VCU Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for the Rams

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 15: De'Riante Jenkins #0 of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams celebrates a basket against the Rhode Island Rams during their Atlantic 10 basketball tournament quarterfinal game at Barclays Center on March 15, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: Evans of the Rams reacts. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Overall outlook for the Rams

Hope abounds in the Commonwealth heading into this coming season. The Rams return a ton of pieces from their surprisingly successful team a year ago and there is also enough incoming talent to raise the ceiling for the 2019-20 season.

Coach Rhoades is not simply running it back with the exact same roster as there are plenty of intriguing freshmen poised to play major roles off the bench. And while this might insinuate that VCU will be young and inexperienced, that thought can be dissuaded by the fact that the team is led by a starting five comprised completely of upperclassmen while also featuring two key senior reserves.

VCU projects as a top-10 defensive unit in the entire country this season and will warrant plenty of national attention as a result. “Havoc” will reign supreme in the Siegel Center as fans will be jumping out of their seats with each forced turnover and transition finish. The Rams certainly play an exciting brand of defense and will hopefully improve on the offensive end this season. There are reasons to believe that the Rams will exhibit better perimeter shooting this season and that will also help open up the paint for their big men.

From a preseason rankings perspective, VCU is entering this season ranked as the No. 25 team in the country by the AP poll. Additionally, the squad comes in at No. 17 in our Busting Brackets’ preseason power rankings while landing a No. 5 seed in our way-too-early bracketology. Hopes are high for the Rams and they could even exceed those expectations if everything bounces the right way. This is a very talented, experienced, tough, and well-coaches squad capable of catching the attention of the nation.

Next. Preseason top-25 national power rankings. dark

That concludes this season preview for the VCU Rams. The team looks poised for a massively successful campaign and it will be interesting to see if they can live up to the hype.