After loss, Rams will look to rebound next season

Nathan Heintschel
Contributing Writer 

Despite losing in the second round of this year’s NCAA tournament, the VCU men’s basketball team will look to bounce back in the 2014-15 season behind a core of experienced upperclassmen and a nationally ranked incoming recruiting class.

VCU won’t only have to overcome the tournament loss, but also the loss of senior guard Rob Brandenberg and senior forward Juvonte Reddic.

Rising senior Treveon Graham reflected on the impact of VCU’s tournament run ending prematurely.

“I just don’t want to feel like this again next year, my senior year,” Graham said. “It doesn’t feel good letting Rob (Brandenburg) and Ju (Reddic) go out like this either.”

Graham was VCU’s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder the last two seasons. The Rams will expect Graham to use his experience to lead the Rams for one final season.

With the losses of Brandenberg and Reddic, the Rams lose two players who started every game this season and averaged more than 26 minutes per game. The two seniors also averaged a combined 21.4 points per game.

Brandenberg’s absence at the guard spot will likely be filled by a combination of guard JeQuan Lewis, rising sophomore Jordan Burgess and rising junior Melvin Johnson.

Lewis came off the bench and averaged 16.1 minutes per game in his first season with the Rams. Offensively, he provided two assists per game and also scored in double digits nine times this season. Defensively, he complemented junior guard Briante Weber well by providing 1.1 steals per game.

Burgess showed flashes of his scoring prowess during the season. Although he averaged fewer than five points per game, his 14 points and 57 percent three-point shooting in the game against Stephen F. Austin University showed off his potential on the national stage.

Johnson is fresh off his campaign as the Atlantic 10 Conference Sixth Man of the Year. He is a sharp shooter who averaged double digits this season. The question will be if head coach Shaka Smart wants Johnson to start or continue to be the sixth man.

VCU has a couple options to plug into Reddic’s absence. Behind Reddic, forward Jarred Guest and forward Mo Alie-Cox averaged the most minutes at a forward position.

Guest, who is 6-foot-8, averaged nine minutes per game and 2.3 rebounds in those minutes. He shot 50 percent from the arc this season, proving he has enough range to stretch out opposing defenses.

The Rams will look to Alie-Cox to continue to be a defensive enforcer. Despite being 6-foot-6, he takes advantage of his 7-foot-1 wingspan.  Alie-Cox averaged 1.4 blocks per game and in a game against Saint Louis University, he recorded five blocks. The Rams can expect to chant “Mo says no” many times next season.

The Rams may look to increase the roles of true-freshman forwards Antravious Simmons and Emerson Burk. Both players are 6-foot-9 but Simmons did not play this season and Burk played a total of eight minutes.

Smart can look to his recruiting class to fill potential voids in the starting lineup.

VCU has the 15th-ranked freshman recruiting class for the 2014-2015 season. Currently the Rams have three signed recruits in the ESPN Top 100 and they are the only team in the Atlantic 10 Conference to have a recruit in the ESPN Top 100.

Bronx, N.Y. small forward Terry Larrier is VCU’s top recruit and is ranked the 42nd best recruit in the nation by ESPN. He has the ability to drive the lane and the physicality to finish with a dunk. He mixes his athleticism with an ability to beat defenders with the jump shot as well. Scouts also believe that at 6-foot-7 he still has the ability to grow a couple of inches according to ESPN.com.

Tallahassee, Fla. native and power forward Mike Gilmore is VCU’s second-best recruit and ranks 77th in the nation by ESPN. Gilmore is a defensive enforcer who uses his 6-foot-9 body and  length to contest and block shots. His offensive game allows him to post up defenders and to drive to the basket, but his shooting range reaches up to 17 feet, according to ESPN.com.

Redford, Mich. native and power forward Justin Tillman is VCU’s final top 100 recruit and is ranked 97th in the country by ESPN. Tillman at 6-foot-8 can also enforce down low and use his length to contest and block shots. He mixes defensive rebounding with his ability to outrun players on the floor and finish in transition, according to ESPN.com.

Look for a starting lineup featuring Weber, Johnson, Graham, Larrier and Alie-Cox. Burgess, Tillman or Gilmore could also crack the starting five, but the talent and athleticism the Rams possess top to bottom give them a prime opportunity to secure their first A-10 title.