This preview is part of the Atlantic 10's 2020-21 Men's Basketball Tipoff, which also includes A-10 media day, the preseason poll and awards and the 2020-21 schedule. The previews, written by Patrick Stevens, began on Nov. 10 and will continue through the week. Once released, each preview can be found here.
RICHMOND ESSENTIALS
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It had finally come together for Richmond. After consecutive disappointing seasons, the Spiders had more than turned a corner.
They won 10 of their first 11 (with the lone loss to Auburn), and by season’s end they were clearly the best team in the Atlantic 10 outside of Dayton and heading to Brooklyn for a chance to improve their resume for the NCAA tournament.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, and an offseason of wondering about what could have been. Maybe more than an offseason.
“I don’t think anything like that will ever go away,” senior Grant Golden said. “It was definitely pretty upsetting, especially after the two rough years that we had. To get that far and have it cut short is really disappointing. But I think our team as a whole did a good job of taking that time to adjust and accept it to whatever extent that we could and sort of move on.”
While no team is ever exactly the same as its predecessor, the Spiders have as many knowns as anyone in the conference. They were set to return all five starters until guard Nick Sherod suffered a season-ending knee injury last month, and their top two reserves are also back in the fold.
Golden and guards Blake Francis and Jacob Gilyard are the headliners as Richmond heads into its most anticipated season in perhaps a decade, and the likes of senior Nathan Cayo, juniors Andre Gustavson and Matt Grace and sophomore Tyler Burton will also be key pieces for the preseason Atlantic 10 favorite.
The Spiders may not ever forget how the 2019-20 season ended, but their core group could write a chapter worth remembering even more this winter.
“We’ll probably think about that for the rest of our lives, no matter what happens,” Gilyard said. “But I think it’s definitely going to fuel us this year. We’re just going to take it on the chin and move on.”
A LOOK AT THE SPIDERS:
Coach: Chris Mooney, 16th season at Richmond, 274-222 with the Spiders and 316-261 overall in 18 seasons
Last year: The Spiders are coming off their best season since a Sweet 16 run in 2011. Richmond was 24-7 overall and finished in second in the Atlantic 10 with a 14-4 conference record. On the front end of the schedule, the Spiders beat three power conference opponents (Vanderbilt, Wisconsin and Boston College); on the back end, they won nine of 10 games after the start of February.
They’ll miss: Richmond had its top seven scorers prior to Sherod’s injury, so there’s a lot of continuity in the River City. Jake Wojcik (3.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg), who transferred to Fairfield, is the only player to appear in more than three games last year who is not on the roster.
Impact returners: We could be here for a while listing all of Richmond’s knowns.
There’s Gilyard, the defensive ace (nation-leading 99 steals) who averaged 12.7 points a game and 5.7 assists last season and is a First Team Preseason All-Conference Selection.
Both Golden (13.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg) and Francis (17.7 ppg) are on the Preseason Second Team.
And if that wasn’t enough, the somewhat unheralded 6-7, 225-pound Cayo (8.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg) started all but one game a season ago.
“He is a great ball-handler, which is unique for someone his size and athletic ability, and it really helps us because we’re not having to sacrifice that ball-handling and sense for an athletic player, which sometimes is the case,” Mooney said. “He’s a vastly improved rebounder and defender, and he’s very professional in how he goes about his day-to-day work. Nate is an incredibly valuable player.”
Newbies of note: As loaded as Richmond is for this season, the next generation of Spiders is plenty promising. Isaiah Wilson, a product of the Pittsburgh area, projects as the program’s point guard of the future. Wing Dji Bailey, who originally signed with Wake Forest but was released after a coaching change, was a welcome addition to the recruiting class in the spring.
Mooney also added 6-10 Floridian Andre Weir, who was ranked among the top 20 players in the state, in April.
Reasons to be optimistic: Experience and answers. Francis and Golden are fifth-year seniors. Cayo and Gilyard are in their fourth college seasons. Grace, Gustavson and Tulane transfer Connor Crabtree are each in their third college season. And Sherod, while not able to play, brings an invaluable perspective.
It’s a group that’s mostly grown up in Richmond’s program, through some rough times and last year’s considerable step forward. The pieces also complement each other well. There are three double-digit scorers back, two players who recorded 100 assists (Gilyard and Golden) and two players who made at least 58 three-pointers (Francis and Gilyard). Oh, and Gilyard also averaged more than three steals a game.
In a year of disruption, the Spiders’ continuity will also be an asset. Given the team’s offensive efficiency (30
th nationally in effective field goal percentage, 17
th in the country in turnover percentage and 14
th in Division I in free throw percentage, according to KenPom.com), that’s a good place to build from.
X factor: Who steps in for Sherod, who shot a sizzling 43.8 percent from 3-point range? That would be Burton, who averaged 4.6 points and 3.9 rebounds while logging 14.1 minutes a game as a freshman.
“I think he has a chance to be one of the best players Richmond’s had,” Mooney said. “He’s very fortunate that he’s surrounded by such good, veteran players, but he’s also extremely talented, competitive, versatile and he has a chance to be a great player. We’re all devasted by the news for Nick, but I think the impact of that is Tyler playing that much more and really coming into his own.”
Circle the date: Just how good is Richmond? A Nov. 29 game at blueblood Kentucky should be telling. It’s the third game in five days for the Spiders at the Bluegrass Showcase; they’ll face Detroit and Morehead State in Lexington, Ky., to open the season.
Bottom line: Even without Sherod, there aren’t many teams in the country more experienced and cohesive than the Spiders. With four other starters back, Richmond looks plenty capable of winning the A-10 for the first time since 2011 … and perhaps making even more noise deep into March.
“I just think we’re anxious to play,” Mooney said. “I feel like [being the preseason favorite] is a nice honor and something for us to feel good about briefly and for our fans to feel good about, hopefully, but we need to play.”
Patrick Stevens is a veteran freelance college basketball writer. A former sports reporter for the Washington Times, he has been a contributor to Atlantic10.com for the past seven years. Follow him on Twitter at @D1scourse.