For the first time in over five years, the VCU Rams will begin their season with a new head coach. It is now Will Wade’s time to redefine what havoc means to VCU fans and he won’t be alone. Wade is joined by a number of new faces to the VCU Rams basketball team, along with nine returning members from last year’s A-10 championship squad. The Rams hope to repeat as champions this year but it will be much harder without the presence of a lot of the senior leadership VCU had last season with Briante Weber and Treveon Graham. This year’s seniors, Melvin Johnson, Robert Morris, and transfer Korey Billbury will need time to grow as leaders on a team that has 15 players in the roster, six of which are new to the team. The second annual VCU Black and Gold game was a good look into where the Rams starters stand going into the season.
The star emerging from this pre-season was very clearly Justin Tillman, who looked like a dedicated man this season. The sophomore almost left VCU after the loss of coach Shaka Smart but decided to remain with the Rams this season. The 6-foot-7 forward was a force to be reckoned with, as he made 10 rebounds and had consistent dunks. That is the type of production the Rams will expect as Tillman will see a minutes increase this season as a starter. Star forward Mo Alie-Cox was strong down low and should have a breakout season for the Rams after averaging 7.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and nearly two blocks per game in his sophomore campaign. With Coach Wade’s emphasis on the production of VCU’s big men, Alie-Cox and Tillman should find plenty of room to produce.
A big addition for VCU was senior transfer Korey Billbury, who scored over 1,000 points at Robert Morris College. Billbury should be a nice fill-in for the loss of three-year lead scorer Treveon Graham. Billbury looked very seasoned on the court for the Rams and has a natural ability to attack the rim and draw fouls. He could be in for a big season with the Rams, starting as small forward. The biggest question this season will be the consistency of senior guard Melvin Johnson. He has been a streaky shooter over the past three seasons and as a starter this season, the Rams will need to see consistent double-digit scoring efforts from Johnson to feel at ease. Johnson can turn in huge performances, but the Rams will need to see more consistency in his everyday production if he doesn’t want to lose time to the emerging star Doug Brooks.
Brooks will look for every opportunity to shoot the ball as he showed late last season during the Rams A-10 championship run. Brooks will serve as the Rams sixth man off the bench. To round out the bulk of minutes for the VCU Rams this season will be starting point guard Jequan Lewis. After two seasons of raw talent from the young star, the junior guard should see a significant increase in his assist-to-turnover ratio which was a very poor 1.2 assists for every turnover last season. With a number of scorers in the Wade offense, Lewis should be able to focus more on being a true point guard with assists and shots beyond the arc, which he did successfully last season. The VCU Rams have a powerful starting lineup this season which should be the reason for most of the Rams success or failure this upcoming season. The chemistry may be a problem at the beginning of the season but this is a starting line that can cause some serious havoc this season for the VCU Rams.
