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Rivals named Rob Brandenberg one of 12 breakout back court players in the country for next season. He's the only non-BCS player on the list and one of two players pictured. We're expecting him to make a big jump this year and it seems some of the national publications do as well. http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1246601

I think you would learn more from watching practice than from this "game". It sure will make for nice highlight viewing I'd bet. Zeke probably had a lot of poster material today.

Just FYI, the tallest player on Sheridan's squad is 6'5 and they do not offer athletic scholarships in the CIS. I wouldn't take too much from the score, the Zips should roll in all of these games. Carleton is one of the premier Canadian programs however and should put up a good fight. They are about D2 level in talent as they get a number of D1 transfers who don't pan out in the States. Not a bad test at all, but a lot of these programs are scrubs compared to Division 1 players. Sheridan has forwards in the 6'2-6'4 range which is more along the lines of bad high schools in the states, but is quite the norm north of the border. I'd like to hear more about how the players picked up the coaches schemes, team chemistry, and fluidity on the court. Things like how the bench played, which groups of players played well together, and who started are good things to take from these games. As any D1 coach will tell you, these trips are much more about the practices than the games, which have little benefit in and of themselves. http://www.scgenerals.com/mbball/roster.asp It's actually 6'8, with numerous 6'7 players. No it's not. You're not playing that Sheridan. That's a JUCO in Wyoming. You're playing this Sheridan: http://www.sheridanbruins.com/pages/pop.php?name=mb Ahhh. Thank you sir. My bad. Haha. No worries man. Happens to the best of us.

Just FYI, the tallest player on Sheridan's squad is 6'5 and they do not offer athletic scholarships in the CIS. I wouldn't take too much from the score, the Zips should roll in all of these games. Carleton is one of the premier Canadian programs however and should put up a good fight. They are about D2 level in talent as they get a number of D1 transfers who don't pan out in the States. Not a bad test at all, but a lot of these programs are scrubs compared to Division 1 players. Sheridan has forwards in the 6'2-6'4 range which is more along the lines of bad high schools in the states, but is quite the norm north of the border. I'd like to hear more about how the players picked up the coaches schemes, team chemistry, and fluidity on the court. Things like how the bench played, which groups of players played well together, and who started are good things to take from these games. As any D1 coach will tell you, these trips are much more about the practices than the games, which have little benefit in and of themselves. http://www.scgenerals.com/mbball/roster.asp It's actually 6'8, with numerous 6'7 players. No it's not. You're not playing that Sheridan. That's a JUCO in Wyoming. You're playing this Sheridan: http://www.sheridanbruins.com/pages/pop.php?name=mb

Just FYI, the tallest player on Sheridan's squad is 6'5 and they do not offer athletic scholarships in the CIS. I wouldn't take too much from the score, the Zips should roll in all of these games. Carleton is one of the premier Canadian programs however and should put up a good fight. They are about D2 level in talent as they get a number of D1 transfers who don't pan out in the States. Not a bad test at all, but a lot of these programs are scrubs compared to Division 1 players. Sheridan has forwards in the 6'2-6'4 range which is more along the lines of bad high schools in the states, but is quite the norm north of the border. I'd like to hear more about how the players picked up the coaches schemes, team chemistry, and fluidity on the court. Things like how the bench played, which groups of players played well together, and who started are good things to take from these games. As any D1 coach will tell you, these trips are much more about the practices than the games, which have little benefit in and of themselves.

Then in that case, congratulations to KD on being able to land these kinds of players now. It is a pretty big step in the right direction. You all have obviously been spoiled with some very good teams, but this is the next step in the progression from a nice run to something sustainable on the national stage. Props to the coaching staff for doing what is necessary to reach the high goals you all have for the program. I realized this past year when Akron was on a lot of players' lists that we were recruiting that KD was going after a different type of player and quite honestly was pleased. Guys like Rob Brandenberg (committed to us), Perry Henry (committed to us and then later ended up with Charlotte), Allen Payne (ended up signing with Auburn after having as and the Tigers in his final 2), etc. were all also recruited by Keith as well. I've seen Rob and I know he is a very high-level athlete with a tremendous ceiling. I think that's the key here for programs like us. Targeting players that may not necessarily be highly-ranked, but have great physical tools and a high ceiling. Sounds like you landed a couple of guys who fit that mold. You don't get results right away, but the long-term benefits allow you to have a team that can go toe to toe with the best in college basketball and not flinch once they mature. A word of caution as well, remember these are 17 and 18-year olds with fickle minds and developing views on themselves and the world. It's easy to discount the mental part of this game, but I've seen many a talented player rot away on the bench with massive potential unrealized because of mental roadblocks they never got past. You have to be patient with the young guys and allow them to grow. We often view these kids through the narrow lens of the basketball court, but there are so many external variables that can impact their play on the court that we never hear about. These kids won't be world-beaters from the opening tip, but they have a shot at being great. For a mid-major, that's all you need; a puncher's chance. The right punch can blow the glass ceiling straight through and catapult your program to a different stratosphere with a little luck and a lot of hard work.

My 2 cents as an outsider: There is definitely something to be said about the eye test. While it doesn't necessarily mean it will translate to success, it points to having a much higher ceiling than you had previously. That in itself is exciting. You may be athletic, but if you are undisciplined it doesn't really make a difference. You can't teach height, athleticism, or length, but you can teach the other stuff. KD seems to be a good teacher of the game. As long as the kids are willing to listen and not get their egos get in the way, Keith can make a solid team. Athletes allow you to match up with BCS level schools, and let's face it, that's where mids make a name for themselves. Winning the MAC got you a 15-seed last year. If you beat ND, that dwarfs everything else for the season. Recruits will probably like the MAC championships and whatnot, but they'll almost definitely like going head to head with the big boys and winning more. Kids who come to our level often have a chip on their shoulder for not being recruited more highly, and when they know they are going to a program where you have a reasonable expectation of knocking them off, it makes them that much more enthusiastic about your program. As I see it, Keith is bringing in the types of players you need to bring in to pull that sort of thing off. That bodes well for you. I see reason for excitement but of course that always has to be checked with a degree of realism. You have kids who have played a year of high school ball coming in as freshman and lost a number of seniors with experience that can't be replaced immediately. Impact freshmen are few and far between. I suspect they'll give you some 'WOW!' moments and have you scratching your heads with frustration at others. You could see the team really start to come together as the conference schedule approaches and your team develops chemistry. It's easy to see highlight reels from individuals in the offseason in isolated scrimmages. A lot of D1 athletes are capable of impressing in that regard. It's another thing entirely doing that in a real game scenario where coaches are keying in on your weaknesses and coaching to negate your strengths. Oftentimes in the offseason kids get to show off what they are good at, which is wildly exciting, but people forget that in-game situations will be quite different. You also see practice warriors where kids absolutely light up the gym in practice, but it doesn't translate to the court. We've had those at VCU as well. I like what I'm hearing from the practices, and it seems that you are bringing in a different type of player. I am of the opinion that you need those types of guys to really push past the mid-major barrier and play with the big boys. Kudos to KD for changing his approach. I think you guys will be better for it. Just remember that a lot of these guys are newcomers who haven't played ball in real game situations for a long time. It may take a while for everything to click. When it does, I'm sure you all will be very happy. Having watched an up-tempo full-court pressing style at VCU for the last several years, it really does bring the fans in and generates excitement around the program. It also levels the playing field to a degree against BCS teams if you can match them athletically and in conditioning.

Homer rationalizations aside, that very average team once Larry Sanders left ended up going to the Final Four. ...and here I am saying the same thing as I did then. Having seen our freshmen now and how good they can be, I think we'll give you a good game. I still don't predict a W because we are so young and the JAR is a tough place to play. It seems that Dambrot is also changing up the makeup of your team to a more full-court style like we play. Should be interesting to see how we match-up. It will be a good measuring stick for what is a very young team. Congrats!!! You want a cookie now? How about a cake? or how about a donut? or how about becoming the president? Jokes put to side, I disagree with you about a couple things. 1. Who cares if you win your conference? I rather have a coach get me to the Final Four than to win your conference. A lot of schools win their conference, but how many of them make it to the Final Four? Not many... 2. I believe a regular season series would be great for both programs. You're not going to get Big East, Big Ten, SEC, and ACC teams to come to your place constantly. So you'll have to get some mid-majors on your schedule.Why not play a school that would get you ready for CAA play, and it gets Akron ready for MAC play. You have to face reality, and reality is you have a coach that has now been in the Final Four. He'll be hungry to get that taste again... Your comments are taken in stride good sir. Here's my take on your comments. This just my opinion obviously, but I think it has merit. 1. We're not going to go to the Final Four every year as much as I'd like to think that. Going just the one time was overwhelming enough. We had certainly played our way out of the tournament in almost every one else's mind. Heck, our team didn't even meet up for Selection Sunday because they didn't think we had a shot. We had the computers numbers, but had lost 4 of our last 5 regular season games and fell short in the conference tournament. We had resigned ourselves to the fact that we needed to win that to dance. ODU fans chanted "NIT! NIT!" as we walked off the floor in the CAA Championship game. Obviously in hindsight, it's easy to say that those reactions are unjustified. I would have loved to see the state of these boards if something similar happened to Akron with a similar caliber team. We graduate all of Anthony Grant's recruits except Brad Burgess and it remains to be seen if that magical March was us catching lightning in a bottle, or a result of real growth in Shaka's coaching. No one's saying they don't want him. We're just acknowledging the reality that he is still very young with a lot of growth to come. It's insanely exciting that he has room to grow since he has a 10-1 postseason record and won a CBI championship and went to the Final Four in his 2nd year. Just for context though, Anthony Grant's 3 years prior to Shaka coming in set a high bar in CAA play. We finished 1st in the CAA all 3 years of his tenure and went to the NCAA's twice sandwiched around a NIT berth when we choked in the conference semi's after winning the conference by 3 games in the regular season. Our fans are/were used to being at the top of the pack and we quickly slipped to the 4-5 range with a ton of talent. That combined with Shaka's youth, and it was easy to ask questions. Obviously the Final Four changed that, but hindsight is 20-20. We still don't know if he has made the adjustments to effectively manage a squad over the regular season as opposed to a 4-5 game stretch. Like it or not, both are important parts of a HC's toolbox. We all believe he can make those strides and I think he will. He's a bright young star in the profession. 2. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but it is standard coaching practice not to coach against former players or assistants whenever possible. Coaches don't like to do it. If it is at all in their control they generally avoid it. It's not a hard and fast rule, but it is widely observed. I have it on pretty good authority that Shaka is uncomfortable with coaching against KD and was disappointed we had to face each other besides the big RPI discrepancy which has been hashed and rehashed and I know you guys don't care about. The series isn't going to continue past this year barring another Bracketbuster matchup which I assume wouldn't happen. I know our AD lobbied for a better bracketbuster game this year and pointed to our matchup the year before as being screwed and ESPN agreed and actually bumped us up to play at Wichita State, the #1 Missouri Valley team at the time. It worked out fabulously for us and might have been the win that got us in the tournament. Akron is a decent program that in or around the top 100 range nowadays and definitely not a bad game by any means. It's just not going to be a resume builder for us. I'm not trying to say that we are going to be a resume builder game for you either, probably not. For us to make OOC games worthwhile we have to play teams that are in the top 50 RPI and mix them up with winnable games. Akron is a team that is neither a good win or a bad loss that the selection committee will really notice, but at the same time you have the talent to give us trouble and beat us. I hope you don't take offense to that and see what I'm trying to get at. We need signature wins and Akron was never really a signature win for us in any of the years we've played. It was a decent game, but we can get those in a lot of places without having to go to Ohio. Teams that our fans are fairly familiar with. I imagine a lot of your fans feel the same way about VCU, in fact, your fans have told me this on several occasions already. For the few die-hards here, yes there is some familiarity, but Joe Blow in Akron couldn't care less. I assume it's because you guys usually have a weak OOC schedule with some D2's thrown in that you would like a VCU-Akron series. I don't blame you. That said we've always been pretty good about scheduling. We have a home and home with Big East member South Florida. They are coming into Richmond this year. We're starting up a home and home away with Alabama this season. We recently split a home and home with Oklahoma. We're playing teams like Western Kentucky and UAB in home and homes, teams that our fan base are very familiar with from past conference affiliations that are just as comparable to Akron. It just makes more sense for us to schedule teams that will bring fans in. We also usually end up playing in a pretty good preseason tournament that nets us neutral court games against BCS opponents. Last year we played in the preseason NIT, beat Wake Forest by 30 points on their home floor, lost by 5 to Tennessee, and then beat UCLA at Madison Square Garden. I'm sure with more aggressive scheduling from Keith, you guys will not have any problems. I just don't see VCU in that future as long as Shaka is here, which I hope is for a good while.

Exactly. Just read this thread after our 70-53 win the last time we met up: http://zipsnation.org/forums//index.php?showtopic=17281 It sounds like Zips fans are doing exactly the same thing VCU fans were being accused of with Shaka. Another interesting tidbit is that DJ Haley our 7-footer was on his official visit the last time that we played and subsequently committed to us. Also some pretty hilarious quotes in there in hindsight as well: Homer rationalizations aside, that very average team once Larry Sanders left ended up going to the Final Four. ...and here I am saying the same thing as I did then. Having seen our freshmen now and how good they can be, I think we'll give you a good game. I still don't predict a W because we are so young and the JAR is a tough place to play. It seems that Dambrot is also changing up the makeup of your team to a more full-court style like we play. Should be interesting to see how we match-up. It will be a good measuring stick for what is a very young team.

I'm trying to remember the time when anyone insulted you after you recommended Shaka. Turns out it didn't happen. In fact, no one even replied to your post. http://boards.caazone.com/showthread.php?p...859#post1053859

Quite the opposite. There are still a number of our fans who have questions about his coaching ability. As a motivator, he is unparalleled. We finished 5th in the CAA with the #15 pick in the NBA draft and 4th in the conference this year with a team that had the talent to make it to the Final Four. There were justified concerns about it with the level of talent we had on our roster. There are high expectations at VCU and yes there were definitely a contingent of fans that were unhappy with how February went. Outside of 4-5 posters, no one wanted him out. Many expressed discontent however, and rightfully so. We lost 4 of our last 5 regular season games, again with what ended up as a Final Four team. There will be serious questions from any legitimate fan base when that happens. Well Shaka doesn't feel the same way as you do, fortunately for us. He signed an 8-year 1.2 million/yr contract and has a $800,000 buyout on it this year. He turned down an offer from NC State at almost 2 million a year so he obviously sees something at VCU. I personally never 'tarred and feathered' him, but there were a couple of guys who were critical of him. I won't deny that. I take it as a sign that we have a strong fan base that actually cares. I'd rather have that than an empty stadium and apathy around the program. If you want an apology, go over there and ask for one. I don't know what you want me to do about that. The VCU-Akron series won't continue from what I understand as long as Shaka coaches at VCU. That is unless the Bracketbusters pair us yet again. We've never had a home-and-home other than the obligatory return games from the Bracketbuster, and I don't think you'll see one either. As many have said here before, there is little regional interest for VCU in Ohio, no one either knows or cares who we are. I think the same is probably true in Virginia for Akron.

Hey Zips fans! It seems we've gotten to know each other fairly well over the last several seasons of playing each other. The VCU non-conference schedule was released recently and we are playing at the JAR on December 29th to close out our non-conference portion of the regular season (with the obvious exception of the Bracketbuster). I know Shaka hates the fact that he has to go coach against Keith who was one of several mentors that he had a chance to grow under. I'm told Keith is of the same mind in that regard. I don't think we'll see these teams play again after this as long as Shaka is still in Richmond, but that is not out of disrespect, but quite the opposite. The Bracketbusters have made us almost regular season opponents these last few years! There are a number of good posters on this board such as Dave In Green and Zips Watcher and I tip my cap to you. Nice having the opportunity to discuss some basketball with you all again. Thought I'd give you the lowdown on us in the spirit of good sportsmanship and competition. Unless you've lived under a rock, I assume you know how last season went for us. It was great and I genuinely hope you guys get to experience something like that in the future. Just an amazing experience. We lost a lot off of that squad and while a lot of our CAA rivals are pegging us to be rebuilding this year, we'd like to think we'll still be quite competitive. We graduated 4 of our top 5 scorers (point guard Joey Rodriguez, big man Jamie Skeen, sharpshooter Brandon Rozzell, and defensive stopper Ed Nixon). On the surface it looks like we should take a big step back. We return one stud off of that squad in Bradford Burgess. He has been a starter from the moment he stepped on campus for us and averaged 14.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg as a 6'6, 216 pound guard with a 6'9 wingspan. He can play the 1-4 and is the next VCU player on the NBA radar. You've seen Eric Maynor and Larry Sanders who both ended up being top-20 NBA draft picks. We're hoping Brad can join them as a first-rounder after this season. He has received a lot of national attention and attended both the Chris Paul Elite Guard Camp and the Kevin Durant Skills Academy this summer. He was also invited to try out for Team USA at the World University games but recently sprained an ankle in a summer league game that prevented him from heading out there. NBADraft.net currently has him going with the #41 pick to Golden State in their 2012 mock draft http://www.nbadraft.net/2012mock_draft . Here is a highlight tape of his from this past season: He dropped 23 and 8 on Purdue in the round of 32, scored 26 against Florida St. in the Sweet Sixteen including the game-winner, and had 15 and 9 in the Final Four against Butler. Down the stretch he was one of our best players on the floor. We're looking for him to take over and be the undisputed leader of this team this season. We were actually quite young outside of our starters last season which made our run all the more remarkable. We have a couple of really nice young players who should be factors this year. Rob is from Gahanna, Ohio and was also recruited and offered by the Zips in the Class of 2010. He was playing behind some really good players, but when Brandon Rozzell had a wrist injury mid-way through the season, he stepped up big time with a 22-point game against William & Mary and a 23-point performance against Georgia State a couple of games later. He's supposedly taken some tremendous strides this off-season and should start at the 2 for us. He has a 44' inch vertical and a 6'7 wingspan. He actually blocked Chris Singleton's shot at the buzzer to seal VCU's win over Florida St. He's a big fan-favorite for us. I think you guys will like his game, he's an exciting player to watch. Juvonte Reddic is a 6'9, 225 PF who also showed some very nice flashes of excellence last year. Like Rob he played behind talented upperclassmen, but has tremendous upside. He dropped 12 points on All-American JuJuan Johnson of Purdue in the Round of 32 and has BCS athleticism and a nice 15-20 foot jumper. He was offered by Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Georgetown out of high school. We're looking at him to step into the starting lineup and make an impact. DJ Haley is a 7-foot, 250-pound freshman who actually started for us in the NCAA tournament and is a serviceable big who is strong and hustles hard. He's not very skilled at this point, but his size and motor are impressive. You can actually see the 3 freshmen doing their thing in the Purdue game where they got time because we were blowing them out. Rob is #23, Juvonte is #5, and DJ Haley is #33: At the point we have Darius Theus, a rising junior who backed up Joey Rodriguez. There are a number of people who worry about his ability to run the team as he looks very good in some games, and then can have very bad moments as well. He stepped up big in the Florida State game when Joey was in foul trouble with 8 points and 6 boards but had 6 turnovers as well. He has great size as a 6'3 point guard and is formidable going to the rim. He can NOT shoot from outside though. He is very poor from behind the 3-point line and quite frankly to this point has been a liability in that regard. He looks very good and smooth otherwise. He has a very nice handle and first step. Here's a look (He's #10): --> from the 1:43-2:05 mark, 2:12-2:17, 2:30-2:43, and 2:48-2:55 The point guard position is the one that is probably the most uncertain. Coincidentally this is the most important position on the floor. There have been rumblings that Rob Brandenberg may play the point as well as two incoming freshmen in 6'4 Teddy Okereafor and 6'3 Briante Weber who were recruited to play the point. By the time we play you guys that question should be settled. Another big newcomer that may effect the line-up is redshirt freshmen Reco McCarter. He was our most highly-touted freshmen recruit with offers from NC State, Oklahoma, Georgia, Clemson, and Virginia Tech but redshirted to get stronger: We have a lot of young talent (mostly freshmen and sophomores). They are inexperienced but VERY talented. Shaka has been bringing in a different type of player to VCU and we're seeing a lot of flashes of very special play from these young guys. A lot is unknown and I'm certain there will be bumps in the road this season, but we'll be a formidable squad by the end of the year if I had to guess. For the first time, I think we probably lose this game. The combination of our youth and being on the road combined with what seems like the Zips looking to be on the rise will be our undoing. My perspective is to use the non-conference schedule to train our young guys for the real season. An at-large for our guys this year is very unlikely, so we'll have to win it the old-fashioned way anyway. Teams like the Zips will be good tests for us. Hopefully we'll be in good shape for when we face you. Either way, it'll be a good game. I'm sure it will have high entertainment value. Hopefully you guys fill up the place and have a better atmosphere this time around. I know we're not a name around Ohio, but hopefully the Final Four run will give some buzz for you guys to sell some tickets. Feel free to fill us in over at VCURamNation.com on the Zips! Hope the information was helpful and informative to you all.

While I certainly agree with the overall thrust of the post, VCU-Akron was solely a bracketbuster series and not some agreement between Dambrot and Shaka. In fact, I don't think you'll see us schedule each other again after this as long as Dambrot and Shaka are at each school. They both hated the fact that they had to play each other in the Bracketbuster to begin with. Coaches don't usually like to schedule their assistants and this case was no exception. I do think that scheduling good mid-major programs is the way to go for teams like us who can't usually get major conference programs to agree to home-and-home series.

Markus Crider will be visiting VCU next weekend.

To Bradley's credit they have a RICH basketball history, an arena that would put both of our programs to shame (11,000+ capacity), a recent top 10 NBA pick, and a Sweet Sixteen in 2006 (they beat Kansas and Pittsburgh to get there). They've been to the NCAA's 8 times and won 11 games. Their yearly basketball budget is almost 3 million dollars per year, more than either of us spend. In the 1950's they went to the National Championship game twice in addition to an Elite 8. It's a proud and accomplished program in a significantly higher conference than the MAC in the Missouri Valley. Will he succeed? No idea. I could see how he could see it as a move up though.

It really is an amazing story. From a team that no one thought should be included in the NCAA's, a team that Jay Bilas, Dick Vitale, Digger Phelps etc. ripped into for hours on Selection Sunday, to this. From the First Four to the Final Four. It's an insane story. I hope they make a movie about it, especially if we end up winning the whole thing. Heaven is probably a good word to describe my feelings about now, what's better is that we're not done yet! Also looks like Shaka will be staying at VCU according to people that I know close to the situation. We have the opportunity to build on some pretty massive momentum generated by this season. It'll be a nice opportunity for you guys too next year, since we're graduating 4 of our starters off of a Final Four squad this season. Good opportunity to pick up your first win in the series. I think we'll give you guys more than a fair fight though. Some of those underclassmen are pretty good. Looking forward to seeing how Zeke has progressed from his freshman year when he came into Richmond. He looked like he needed to put on a lot of weight and become more assertive in the post. He was going up against the #15 pick in the 2010 draft, but I still thought he could have been stronger to the hoop. I'm more than willing to bet that he's come along a lot in that regard.

That is awesome. I was thinking yesterday I wanted to go back and see who offered their players and how many stars they got from rivals. But I'm lazy, so I'll just post this image from VCU's campus. Thats actually at the River Walk entrance to the Alamo Dome, but it's still damn funny! Actually that is in Richmond. We have our own canal walk. It's from the city-wide rally we had for both VCU and Richmond when both programs advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. The sign is awesome though! It's been awhile Zips fans, congratulations on the MAC championship! It looks like Zeke has come along and made strides from last year, glad to see it. Shaka always speaks glowingly of Coach Dambrot and his time in Akron. I believe he recruited the McKnight brothers to Akron for those of you who may be newer Zips' fans and are unaware of his contributions to your program. As for recruiting stuff, I'm the guy who writes on recruiting at VCURamNation.com which is our message board site. We've had some pretty good mid-major recruits, but nothing of the top 100 variety like Zeke Marshall. Our recruits are typically a mix of 2 and 3-star guys but we tend to recruit the 3rd and 4th options on BCS coaching staffs' lists as our 1st option. It tends to work out nicely for us as we have gotten some pretty good players that have been on display in the NCAA tournament the last few weeks. The one exception is Jamie Skeen who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the southwest regional yesterday. He was a 4-star recruit and Mr. Basketball in the state of North Carolina his senior season. He committed to Wake Forest and played 2 seasons before transferring to VCU. He has panned out great for us obviously and looks to be getting NBA looks, hopefully making it 3 straight 1st-round NBA draft picks from VCU in the last 3 years. His stock has risen from virtually unnoticed to being projected as a 2nd rounder by ESPN. Hopefully he makes his case in the Final Four that he can go higher. Joey Rodriguez was a 3-star scout/rivals guy (#37 PG/#24 PG) in the Class of 2007, Ed Nixon was a 3 star scout/rivals guy, Brandon Rozzell was the State Player of the Year at Virginia's highest classification (3A) but was not heavily scouted and given the 'we haven't looked at him' 2-star rating. Brad Burgess was a consensus 3-star Rivals/Scout recruit (#35 SF on Scout) in the Class of 2008. Those are our starters and 6th man. Outside of Skeen (who didn't initially commit to VCU out of high school), only Nixon received BCS offers as Georgia, Penn State, and Virginia Tech offered. Our current underclassmen however are a different story (all of whom Shaka recruited). He's a stud flat out on the recruiting trail. Here is a profile of each of our freshmen (scouting grades/stars, videos, articles, offers etc.): http://theramrecruitingreport.blogspot.com...01_archive.html They include all except Heath Houston who decommitted from Auburn when Jeff Lebo was fired and signed with VCU in the late signing period. He is redshirting this season along with Reco McCarter who is probably the highest touted recruit of the bunch boasting offers from Clemson, NC State, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, and Georgia. We are very excited for the future here. Of course, the Final Four is this weekend as well, so we've still got ball to play yet before thinking about the future! Hope that info helps though!

Larry Introductory Press Conference with Bucks' GM John Hammond (Reiging NBA Executive of the Year) http://www.nba.com/bucks/video/2010/06/25/...s100625-1358236 Here's the link to highlights from Larry's introductory press conference. It's 8 minutes long and there are comments from GM John Hammond first and then Larry answering questions from the Milwaukee media. Larry availed himself well here and while a little more subdued then normal (clearly he is still a little starstruck), he showed his great personality as well. Pick 15 Analysis- Larry Sanders: Kansas' Head Coach Bill Self and David Aldridge http://www.nba.com/video/channels/draft/20...5_analysis.nba/ Dave Aldridge and Kansas' Head Coach Bill Self analyze the Bucks' selection of Sanders at 15. They love the pick and both Aldridge and Self love Sanders' game and Self was highly complementary of VCU as well! Bucks' Draft Review: David Aldridge and Kenny 'the Jet' Smith http://www.nba.com/video/channels/draft/20...review_mil.nba/ NBA TV breaks down the Bucks' overall draft with a heavy emphasis on Larry and a breakdown of why they love the pick. David Aldridge and Kenny 'the Jet' Smith are featured in this breakdown. Bucks' Draft Review: Coach Lawrence Frank (former NJ Nets HC), David Aldridge, and Ron Thompson http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2...aft_review.nba/ Yet another Draft Review of the Bucks from NBA TV this time with Coach Lawrence Frank, Ron Thompson, and David Aldridge. This 3:08 video segment breaks down the picks and all of the analysts were quite optimistic that Larry will be a great fit in Milwaukee! Aldridge says that the Bucks have a bright future ahead with Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut having their best basketball ahead of them. "With Mbah Moute on the perimeter, Larry Sanders in the back, and Brandon Jennings harrassing people out front, you have a team that will take on the identity of its' coach, and those are the teams that usually wind up being successful."

I doubt he goes that high actually. He's likely a late teens into the mid-20's pick. He's worked out for 14 NBA teams and cancelled 2 workouts with Memphis and Atlanta. One cool tidbit is that if Sanders' projections hold and he goes in the first round of the draft tonight at Madison Square Garden, VCU will be the only school in history of college basketball in the state of Virginia to have back-to-back first round NBA draft picks (Eric Maynor went 20th overall to Utah last year). With 2 ACC schools in Virginia and Virginia Tech, and strong mids such as George Mason, Old Dominion, and Richmond, this is pretty impressive for us. The Ram Nation is pretty excited today! I predict he goes to the Celtics. They need a fast, rangy big man to run with Rondo. And, someone to spell Perkins in the interior. Sanders is a perfect fit, and could extend Garnett's career by a year or two. Most guys in our fan base would agree with you Captain K, he looks like a great fit in Boston. With Rasheed Wallace retiring, they'll need a big. There aren't many big men in this draft who run the floor like Larry does and Rondo loves to get out in transition. With Ray Allen possibly moving on though, they might also be looking at a 2 guard as a contingency plan. There's a lot of uncertainty now with Ray Allen, Rasheed Wallace retiring, and Doc Rivers leaning towards leaving. There have been rumors that the Bucks promised him at 15 (which they deny) and the Bulls apparently like him at 17 as well: http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/post...ulls-might-pick This link has a video outlining why Larry would be a good fit for Chicago with analysts Doug Gottlieb and Tim Legler breaking down his game. The video clips have some of his games against Akron too, so you guys get a little face-time as well.

I doubt he goes that high actually. He's likely a late teens into the mid-20's pick. He's worked out for 14 NBA teams and cancelled 2 workouts with Memphis and Atlanta. One cool tidbit is that if Sanders' projections hold and he goes in the first round of the draft tonight at Madison Square Garden, VCU will be the only school in history of college basketball in the state of Virginia to have back-to-back first round NBA draft picks (Eric Maynor went 20th overall to Utah last year). With 2 ACC schools in Virginia and Virginia Tech, and strong mids such as George Mason, Old Dominion, and Richmond, this is pretty impressive for us. The Ram Nation is pretty excited today!

Humpty is indeed transferring to JMU.

There are rumblings that Humpty will be transferring to play at James Madison in the CAA. They have been recruiting a good number of players from Ohio (Devon Moore, Julius Wells and this year signed Rashawn Goins and James Millen from Cincinatti State) so this wouldn't be too much of a surprise.

Absolutely love the part about ESPN downgrading yet another player because he went to a "little" program instead of a "big" program. This only reconfirms that those amateur sports talent evaluators have no self-confidence in their own evaluations, and with good reason. As always, your comments are interesting, informative, and welcome here. With all due respect to the VCU program, I'd just like to see the "student" (Shaka) not getting so far ahead of the "teacher" (KD) in the volume of quality recruits to their respective programs. Haha I can understand your position on that. Honestly, I'm not so worried as much anymore about the bias recruiting services show towards mid-major recruits, as they get to prove their worth on the court anyway. At the end of the day, we get the player, they can keep their arbitrary numbers. If Henry ends up being an NBA player, who cares what ESPN graded him? We have had the privilege of having 2 NBA first-rounders in the draft back to back in these past 2 years. Eric Maynor went to the Utah Jazz with the 20th pick last year and Larry Sanders is a projected mid-first round pick this year leaving early after 3 years at VCU. Maynor was a Scout two-star, and so was Larry (who also was a 78 ESPN grade). Does anyone care now? Nope. Recruits don't ask what Scout/ESPN/Rivals grades your players had when you sent them to the NBA, they just go "Wow, VCU has put out 2 NBA first-rounders the last 2 years, I can get to the NBA from there." Dambrot got a highly-rated kid in Marshall, but when he got in the floor he had to grow like every big man out there. You don't dominate the game on virtue of a star rating. Dambrot will bring out the beast in him I'm sure and we'll have our hands full up there the season after next. Who knows? If he goes to the NBA, you may have a lot of scouting services downgrading rankings when they sign with Akron! Let's hope so; it means programs like us are doing it right!

Hey Zips fans! We're pretty psyched about nabbing Henry and by all accounts he's a great person as well as a basketball player. His grandfather favored VCU throughout his recruitment despite offers from West Virginia, Xavier, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, and Dayton (per Henry). He unfortunately passed away the week before Henry made his commitment to VCU. He was one of VCU's top 3 targets for the 2011 class and is thought of as a Big East caliber guard by our staff. Coach Dambrot was recruiting him very heavily last summer as the Akron staff was at every one of his games over the summer circuit. He backed off when the big boys started calling in the fall however. Henry actually visited VCU during the Bracketbuster matchup with Akron in February and witnessed the game between our two squads which was somewhat ironic since both programs were recruiting him. Whether the outcome pushed him one way or the other I don't know, but we're glad to have him. He'll be coming to the JAR the season after this upcoming one for the return bracketbuster game. He was our highest-rated ESPN recruit (92) since ESPN started recruiting grades but was downgraded to a 90 after the commitment. Dambrot obviously has a good eye for talent and knows how to pursue under the radar guys with big talent...it's just a matter of time before he lands one like he did with Zeke. I have more respect now for Dambrot because of what I've seen with Shaka who is recruiting his TAIL off and bringing in high-character, high-talent guys. Our last 3 recruits have been ESPN 90+ recruits, and the last 7 over the class of 2010 (5) and class of 2011 (2) are all Rivals 3 star recruits. Dambrot's starting his own coaching tree methinks. I tip my cap to you guys for that. You've got a good one there.

I just want to say as a guy who watched the Zips the last 3 years, I really loved Jeremiah Wood's game. The guy could play despite his relative height disadvantage. The kid was a warrior and I'm sure he's doing well overseas wherever he's playing. He had a ton of heart.