Atlantic 10 Basketball: Biggest 2022 offseason needs for each team

VCU (3rd)

Returning: G Ace Baldwin Jr (11.4 ppg, 5.5 apg), G Jayden Nunn (8.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg), C Jalen Deloach (4.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg), W Nick Kern Jr (2.0 ppg), F Jamir Watkins (7.2 ppg in 2020-21)

Leaving: F Vince Williams Jr (14.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg/Graduate), W KeShawn Curry (11.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg/Graduate), F Hason Ward (6.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg/Transfer-Iowa St), G Marcus Tsohonis (5.1 ppg/Transfer), C Levi Stockard III (4.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg/Graduate), F Mikeal Brown-Jones (4.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg/Transfer)

VCU’s young backcourt of Ace Baldwin and Jayden Nunn will now become the team’s foundation as the two sure performers on a team of high-ceiling question marks. Jalen Deloach is the lone man remaining from last year’s four man rotation at the center spot and ready or not, is the likely starter down low.

Last offseason, the wing starter candidates were a bunch of one-way players but Vince Williams Jr and KeShawn Curry rounded out their games and ended up top three on the Rams in minutes. This year, Coach Mike Rhoades will hope to see similar growth from a scorer returning from injury (Jamir Watkins) and a pair of athletic defenders (Nick Kern Jr, Josh Banks).

Needs

1. Scoring Forward

VCU’s most daunting task is replacing the 25.1 ppg that Williams and Curry combined for last season, and getting back Watkins, who scored double-digits in four of his last seven games as a freshman, can’t be the only move.  The Rams swung for the fences early, bringing in a former Top 100 recruit, Michigan transfer Zeb Jackson, who played sparingly for the Wolverines but scored 25.7 ppg throughout his high school career.

If VCU cannot pick up another option then they could end up looking for smaller contributions from a group of guys, Kern, Banks and Top 100 freshman Alphonso Billups, who considers himself more of an all-around player.

2. Starting Caliber Center

While Deloach showed flashes that indicate that he could have seized a starting role without the other options leaving, Rhoades would likely love to bring in some quality competition, which may be necessary given his penchant for rotating multiple quality centers.  In the midst of this writing, VCU landed an option for that rotation, another Michigan transfer in Brandon Johns Jr, who has been a quality bench big for four years.

While Johns may not contribute a ton offensively, he’s a very strong player who will play quality defense and attack the boards, leaving VCU to look for one more big who can either space the floor or provide extra shot-blocking.

Perfect Addition: W Zeb Jackson, Michigan

It’s hard to find a better fit for VCU than the guy they already got. A former Top 100 recruit who was a prolific high school scorer, Jackson went through bad circumstances, debuting in the screwed up 2020-21 season and then leaving the team twice for separate illnesses last year.  There’s a strong case to be made that Jackson’s poor Michigan performance should be thrown out and he can still be a great wing scorer.

There’s also an information connection between the two programs as Director of Basketball Operations Jimmy Martelli is the son of Michigan assistant coach Phil Martelli, who likely gave a great breakdown of what wrong for Jackson at Michigan, with the VCU coaches being confident that they can fix it.

Richmond (6th)

Returning: W Andre Gustavsson (4.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg), F Matt Grace (4.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg)

??: F Tyler Burton (16.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg/NBA Draft)

Leaving: C Grant Golden (13.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg/Graduate), G Jacob Gilyard (13.3 ppg, 5.2 apg/Graduate), F Nathan Cayo (9.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg/Graduate), W Nich Sherod (6.0 ppg/Graduate), G Isaiah Wilson (2.3 ppg/Transfer)

Welcome to the Matt Grace era! The hero of the A-10 Championship Game will take on a much larger role in his final season, as will the lone returning starter, Andre Gustavsson.  But despite losing four graduate players, Richmond still has nearly a full roster that is familiar with each other, after taking advantage of the extra year roster rule and adding some extra freshmen who redshirted last year.  The Spiders’ biggest storyline remains the future of leading scorer Tyler Burton, who is going to receive NBA Draft feedback before making a final decision.

Needs

1. Starting Point Guard

Richmond is the first team to ever need to replace a five-year starter at point guard with Jacob Gilyard graduating, and also have the added challenge of his backup, Isaiah Wilson, transferring.  One of the redshirted freshmen, Jason Nelson, got to spend last year practicing under the tutelage of Gilyard, but even if he is ready, the Spiders need to bring in another option to at least serve as his backup.

2. Tyler Burton

While the Spiders have a lot of talent amongst the young players who will enter the rotation this year, it would take just about all of them hitting their ceiling for Richmond to finish in the top half without Burton.  His return would give Richmond a top contender for A-10 POY, a star to carry their offense in tough times and provide elite rebounding from a forward spot.  Burton is ineligible to be the Spiders’ dream addition because him leaving would be a nightmare.

Perfect Addition: G Tyree Appleby, Florida

Appleby has one year of eligibility remaining and could be a great bridge from Gilyard to Nelson at the point guard spot. And while he struggled offensively last year, Appleby once put up 17.2 ppg in his final season at a mid-major (Cleveland St) and would get the chance to lead the Spiders offense if Burton doesn’t return.