NCAA Basketball: 5 most watchable defenses for 2019-20 season

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 06: Head coach Bruce Pearl of the Auburn Tigers reacts in the first half during the 2019 NCAA Final Four semifinal against the Virginia Cavaliers at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 6, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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HOUSTON, TX – APRIL 02: Fans in the Virginia Commonwealth Rams student section cheer before the National Semifinal game of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship against the Butler Bulldogs at Reliant Stadium on April 2, 2011 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

No. 3 – VCU

After a three-year hiatus, head coach Mike Rhoades is back with a vengeance. After assisting Shaka Smart with one of the most legendary and improbable final four runs we’ve ever seen, Rhoades left the Rams to try and make his own name at Rice University. But after a mostly unsuccessful three-year stint, Rhoades came back home to Virginia Commonwealth University and has the Rams looking better than ever.

With four of the five starters returning from last year’s A-10 regular-season champion team, including their big three seniors, Marcus Evans, De’Riante Jenkins, and Issac Vahn, VCU is easily a top-five mid-major school, especially with their daunting defense. Code-named “Havoc” by the man who invented it, Shaka Smart, VCU runs a full-court 1-2-1-1 zone press that traps whoever has the ball everywhere on the court. The defense ranked 13th in the nation last season in turnovers created per possession and brought back memories of Smart’s 2011 squad that stole the hearts of the college basketball world.

After a first-round exit from the tourney last year, Coach Rhoades is hoping to recreate some of that magic this upcoming season and put the program back on the map as one of the most entertaining squads to watch.

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