2020–21 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team represented Washington State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team is led by second-year head coach Kyle Smith. The Cougars played their home games at the Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Washington as members in the Pac-12 Conference.

2020–21 Washington State Cougars men's basketball
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
Record	14–13 (7–12 Pac-12)
Head coach	Kyle Smith (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Derrick Phelps Jim Shaw John Andrejek
Home arena	Beasley Coliseum

2020–21 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 17 Oregon	14	–	4		.778			21	–	7		.750
No. 9 USC	15	–	5		.750			25	–	8		.758
No. 23 Colorado	14	–	6		.700			23	–	9		.719
No. 7 UCLA	13	–	6		.684			22	–	10		.688
Arizona*	11	–	9		.550			17	–	9		.654
No. 20 Oregon State †	10	–	10		.500			20	–	13		.606
Stanford	10	–	10		.500			14	–	13		.519
Utah	8	–	11		.421			12	–	13		.480
Arizona State	7	–	10		.412			11	–	14		.440
Washington State	7	–	12		.368			14	–	13		.519
Washington	4	–	16		.200			5	–	21		.192
California	3	–	17		.150			9	–	20		.310
*Ineligible for the conference and NCAA tournaments due to self-imposed postseason ban.
† Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2019–20 season 16–16, 6–12 in Pa-12 play to finish in 11th place. They defeated Colorado in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament and were set to face Arizona State in the quarterfinals before the remainder of the Pac-12 Tournament was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 12, all other conference tournaments and postseason tournaments were cancelled, making the Cougars win over Colorado on March 11 the final game to be completed in the 2019–20 basketball season.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Carter Sonneborn	0	G	6'3"	190	Freshman	Spokane, WA	Walk-on; transferred to Whitworth
Jervae Robinson	1	G	6'2"	185	Senior	Aurora, CO	Graduated
C. J. Elleby	2	F	6'6"	200	Sophomore	Seattle, WA	Declare for 2020 NBA draft
Daron Henson	3	F	6'7"	210	Junior	Pasadena, CA	Graduate transferred to Seattle
Marvin Cannon	5	G	6'5"	170	Junior	Richmond, VA	Transferred to Charlotte
Jeff Pollard	13	F	6'9"	240	Senior	Bountiful, UT	Graduated
Deion James	20	F	6'6"	220	GS Senior	Tucson, AZ	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Myles Fitzgerald-Warren	2	G	6'3"		Junior	Portland, OR	Collin College

