Virginia Commonwealth Rams Stats at Insiders Betting Digest

NCAAB – ATLANTIC 10

Arena: Stuart C. Siegel Center
Coach: Mike Rhoades

TEAM LEADERS

Virginia Commonwealth Rams

Team Summary

The VCU Rams came into the 2021-22 season with a number of question marks regarding their roster. Despite a successful 2020-21 season which ended with the Rams posting a 19-7 record and an NCAA Tournament berth the Rams were never able to dance due to Covid.

Fast forward to this season, the program was already dealing with the loss of Nah’shon “Bones” Hyland to the NBA when they lost promising freshman Jamir Watkins to a torn ACL in September. Watkins averaged nearly eight points and three rebounds per game in his first season.

This season’s VCU team has become even more of a defensive juggernaut out of necessity. The Rams boast two double digit scorers in senior Vince Williams and Adrian Baldwin. The 6’6 Williams is averaging 11.6 point and 5.9 rebounds per game while Baldwin is putting 10 points on the board per game while shooting 42.3% from behind the three point line.

The team is very guard heavy as Jayden Nunn and KeShawn Curry are the other major contributors on offense at 9.1 and 8.8 points per game respectively. The Rams are 10-6 overall and 3-2 in league play on the season.

Virginia Commonwealth Rams Standings

Virginia Commonwealth Rams Betting Trends

Rams History

The VCU men’s basketball program is one of the youngest programs in the nation and one of the most successful. The program was established in 1968 and played six seasons as an independent before joining the Sunbelt Conference.

In their first season season as part of the “Funbelt”, the Rams posted an 18-12 record and went to the NCAA tournament as a 12-seed. Coach JD Barnett would lead them to five tournament appearances in their first six seasons as part of the conference.

In 1991 the program would leave the Sunbelt to join the Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference. When the Metro merged with the Great Midwest Conference to form Conference USA, VCU was not invited so they instead became members of the Colonial Athletic Association. The program remained part of the CAA until joining the Atlantic 10 in 2012.

Virginia Commonwealth has the 12th best winning percentage in NCAA Division 1 basketball history among teams that have played at least 25 seasons at 65%. Their 18 NCAA tournament births are more than historic programs such as Baylor, New Mexico, Seton Hall and Georgia Tech.

2022 Key Stats

Despite roster concerns on the offensive end, Virginia Commonwealth is simply one of the best defensive teams in the nation. The Rams currently rank third in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency, fifth in effective field goal percentage defense, and third in defensive turnover percentage. VCU is also fourth in the nation in defending the three-point line allowing opponents to shoot just 26.6% from behind the arc. The numbers go on and on.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Rams have struggled mightily. Unlike other programs whose tempo results in low offensive output, VCU is just offensive challenged. They turn the ball over too often (329th), don’t shoot it well from deep (32.7%), and don’t make their free throws (324th).

As expected, the stalwart defense has led to the Rams being one of the best bets in the Atlantic 10 in regards to the under. The Rams have gone under in 10 of their 16 games this season. Since 2017 when Mike Rhoades took over the program, the Rams have gone under the total in 54.8% of their games.

Championships

The level of success that this program has attained in such a brief history is utterly amazing. VCU has won 11 regular season conference championships. All of those have come since 1980, with their most recent being 2019.

VCU has also won nine conference tournament championships since 1980 with the most recent coming in 2015.

As stated above, the program has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 18 times in 50 years with a record of 13-17. The Rams made the Final Four in 2011 as an 11-seed when they defeated programs from USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and Kansas. They eventually lost to Butler.

VCU has appeared in the postseason National Invitational Tournament five times and has posted a 2-5 record. They also participated in the College Basketball Invitational once and won the tournament in 2010.

Important Virginia Commonwealth Events

The most important event in program history is the inception date. The VCU men’s basketball program was created when The Richmond Professional Institute merged with the Medical College of Virginia in 1968.

The University opened the Siegel Center in 1999. The multipurpose facility is located on the Richmond campus and can seat as many as 8,000 people.

On March 16th, 2007, Rams point guard Eric Maynor hit a fifteen foot jumper to lead the 11th seeded Rams over the sixth seeded Duke Blue Devils. That Duke team boasted four players that would go on to play in the NBA. Maynor would also go on to play in the NBA from 2009 to 2014.

Top Players in Program History

Eric Maynor is the all-time leader in program history in points (1,953), assists (674) and free throws made (503). He is also the most recognizable name in program history due to the shot that he hit against Duke. The Rams lost in the following round that season but Maynor would team with Larry Sanders two years later and lead the program to the NCAA Tournament once again as an 11-seed again.

Maynor and the Rams would lose in the first round to UCLA that season but not due to his effort. The senior guard posted 21 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

Treveon Graham is second on the program’s all-time scoring list at 1,882 points. Graham averaged at least 15.0 points per game three times in his career. He was also not just a one trick pony, Graham also logged over 800 rebounds, 199 assists and over 100 steals.

Briante Weber is not a player that will wow you with his offensive output but the point guard was one of the greatest defenders that ever graced a collegiate basketball court. Thriving in VCU’s famous “havoc” defense, Weber logged 374 steals during his career. His career mark of 3.3 steals per game is #1 all-time in the A-10 and 16th all-time in NCAA history. His steal percentage of 7.6% ranks #1 all-time with both organizations. Over his four year career, Weber had a 2-1 STEAL to turnover ratio.

Historical Coaches

The most recognizable name in program history is Shake Smart. Smart took the country by storm with his white sneakers and active sideline personality. He is also recognized for being a mid-major coach that did not immediately jump ship when the power six programs came calling for his services. Smart has the most wins in program history with a record of 163-56. He is second in winning percentage at 74.4%.

Anthony Grant spent only three seasons at the helm but posted a program best 75.2% winning percentage with a record of 76-25. Grant led the Rams to three consecutive regular season conference championships, two conference tournament championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances.

JD Barnett led the program for six seasons in the late 70’s to mid 80’s, boasting a 132-48 record while winning four regular season conference championships, three conference tournament championships and a trio of NCAA Tournament berths.

Current head coach Mike Rhoades is fourth on the all-time wins list with 90, he is just 42 behind Barnett for third on the list.