2020–21 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team

2020–21 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
	† 2021 MAC Tournament winner ;

2020–21 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball
2020–21 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
2020–21 record	5–16 (4–12 MAC)
Head coach	Clayton Bates (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Thomas Kelley; Kristof Kendrick; Jacob Bullock;
Home arena	University Arena
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team represented Western Michigan University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Broncos, led by first-year head coach Clayton Bates, played their home games at University Arena in Kalamazoo, Michigan as members of the Mid-American Conference. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they finished the season 5–16, 4–12 in MAC play to finish in ninth place. As a result, they failed to qualify for the MAC Tournament.^[1]

The MAC announced the removal of division play in-conference beginning this year.^[2]

Previous season[]

The Broncos finished the 2019–20 season 13–19, 6–12 in MAC play to finish in a tie for fifth place in the West Division. They lost in the first round of the MAC Tournament to Toledo.^[3]

On March 11, 2020, the school announced that Steve Hawkins would not be returning as head coach, ending his 17-year tenure with the team.^[4] On April 2, it was announced that long-time assistant Clayton Bates would be named the Broncos' next head coach.^[5]

Roster[]

2020–21 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Kawanise Wilkins	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	RS Jr	Barton Community College	Chicago, Illinois
F	1	Chase Barrs	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Berkeley Preparatory School	Tampa, Florida
G	2	Adrian Martin	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Lanier High School	Sugar Hill, Georgia
G	3	B. Artis White	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	So	Canton High School	Canton, Michigan
G	4	Daylan Hamilton	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Fr	Klein Forest High School	Houston, Texas
G	10	Luke Toliver	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Paw Paw High School	Paw Paw, Michigan
G	11	Rafael Cruz Jr.	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Triton College	Chicago, Illinois
G	12	Josiah Freeman	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Fr	Manassas Park High School	Manassas Park, Virginia
F	15	Patrick Emilien	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Toronto Basketball Academy	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
G	20	William Boyer-Richard	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf	Drummondville, Quebec
C	22	Titus Wright	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	So	Thomasville High School	Thomasville, Georgia
F	23	Greg Lee	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	Sr	Cal State Bakersfield	Rockford, Illinois
G	24	Jaylon Holmes	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	RS So	Lincoln Trail College	Gary, Indiana
G	30	Jason Whitens	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	RS Jr	Powers North Central High School	Powers, Michigan
F	34	Danny Kolp	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Northwood	Petoskey, Michigan

Head coach

Clayton Bates (Florida)

Assistant coach(es)

Thomas Kelley (Michigan State)
Kristof Kendrick (Western Michigan)
Jacob Bullock (Aquinas (MI))

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: January 12, 2021

Schedule and results[]

