The RamRoll

AROUND THE HORNS BREAKS DOWN VCU’S NON-CONFERENCE FOES
By Chris Kowalczyk
7-31-09

As I browse the VCU Basketball internet forums, one thing is perfectly clear, there are some hungry fans out there.

The summers can be long and brutal to the biggest Rams’ fans. Some recent threads started at vcuramnation.com included a recent sighting of Michael Doles, an all-time VCU fantasy draft, season ticket renewals and a discussion as to whether games VCU almost won were worth remembering. I feel like we need to throw these guys a bone. These are some of our most passionate fans, and they’re starving. It’s like you had to skip lunch, and when you meet your spouse/significant other/friend/mortal enemy/the Pope for dinner, you order the biggest deep-fried appetizer you see, because you know it takes only four minutes to blaze up those jalapeno poppers. Well, here at VCUAthletics.com, we would love to be your Bloomin’ Onion.

Shaka Smart released the Rams’ 2009-2010 non-conference schedule Friday, and to be honest, it’s probably VCU’s best in recent memory. Games with Oklahoma, Richmond, Rhode Island and Nevada, as well as the ESPNU BracketBusters are included.

Since my word count is already off the charts, and I want to use another food-related metaphor, let’s dive right in! Here’s a look at VCU’s 2009-2010 non-conference foes. Now in capsule form!

BETHUNE-COOKMAN (Nov. 13, 2009 - Siegel Center)
2008-09 Record: 17-16 (9-7 MEAC)
2008-09 RPI: 249
Top returnee to heckle: C.J. Reed, 6-3, PG (15.0 ppg, 3.9 apg)
Comments: VCU opens the Shaka Smart Era at the Siegel Center – the early line on “Got Smart” signs in the audience that night is 8.5. Make no mistake, Bethune-Cookman is a program on the rise, but here’s the good news/bad news. Last year was the school’s first Division I winning season (dates to 1980). It’s should also be noted that three of the Wildcats wins came against sub-DI’s Edward Waters College, Webber International University and (true story) Carver Bible College.  
Around The Factoid: Bethune-Cookman once offered a music scholarship to Vince Carter. Instead, Carter made the ill-advised decision to attend the University of North Carolina to play basketball. His music career has never recovered.

WESTERN MICHIGAN (Nov. 18, 2009 – Kalamazoo, Mich.)
2008-09 Record: 10-21 (7-9 MAC)
2008-09 RPI: 302
Top returnee to heckle: David Kool, 6-3, G (17.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
Comments: A recent press release on the Western Michigan website bills the Broncos as the two-time MAC West Division Champions! This is 100 percent true. It does not mention that the MAC is currently like the NFL in the 80s and early 90s, when the NFC was shredding the AFC in the Super Bowl by Techmo Football-like scores of 46-10 every year. Last season, Western Michigan finished 7-9 in MAC play.
However, WMU is the superior directional Michigan school (sorry Eastern and Central). The Broncos were 20-12 in 2007-08 and return one of my early candidates for best name of an opposing player, David Kool. Kool, a 6-3 guard, averaged 17.9 points per game last season, including the 22 he dropped on VCU at the Siegel Center Dec. 4, 2008.
Around The Factoid: Where’s Waldo? He’s in Kalamazoo, apparently. Western Michigan University was founded by Dwight B. Waldo in 1903. The book deal came many years later. Western Michigan is also the alma mater of Tim Allen and Luther Vandross.

OKLAHOMA (Nov. 21, 2009 – Siegel Center)
2008-09 Record: 30-6 (13-3 Big 12)
2008-09 RPI: 6
Top returnee to heckle: Willie Warren, So., G, (14.6 ppg, 67 3-pointers)
Comments: Although it surely can’t measure up to Mack McCarthy’s return to the Siegel Center with East Carolina Dec. 29, Rams’ fans will have to settle for Jeff Capel and the Oklahoma Sooners on this night.
Last season, VCU gave the fourth-ranked Sooners a legitimate run for 18 minutes in Oklahoma City. This year, each squad will be without an NBA first round draft pick, so it’s anybody’s guess how this game could play out. I’m fairly certain that Larry Sanders won’t miss Blake “Noone Can Save the Clippers” Griffin in the middle, however.
Willie Warren is a legitimate NBA prospect for the Sooners, but VCU should be able to lean on a packed Siegel Center. It’s not out of line to say this is the biggest game at the Siegel Center since VCU opened the building with a 79-74 win over Louisville on Nov. 11, 1999.
Around The Factoid: The late Walter Cronkite called Oklahoma Football games for WKY radio in 1937. James Garner also attended Oklahoma. If you don’t like The Rockford Files, there is something wrong with you.

HAMPTON (Nov. 23, 2009 – Hampton, Va.)
2008-09 Record: 16-16 (8-8 MEAC)
2008-09 RPI: 243
Top returnee to heckle: Vincent Simpson, Sr., G (11.7 ppg, 66 3-pointers)
Comments: This used to be the nicey nice in-state game with a nice in-state program where VCU was always expected to get a nice, easy win. That is, until Nov. 11, 2007, when the No. 3 “rut roh” moment of the Anthony Grant Era occurred. That night, the Rams meandered into the Hampton Convocation Center, turned the ball over 21 times and lost to the Pirates for the first time ever, 64-55. Not so nice. Taking Hampton lightly would be a huge mistake, one I would not expect any Ram with a vivid memory to make.
Around The Factoid: Hampton was just the fourth No. 15 seed to defeat a No. 2 seed when it dumped Iowa State, 58-57, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 15, 2001. Famous alums include Booker T. Washington, Rick Mahorn and Wanda Sykes.

