2010–11 VCU Rams men's basketball team

2010–11 VCU Rams men's basketball

NCAA Tournament Southwest Regional Champions
Final Four, L 62–70 vs. Butler
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
Coaches	#6
2010–11 record	28–12 (12–6 CAA)
Head coach	Shaka Smart (2nd year)
Assistant coach	Mike Jones
Assistant coach	Mike Rhoades
Assistant coach	Will Wade
Home arena	Stuart C. Siegel Center

	Conf				Overall
2010–11 CAA men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
George Mason	16	–	2	.889	27	–	7	.794
Old Dominion †	14	–	4	.778	27	–	7	.794
Hofstra	14	–	4	.778	21	–	12	.636
VCU	12	–	6	.667	28	–	12	.700
Drexel	11	–	7	.611	21	–	10	.677
James Madison	10	–	8	.556	21	–	12	.636
Delaware	8	–	10	.444	14	–	17	.452
UNCW	7	–	11	.389	13	–	18	.419
Georgia State	6	–	12	.333	12	–	19	.387
Northeastern	6	–	12	.333	11	–	20	.355
William & Mary	4	–	14	.222	10	–	22	.313
Towson	0	–	18	.000	4	–	26	.133


† 2011 CAA Tournament winner As of April 2, 2011; Rankings from AP Poll

The 2010–11 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University in the Colonial Athletic Association conference during the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rams, led by second year head coach Shaka Smart, played their home games at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. They finished the season 28–12, 12–6 in CAA play and lost in the championship game of the 2011 CAA Men's Basketball Tournament to Old Dominion. They received an at-large bid in the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament where they played in the new First Four round, defeating Southern California. They defeated Georgetown and Purdue in the second and third rounds, respectively, to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The defeated Florida State to advance to the Elite Eight where they defeated Kansas. They advanced to the school's first ever Final Four, being just the third 11 seed in Tournament history to advance to the Final Four, where they were defeated by Butler. The VCU Rams finished 6th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll at the end of the season.^[1] This was the highest ranking in VCU's history and the highest ranking of any team from the CAA.^[2] The 2011 NCAA tournament run by VCU is regarded as one of the best Cinderella runs of all time.^[3]

Roster

Number	Name	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
5	Juvonte Reddic	Forward	6–9	225	Freshman	Winston-Salem, North Carolina
10	Darius Theus	Guard	6–3	190	Sophomore	Portsmouth, Virginia
12	Joey Rodriguez	Guard	5–10	175	Senior	Merritt Island, Florida
19	Jeffrey Gholson	Forward	6–7	235	Sophomore	New York, New York
20	Bradford Burgess	Guard	6–6	225	Junior	Midlothian, Virginia
21	Jamie Skeen	Forward	6–9	240	Senior	Charlotte, North Carolina
23	Rob Brandenberg	Guard	6–2	170	Freshman	Gahanna, Ohio
24	Heath Houston	Forward	6–8	240	Freshman	Powder Springs, Georgia (Hillgrove High School)
25	Reco McCarter	Guard	6–7	180	Freshman	Goldsboro, North Carolina
30	Troy Daniels	Guard	6–4	195	Sophomore	Roanoke, Virginia
31	Toby Veal	Forward	6–8	235	Junior	Savannah, Georgia
32	Brandon Rozzell	Guard	6–2	185	Senior	Richmond, Virginia
33	D. J. Haley	Center	7–0	250	Freshman	Palmdale, California
34	David Hinton	Forward	6–9	235	Sophomore	Winston-Salem, North Carolina
50	Ed Nixon	Guard	6–4	210	Senior	St. Petersburg, Florida

2010–11 team recruits

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Juvonte Reddic C	Winston-Salem, NC	Quality Education Academy	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Mar 22, 2010
Juvonte Reddic C	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 90
Rob Brandenberg SG	Gahanna, OH	Lincoln High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Aug 30, 2009
Rob Brandenberg SG	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 86
D.J. Haley C	Palmdale, CA	Palmdale High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	May 4, 2010
D.J. Haley C	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 78
Reco McCarter SF	Goldsboro, NC	Wayne Country Day School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sep 29, 2009
Reco McCarter SF	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 91
Heath Houston PF	Powder Springs, GA	Hillgrove High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jun 28, 2010
Heath Houston PF	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 83
Toby Veal SF	Savannah, GA	Northwest Florida State College	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jan 17, 2010
Toby Veal SF	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: JC
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "VCU 2012 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "2012 VCU Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "2012 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011.

Season

Preseason

VCU was predicted to finish third in the Colonial Athletic Association preseason polls, which was released October 19, 2010 in Arlington, Virginia.^[4] Senior guard Joey Rodriguez was selected to the preseason Atlantic Ten first team.

