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The VCU Rams head into the 2015-16 season without head coach Shaka Smart, but they will expect to compete in the Atlantic 10 and make it to the 2016 NCAA tournament in new head coach Will Wade’s first season.
VCU returns three of their top five scorers from a season ago, who should do well to anchor this young team. Melvin Johnson, JeQuan Lewis and Mo Alie-Cox will hope to get some help from highly-touted recruits like Michael Gilmore, Justin Tillman and Jonathan Williams, who all performed well in 2014-15 but have yet to meet expectations.
Games against the Duke Blue Devils, Cincinnati Bearcats and Florida State Seminoles highlight their non-conference schedule, but the filler teams on this schedule are no easy tasks. Ten of the 12 teams that the Rams face in non-conference play won at least 15 games the previous season, meaning that the tough non-conference slate will be a great way to prepare for the difficulty of A-10 play.
The Atlantic 10 remains one of the marquee non-Power 5 conferences in college basketball and boasts multiple teams capable of making the 2016 NCAA tournament. For the Rams to secure their own trip to the Big Dance, VCU needs to avoid bad losses at home. Other than that, around 20 total wins should be enough to push the Rams into the 2016 NCAA tournament in year one of the post-Shaka Smart era.
The Rams may not be the best team in the A-10, but Wade should have this team competing for the conference title this season and will arguably have a top 25 roster heading into next season. Keep an eye on VCU, because the loss of Smart will not be as damaging to this program as many believe.
Taylor Sturm is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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