Very proud of my niece, Mason Whitmore, and the #VCU Women’s #Lacrosse team for their victory against #NCAA Division I adversary #Richmond. It was the #VCURams’ first victory against their crosstown rivals in the nine-year history of the program. https://vcuathletics.com/news/2024/4/20/womens-lacrosse-vcu-downs-richmond-on-senior-day-9-7.aspx

Mason notched the tying goal in the third quarter, and the team’s official Instagram play-by-play story featured her when they posted the final score.

#WLAX #WomensLacrosse #VirginiaCommonwealthUniversity #sports #CollegeSports

The NCAA has uncovered severe violations from the Atlantic 10 that have hurt the conference’s 2025 men’s basketball season, which have led the NCAA to strip the A10 of it’s automatic-bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

According to the NCAA offices in Indianapolis, “The Atlantic 10 conference has been found guilty of multiple violations according to the NCAA bylaws. We are unfortunately forced to hand down a harsh punishment of stripping the conference of its 2025 automatic bid toward the 2025 NCAA Tournament.”

The Atlantic 10 office was shocked to hear of the punishment from the NCAA.

“We are deeply disappointed in the NCAA for this harsh punishment,” said A10 public affairs coordinator George Ham. “We as a conference pride ourselves on our integrity on how we handle our highly competitive men’s basketball season.”

The violations uncovered by the NCAA involve tampering with the 2024 conference tournament multiple times.

The NCAA took this drastic action in response to attempts by the A10 to influence the results of games. These attempts range from prematurely shooting their load of confetti in an attempt to bring bad vibes upon Duquesne, to paying an evil witch to cast an evil curse on Dayton ensuring they will never win an Atlantic 10 Tournament, and to what the suspension explanation simply referred to as “Siegel Center Refs.”

“Frankly, this level of playing favorites and trying to influence who wins games is only acceptable at the power conference level, where our TV and betting partners genuinely want brand names like Duke, Kansas, and NC State to have easy paths to victory so ratings are better,” said NCAA President Charlie Baker.

Baker continued: “What makes the Atlantic 10’s acts so abhorrent is that no one really cares whether Duquesne or VCU represents the conference in the Atlantic 10 outside of insane VCU fans and Duquesne fans who had never known happiness until this year. Because of this, we felt we had to come down extra hard on the conference and strip it of its automatic bid. This will ensure that a deserving 18-15 Big 10 team will make the tournament next year, as an added bonus.”

The most conspiratorial twitter account in the A10, @Flyerfan010621, tweeted “I knew it!” in response to the news.

Around the country, multiple power conference commissioners weighed in on the news, including SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “We applaud the NCAA on holding the Atlantic 10 accountable for their actions. We look forward to replacing an A10 conference tournament champ with a really good 13-17 Vanderbilt team next season.”

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti wasted no time commenting on the situation via a zoom call with A10 Talk. “We have been waiting for Commissioner Baker to do something about that damn league for a long time,” Petitti said while popping off a bottle of champagne. “It’s about time the NCAA started to bully the bullies like the A10 and reward the little guys like the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, and the Big 12.” Sankey was also seen on this zoom call with a glass of champagne in the background as well.

When asked if they were going to appeal the sanctions from the NCAA, the A10 responded with, “Whatever power you think the NCAA has….we have less.”

As a result, the A10 is mulling different solutions for its conference tournament champion for 2025. We have been told by the league office that solutions include the champion being given an auto bid into the NIT, CBI or CIT (with programs still having to pay their own way into those tournaments), or each player and coach on the winning team’s roster be given a $25 gift card to Ruby Tuesday.

A10 Associate to the Commissioner Bernie McBoyd spoke to the possible solutions, saying “We are talking to other tournaments to see if our tournament champion can join them if they don’t get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, so for right now, the front runner is definitely the Ruby Tuesday gift cards. We have a long standing relationship with Ruby Tuesday, where we conduct the conference schedules and count the paper ballots mailed in for the post season awards. Their establishments are well equipped to handle any team in the A10.”

Several A10 programs have responded differently to the news.

The A10 office has told us that, “Because of this news, UMass is actively working with the MAC to join in Winter 2024, ahead of their July 1st agreement. Dayton and VCU have both been contacted by the Big East, as the conference has expressed their sympathies and has reengaged in expansion talks with both A10 programs out of respect.”

Even some of the A10 coaches are handling the news differently. According to sources, after hearing this news Frank Martin flew directly to the NCAA offices in Indianapolis and waited in the parking lot preparing to bare knuckle box Charlie Baker.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we update you more with this story as we gain more information.

Photo credit:  Hunter Hensel, A10 Talk

https://www.a10talk.com/2024/04/breaking-ncaa-strips-the-a10-of-its-2025-automatic-bid-amid-multiple-violations/

#A10 #A10 #A10Basketball #A10Talk #A10Tournament #ACC #Atlantic10 #Atlantic10Basketball #Big12 #bigTen #charlieBaker #Dayton #DaytonFlyers #Duquesne #DuquesneDukes #featured #FrankMartin #gregSankey #NCAA #Richmond #rubyTuesday #saintJosephS #SEC #StBonaventure #tonyPetitti #UMass #UMassMinutemen #VCU #VCURams

Thirteen years to the day of VCU’s upset win over No. 1 Kansas in the 2011 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, the VCU Rams men’s basketball team is yet again set to spoil a program’s championship hopes.

This time, the Rams (24-13) are dancing into a different kind of “Elite Eight” – the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.

VCU is set to play its third road game of the postseason on Wednesday night, capping a whirlwind trip that has taken the Rams from the campus of Villanova in Philadelphia to the University of South Florida and now a matchup against No. 2 Utah (21-14) in Salt Lake City.

The game will tip at 9 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN2 with a spot in the NIT semifinals – and a date with No. 1 Indiana State – on the line.

Utah enters the game as 7.5-point home favorites.

Road warriors

VCU is the only team in the country to have won two postseason road games this season. Although the bottom half of each region in the NIT is unseeded, VCU faced No. 1 Villanova in its first NIT game on March 20 – implying that VCU was the lowest-seeded team in the region and thus had to face a gauntlet of road games.

The March 20 matchup against Villanova was an Atlantic 10 homecoming of sorts. Former Richmond guard Tyler Burton transferred to Villanova for his fifth year of eligibility to play under head coach Kyle Neptune – who spent one year as the big whistle at Fordham before replacing the retiring Jay Wright at Villanova.

The game was a close affair throughout, with VCU taking a 31-30 lead into the halftime locker room. Ultimately, the game was decided by a late 12-3 run over the final 4:40 of the game, sparked by a pair of Tobi Lawal free throws that put the Rams up 60-58.

VCU ended up cruising to a 70-61 win to score the upset and knock Neptune’s Wildcats out of the tournament.

The Rams were led by Joe Bamisile, who scored 17 points on 6-of-9 from the floor. Joining him in double figures was Max Shulga, who added six assists to his 10-point evening.

Redshirt freshman Fats Billups saw 13 minutes of action, knocking down three first-half 3-pointers to ignite the offense, while Lawal came two points short of a double-double (eight points, 10 rebounds).

In sum, VCU shot 11-of-30 from beyond the arc, while holding Villanova to 26.1% from deep. Burton ended his collegiate career with a four point outing in 17 minutes, while Villanova was led by 21 points from Eric Dixon, who shot 50% from the floor.

Four days later, VCU traveled to Tampa, Florida for a visit with the University of South Florida Bulls. The Rams led for almost the entire second half, but could not put away USF and was locked in another close battle.

The 3-point shooting renaissance continued for VCU, who connected on 10-of-26 from deep. Four of those 3-pointers came from senior guard Zeb Jackson, who led VCU’s offensive attack with 14 points.

Graduate senior Sean Bairstow added 13 points, six rebounds and four assists of his own, while Christian Fermin had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in one of his best offensive performances in recent weeks.

Lawal again stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points and five rebounds, boosted by a 6-of-8 mark from the free throw line.

VCU again held its opponent to a low shooting percentage from deep, with the Bulls connecting on just four 3-pointers for a 20% make rate. The Bulls were led by Chris Youngblood’s 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting, but struggled to find offense outside of him.

USF is one of the most common opponents VCU has faced historically, having shared time in both the Sun Belt and Metro Conferences. With the win, the Rams improved to 27-12 all-time against South Florida.

VCU NIT history

Wednesday will be VCU’s first NIT quarterfinals appearance since 1988 and is the deepest VCU has advanced in any postseason tournament since the 2011 Final Four run.

Led by head coach Mike Pollio, the 1988 VCU Rams finished the season 23-12. The Rams notched wins at Marshall and at home against Southern Mississippi before losing on the road against UConn.

The 1988 Rams were led by Phil Stinnie, who averaged 17.8 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. The late Chris Cheeks led the team in assists with 3.2 per game, while averaging 13.7 points per game.

2024 is the seventh time VCU has appeared in the NIT, and is only the second time VCU has advanced to the quarterfinals. VCU’s last NIT win before 2024 came in its last appearance in the tournament in 2022, when VCU won 90-79 at home over Princeton.

Next up: Utah

VCU has never played against the University of Utah Utes.

However, the Rams have been to Salt Lake City before, traveling there for the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament. The Rams lost that game to Saint Mary’s in the final game of head coach Will Wade’s tenure.

Utah enters Wednesday’s game in the midst of a homestand, having been the better seed in all of its NIT games. The Utes, led by head coach Craig Smith, dispatched UC Irvine and No. 3 Iowa in the first two rounds.

Players to watch for the Utes include senior guard Deivon Smith, who has 20 assists through two NIT games. He is the fifth player since 1997 to hit the mark. On the season, Smith is averaging 12.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game – the only player in Division I to hit those minimum thresholds in all three stats.

Fifth-year senior Branden Carlson leads Utah with 17 points per game, joining Smith and Gabe Madsen (13.6 points per game) in averaging double figures. Madsen also leads the Utes in minutes and gametime, having started all 35 games this season.

Carlson is also the team’s leading rebounder (6.7 boards per game) and shot blocker (54 total).

The main key for VCU? Matching up with Utah’s size. The Utes are the fifth-tallest team in the country with an average height of 6.575 feet, and Carlson stands at seven-feet tall.

Safe to say, look for Ryan Odom’s Rams to use Lawal, Fermin and Roosevelt Wheeler on the tall Utah players to slow down Carlson and the others.

https://www.a10talk.com/2024/03/vcu-rams-dancing-to-nit-quarterfinals/

#featured #NIT #VCU #VCUPreview #VCURams

(Photo courtesy of Hunter Hensel)

BROOKLYN, NY – One of the first questions that senior guard Jimmy Clark III was asked after No. 6 seed Duquesne beat No. 7 St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals was if he had any extra motivation facing VCU in the finals with an A-10 title and trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line. 

“Man, I couldn’t,” said Clark. “Can’t make this up, man.” 

Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot chimed in. 

“I forgot about that,” said Dambrot. 

Senior guard Dae Dae Grant, with a stone-cold expression on his face, responded to what his coach said. 

“I didn’t,” said Grant. “I know I didn’t.” 

Clark spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at VCU before being dismissed due to undisclosed reasons in the middle of his sophomore season.

Before his departure from the program was officially announced, former VCU head coach Mike Rhoades said that Clark was serving a “university suspension.” 

Prior do being dismissed, Clark was averaging just 5.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.8 steals in 16.1 minutes per game as VCU’s third string point guard behind two A-10 Player of the Years, current Los Angeles Clipper Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland and Penn State Nittany Lion Ace Baldwin. 

This season for Duquesne, Clark has averaged 15.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.3 steals and shot 49.6% from the field and 34.2% from three in 30.9 minutes per game. Clark was also named to the All-Conference second team and All-Defensive team. Clark made the All-Defensive team last season as well.

Later in the press conference, Dambrot provided some more context about the history between Clark and VCU, and why he was such a good fit for his program. 

“When we recruited Jimmy [Clark], one of the reasons we hit it off so much is we were both looking for redemption. I had an issue in my career and Jimmy had an issue in his career.” said Dambrot. “And you have choices at that point. Either you keep fighting or you put the white flag up. And I think for Jimmy, the whole thing is a whole redemption thing.”

Dambrot continued, “That’s why he came back into the Atlantic-10, because he wanted to show people, one, that he was a good player. But most importantly, that he’s a good person… We have to understand young people at times make some mistakes. And old people do, too — me included. So I think that’s kind of why we hit it off so well.”

Dambrot is likely referring to an incident in 1993 when he was the head coach at Central Michigan where he asked his players permission to use a racial slur. They said it was OK, but Dambrot was suspended once the administration found out. Dambrot was officially fired soon after despite his players continuing to defend him.

After being dismissed from VCU in 2021, Clark did not have the opportunity to play Division I basketball the next season. Instead, he transferred to Northwest Florida State, where he helped them win a national title at the junior college level. 

Then, Clark made the decision to return to the A-10 with Duquesne where he would have the chance to play VCU every season. 

Dambrot and Clark spoke to Pittsburgh Sports Now’s Zachary Weiss after Duquesne beat VCU 79-70 last season on Jan. 4 at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Clark’s first matchup against his former team. 

“When people go through some things in their life, that redemption factor is a big thing and that’s one of the reasons he came to Duquesne,” said Dambrot. “He wanted to play in the Atlantic 10 again.”

“Coming from VCU and having that chip on my shoulder, having to go to JUCO and then coming back to the same conference and be able to play my old team, All I can say is thank God,” said Clark.

That game, Clark scored what is still a career high 26 points, hauled in six rebounds and collected a then-career high five steals. 

Clark is 2-0 against VCU in his two-year Duquesne career, also picking up a 69-59 win earlier this month on March 5. Clark was more of a facilitator that game, only scoring nine points but dishing out a team-high four assists. It is important to note that VCU’s All-Conference first team guard Max Shulga did not play in that game. 

Even with Duquesne’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1977 on the line, it’s clear that because he’s playing VCU, the stakes are higher for Clark.

“I think he’ll play like it’s the last game he ever played tomorrow,” said Dambrot.

https://www.a10talk.com/2024/03/jimmy-clark-iii-faces-former-team-in-a-10-tournament-final/

#A10Tournament #DaeDaeGrant #Dukes #Duquesne #DuquesneDukes #featured #JimmyClarkIII #KeithDambrot #Rams #VCU #VCURams

So, what a topsy-turvy Atlantic 10 tournament we have.

For the first time since 2006, all four of the teams that earned a double-bye were eliminated in the A-10 quarterfinals, leaving four single-bye teams left to claim the conference’s automatic bid in next week’s NCAA tournament.

The fun begins again on Saturday, when No. 5 VCU takes on No. 9 Saint Joseph’s from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The game is at 1 p.m. and will air nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Here’s what VCU fans need to know, by the numbers:

5

As the No. 5 seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament, VCU is now the best remaining seed in the tournament. As such, many bracketologists are projecting VCU as claiming the A-10’s automatic bid, which would give the conference two bids in the NCAA tournament.

Dayton, by virtue of its metrics and stellar non-conference record, is seen as a virtual lock for an at-large bid in the tournament despite losing to Duquesne in the A-10 quarterfinals.

2

Two is the number of A-10 All Conference First Team selections remaining in the tournament once the dust cleared following Thursday’s chaos.

Both are appearing in the day’s first game.

VCU guard Max Shulga continued a streak of four consecutive years that VCU has claimed a first team selection. The senior guard led the team in many stat categories, including points and rebounds per game at 15 and 4.6 respectively. The Ukrainian shot 44.3% from the floor in the regular season.

Shulga also ranks third in the A-10 in free throw percentage and sixth in 3-point percentage.

Joining Shulga on the all-conference first team is St. Joe’s guard Erik Reynolds II, who also ranks top five in the conference in free throw percentage. The junior guard has been lighting it up, to the tune of a 30-point offensive explosion in upsetting top-seeded Richmond in the A-10 quarterfinals.

The Maryland native is averaging 17 points per game on 41.3% shooting from the floor and 38.4% shooting from deep. He is also shooting an impressive 87% from the free throw line – roughly on par with Shulga’s output from the charity stripe.

Both guards have also battled injuries in this tournament. Reynolds suffered a hard fall in St. Joe’s opening A-10 tournament game against George Mason and was late to pregame warmups in the quarterfinals, while Shulga appears to still have lingering back issues after missing the regular season home finale against Duquesne with back spasms.

Regardless, both guards are appointment television, and this will be the matchup to watch Saturday afternoon.

7

In 10 prior contested A-10 tournaments, VCU has made it to the A-10 semifinals.

The Rams are 7-0 in such contests.

VCU has always made it to the A-10 quarterfinals, now boasting an 11-year streak including this year. Three times, VCU has been eliminated in the quarterfinals, including twice as a double-bye team.

But if the Rams advance, they always make it to Sunday.

The streak will be on the line Saturday afternoon, as VCU will be looking for its eighth appearance in the A-10 title game since joining the conference in 2012-13.

13.5

So far in the A-10 tournament, VCU senior guard Zeb Jackson has averaged 13.5 points per game, courtesy of first-half scoring blitzes by the Michigan transfer.

The captain of the team and the longest tenured Ram, Jackson had an impressive game from the free throw line on Thursday, going 10-of-11 while scoring 17 points en route to a VCU win that at times seemed to never be in doubt.

Jackson also has shown his prowess on the defensive end that generated all-defensive team buzz earlier this season. In two games, Jackson is averaging 4.5 steals per game in the tournament, picking UMass’s pocket five times in Thursday’s quarterfinal victory.

The offense runs through the steady hand of Jackson, who will be key to matching up against the talented St. Joe’s backcourt of Reynolds and Lynn Greer III.

40.7

40.7% is the season-long 3-point percentage of senior guard Joe Bamisile, who has shown the ability to pop off the bench and light up opposing teams.

Bamisile had one of his hot games on Thursday, connecting four times from deep and leading VCU in scoring with 18 while powering VCU to advance.

Throughout the season, Bamisile has often had hot and cold games, often back-to-back. The A-10 tournament has proven to be that way for the senior, who scored eight points in the second-round win against Fordham while struggling at the free throw line.

VCU’s hopes of advancing to a second consecutive title game may lie in Bamisile lighting up the second unit from the bench.

Bamisile confirmed late in the regular season that he will be using his fifth year of eligibility and will return to VCU in 2024-25.

67.1

Sophomore forward Tobi Lawal is the Atlantic 10 leader in field goal percentage, making 61.7% of his attempts.

The Londoner has proven to be one of VCU’s main draws, with a bouncy athleticism and 49.5-inch vertical that leads to dazzling above-the-rim play.

Already in the conference tournament, Lawal has had a series of highlight-reel dunks that would likely make an all-conference “One Shining Moment” compilation video.

Lawal has been coming off the bench for much of the season, and looks to continue to do so as he spells fellow sophomore Christian Fermin. In the last game, Lawal recorded seven points and six rebounds in 17 minutes of action.

19

In each of VCU’s tournament games, the Rams have recorded 19 team fouls.

While both games have been with tight whistles on both sides, the ensuing foul trouble has created potential lineup issues for the Rams.

Notably, all three of VCU’s primary big men faced foul trouble in the quarterfinals against UMass. Roosevelt Wheeler picked up four fouls in five minutes of first half action while spelling Fermin and Lawal.

Fermin ended the game with four fouls, while Lawal tacked on three of his own.

Beyond that trio, VCU does not have many reliable threats in the paint, so keeping them clean on the personal foul ledger is paramount for head coach Ryan Odom.

The task for the trio on Saturday? Sophomore forward Rasheer Fleming. The 6-9 sophomore is averaging 11 points per game for the Hawks, and ended the regular season with a 23-point game against Davidson.

In the quarterfinals against Richmond, Fleming notched 12 rebounds to up his season average to 7.3 boards per game.

73-69

The Rams and the Hawks have faced once this year, in a 73-69 win at the Siegel Center on Feb. 25.

VCU trailed by six at halftime, but powered past the Hawks on the strength of a 52-point second half, the highest scoring half VCU has had this season.

Lawal and Bamisile led the charge with 16 points each, while Bamisile connected on four 3-pointers. Shulga recorded a “triple-nickel,” with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists in the win. Lawal recorded 12 rebounds in a double-double effort.

Two Hawks scored 21 points in the loss. Reynolds had a slow first half, but traded buckets with Bamisile late and connected on six 3-pointers.

Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Xzayvier Brown recorded 21 points and knocked home six 3-pointers of his own, continuing a remarkable freshman campaign. The Philadelphia native averages 13 points per game on 46.6% shooting and 41.9% from deep.

71

As of March 16, VCU’s NET ranking is 71st, good for second in the A-10 and one spot behind VCU’s season-high NET ranking, set in mid-February.

While trending upward, the metrics are not one of a team worthy of an at-large bid. The lowest ranked NET team to make the NCAA tournament was Rutgers in 2022, which was ranked 77th.

Rutgers’s inclusion itself was controversial, and frankly no team outside of the Power 5 conferences with a sub-70 NET ranking has even a puncher’s chance at an at-large bid.

What does that mean for VCU? They have to win two games this weekend to lock up a second-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and A-10 title.

1

The most important part of tournament season? Taking it one game at a time.

With none of the four remaining teams holding a resume capable of an at-large bid, the NCAA tournament essentially begins now for the A-10’s remaining teams.

Survive and advance, and NCAA tournament glory awaits.

The Hawks and the Rams will continue their March journey at 1 p.m. today.

Featured image: Hunter Hensel/A10Talk

https://www.a10talk.com/2024/03/by-the-numbers-vcu-to-play-st-joes-in-a-10-semifinals/

#A10 #Atlantic10 #Atlantic10Tournament #featured #VCU #VCUBasketball #VCUHoops #VCURams

In March, when the next loss means the end of the season for many programs across the country, much of the conversation is about building momentum entering the conference tournament.

The VCU Rams (19-12, 11-7 Atlantic 10) have not done that this season.

The Rams limp into Brooklyn on a three-game losing streak, dropping a narrow road loss to Richmond and a double-digit home loss to Duquesne before losing the final A-10 Friday ESPN showcase game in overtime to No. 25 Dayton in an overtime squeaker.

While the Rams led by as many as 17 points in the Friday night contest and played exceptional against a team many have tapped as the favorites in Brooklyn, the loss meant that VCU did not clinch the double-bye in the A-10 tournament and open their postseason on Wednesday afternoon as the No. 5 seed against No. 12 Fordham.

Before Wednesday afternoon’s Rams vs. Rams matchup, here are the things to know as VCU enters postseason play.

Mad Max

VCU senior guard Max Shulga was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team on Tuesday, the only VCU player honored in this year’s roundup of A-10 awards.

The Utah State transfer had a banner year in 2023-24, notching career highs in points per game (15) and rebounds per game (4.6) on 44.3% shooting from the floor.

The Ukrainian played in 30 of VCU’s 31 games, missing just the home finale against Duquesne with back spasms.

On the season, Shulga led VCU in a variety of stats, including total minutes (992), points per game, made 3-pointers (76) and total assists (108).

As such, Shulga often stuffed the stat sheet across categories, perhaps most notably in a 13-point, 10-rebound, 7-assist performance against Fordham on Feb. 6 that gave Shulga his first double-double as a Ram and had him flirt with the first VCU triple-double in many years.

Ten days later, Shulga notched his season-high of 26 points in a road victory against Saint Louis, connecting on five 3-pointers and adding seven rebounds to a standout performance.

In sum, Shulga was VCU’s best, most consistent player in 2023-24, and the senior has been rewarded with one of the A-10’s highest honors.

Shulga’s award continues a mini streak for VCU. This year marks the fourth straight year that VCU has placed a player in the A-10 All-Conference First Team, with Shulga joining Bones Hyland (2021), Vince Williams (2022) and Ace Baldwin (2023) as recent honorees.

Additionally, former VCU guard Tre Clark III was named to the A-10 All-Conference Second Team following a standout year at Duquesne.

Injury report

VCU will make the journey to Brooklyn with no names on the injury report – a relative rarity for VCU this season.

Through 31 games, the quartet of Max Shulga, Sean Bairstow, Joe Bamisile and Zeb Jackson have all been active just 15 times, with Bamisile and Bairstow each missing the first 10 games of the season due to Bairstow’s foot fracture and Bamisile’s eligibility concerns.

As such, much of VCU’s potential remained unrealized for significant portions of the schedule, namely during the important non-conference slate when tournament resumes can be built.

The quartet are the only Rams averaging double figures on the season, with all shooting above 40% from the floor except Jackson, who is shooting 39.9% from the field.

Additional injury concerns surrounded redshirt freshman Fats Billups, who had to be helped off the floor late in the first half in last week’s loss to Duquesne. Billups was active in the Dayton game on Friday, playing four minutes in the overtime loss.

The best ability is availability, and VCU has weathered the storm and has all players ready for a potential four-games-in-five-days run in Brooklyn.

Key players

Beyond all-conference selection Shulga, VCU’s most significant players are the other double-digit scorers: Sean Bairstow, Zeb Jackson and Joe Bamisile.

Bairstow’s averages approach Shulga’s in minutes per game and his total assists trail just Shulga and Jackson despite missing 13 games due to injury. Bairstow is a great facilitator and can see the floor well, and has recently uncorked some athleticism in the paint with some great dunking ability.

Bamisile is among the conference’s best sixth men, providing a scoring spark off the bench and igniting VCU’s offense when it becomes stagnant. He most notably pieced together back-to-back 25-point games earlier this season – the first time a VCU player has done that in seven years.

The team captain, Jackson has recently shown his ability to take over games with a career-high 26 points in Friday’s loss to Dayton. Jackson is second on the team in assists and is a reliable presence running the offense. If things get tough, look for head coach Ryan Odom to lean on his veteran guard.

Of course, players of note would not be complete without sophomore Tobi Lawal, who dazzles with his pure athleticism and vertical. Along with Christian Fermin, Lawal’s defensive presence in the paint will be key in battling against some of the other bigs in the conference, while his dunking ability will be sure to make an all-A-10 tournament highlight reel.

Possibly key to VCU’s success is the 3-pointer, and nobody can shoot it as well as grad transfer Kuany Kuany. After an ice cold start to the season, Kuany ended the season shooting just a hair over 40% from 3-point range, second on the team of players with more than 30 attempts. Kuany has the ability to light it up from deep, which could become important if VCU begins to trail in the tournament.

Fordham preview

Fordham trailed for much of the game Tuesday against No. 13 Davidson before a late Kyle Rose jumper sent the Rams into overtime.

From there, an explosive 7-0 run to begin overtime buried the Wildcats, who would not score for the first 4:57 of the overtime period. Fordham hung on to win by eight points and set up a rematch against VCU, who defeated Fordham at Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx 75-60 on Feb. 6.

On that day, Shulga and Bamisle led VCU with 13 points each. It was the only game that Bairstow came off the bench in this season, as he was returning from injury. The grad transfer from Australia flirted with a double-double, ending with 12 points and eight assists on the day.

Fordham’s team leader in points is Rose, who is averaging 10.5 points per game while shooting 42.5% from the floor and 38.8% from deep. The fifth-year senior was also named to the A-10 All-Defensive Team for the second consecutive year on Tuesday.

On the season, Rose is averaging 2.1 steals per game, good for 40th in the country. His 64 total steals rank him second in the conference entering tournament play, trailing Tre Clark.

Rose added five more to that mark on Tuesday in the win against Davidson, to pair with six rebounds, four assists and five points.

But the story of the game on Tuesday was sophomore guard Will Richardson, who scored 20 points in the game to pace the Rams. Sixteen of those points came in the second half.

Josh Rivera added 14 points of his own on the day, connecting six times from the floor on seven attempts.

The gameplan for VCU? Lock in on Kyle Rose and find a way to slow down Abdou Tsimbila, Fordham’s 6-9 big man. The senior from Cameroon came one point shy of a double-double on Tuesday and leads Fordham with 6.4 rebounds per game. Tsimbila ranks second in the conference with blocks per game at 2.3.

No. 5 VCU and No. 12 Fordham will tip off from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the second game of the tournament’s second round. USA Network will have live television coverage.

Nuggets of note

• Wednesday is the first time VCU has been seeded outside of the double bye since the canceled 2020 tournament, when VCU and UMass made up the No.8 vs No. 9 matchup. The tournament was canceled as the Rams and Minutemen were warming up for a 12 p.m. tip-off.
• In a contested A-10 tournament, VCU has never failed to make it to the quarterfinals. In 10 prior contested A-10 tournaments, VCU has made the title game seven times and lost three times in the quarterfinals.
• If VCU is able to complete the A-10 tournament run with a championship on Sunday, it will be VCU’s third since joining the conference in 2012-13. The Rams would also become the first back-to-back champion since Temple, which three-peated from 2008-2010 under head coach Fran Dunphy.
• Both of VCU’s prior A-10 titles were clinched at the Barclays Center, the host of this year’s tournament.
• Head coach Ryan Odom enters the A-10 tournament with one career conference tournament title: the 2018 America East championship with UMBC. Later that month, the UMBC Retrievers knocked off Virginia, the No. 1 overall seed, and became the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the history of the NCAA tournament.
• The winner of VCU and Fordham’s Wednesday tilt will take on No. 4 UMass on Thursday in the A-10 quarterfinals. The Minutemen, playing their penultimate A-10 tournament, boast two All-Conference First Team selections in Josh Cohen and Matt Cross. UMass defeated VCU 74-52 on Feb. 20 in the only matchup between the two teams this season.

https://www.a10talk.com/2024/03/vcu-rams-2024-atlantic-10-tournament-preview/

#A10Tournament #featured #JoeBamisile #MaxShulga #SeanBairstow #VCU #VCUBasketball #VCUHoops #VCURams #VCUTournamentPreview #VCUFordham #ZebJackson

Our next door neighbor stopped by our seats at halftime because she spotted us and wanted to say hi. Turns out her girlfriend is the coach for the VCU women’s team! Awesome!

Apparently we’re in a rebuilding year (and, well…it shows…)

#VCU #VCURams #WomensBasketball