22. VCU Rams
Likely departures
- Terrence Hill (15 ppg and 2.8 apg)
- Jadrian Tracey (9.6 ppg and 2.8 rpg)
- Barry Evans (7.2 ppg and 4.9 rpg)
Likely returneesÂ
- Lazar Djokovic (13.2 ppg and 5.2 rpg)
- Brandon Jennings (8.5 ppg and 2.1 apg)
- Nyk Lewis (8.7 ppg and 4.5 rpg)
- Michael Belle (7.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg)
- Tyrell Ward (5.7 ppg and 2.2 rpg)
- Ahmad Nowell (4.5 ppg and 1.2 rpg)
For many teams outside of the power conferences, the transfer portal will not be kind when it comes to roster contention. And even for VCU, they did take a hit with leading scorer and A-10 6th Man of the Year Hill reportedly set to enter the portal. However, considering how many players still have eligibility on the roster, it’s been a great past week for the program.
All-league big man Djokovic is back, along with the young guard duo of Jennings and Lewis, who’ll have more scoring opportunities with Hill gone. Guys like Ward, Belle, and Nowell played key roles as bench players and even before the portal opens, the Rams already have great depth to work with.Â
Had Hill returned, this is probably a top-15 team at the moment. But even without its leading scorer, VCU has a case of being the early team to beat in the A-10 in 2027.