The Story of the 2016-2017 VCU MBB Team - Our Fallen Ram Brethren

VCU's resume: Overall record: 26-9

Conference record: 14-4 (2nd in the Atlantic 10)

Best wins: Home win vs. Princeton, home win vs. Middle Tennessee, home win vs. Dayton, home/road/neutral wins over Richmond, road win at Saint Bonaventure

NCAA tournament seed: A #10 seed (#40 overall)

"Computer numbers": Ranked 18th in RPI (according to ESPN), ranked 48th in KenPom rating, ranked 43rd in BPI (according to ESPN)

Notable statistic(s): 52nd in the NCAA in Opp Pts/game (66.9 PPG)

Individual accolades: JeQuan Lewis - All-conference first team, Justin Tillman - All-conference third team, Mo Alie-Cox - All-defensive team

After being picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, Will Wade's VCU Rams did what they do best, repeat success in Division 1 college basketball. Even in a down year for the conference and a season with relatively minimal expectations for the Virginia Commonwealth Rams, they came through again. For the seventh straight season, the best college basketball team in Richmond, Virginia earned a NCAA tournament berth. Although this piece is certainly about the 2016-2017 VCU Rams, this is not an uncommon trend. In the 2015-2016 season, VCU was picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll. As always, Virginia Commonwealth did what they have constantly done during this decade and they found a way to make it into the NCAA tournament.

A considerable part of VCU's incredible success in this season was some "luck" that they had. With that said, do not think for a second that I am discrediting any of their achievements. Conversely, I want to give credit to them for their fortunate occurrences because all teams need a few breaks to go their way during a successful season. The Rams magic number this season was 0.4. On two occasions, VCU won two pivotal Atlantic 10 matchups off the back of two unreal comebacks with 0.4 seconds remaining. First, on February 4, 2017, Saint Bonaventure decided to help VCU with getting their eighteenth overall win and eight conference win. Following what looked like a game-winning three-point shot by Matt Mobley, the Olean, NY crowd decided to blow the win out of epic proportion and storm the court. Thanks to the completely idiotic move, the referees made the proper call and charged the Bonnies with a technical foul. Consequently, JeQuan Lewis made the free throw and sent the game to overtime, where VCU prevailed, 83-77. Second, on February 8, 2017, George Washington's Yuta Watanabe hit what appeared to be a game-winning three-point show with no time remaining. Sounds familiar, right? After an official review, there was 0.4 seconds remaining and a VCU inbounds play that needed to be made. Using a crafty play set up by Will Wade, JeQuan Lewis drew a charge on Colin Goss without the ball ever being passed in by Justin Tillman. Funny enough, GW specifically brought in the sophomore Colin Goss to defend the inbounds pass. Shortly thereafter, JeQuan Lewis hit both game-winning free throws with you guessed it, 0.4 seconds remaining.

Another immense part of the black-and-gold Rams' season was their inevitable runs. No lead against this VCU team was safe and they were going to go on a run in each game, no matter the circumstance. As a Rhode Island fan, I saw the Rams in midnight navy uniforms take a 29-12 lead early in the first half of the A-10 championship game and all I could think was "When is VCU going to make their run?". Notice, I did not question if VCU was going to a run, I knew it was bound to come in PPG Paints Arena. After multiple VCU runs in the second half, URI was left clinging to a three-point lead. Luckily, URI got over the hump and won the monumental game, 70-63 but believe me, it was not due to a lack of effort from VCU.

Most importantly, as a fan of good college basketball, I learned quite a few things about this VCU team that go beyond insane amounts of analytics and statistics. For one, these VCU Rams were a well-coached team that I knew would make the NCAA tournament for their seventh straight season. As a fan of Shaka Smart because of his work in Richmond, VA, I never imagined that this program would ever have paralleled success, under the direction of Will Wade. "HAVOC" may never be the same but VCU continues to play an intense style of defense, which clearly fuels their offense.

VCU's senior class continued to prove their worth with JeQuan Lewis and Mo-Alie Cox leading that charge. Lewis kept scoring ridiculous layups using every part of the rim and the glass all year (especially in the Atlantic 10 championship). Meanwhile, Cox continued to alter and block shots as a high clip as ever, averaging his most number of blocks per game (two blocks/game) in his four-year career. Continuing with the upperclassmen, I watched flashes of scoring ability on wild drives by Jonathan Williams. In addition, I watched Justin Tillman play all season and in almost every VCU game I watched, I kept saying to myself, "Wow, this kid is a beast!". Justin Tillman's 17 rebounds in the Atlantic 10 championship game caught my attention and potentially some NBA scouts.

Moving forward, VCU has a BRIGHT future. Although he was injured for a long period of time, De'Riante Jenkins showed in the Atlantic 10 tournament (and in the other games that he played in) that he still has the potential to live up to the top-100 billing that he had coming out of high school. Furthermore, Samir Doughty earned time in the starting lineup, like in the game at the Ryan Center in Kingston, RI because he is a tough, gritty guard that fits Will Wade's system perfectly. From what I was able to watch in VCU's road win at Richmond, I saw the lethal deep-range shooting that Malik Crowfield will bring to this team. If all of that was not enough, VCU brings in the 21st best recruiting class for next season. Their four-man class is composed of two top-100 kids, Mayan Kiir and Lavar Batts, to go along with Sean Mobley and Marcus Santos-Silva. To put that into context, Santos-Silva, VCU's lowest rated class of 2017 recruit, is rated higher than some of the recruits that other Atlantic 10 teams will be bringing next year. VCU may be in the Atlantic 10 but they certainly do not recruit like a mid-major school.

To the VCU Rams that have unfortunately fallen in the 2016-2017 NCAA tournament, the Rhode Island Rams will continue to try to avenge you. #Rams