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 25, 2020* 6:00 pm, FS1	at Butler	L 62–66	0–1	Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,500) Indianapolis, IN
November 28, 2020*	at Trine	Canceled due to COVID-19		MTI Center Angola, IN
December 2, 2020* 7:00 pm	at Notre Dame	Canceled due to COVID-19		Purcell Pavilion Notre Dame, IN
December 6, 2020* 6:00 pm, BTN	at No. 8 Michigan State	L 61–79	0–2	Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
December 7, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Adrian College	W 62–42	1–2	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
December 12, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN3	Detroit Mercy	L 57–67	1–3	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
December 13, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN3	Milwaukee	L 63–71	1–4	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
MAC regular season
December 18, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3	Central Michigan	W 76–61	2–4 (1–0)	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
December 22, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3	Ball State	L 68–76	2–5 (1–1)	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
January 2, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3	Toledo	L 59–70	2–6 (1–2)	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
January 5, 2021 7:00 pm	at Ball State	Postponed due to COVID-19		Worthen Arena Muncie, IN
January 9, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3	at Kent State	L 54–80	2–7 (1–3)	MAC Center Kent, Ohio
January 12, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Buffalo	L 69–85	2–8 (1–4)	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
January 16, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3	Miami (OH)	Postponed		University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
January 19, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3	at Eastern Michigan	Canceled		Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
January 23, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN+	Akron	L 68–79	2–9 (1–5)	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
January 26, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Ohio	L 58–81	2–10 (1–6)	Convocation Center Athens, OH
January 30, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3	at Miami (OH)	L 56–65	2–11 (1–7)	Millett Hall Oxford, OH
February 2, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Northern Illinois	Canceled		University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
February 3, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Bowling Green	W 76–70	3–11 (2–7)	Stroh Center Bowling Green, OH
February 6, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Central Michigan	W 67–65	4–11 (3–7)	McGuirk Arena Mount Pleasant, MI
February 9, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Buffalo	Postponed		Alumni Arena Amherst, NY
February 12, 2021 8:00 pm, CBSSN	at Buffalo	L 54–86	4–12 (3–8)	Alumni Arena Amherst, NY
February 13, 2021 2:00 pm	Ohio	Canceled		University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
February 16, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Kent State	L 69–76	4–13 (3–9)	University Arena (100) Kalamazoo, MI
February 21, 2021 7:00 pm	at Ball State	Canceled		Worthen Arena Muncie, IN
February 25, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN+	Miami (OH)	L 66–74	4–14 (3–10)	University Arena (100) Kalamazoo, MI
February 27, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3	at Toledo	L 44–91	4–15 (3–11)	Savage Arena Toledo, OH
March 2, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Northern Illinois	W 73–63	5–15 (4–11)	Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
March 5, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Eastern Michigan	L 63–64	5–16 (4–12)	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources^[6]^[7]

References[]

^ "Why Michigan's three teams will have a lot less MAC-tion in March". Detroit Free Press. February 28, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
^ "Mid-American Conference cancels postseason tournaments for eight sports, changes basketball format". CBSSports.com. May 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
^ "Moving On! MAC Men's Quarterfinals Set". Mid-American Conference. March 9, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
^ "Steve Hawkins out at Western Michigan after 17 seasons as head coach". ESPN. March 11, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
^ "Introducing Men's Basketball Head Coach Clayton Bates". Western Michigan University Athletics. April 2, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Western Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
^ "2020-21 Western Michigan Broncos Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

[1] "Why Michigan's three teams will have a lot less MAC-tion in March". Detroit Free Press. February 28, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.

[2] "Mid-American Conference cancels postseason tournaments for eight sports, changes basketball format". CBSSports.com. May 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

[3] "Moving On! MAC Men's Quarterfinals Set". Mid-American Conference. March 9, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

[4] "Steve Hawkins out at Western Michigan after 17 seasons as head coach". ESPN. March 11, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

[5] "Introducing Men's Basketball Head Coach Clayton Bates". Western Michigan University Athletics. April 2, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

[6] "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Western Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

[7] "2020-21 Western Michigan Broncos Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

v t Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball
Venues	East Hall gymnasium (1913–1938) Oakland Gymnasium (1938–1957) Read Fieldhouse (1957–1992) Lawson Arena (1992–1994) University Arena (1994–present)
Rivalries	In-state MAC schools
Culture and lore	Buster Bronco The Zoo
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
	1975–76 1997–98 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22

2020–21 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Toledo	15	–	4	.789	21	–	9	.700
Buffalo	12	–	5	.706	16	–	9	.640
Akron	12	–	6	.667	15	–	8	.652
Kent State	12	–	6	.667	15	–	8	.652
Ohio †	9	–	5	.643	17	–	8	.680
Bowling Green	10	–	8	.556	14	–	12	.538
Miami (OH)	9	–	8	.529	12	–	11	.522
Ball State	8	–	9	.471	10	–	13	.435
Western Michigan	4	–	12	.250	5	–	16	.238
Eastern Michigan	3	–	11	.214	6	–	12	.333
Central Michigan	3	–	13	.188	7	–	16	.304
Northern Illinois	2	–	12	.143	3	–	16	.158

† 2021 MAC Tournament winner