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance)
Exhibition
11/4/10*	Virginia Union	W 71–56		Stuart C. Siegel Center (6,645)
Regular Season
11/12/10*	UNC Greensboro	W 101–86	1–0	Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,094)
11/15/10*	vs. Winthrop (NIT Season Tip-Off first round)	W 67–54	2–0	Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (1,276)
11/16/10*	Wake Forest (NIT Season Tip-Off second round)	W 90–69	3–0	Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (8,119)
11/24/10*	vs. Tennessee (NIT Season Tip-Off semi-finals)	L 72–77	3–1	Madison Square Garden (NA)
11/26/10*	at UCLA (NIT Season Tip-Off 3rd place game)	W 89–85	4–1	Madison Square Garden (NA)
12/1/10*	at South Florida	L 59–60 ^OT	4–2	USF Sun Dome (2,921)
12/4/10	William & Mary	W 59–55	5–2 (1–0)	Stuart C. Siegel Center (6,482)
12/8/10*	VMI	W 86–80	6–2	Stuart C. Siegel Center (6,023)
12/11/10*	at Richmond (Black & Blue Classic)	L 60–72	6–3	Robins Center (8,906)
12/18/10*	Tulane	W 70–67	7–3	Stuart C. Siegel Center (5,734)
12/21/10*	UAB	L 65–68	7–4	Bartow Arena (4,344)
12/29/10*	Wofford (Holidays on the Hardwood Classic)	W 75–66	8–4	Stuart C. Siegel Center (5,799)
12/30/10*	New Hampshire (Holidays on the Hardwood Classic)	W 78–65	9–4	Stuart C. Siegel Center (5,590)
1/3/11	at Georgia State	L 66–76	9–5 (1–1)	GSU Sports Arena (852)
1/5/11	Drexel	W 52–48	10–5 (2–1)	Stuart C. Siegel Center (6,313)
1/8/11	at UNC Wilmington	W 82–64	11–5 (3–1)	Trask Coliseum (5,126)
1/12/11	at William & Mary	W 70–52	12–5 (4–1)	Kaplan Arena (2,245)
1/15/11	Northeastern	W 73–64	13–5 (5–1)	Stuart C. Siegel Center (6,042)
1/19/11	Georgia State	W 71–54	14–5 (6–1)	Stuart C. Siegel Center (6,531)
1/22/11	at Old Dominion	W 59–50	15–5 (7–1)	Ted Constant Convocation Center (8,457)
1/24/11	at Towson	W 80–76	16–5 (8–1)	Towson Center (1,365)
1/27/11	Hofstra	W 82–67	17–5 (9–1)	Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,208)
1/29/11	UNC Wilmington	W 79–70	18–5 (10–1)	Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,552)
2/2/11	at Northeastern	L 80–91	18–6 (10–2)	Matthews Arena (1,095)
2/5/11	at James Madison	W 70–66	19–6 (11–2)	JMU Convocation Center (4,989)
2/9/11	at Delaware	W 84–74 ^2OT	20–6 (12–2)	Bob Carpenter Center (2,471)
2/12/11	Old Dominion	L 59–70	20–7 (12–3)	Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,552)
2/15/11	George Mason	L 51–71	20–8 (12–4)	Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,552)
2/18/11*	at Wichita State (ESPNU BracketBusters)	W 68–67	21–8	Charles Koch Arena (10,506)
2/23/11	at Drexel	L 60–64	21–9 (12–5)	Daskalakis Athletic Center (2,073)
2/26/11	James Madison	L 69–72	21–10 (12–6)	Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,552)
2011 CAA Men's Basketball Tournament
3/5/11	vs. Drexel (Quarterfinals)	W 62–60	22–10	Richmond Coliseum (7,814)
3/6/11	vs. #25 George Mason (Semifinals)	W 79–63	23–10	Richmond Coliseum (8,962)
3/7/11	vs. Old Dominion (Championship Game)	L 65–70	23–11	Richmond Coliseum (11,200)
2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
3/16/11*	vs. USC (First Four)	W 59–46	24–11	University of Dayton Arena (10,192)
3/18/11*	vs. Georgetown (Second Round)	W 74–56	25–11	United Center (17,369)
3/20/11*	vs. #13 Purdue (Third Round)	W 94–76	26–11	United Center (18,146)
3/25/11*	vs. Florida State (Sweet Sixteen)	W 72–71 ^OT	27–11	Alamodome (14,566)
3/27/11*	vs. #1 Kansas (Elite Eight)	W 71–61	28–11	Alamodome (14,738)
4/2/11*	vs. Butler (Final Four)	L 62–70	28–12	Reliant Stadium (75,421)
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. ( ) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Honors

Senior forward Jamie Skeen was named the Southwest Regional Most Outstanding Player. Skeen was also named to 2nd team All- Colonial Athletic Association.Senior guard Joey Rodriguez was named to 3rd team All- Colonial Athletic Association.^[5]

References

↑ "NCAA College Basketball Polls, College Basketball Rankings, NCAA Basketball Polls - ESPN". Espn.go.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
↑ "VCU Athletics". VCU Athletics. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
↑ "NCAA Tournament Final Four: Is VCU the Greatest Cinderella Story of All Time?". Bleacher Report. 2011-03-27. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
↑ http://www.caasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205014102
↑ "HOFSTRA'S JENKINS REPEATS AS CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR".

VCU Rams men's basketball

Venues	Franklin Street Gym (1968–1971) Richmond Coliseum (1971–1999) Siegel Center (1999–present)

Rivalries	George Mason Old Dominion Richmond

Culture & lore	History Rodney the Ram

People	Head coaches Retired jerseys

Seasons	1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

NCAA Final Four appearances in italics