The VCU Rams men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball team that represents Virginia Commonwealth University. The Rams joined the Atlantic 10 Conference in the 2012–13 season after previously competing in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The team is currently coached by Phil Martelli Jr.
Since 1999, the team has played home basketball games at the E.J. Wade Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, Virginia on the university's Monroe Park campus. Virginia Commonwealth has made it to the NCAA Final Four once in its program's history, in 2011. Additionally, the Rams won the 2010 CBI tournament and have won twelve conference tournaments; three being in the Sun Belt Conference, five being in the Colonial Athletic Association, and four in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Rams have also won fourteen regular season championships; four in the Sun Belt, five in the CAA, and five in the Atlantic 10. The official student supporter group is known as the Rowdy Rams.
The team is known for its Final Four run in the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. While the team had made nine NCAA tournament appearances beforehand, never had the Rams made it beyond the second round of the tournament. In 2011, the Rams' journey to the Final Four began in one of the four opening round games, commonly called "play-in" games, intended to narrow the field from 68 to 64 teams. Thus, VCU became the first team to advance from the "First Four" to the Final Four.
In another NCAA tournament-first, VCU became the first team ever to forfeit a game in the NCAA tournament when their First Round game in the 2021 NCAA tournament was declared a no-contest due to several positive COVID-19 tests in the VCU program.
VCU reached the NCAA tournament a state record seven consecutive times from 2011 to 2017.
History The VCU Rams men's basketball program was founded in 1968, at the same time as the merger of the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia. In the 1968–69 season as an independent team, the program played its first ever season. The Rams were coached by Benny Dees and assisted by Landy Watson and Vann Brackin for their first two seasons, Dees led the team to two winning records, before being replaced by Chuck Noe. It would take ten more seasons before the Rams appeared in a postseason tournament, earning a berth into the 1978 National Invitation Tournament being eliminated in the first round by University of Detroit Mercy.
Under the coaching of J.D. Barnett, the Rams earned fourth berths into the NCAA tournament, each being their first four berths, the first coming in 1980. During Barnett's six years coaching the team, only twice did the Rams not win the Sun Belt Conference.
The Rams became the first team to sweep the best of three championship series in the College Basketball Invitational post-season tournament on their way to becoming the 2010 CBI champions. It is the first post-season tournament championship, excluding conference tournaments, in the history of the program.
The Sun Belt Years VCU received their first bid to the NCAA tournament in the 1979–80 season with an 18–12 overall record and Sun Belt Conference tournament championship led by then first-year head coach J.D. Barnett in VCU's first season in the Sun Belt. They entered the tournament as a No. 12 seed in the East Region and were eliminated in the first round by No. 5 Iowa.
It would not be long before the Rams returned to the tournament. The following year the Rams posted a 24–5 record on their way to the Sun Belt conference regular season and conference tournament championships. The Rams entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed in the East region and defeated No. 12 Long Island before being eliminated by No. 4 Tennessee in overtime in the second round 58–56.
The Rams would return to the tournament in 1983. The Rams, the No. 5 seed in the East region, defeated No. 12 seed La Salle in the first round and were eliminated in the second round by No. 4 seed Georgia 56–54, which was a similar margin to their loss in the 1981 tournament. The 1984 tournament held similar results for the Rams squad. They entered the tournament as a No. 6 seed in the East Region and defeated No. 11 Northeastern before being eliminated by No. 3 Syracuse. The second-round losses in the NCAA tournament by VCU in 1981, 1983, and 1984 were to teams with first-round byes before the tournament expanded to 64 teams for the 1984–85 season and byes were eliminated.
In the 1984–85 season the Rams once again made it to the newly expanded 1985 NCAA tournament. The Rams entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the West region, the highest seeding they have ever received in the tournament. The Rams defeated No. 15 Marshall in the first round, but unfortunately their luck had not changed in the second-round and they were upset by No. 7 Alabama 63–59.
During his tenure, head coach J.D. Barnett from 1979 to 1985, led the Rams to five NCAA tournament appearances (1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, and 1985) while capturing four Sun Belt regular season conference championships (1981, 1983, 1984, and 1985) and three Sun Belt Conference tournament championships (1980, 1981, and 1985). He was 132–48 overall and 59–19 in conference play during his time at VCU.
The Rams next stint in the post-season came under head coach Mike Pollio in the 1988 NIT where they would reach the quarterfinals before ultimately falling to Connecticut 69–60. The Rams posted wins over Marshall and Southern Miss in the first and second rounds, respectively.
The Rams remained in the Sun Belt Conference until 1991 when they joined the Metro Conference. VCU was left out of the 1995 merger of the Metro and Great Midwest Conference that created Conference USA. They instead joined the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) for the 1995–96 season.
The CAA Days In their first season as members of the CAA, the Rams posted a 24–9 overall record, going 14–2 in conference play en route to the CAA regular season and conference tournament championships. The Rams earned the right to go dancing in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1985, but fell in the first round as the No. 12 seed in the Southeast Region to No. 5 Mississippi State.
Jeff Capel era The VCU men's basketball team would return to prominence in the 2003–04 season under then second-year head coach Jeff Capel. Following a second place conference finish in his debut season, Capel led the Rams to a 23–8 overall record, going 14–4 in conference play and capturing the CAA regular season and conference tournament championships. In the 2004 NCAA tournament, the Rams were awarded the No. 13 seed in the East region and faced No. 4 Wake Forest in the first round. The Rams led for much of the second half and had a chance to win towards the end despite the Wake Forest comeback, but ultimately fell 79–78.
Jeff Capel originally joined VCU as an assistant in 2001 and at the time of his promotion to the head coaching position in 2002 was the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I basketball at 27 years old. During his time as the head coach with VCU, Capel compiled a 79–41 record. In April 2006, Capel resigned as head coach to accept the same position with Oklahoma. He was replaced by Anthony Grant, formerly an assistant and associate head coach for several years to Billy Donovan, including the 2006 NCAA champions Florida Gators.
Anthony Grant era In his first year as head coach, Anthony Grant led the Rams to a school-record 28 wins. The Rams finished the season 28–7, also setting a school and CAA conference record with 16 wins in conference play. Grant, who also set a school record for most wins by a first-year head coach, was named the CAA Coach of the Year. The Rams were 16–2 in conference play and captured the CAA regular season championship before capturing the CAA conference tournament championship in thrilling fashion as Eric Maynor burst onto the national scene by scoring 9 points in the final 1:55 to bury the George Mason Patriots, finishing with 14 of his 20 points in the second half. Maynor also had 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in the victory.
The Rams entered the 2007 NCAA tournament as the No. 11 seed in the West Region and upset the No. 6 seed Duke 79–77 on a game-winning bucket from just beyond the free-throw line by Eric Maynor in the final seconds of the game.
The Rams good fortune did not continue into the next round, however, where they were eliminated by the No. 3 seed Pittsburgh Panthers. The Rams squad showed outstanding poise in the second-half by forcing overtime after trailing 41–26 at halftime. They would go on to lose by a score of 84–79.
The next year the Rams would win their second straight CAA regular season championship, posting a 24–8 overall record, 15–3 in conference play, but fall short in the conference tournament in a heartbreaking upset to William & Mary in the semi-finals. The Rams missed an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament but instead received an invitation to play in the NIT. The Rams heartbreak continued as they were upset on their home court in the first round by old-time Sun Belt Conference rival, UAB 80–77 as a late comeback fell just short.
The 2008–09 season was another successful one for the VCU program. The Rams finished the season with a mark of 24–10 overall, going 14–4 in a hotly contested CAA and sealing the deal on a three-peat as CAA regular season champions for only the second time in CAA conference history and the second time in school history, the first coming during the Rams time in the Sun Belt Conference. The Rams would not fall short again and captured the CAA Conference tournament championship for the fourth time since joining the conference capped by a 71–50 rout of rival George Mason in the final. The 21-point margin was the largest margin of victory in a CAA conference tournament championship game. Larry Sanders set CAA conference tournament championship records for the Rams with 20 rebounds and 7 blocks in the victory.
So once again, the Rams headed to the NCAA tournament as a No. 11 seed in the East Region. The Rams were eliminated by the No. 6 seed UCLA Bruins in a hard-fought game 65–64.
Anthony Grant posted an impressive 76–25 record in his three seasons as the head coach at VCU. He was 52–10 versus CAA opponents, including conference tournaments, capturing three straight CAA regular season conference championships and two CAA conference tournament championships. He led VCU to two NCAA tournament berths and one NIT berth before departing the program to take over the head coaching position at Alabama. Eric Maynor would go on to be drafted No. 20 in the 2009 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz.
Shaka Smart era
From 2009 to 2015, the Rams were led by Shaka Smart, who had been previously an assistant coach for Florida. Prior to Florida, Smart served as an assistant coach at Clemson, Akron and California (Pa.) and a director of operations at Dayton. During his introductory press conference, he promised that his teams would "wreak havoc on our opponents [sic] psyche and their plan of attack." Smart's teams have employed a basketball philosophy nicknamed Havoc since that point.