RICHMOND, Va. — VCU will open it’s season in South Dakota Basketball tournament
RICHMOND, Va. — VCU was originally going to take on the No. 12 ranked Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville on Friday, but the Tennessee men’s basketball team has paused all basketball activities after head coach Rick Barnes and several other members in the program tested positive for COVID-19.
VCU will now open its 2020-2021 season on Wednesday night, November 25, 2020, traveling to Sioux Falls, S.D., for the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic to take on Utah State. They will be replacing Wichita State who had to drop out of the tournament because of positive COVID-19 tests.
The Rams are led by Mike Rhoades, who is heading into his fourth year as head coach of the black and gold. VCU is very much a new-look team this year. They have no returning starters from the previous year and lost six players in total. The Rams have brought in four freshmen recruits, two of which (Ace Baldwin and Jamir Watkins) should see significant playing time according to reports and they have two transfers in Levi Stockard III and Brenden Medley-Bacon. As much as things change, they also stay the same so expect VCU to be one of the best defensive and high-energy teams in the country.
The Utah State Aggies are coached by Craig Smith and led by juniors Neemias Queta and Justin Bean. The Aggies are coming off back-to-back Mountain West Tournament championships, making it just one of four teams in conference history to win back-to-back tournament titles. In their last game the Aggies took down the No. 5 ranked team in the country San Diego State, to win the conference tournament championship. Utah State will have to find a way to replace the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and 19.7 PPG scorer, Sam Merrill. Merrill was selected in the second round of the NBA draft last week by the Milwauke Bucks. More touches and shots attempts from Bean and Queta is most likely where they will start their search.
The players to watch for both teams are Neemias Queta for the Aggies and Nah’Shon Hyland for the Rams.
Neemias Queta is a 7-0 foot, 245 lbs center from Barreiro, Portugal, has been a menace to opposing teams since he stepped foot into the Mountain West conference in 2018-2019. Quetta was named Mountain West Freshman of the Year and Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year his freshman season. Queta averaged 13 ppg, 8.5 rpg on 61.% FG. The portagues rim protector was named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Watch List for the second consecutive year. The annual honor recognizes the top centers in men’s college basketball and the initial watch list includes 20 student-athletes from across the nation.
Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland is a 6-3 sophomore point guard, with next-level creativity. There isn’t much he can’t do with the basketball in his hands. He can dribble, pass, or shoot his way through any opposition. Hyland averaged 9 PPG on 43% shooting and 43% from beyond the arc while backing up Marcus Evans last season. Hyland broke the VCU record for most three points made by a freshman last season. Hylands impressive freshman campaign resulted in him being named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team in 2019-20 and named to the All-Atlantic 10 Conference Preseason Third Team this season.
Outside of the team, there may not be high expectations for VCU Basketball after being ranked 9th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll but don’t be surprised if these young Rams find their way into the Big Dance this March.
The game is scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m. est Wednesday, November 25th, and will be broadcasted live on ESPN 2. VCU’s next game will either be against West Virginia or South Dakota State on Thanksgiving Day.