2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
T.J. Bamba G	Denver, CO	Abraham Lincoln High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	N/A	Oct 25, 2019
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A
Andrej Jakimovski SF	Macedonia	N/A	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jun 21, 2020
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A
Carlos Rosario SF	Garden Grove, CA	Veritas Prep	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jun 17, 2020
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A
Dishon Jackson C	Vallejo, CA	St. Patrick-St. Vincent	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Apr 4, 2020
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A
Efe Abogidi C	Australia	NBA Global Academy	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Oct 22, 2019
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A
Jefferson Koulibaly G	Montreal, QC	Lincoln Prep	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Feb 21, 2020
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: 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 Washington State Commits". Rivals.com. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. "ESPN- Washington State Cougars Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2020–21 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown C 0 Efe Abogidi 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr NBA Global Academy Delta State, Nigeria G 2 Myles Fitzgerald-Warren 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Jr Collin College Portland, OR G 3 Jefferson Koulibaly 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Lincoln Prep Montreal, QC F 4 Aljaz Kunc 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 212 lb (96 kg) Jr Impact Academy-FLA Ljubljana, Slovenia F 5 T. J. Bamba 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Fr Abraham Lincoln HS Bronx, NY G 10 Isaac Bonton 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Casper College Portland, OR F 11 DJ Rodman 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So JSerra Catholic HS Newport Beach, CA F 13 Carlos Rosario 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Veritas Prep Santo Domingo, DR C 15 Volodymyr Markovetskyy 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 270 lb (122 kg) So Kaunas A. Puškinas Truskavets, Ukraine C 21 Dishon Jackson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr St. Patrick-St. Vincent HS Vallejo, CA G 22 Ryan Rapp 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 189 lb (86 kg) So Mazenod College Melbourne, Australia F 23 Andrej Jakimovski 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Reale Mutua Torino Skopje, Macedonia G 24 Noah Williams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 187 lb (85 kg) So O'Dea HS Seattle, WA F 32 Tony Miller (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Montana Woodinville, WA F 33 Brandon Chatfield (W) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Fr Clarkston HS Clarkston, WA	Head coach Kyle Smith (Hamilton) Assistant coach(es) Derrick Phelps (North Carolina) Jim Shaw (Western Oregon) John Andrejek (Columbia) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 8:00 pm, P12N		Texas Southern	W 56–52	1–0	28 – Bonton	8 – Abogidi	3 – Bonton	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
November 28, 2020* 8:00 pm, P12N		Eastern Washington	W 71–68	2–0	19 – Williams	8 – Williams	3 – Williams	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
December 3, 2020 7:00 pm, P12N		Oregon State	W 59–55	3–0 (1–0)	15 – Bonton	7 – Abogidi	7 – Bonton	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
December 9, 2020* 6:00 pm, P12N		Idaho Battle of the Palouse	W 61–58	4–0	19 – Williams	8 – Bonton	4 – Williams	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
December 13, 2020* 2:00 pm, P12N		Portland State	W 69–60	5–0	18 – Williams	6 – Jakimovski	5 – Rapp	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
December 18, 2020* 6:00 pm, P12N		Montana State	W 82–54	6–0	21 – Williams	14 – Abogidi	3 – Williams	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
December 21, 2020* 4:00 pm, P12N		Prairie View A&M	W 90–62	7–0	16 – Abogidi	14 – Abogidi	7 – Bonton	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
December 23, 2020* 4:00 pm, P12N		Northwestern State	W 62–52	8–0	15 – Abogidi	12 – Abogidi	2 – Bonton	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
January 2, 2021 7:30 pm, P12N		Arizona	L 82–86 2OT	8–1 (1–1)	25 – Bonton	8 – Jakimovski	3 – Bonton	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
January 7, 2021 7:00 pm, P12N		at California	W 71–60	9–1 (2–1)	21 – Bonton	9 – Abogidi	6 – Bonton	Haas Pavilion (0) Berkeley, CA
January 9, 2021 6:30 pm, P12N		at Stanford	L 60–75	9–2 (2–2)	19 – Jakimovski	8 – Miller	7 – Bonton	Kaiser Permanente Arena (1) Santa Cruz, CA
January 14, 2021 2:00 pm, FS1		at UCLA	L 61–91	9–3 (2–3)	23 – Bonton	5 – Bamba	4 – Miller	Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA
January 16, 2021 6:30 pm, P12N		at USC	L 77–85	9–4 (2–4)	27 – Bonton	12 – Abogidi	4 – Bonton	Galen Center (0) Los Angeles, CA
January 21, 2021 7:00 pm, P12N		Utah	L 56–71	9–5 (2–5)	17 – Williams	6 – Jakimovski	5 – Williams	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
January 23, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2		Colorado	L 59–70	9–6 (2–6)	21 – Bonton	7 – Jakimovski	3 – Bonton	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
January 27, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPNU		at Colorado	L 58–70	9–7 (2–7)	15 – Williams	8 – Jackson	2 – Tied	CU Events Center (0) Boulder, CO
January 31, 2021 5:00 pm, P12N		at Washington Rivalry	W 77–62	10–7 (3–7)	25 – Bonton	13 – Abogidi	4 – Bonton	Alaska Airlines Arena (0) Seattle, WA
February 4, 2021 8:00 pm, FS1		at Oregon	W 74–71	11–7 (4–7)	23 – Bonton	5 – Tied	4 – Bonton	Matthew Knight Arena (0) Eugene, OR
February 6, 2021 3:00 pm, P12N		at Oregon State	L 66–68	11–8 (4–8)	14 – Rodman	7 – Tied	8 – Bonton	Gill Coliseum (0) Corvallis, OR
February 11, 2021 8:00 pm, FS1		UCLA	W 81–73	12–8 (5–8)	26 – Bonton	8 – Tied	8 – Rapp	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
February 13, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPNU		No. 20 USC	L 65–76	12–9 (5–9)	18 – Jackson	7 – Abogidi	5 – Bonton	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
February 15, 2021 5:00 pm, P12N		Washington Rivalry	L 63–65	12–10 (4–10)	14 – Kunc	8 – Abogidi	7 – Williams	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
February 18, 2021 7:30 pm, P12N		California	W 81–52	13–10 (6–10)	32 – Williams	9 – Williams	9 – Jakimovski	Beasley Coliseum (200) Pullman, WA
February 20, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN2		Stanford	W 85–76 3OT	14–10 (7–10)	40 – Williams	10 – Jackson	9 – Jakimovski	Beasley Coliseum (200) Pullman, WA
February 25, 2021 8:00 pm, FS1		at Arizona	L 53–69	14–11 (7–11)	12 – Bamba	13 – Kunc	2 – Tied	McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ
February 27, 2021 6:00 pm, P12N		at Arizona State	L 74–77 OT	14–12 (7–12)	15 – Tied	9 – Jackson	6 – Williams	Desert Financial Arena (0) Tempe, AZ
March 1, 2021 12:00 pm, P12N		at Arizona State	Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues					Desert Financial Arena  Tempe, AZ
Pac-12 Tournament
March 10, 2021 1:00 pm, P12N	(9)	vs. (8) Arizona State First round	L 59–64	14–13	19 – Bonton	9 – Kunc	4 – Tied	T-Mobile Arena (0) Paradise, NV
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

Source: