VCU All-Time Tournament

Natty

Natty

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I'm looking for the best 8 VCU Teams off all time for a hypothetical tournament of the best of the Black and Gold.

Who are they?

Some to consider...

80-81 Barnett (24-5, NCAA 2nd round)
82-83 Barnett (24-7, NCAA 2nd round)
84-85 Barnett (26-6, NCAA 2nd round)
95-96 Smith (24-9, NCAA 1st round)
03-04 Capel (23-8, NCAA 1st round)
06-07 Grant (28-7, NCAA 2nd round)
08-09 Grant (24-10, NCAA 1st round)
77-78 Kirk (24-5, NIT 1st round)
09-10 Smart (27-9, CBI Champs)
Click to expand...

But who would win?
 
I'm of the younger generation so I don't know much about the older teams but I gotta go with 06-07 Grant (28-7, NCAA 2nd round). They almost beat the #3 Pitt, showing the Duke win wasn't lucky - that's what gets it for me.
 
'84-'85. Hands down in my mind.

The guys were ranked #11 in the country! They were a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament. A 2 SEED! They should have gone a lot further in the tournament that year and were upset by a 7-seed in Alabama. Can you imagine the thought of that? Being upset by a 7-seed?

Our losses that year were to Louisville, South Florida, UAB, JMU, Memphis and then we were upset by Alabama in the second round. Pretty impressive. Our wins included a season-sweep of ODU's best team as far as NBA talent, winning 3 games including the Sun Belt Championship Game in what was virtually a home game for ODU at Hampton Coliseum. Other wins included Auburn, Dayton, Virginia Tech, South Florida, West Virginia, Charlotte (3x), Western Kentucky (2x) and Richmond (2x). Can you imagine playing and performing that well against that schedule today? :shock:

We had one of the top backcourts in the nation in Calvin Duncan and Rolando Lamb and Mike Schlegel is as proficient a frontcourt player as ever played for the Rams despite playing out of position. A heck of a team to be sure and the runaway winner in my mind.
 
Sleeper pick (if you can call one of these a sleeper) is the 03-04 squad. That team went toe to toe with a Wake Forest squad that had Chris Paul, plus a couple other all-ACC guys.
 
that 03-04 team was super dangerous--and, mark my words, would have made the sweet 16 that year had Justin Grey not hit three 3 pointers in a row down the stretch for them with us up 7. We woulda faced Flores and Manhattan in the second round (they had waxed Florida) and I really feel like we would have beaten them.
Saint Joe's would have been tough with Jameer Nelson, but it would not have been completely impossible.
 
I think its a no brainer - the 84-85 team. If I'm not mistaken that Alabama team had at least a couple of future NBA players. I do know the guy who killed us was a 1st round pick and had a decent NBA career, Buck Johnson.

I'm not sure how this is even a debate.
 
For some of the younger people who don't understand the signifigance of the mid 80's VCU Basketball Program it would be hard to look back at the pre-Grant era. It is no question in terms of what team was the best. 84-85. This is a team that was ranked 11th in the nation when there was only a top 20 not top 25. That stood againts the likes of Duke and Carolina, Indiana,Michigan,UVA (Ralph Sampson Era)...the big time programs..and I agree that to be in the tournament and to be a 2 seed, that in itself speaks volumes to what kind of team we had. Also it was harder to get in the tournament because this was a field of 53 not 64. So the odds of even getting in the tournament were even harder. Lastly VCU was still a relatively new School still less than 20 years old..known as a commuter school....I concur 84-85 Hands Down :ugeek: :ugeek: :ugeek:
 
Call me crazy...but I think the 09-10 Rams could hang with any of these teams. NBA big man, solid PG, and some guys who can hit the long ball. They did terrible in conference, but put together perhaps the best OOC resume we've seen in a while.
 
Of the choices listed here, I credit 09-10 with the most potential. There's never been a Rams' unit with so much quality depth and the ability to play top-tier programs at such a giddy-up. Sanders inside presence defensively allowed the Rams to fear no one. VCU never backed down and never looked out-classed.

But in terms of pure talent, how about 73-74 ...

Jesse Dark, NBA '74 second-round, 32nd overall, by Knicks
Bernard Harris, NBA '74 fourth-round, 63rd overall, Buffalo
Richard Jones, NBA '75, fifth round, 90th overall, Washington

VCU was 17-7 that year, finishing with 12 straight wins. Memorable triumphs were over Texas A&M, Centenary (with Robert Parish) and at Detroit (coached by Dickie V).

To keep ON TOPIC, VCU did play (and win) a tournament in '73-'74 - it was in Spain, prior to start of regular season. It was the programs' first international pilgrimage and I can't imagine how it was financed.
 
How about the 08-09 Rams team as most talented?

Eric Maynor and Larry Sanders, amazing point guard and dominant big man. 20th pick in the Draft...Larry with a chance to go even higher. They absolutely destroyed George Mason in the CAA final (71-50), and lost by a point to UCLA. If that final shot goes in, do they move to the top of the list?
 
I gotta think 84-85 still takes it. Guys look at who they played and beat! They were #11 in the country! A 2 seed! It's a no-brainer to me.
 
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