Defending Atlantic 10 champion VCU has a new coach and an influx of transfers.
And yet there’s a bit of familiarity within the Rams’ program.
Five members of last year’s NCAA tournament team remained even as former coach Ryan Odom left for Virginia and Bryant’s Phil Martelli Jr. was hired to replace him.
Toss in Barry Evans, a Second Team All-America East pick last season, and Keyshawn Mitchell coming off stints playing for Martelli, and half of VCU’s roster has familiarity either with the program or the new coach.
“The days where everybody is looking at me like I’m crazy, they can go ‘Look, this is why,’” Martelli said of the two players who accompanied him to Richmond. “They help bridge that gap. Because of the success they’ve had in our program, their development, the jumps that they’ve made, they can tell these guys if you look in here, you’re going to take a big jump, and we’ve seen that already.”
Martelli is quick to place considerable value on the holdovers from last year. Sure, there’s the residue of winning, but he’s made it a point to praise the quality of the people who populated VCU’s program a year ago.
For guard Brandon Jennings, a sophomore who became a popular player at the Siegel Center even while averaging only 13.0 minutes a game, the choice to remain had a great deal to do with people, too.
“It was a stressful process, but the community and the staff beyond the coaches themselves just made it easy,” Jennings said. “I had small talks with Martelli, J-Wall [director of sports medicine for men’s basketball Josh Wall], all of the support staff around staff to help make that decision.”
The Rams have remained an annual contender in the Atlantic 10 regardless of their coach. In 13 years in the conference, VCU has advanced to nine NCAA tournaments under four different coaches.
Martelli will try to add to that legacy, and is likely to do so with an appealing style. His two teams at Bryant ranked third and sixth nationally in KenPom.com’s adjusted tempo metric.
“We want to be up tempo, we want to be aggressive, we want to be disruptive on defense, things like that will always be part of our program and really fit well with this group,” Martelli said.
A look at the Rams
Coach: Phil Martelli Jr., first season at VCU, 43-25 in two seasons overall.
Last year: The Atlantic 10’s most efficient team at both ends of the court, the Rams had winning streaks of six and nine games during conference play and clinched the top seed in the league tournament with a game to spare. After going 15-3 in the A-10, VCU upended St. Bonaventure, Loyola Chicago and George Mason to win the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. As a No. 11 seed, the Rams fell to BYU in the first round to complete a 28-7 season --- their most victories since going 29-7 in 2011-12.
They’ll miss: The top five scorers from a conference champion. Among the departures from a senior-laden team in Ryan Odom’s final season were Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Max Shulga (15.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg), Joe Bamisile (15.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg), Zeb Jackson (10.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg), Phillip Russell (10.3 ppg) and Jack Clark (9.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg).
Impact returners: The lone returnee who started any games last season is 6-foot-10 senior Christian Fermin (4.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg), who ranked second on the team with 47 blocks.
Three other members of last year’s rotation will try to expand their roles, including Terrence Hill Jr. (3.4 ppg), Michael Belle (2.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Brandon Jennings (2.7 ppg). The biggest leap could come from Jennings, who logged time in every game last season despite being part of a backcourt with considerable college basketball experience. He is a preseason all-defensive team pick in the A-10.
“Those guys fit us,” Martelli said. “It’s a little different style than they played last year, but they do fit us with the up-tempo style, the way that we play, switching at times that we do on the defensive end, the versatility. They all bring some version of that, and they’re all very competitive.”
Newcomers of note: Martelli and his staff collected a robust transfer class to fill out his first VCU team.
Both Barry Evans (13.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and Keyshawn Mitchell (8.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg) followed him from Bryant, and both figure to be important frontcourt contributors.
There is considerable high-level experience on the perimeter, with Tyrell Ward (9.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg at LSU in 2023-24) and Jadrian Tracey (6.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg at Oregon last season). Plus, sophomores Jordann Dumont (1.8 ppg in 20 games at Villanova) and Ahmad Nowell (1.5 ppg in 18 games at Connecticut) are intriguing prospects.
Also in the mix is junior forward Lazar Djokovic (7.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg at College of Charleston), who began his career at Xavier, and promising freshman guard Nyk Lewis from Washington, D.C.
Reasons to be optimistic: Nowell is a good representative of what this VCU roster is about. A tough Philadelphia guard with a reputation for making players around him better, he didn’t have much of a platform last season at Connecticut. Still, his reputation helped him earn a third team preseason all-conference nod this fall.
“We have a bunch of guys that are hungry that way and eager to prove themselves,” Martelli said. “The work ethic from the group and from him in particular is outstanding.”
There is plenty to prove, too. No one on the Rams besides Evans has averaged double figures in a college basketball season.
X factor: Ward was a 41.3 percent shooter from 3-point range two seasons ago at LSU, but he sat out last season. He could be a breakout option for the Rams, and was one of three VCU players (along with Evans and Tracey) to earn second team all-conference honors in the preseason.
“He’s been great,” Martelli said. “I love having him. Watching him grow and get better and get more comfortable is huge. I see his joy walking into the gym, and that’s what you’re looking for.”
Circle the date: Martelli’s tenure opens Nov. 3 at home against Wagner. For pure intrigue, though, it’s hard to beat the Rams’ Nov. 17 trip to N.C. State, which is in its first season under former VCU coach Will Wade.
Bottom line: The coaches change, but the expectations remain the same at VCU. The Rams’ previous six head coaches all made the NCAA tournament by their second season, and four of the last five won 20 games in their first year with the program. Expect VCU to contend for a second consecutive Atlantic 10 title.
Patrick Stevens is a veteran college basketball writer that has worked for The Washington Post, Syracuse Media Group and The Washington Times. He has written selected pieces for the Atlantic 10 since 2013.