Atlantic 10 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

9. VCU Rams

With the departure of a true big man in Marcus Santos Silva, who recently decided to transfer to Texas Tech, the Rams will have a difficult time in the Atlantic 10. Santos Silva was the Rams go-to guy last season and will be tough to replace on this roster.

The Rams lost more senior production than any other team in the conference; De’Riante Jenkins, Marcus Evans, Issac Vann, Mike’l Simms, and Malik Crowfield had all combined as to put up 37.1 points per game. VCU and Mike Rhoades will essentially have to work with an almost entirely new team this season.

The Rams may not be as bad as many expect, however, they are lacking pure talent they have become used to. The Rams had a lot of talent and were projected very high last season but, that didn’t matter because something was clearly off with the team’s culture. On the bright side, the Rams are another team with a highly-rated recruiting class of incoming freshmen.

The Rams are bringing in four three-star recruits who each have the potential to be impact players in their first season. Ace Baldwin and Jamir Watkins are two players to look out for and both considered great scorers.

As for returning players, Bones Hyland is the player to note. Hyland was one of the most exciting freshmen in the conference last season. Hyland will share time with some key veteran assets to this team in Vince Williams, KeShawn Curry, Corey Douglas, and Hason Ward. I do expect the Rams to have a down season, however, I could see this team bounce back in a season or two and could even be back in the conversation of contenders.