# 2012–13 VCU Rams men's basketball team

The 2012–13 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It was the 45th season of the university fielding a men's basketball program. Led by fourth-year head coach Shaka Smart, they played their home games at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. This was the Rams inaugural season in the Atlantic 10 Conference (A10), after spending the past 17 years in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). They finished the season 27–9, 12–4 in A10 play to finish in second place. They advanced to the championship game of the 2013 Atlantic 10 tournament where they lost to Saint Louis. They received an at-large bid to the 2013 NCAA tournament, their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, where they defeated Akron in the first round before losing in the third round to Michigan.

## Preseason

VCU was predicted to finish third in the Atlantic 10 preseason polls, which was released October 4, 2012 in Brooklyn, New York. Junior forward Juvonte Reddic was selected to the preseason Atlantic 10 third team, sophomore guard Brianté Weber was selected to the preseason Atlantic 10 All-Defensive team and freshman guard Melvin Johnson was selected to the preseason Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team.

## 2012–13 incoming team members
### 2012–13 team recruits

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Melvin Johnson SG | Bronx, N.Y. | St.Benedict's Prep | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jul 20, 2012 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| Jordan Burgess SF | Midlothian, VA | Benedictine High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Jun 9, 2011 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| Justin Tuoyo C | Lovejoy, GA | Lovejoy High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | May 13, 2011 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 86 ||||||
| Mo Alie-Cox PF | Lorton, VA | Middleburg Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | May 26, 2011 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 86 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "VCU 2012 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "2012 VCU Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "VCU 2012 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "2012 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. ||||||

## Roster
### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| C | D.J. Haley | | |
| PF | Juvonte Reddic | Jarred Guest | David Hinton |
| SF | Treveon Graham | Justin Tuoyo | |
| SG | Troy Daniels | Brianté Weber | Rob Brandenberg |
| PG | Darius Theus | Teddy Okereafor | Melvin Johnson |

## Offseason

Incoming Freshman Jordan Burgess and Mo Alie-Cox were ruled ineligible to play in the 2012–13 season by NCAA because they were deemed to be partial qualifiers. Burgess was allowed to practice with the team while Alie-Cox was not. Both were able to remain on scholarship and will be eligible to play in 2013–14 as sophomores. The school never gave specifics as to why they were ruled ineligible by the NCAA. Guard Reco McCarver transferred from VCU to Campbell University. Heath Houston also left the team due to knee injuries.

## Rankings

| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | | RV | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 19 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | RV | 21 | 25 | |
| Coaches' | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 19 | 16 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 25 | 19 | 22 | 23 |
RV-Receiving votes

