Reddic’s performance can be telling of future

Juvonte Reddic's toughness and aggressiveness earned him a double-double in Thursday night's exhibition.

Jim Swing
Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times’ Sports Twitter

Like just about everyone on the VCU men’s basketball team last night, Juvonte Reddic came out looking flat.

He was getting bodied, he couldn’t seem to pull down rebounds and shots just weren’t falling. Darius Theus found Reddic on several good looks underneath but the sophomore forward just couldn’t seem to finish.

It was the first-game jitters, but then he found his groove. A groove that had him looking back to his old self, and even better. Maybe it’s just the 25 pounds of mass he’s tacked on since his freshman season, but he appeared as much more of a bruiser in the paint, and a guy who is afraid to throw his weight around.

Before the first half ended, Reddic pulled down nine rebounds and found his way to the free throw line twice. And even though he only two more rebounds in the second half, Reddic finished with a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double.

“I told him after the game ‘Eleven rebounds wasn’t good enough because you had nine at the half,'” head coach Shaka Smart said. “That’s me being a coach and demanding.

And as for Reddic, he’s just as demanding of himself.

“I thought I wasn’t good enough tonight, even though on the stats sheet I had 13 points, more than 10 rebounds,” he said. “That’s still not good enough and I still got a long way to go.”

Take what you will from a double-double in an exhibition game against a Division II school, but it’s at least somewhat telling of what can happen in the future.

“For him to come out and get a double-double tonight,” Smart said. “I think it’s a very good sign for the future.

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