Rams stay consistent as preseason favorites
With all the hype surrounding the men’s basketball team this season, it’s only natural that the team would receive nationwide recognition as well as conference supremacy.
Alonzo Small
Sports Editor
With all the hype surrounding the men’s basketball team this season, it’s only natural that the team would receive nationwide recognition as well as conference supremacy.
Entering his sixth year as men’s basketball head coach, Shaka Smart’s team for the second- straight year is ranked in the top-20 of USA Today’s preseason coaches’ poll, entering the 2014-15 season as the No. 16 team in the country. Last year, the team was ranked 15th overall.
For Smart, it’s the fourth time in six seasons at VCU that the Rams will be projected in the top-25 to start the year. The Rams return six of the eight leading scorers from last season, and welcomes the 14th-best recruiting class in the country according to ESPN.com with the additions of Terry Larrier, Justin Tillman, Jonathan Williams and Michael Gilmore.
On Oct. 13, the Rams were also announced as unanimous preseason favorites in the Atlantic 10 preseason coaches’ poll. Predicted to finish second is George Washington University, followed by Dayton University at third, University of Massachusetts at fourth, and University of Richmond rounds out the top-five.
The individual accolades continued for senior forward/guard Treveon Graham. He is widely recognized as one of the premier student-athletes in the conference, as well as a preseason All-American honor by Blue Ribbon Magazine. Graham was also one of two Rams to be announced as preseason first-team selections. Senior guard Briante Weber was the other, solidifying his status as one of the top six players in the conference.
Graham was VCU’s leading scorer averaging 15.8 points per game, and needs 605 points this year to become the program’s all-time leading scorer. Weber enters his senior campaign 90 steals away from setting the NCAA all-time steals mark of 385. Weber will also be seeking a three-peat as A-10 Defensive Player of the Year. He was also named to the A-10 preseason all-defensive squad. Weber averaged 9.4 points ger game and accounted for 3.5 steals per game.
The preseason rankings were announced at the A-10’s annual media day at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, where the 2014-15 A-10 Conference championships will be held in March.
Last year, the A-10 produced five NCAA tournament bids, producing 11 NCAA tournament bids over the last two years.
Defending A-10 champion Saint Joseph University are projected to finish eighth and 2013-14 regular season winner Saint Louis University is predicted to finish a step beneath at ninth place.
Last season, VCU finished as runner-ups in the A-10 championships.
Up next for the Rams is the VCU Medical Center Black and Gold game on Sunday, Oct. 26 at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.