VCU Rams
From Hoopedia
Virginia Commonwealth University, or VCU, is a large public American research university with its main campuses located in downtown Richmond, Virginia. VCU is the largest university in Virginia with 30,381 students enrolled in the fall semester of 2006. VCU came into existence when the Richmond Professional Institute (RPI) and the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) merged in 1968.
VCU is a member of NCAA Division I and the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). VCU's mascot is Rodney the Ram, and the teams as well as students are called VCU Rams.
The Alltel Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center is the home of the men's and women's basketball teams.
Men's Basketball
2006-07 Season
On March 15, 2007, the Rams pulled off perhaps the biggest victory in the school's athletic history, with a 79-77 win over Duke University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Sophomore Eric Maynor led the Rams with 22 points, including the game-winning basket with 1.8 seconds to go in the game.
Regular season conference champs and first-seed VCU defeated sixth-seed George Mason in the CAA championship game on March 5, 2007 to receive an automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Rams defeated the Patriots in a close fought game 65-59 to set a school record for wins in a season, finishing 27-6. The Rams also set a mark for the most conference wins in the regular season by any team ever in the CAA, finishing their CAA campaign 16-2 in the regular season and 3-0 in the tournament.
This victory brought rookie head coach Anthony Grant his first conference championship and the VCU Rams' third CAA title since joining the league. Prior to the tournament, Anthony Grant was named CAA Coach of the Year for breaking school records for wins in a season, wins by a first-year head coach and setting the conference mark for conference wins in a season. Other CAA honors included the naming of Eric Maynor to the first team All-CAA roster, B.A. Walker to the second team All-CAA roster, Jesse Pellot-Rosa to the third team All-CAA roster, T.J. Gwynn to the All-CAA Rookie roster, and Calvin Roland to the All-CAA Academic roster.
Recent History
First Season of Men’s Basketball 1968-69
- Overall Record 655-414 (.613)
- Years 38
- NCAA Tournament Appearances 8
- NCAA Tournament Record 5-7
- Last NCAA Appearance 2007
- NIT Appearances 4
- NIT Record 2-4
- Last NIT Appearance 2005
In 1985, VCU received an invitation to the NCAA men's basketball tournament as a #2 seed in its region, the highest seeding that the team has ever earned. However, it was upset in the second round of the tournament by #7 seed Alabama.
The VCU men's basketball team defeated George Mason to win the 2004 CAA championship and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Rams were seeded #13 in the East Rutherford Region and faced #4 Wake Forest in the first round in Raleigh, N.C. VCU led for much of the second half before the Demon Deacons prevailed 79-78. VCU was 19-13 in the 2005 season and finished second in the CAA with a 13-5 conference record and received a bid to the NIT where they lost to Davidson. In 2006, the Rams did not make a post-season appearance.
Until 2006 the team was coached by Jeff Capel, who at the time of his promotion to head coach in 2002 was the youngest coach in Division I NCAA basketball at 27 years old. During his time with VCU, Capel compiled a 79-41 record (.658), and in his first year earned VCU 18 wins, the most ever for a first-year coach at the school. In April 2006, Capel announced his decision to coach the University of Oklahoma basketball team. He was replaced by Anthony Grant [24], formerly an assistant head coach with the 2006 NCAA champions, the University of Florida.
One distinguished basketball alumnus is Gerald Henderson, who played for the San Antonio Spurs.
