Atlantic 10 Basketball Power Rankings: VCU on top after non-conference

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Virginia Commonwealth Rams fans cheer against the Rhode Island Rams during the first half in the Quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 9, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 08: Jacob Gilyard #0 of the Richmond Spiders dribbles against the Duquesne Dukes during the second half in the Second Round of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

#11: Richmond Spiders

It’s fair for Richmond fans to be upset with the team’s current state of affairs, but it’s not all coach Mooney’s fault. His position as head coach hasn’t been made any easier by the decision of former A10 Rookie of the Year De’Monte Buckingham to transfer or the loss of star guard Nick Sherod to a season-ending injury.

Still, the bottom line is that this team should have performed better in the non-con than they did. Big man Grant Golden would be in the Player of the Year mix if the team were more successful, and Jacob Gilyard is averaging 14.9 points and 6.2 assists per game running point. It can’t be said that the Spiders don’t have any talent, and there’s never an excuse for an A10 team losing to any one of Longwood, Wyoming, Hampton, or Oral Roberts, let alone all of them.

Because of the two aforementioned players, the Spiders will stay in a lot of games and maybe even pull some upsets, but they’re hardly a team to be afraid of overall to this point. They’ve won their last two (albeit against bad teams), so it would be huge for their momentum if they could build off that with a win at Dayton in their conference opener. I don’t expect them to do that, but we’ve learned that anything is possible in this year’s A10.

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