
| NIT |||||||||
| Mar 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (2) | vs. (3) Toledo First Round – Saint Louis bracket | W 76–66 | 14–8 | 18 – Tied | 10 – Burton | 5 – Gilyard | UNT Coliseum (731) Denton, TX |
| Mar 25, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (2) | vs. (4) Mississippi State Quarterfinals – Saint Louis bracket | L 67–68 | 14–9 | 22 – Gilyard | 5 – Cayo | 6 – Gilyard | UNT Coliseum Denton, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Sources:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | RV | 19 | 19 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |
| Coaches | RV | RV* | 19 | 25 | 23 | RV | — | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
*Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll