2017–18_VCU_Rams_men's_basketball_team

2017–18 VCU Rams men's basketball team

2017–18 VCU Rams men's basketball team

American college basketball season

The 2017–18 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rams were led by Mike Rhoades in his first season as head coach at VCU. The Rams played their home games at Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, Virginia as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

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A chain of lost recruiting classes, coaching personnel changes, losses against low RPI teams, no wins against Top 50 RPI teams, and a graduating core of players resulted in a downturn in the team's fortunes. The team finished the season 18–15, 9–9 record in A-10 play to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. The season was the 18th consecutive season the program finished with a winning record. As the No. 8 seed in the A-10 tournament, the Rams defeated Dayton in the second round[1] before losing to Rhode Island in the quarterfinals.[2]

The Rams failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010, and failed to achieve a 20-win season for the first time since 2006. On March 11, 2018, Ed McLaughlin, the Athletics Director announced that VCU had declined an invitation to play in the College Basketball Invitational tournament.[3] This marked the first season since 2006 the Rams did not play in a postseason tournament.[4]

Previous season

The Rams finished the 2016–17 season 26–9, 14–4 in A-10 play to finish in second place. VCU defeated George Mason and Richmond in the A-10 tournament to advance to the championship game, where they lost to Rhode Island. They earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the West Region. There they lost to No. 7 Saint Mary's in the first round.

Head coach Will Wade resigned on March 20 to take the head coaching position at LSU following the firing of Johnny Jones.[5] Wade was the head coach for the two seasons, making him VCU's shortest tenured head coach since Benny Dees.[6][7] On March 21, the school hired Rice head coach Mike Rhoades, who had been the associate head coach under Shaka Smart from 2009 to 2014.[8]

Offseason

Departures

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Transfers

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2017 recruiting class

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2018 Recruiting class

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Roster

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Preseason

In a poll of the league's head coaches and select media members at the conference's media day, the Rams were picked to finish in fourth place in the A-10.[17] Justin Tillman was named to the conference's preseason first team.[17] Tillman and Jonathan Williams were named to the preseason All-Defensive team.[17]

Schedule and results

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References

  1. [1]
    "Dayton vs. VCU - Game Recap - March 8, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  2. [2]
    "VCU vs. Rhode Island - Game Recap - March 9, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  3. [3]
    "Health top factor in VCU's decision to pass on postseason". Richmond Times-Dispatch. richmond.com. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  4. [4]
    Epps, Jr., Wayne (March 11, 2018). "For the first time in 11 years, VCU won't play postseason basketball". Richmond Times-Dispatch. richmond.com. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  5. [5]
    "VCU's Will Wade hired as next coach at LSU". ESPN. espn.com. March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  6. [6]
    "Benny Dees Coaching Record". Sports Reference. sports-reference.com. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  7. [7]
    Parrish, Gary. "LSU hires VCU's Will Wade as coach". CBS Sports. CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  8. [8]
    "VCU moves quickly to hire Mike Rhoades from Rice to fill coaching vacancy". USA TODAY. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  9. [9]
    "VCU transfer Samir Doughty officially signs with Auburn". AL.com. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  10. [10]
    Young, Tai (June 30, 2017). "Former VCU F Marquell Fraser is transferring to Midland". @TaiYoungVC. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  11. [11]
    "Ahmed Hamdy signs with TCU hoops as grad transfer from VCU". Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  12. [12]
    Times-Dispatch, TIM PEARRELL Richmond. "High-scoring guard Marcus Evans follows Mike Rhoades to VCU". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  13. [13]
    Times-Dispatch, Tim Pearrell Richmond. "Longwood basketball graduate Khris Lane transferring to VCU". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  14. [14]
    Morton, Matt (June 2, 2017). "JUCO transfer Mike'l Simms commits to VCU – VCU Ram Nation". VCU Ram Nation. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  15. [15]
    Shelton-Eide, Mat (July 7, 2017). "VCU gets commitment from JUCO guard Xavier Jackson – VCU Ram Nation". VCU Ram Nation. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  16. [16]
    Shelton-Eide, Mat (June 18, 2017). "Corey Douglas commits to VCU – VCU Ram Nation". VCU Ram Nation. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  17. [17]
    "Rhode Island Picked to Win A-10 Men's Basketball". Atlantic 10 Conference. Atlantic10.com. October 17, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
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