Pain runs deep for VCU as Indiana rallies for Sweet Sixteen berth

Quinn Casteel
Assistant Sports Editor
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Portland, Ore. – It was the most unthinkable, unfitting end to a season that exceeded the expectations of everyone outside the VCU men’s basketball program, as the Rams lost 63-61 to Indiana in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday evening.

Bradford Burgess, the team’s unquestioned leader and one of the most clutch players to ever put on a VCU uniform, was at the line with a chance to put his team up five with exactly a minute left in the game. VCU had forced 22 Hoosier turnovers, and had been in control the entire way despite allowing Indiana to shoot 52 percent from the floor. Rams fans from Richmond to Portland were silently counting the shots as good as gold, with visions of the Sweet Sixteen in Atlanta quickly becoming a reality.

Then something strange happened.

Burgess missed both free throws, and all of a sudden 16th-ranked Indiana had the ball with a chance to tie the game. Hoosier point guard Victor Oladipo knifed through the Ram defense and tied the game with a heroic and-one layup. Then, following a missed three by Troy Daniels, Indiana sophomore Will Sheehey corralled a loose ball off a blocked shot and gave his team the lead with just 12 seconds left.

From there, a bad omen turned into a painfully rude awakening, and in a whirlwind VCU had blown a lead they had held the entire second half and a sea of Hoosier red was celebrating in ecstasy at midcourt.

“It’s tough to talk about right now just because this loss, this really stings,” said Rob Brandenberg, whose potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim. “We were right there, but we didn’t make enough plays. Once time goes on, we’ll be able to look back and appreciate the season we had. I’m not sure when that time will be, but it’s going to take some time.”

VCU, which started the season with what many people thought were just scraps of last season’s Final Four run, had been on a steady incline since the year began. There were no slip-ups or letdowns, just a youthful team evolving into one of the most ruthless defensive units in college basketball. The 10th-youngest team in the country became one of the most resilient squads late in games, and won seemingly every close contest they played in – until Indiana.

For Shaka Smart and the VCU players, the scars from this game will run deep, but the light at the end of the tunnel is bright.

“It’s hard to call anything a success after a loss,” Smart told The CT. “Relative to other people’s expectations, not mine or the team’s, but what other people thought I think we overachieved. … But I do think, yes, overall the season, it was a good one, and it’s one that we’ll look back at and feel good about the progress we made as a team. That’s probably the biggest thing.”

National media members have speculated that Smart may be offered the head job at Illinois, where he would have the opportunity to coach in the Big Ten with perennial powerhouse teams such as Michigan State and Ohio State. Smart however, is not ready to begin talking about the future. Right now, he’s focused on helping his players recover from the painful loss to Indiana.

“As far as the guys coming back for next year, this should be an unbelievable motivator,” Smart said. “They should have a picture in their room, maybe I’ll give it to them, of the scoreboard or maybe one of the last-second plays in this game to motivate them, help them understand all offseason long, we want to get back to this place, but we want to advance. We want to go further.”

The speculation over Smart’s future at VCU is going to continue to mount in the upcoming weeks, as they did last year after the Final Four run. But for now, it’s just that – speculation. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, he’s still the head coach at VCU, and he’s going to conduct himself as such.

Next year, the No. 1 team in the nation in terms of steals and turnover margin will bring back all but one of their players from this season and will be building from two consecutive NCAA Tournament runs. If Smart does decide to stay, as Darius Theus said in the locker room after the game with his held high, “The future is bright.”