2020-21 Men’s Basketball Wrapup

This season was one like no other for the College of Charleston Men’s basketball team. While experiencing a global pandemic, the Cougars still found their way, ending the season third in the Colonial Athletic Association conference. The College would finish with a 9-10 record, going 6-4 in conference play.

To start their season, they squared off against the University of North Carolina, their toughest opponent in recent years. The Cougars lost to the Tar Heels by 19, but fought hard till the end.

The College would go on to play their first half of the schedule, which consisted of home games against non-conference opponents. They would go 2-5 in this stretch, with one game being canceled due to complications dealing with COVID-19.

The first half of the season was quite surprising -- it seemed like the Cougars couldn’t find their identity. With new players coming in, it was hard for them to find their rhythm. The Cougars struggled early on, but the team had its biggest loss during the game against South Carolina State. Senior guard Brevin Galloway tore his ACL. Now was the time for the Cougars to find their identity and make up for the loss of Galloway’s scoring going into the second half.

The new additions to the team were able to click with the returning members in the second half of the season, as the Cougars entered conference play.

This season, to reduce the amount of travel between the teams, the CAA would change their schedule to where teams would face opponents on consecutive days either home or away. Most of these games would be a Saturday-Sunday series between the two teams.

In the second half of the season, the Cougars went 6-4 in conference play. They were able to finally find some success, and make their way to third in conference, where they would play against Drexel in the first round of the CAA Tournament. The Drexel Dragons shot lights out, and it was a bitter end to the season for the Cougars, losing 80-75.

After Galloway’s injury, the team needed someone to step up, and Junior guard Zep Jasper was the man for the job. Zep’s contributions on offense improved as he saw more minutes this season, something that comes with stepping into a bigger role. He averaged 15.6 points, 2.6 assists and 3.7 rebounds. He would go on to be selected to the CAA All-Defense team and the All-CAA second team. He was also named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ All District 10 Second Team. This would make him the sixth cougar to do so.

As the Cougars look forward to next season, they will be looking into a new direction. Coach Earl Grant recently accepted the job as Head Coach for Boston College and many players from this year’s team have entered the NCAA transfer portal. It should be interesting to see the direction the College goes for next season.