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1* 7:30 pm | | Virginia Union | W 94–44 | 0–0 | Stuart C. Siegel Center Richmond, VA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 9* 7:30 pm | | Florida Gulf Coast | W 80–57 | 1–0 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| November 13* 7:30 pm, ESPNU | | Wichita State | L 51–53 | 1–1 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| November 17* 2:00 pm | | at Winthrop | W 90–54 | 2–1 | Winthrop Coliseum (1,726) Rock Hill, SC |
| November 22* 7:00 pm, NBCSN | | vs. No. 19 Memphis Battle 4 Atlantis tournament quarterfinals | W 78–65 | 3–1 | Imperial Arena (3,258) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 23* 7:00 pm, NBCSN | | vs. No. 5 Duke Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament semifinals | L 58–67 | 3–2 | Imperial Arena (3,474) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 24* 7:00 pm, NBCSN | | vs. No. 13 Missouri Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament 3rd place game | L 65–68 | 3–3 | Imperial Arena (3,451) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 28* 7:30 pm, WTVR 6.3 | | Stetson | W 92–56 | 4–3 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| December 1* 7:00 pm, CSN | | Belmont | W 75–65 | 5–3 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| December 7* 9:00 pm | | at Old Dominion Lumber Liquidators Hardwood Classic | W 83–70 | 6–3 | Ted Constant Convocation Center (8,080) Norfolk, VA |
| December 15* 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | Alabama | W 73–54 | 7–3 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| December 18* 7:00 pm, NBCSN | | WKU | W 76–44 | 8–3 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| December 21* 7:30 pm, WTVR 6.3 | | Longwood | W 93–56 | 9–3 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| December 29* 4:00 pm, WTVR 6.1 | | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 96–67 | 10–3 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| January 2* 7:00 pm | | at East Tennessee State | W 109–58 | 11–3 | Alliance Center (3,066) Johnson City, TN |
| January 5* 5:00 pm, NBCSN | | Lehigh | W 59–55 | 12–3 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| Atlantic 10 regular season ||||||
| January 9 7:00 pm | | Dayton | W 74–62 | 13–3 (1–0) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| January 12 4:00 pm, WTVR 6.3 | | at St. Bonaventure | W 72–65 | 14–3 (2–0) | Reilly Center (4,675) St. Bonaventure, NY |
| January 17 9:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 22 | Saint Joseph's | W 92–86 $^{OT}$ | 15–3 (3–0) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| January 19 7:00 pm | No. 22 | at Duquesne | W 90–63 | 16–3 (4–0) | Palumbo Center (6,278) Pittsburgh, PA |
| January 24 7:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 19 | at Richmond Capital City Classic | L 74–86 $^{OT}$ | 16–4 (4–1) | Robins Center (9,071) Richmond, VA |
| January 26 8:00 pm | No. 19 | La Salle | L 61–69 | 16–5 (4–2) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| January 30 7:00 pm, WTVR 6.3 | | at Rhode Island | W 70–64 | 17–5 (5–2) | Ryan Center (6,632) Kingston, RI |
| February 2 7:00 pm, WTVR 6.1 | | Fordham | W 81–65 | 18–5 (6–2) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| February 9 7:00 pm | | at Charlotte | W 68–61 | 19–5 (7–2) | Dale F. Halton Arena (8,794) Charlotte, NC |
| February 14 9:00 pm, CBSSN | | Massachusetts | W 86–68 | 20–5 (8–2) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| February 16 7:30 pm, CSN | | George Washington | W 84–57 | 21–5 (9–2) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| February 19 9:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 24 | at Saint Louis | L 62–76 | 21–6 (9–3) | Chaifetz Arena (10,027) St. Louis, MO |
| February 23 2:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 24 | at Xavier | W 75–71 | 22–6 (10–3) | Cintas Center (10,039) Cincinnati, OH |
| March 2 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 20 Butler | W 84–52 | 23–6 (11–3) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| March 6 8:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 21 | Richmond Capital City Classic | W 93–82 | 24–6 (12–3) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| March 10 12:00 pm, CBS | No. 21 | at Temple | L 76–84 | 24–7 (12–4) | Liacouras Center (10,206) Philadelphia, PA |
| Atlantic 10 tournament ||||||
| Mar. 15 6:30 pm, CSN | (2) No. 25 | vs. (10) Saint Joseph's Quarterfinals | W 82–79 | 25–7 | Barclays Center (7,384) Brooklyn, NY |
| Mar. 16 4:00 pm, CBSSN | (2) No. 25 | vs. (6) Massachusetts Semifinals | W 71–62 | 26–7 | Barclays Center (N/A) Brooklyn, NY |
| Mar. 17 1:00 pm, CBS | (2) No. 25 | vs. (1) No. 16 Saint Louis Championship Game | L 56–62 | 26–8 | Barclays Center (N/A) Brooklyn, NY |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar. 21* 9:45 pm, CBS | (5 S) | vs. (12 S) Akron Second Round | W 88–42 | 27–8 | The Palace of Auburn Hills (19,829) Auburn Hills, MI |
| Mar. 23* 12:15 pm, CBS | (5 S) | vs. (4 S) No. 10 Michigan Third Round | L 53–78 | 27–9 | The Palace of Auburn Hills (21,723) Auburn Hills, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region S=South. ||||||

## Accolades
### Honors and awards

Sophomore guard Brianté Weber was named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player Of The Year. Junior forward Juvonte Reddic and Sophomore guard/forward Treveon Graham were named to the Second Team All Atlantic 10. Weber and Senior guard Darius Theus were named to the Atlantic-10 All-Defensive Team. Freshman guard Melvin Johnson was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team.