NEVADA (Nov. 27, 2009 – Siegel Center)
2008-09 Record: 21-13 (11-5 WAC)
2008-09 RPI: 90
Top returnee to heckle: Luke Babbitt, So., F (16.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg)
Comments: This is the return for last year’s ESPN Send-You-On-An-Impossible-Cross-Country-Road-Trip BracketBusters contest, won by Nevada, 71-70. As ridiculous as the trip was last year (Delaware at home on a Wednesday, Nevada in Reno on Friday), what came out of the trip was an outstanding two-game series between a couple of the most successful mid-major programs of the last 10 years.
Last season could be considered an off year for the Wolfpack, and they won 21 games. Sophomore Luke Babbitt, a 6-9 forward, is an outstanding young player. He’s also like the anti-Larry Sanders in the middle. Good long-range shooting touch, solid finesse player. In addition, Armon Johnson, a 6-3 junior guard, returns. Johnson, you might remember, capped Nevada’s late second-half rally with a go-ahead layup with 28 seconds remaining.
It should also be noted that the Nevada game was also a turning point for the Rams. The defeat capped a lackluster 4-4 stretch for VCU, and prompted a players-only meeting (coaches did join later) for nearly two hours in the locker room after the game. The result? The Black and Gold torched their next five opponents by an average of 15 points per game. Ship the CAA trophy.
Around The Factoids: Charley Douglass, a 1933 graduate, created the first TV laugh track. Sitcoms of the 1980s continue to reap the benefits.

RHODE ISLAND (Dec. 2, 2009 – Siegel Center)
2008-09 Record: 23-11 (11-5 A-10)
2008-09 RPI: 60
Top returnee to heckle: Keith Cothran, Sr., G (13.2 ppg, 1.5 spg)
Comments: Rams v. Rams Part Deux. Last year’s 92-86 Rhode Island win in Kingston, R.I. yielded one of the oddest stat lines in recent memory. VCU shot 61 percent from the field in the game – and lost. That’s tough to do. Perhaps the 26 turnovers had something to do with it.
Make no mistake, this is an important game for the Black and Gold. Rhode Island is a solid A-10 program and is a good bet to be a top 75 RPI team. This is one of those RPI boosters VCU would really like to have if it wants to put together a serious NCAA at-large resume.
Around The Factoids: Rhode Island is named the Rams as a tribute to the school’s agricultural history. I’m sure VCU is named the Rams for the same reason. Maybe not. Actually, it’s rumored the VCU Rams actually got their name from the Rhode Island Rams. I’m being serious this time, in case you weren’t sure.

RICHMOND (Dec. 12, 2009 – Siegel Center)
2008-09 Record: 20-16 (9-7 A-10)
2008-09 RPI: 125
Top returnee to heckle: Kevin Anderson, Jr., G (16.6 ppg, 1.3 spg)
Comments: If there was a season for the insects….er….Spiders to make a quantum leap competitively, this is it. Richmond returns its top three scorers, plus junior center Dan Geriot, who missed all of last season with a knee injury. Geriot led the Spiders in scoring (14.3 ppg) and rebounding (5.5) as a sophomore. VCU has won five straight in this series, but Richmond could give the Rams a serious run for their money this year.
Around the Factoids: The University of Richmond (then Richmond College) was originally located in the Fan District until 1914. Would it even qualify as a road game at that point?

TULANE (Dec. 19, 2009 – New Orleans, La.)
2008-09: 14-17 (7-9 Conference USA)
2008-09 RPI: 188
Top returnee to heckle: Kevin Sims, 5-10, G (13.0 ppg, 4.0 apg)
Comments: It’s not Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands or Cancun, but this qualifies as VCU’s “destination” game for 2009-10. I feel an Around The Horns Bourbon Street Blog coming up. No, seriously. This blog needs to happen.
These two schools do have some history, albeit lob-sided, from the old Metro Conference days. The Rams and Green Wave have met 12 times, with Tulane holding an 11-1 edge. That includes seven straight wins for TU.
Around The Factoids: Jerry Springer graduated from Tulane in 1965. Yes, that Jerry Springer. If I can’t find a way to tie this into the actual game I should be ashamed of myself.
    

EAST CAROLINA (Dec. 29, 2009 – Siegel Center)
2008-09: 13-17 (5-11 Conference USA)
2008-09 RPI: 227
Comments: For the second time in just over a month, VCU will play host to one of its former coaches. This time it will be Mack McCarthy and East Carolina. McCarthy coached the Rams from 1998-2002 and assembled a 66-55 record. McCarthy probably doesn’t get enough credit for getting the ball rolling at VCU. Before he stepped down, McCarthy led the Rams to a 21-11 mark in 2001-02. Two years later, Capel steered VCU to a CAA crown.
McCarthy and Co. hung a stunning, 93-90 overtime loss on the Rams last season in Greenville, N.C. I doubt guys like Larry Sanders and Joey Rodriguez have forgotten about that.
Despite the loss, that game contained an absolutely ridiculous offensive performance from Eric Maynor. Maynor, who had eight points at intermission, finished with a career-high 35 points and hit a series of 3-point bombs to offset the Rams’ dreadful defense that night. There were literally four or five of those “oooooo” moments from Maynor in that game. You know, when someone does something that actually sucks air out of the crowd, so much so that it’s actually audible? “Oooooo” moment.  
Around The Factoids: Vince McMahon is an alum. Do I smell a cage match? I’ll take Rodney the Ram over whatever weak-sauce Pirate mascot ECU can trot out there.

ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS (Feb. 19 or 20, 2010 – Siegel Center)

Questions or comments? Contact Chris Kowalczyk at aroundthehorns@yahoo.com