# 2019–20 VCU Rams men's basketball team

The 2019–20 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rams were by Mike Rhoades in his third season as head coach at VCU. The Rams played their home games at Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, Virginia as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10).
VCU opened the season with a 6–0 record, making it the first time in program history for the Rams to win their first six games, and were ranked for the first time in three seasons. In February, however, VCU lost seven of their final nine games, giving the program its worst losing streak since the 1997–98 season. This caused the program to finish with a regular season record of 18–13 and 8–10 in conference play. VCU was seeded eighth in the 2020 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament, and were slated to play UMass in the second round. The game, and the tournament, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. VCU finished the season 18–13, making it the 20th consecutive season VCU finished with a winning overall record.

## Previous season

The Rams, surpassing preseason expectations, won the A-10 regular season, posting a 25–8 record and 16–2 record in Atlantic 10 play (their best ever in that league) and earned an at-large bid into the 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. There they lost to UCF in the opening round of the tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Xavier Jackson | 15 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | Hinesville, Georgia | Graduated |
| Michael Gillmore | 22 | F | 6'10" | 210 | RS Senior | Jacksonville, Florida | Graduated |
| Sean Mobley | 5 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Sophomore | Melbourne, Florida | Transferred to UCF |
| P. J. Byrd | 24 | G | 6'1" | 185 | Freshman | Houston, Texas | Transferred to Colorado State |

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Bones Hyland PG | Wilmington, DE | St. Georges Technical High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Jun 4, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Jarren McAllister SF | Wake Forest, NC | Massanutten Military Academy | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Oct 16, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Hason Ward PF | Saint Thomas, Barbados | Springfield Central High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | May 15, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Tre Clark PG | Covington, GA | Newton High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jan 13, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| 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 2019 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 14, 2019. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 14, 2019. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 26, 2019* 7:00 pm | No. 25 | Virginia State | W 90–53 | | 15 – Evans | 8 – Santos-Silva | 3 – Hyland | Siegel Center (5,500) Richmond, VA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:00 pm, MASN | No. 25 | Saint Francis (PA) | W 72–58 | 1–0 | 21 – Santos-Silva | 18 – Santos-Silva | 4 – Evans | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| November 8, 2019* 7:00 pm, MASN | No. 25 | North Texas | W 59–56 | 2–0 | 13 – Evans | 7 – Santos-Silva | 3 – Santos-Silva | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| November 13, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 23 LSU | W 84–82 | 3–0 | 17 – Santos-Silva | 11 – Santos-Silva | 3 – Tied | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| November 17, 2019* 12:00 pm, MASN | | Jacksonville State Emerald Coast Classic first round | W 93–65 | 4–0 | 13 – Simms | 7 – Santos-Silva | 4 – Hyland | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| November 23, 2019* 7:00 pm, MASN | No. 21 | Florida Gulf Coast | W 78–48 | 5–0 | 16 – Evans | 11 – Santos-Silva | 4 – Evans | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| November 25, 2019* 7:00 pm, MASN | No. 20 | Alabama State Emerald Coast Classic second round | W 78–62 | 6–0 | 25 – Evans | 9 – Santos-Silva | 3 – Tied | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| November 29, 2019* 8:30 pm, CBSSN | No. 20 | vs. Purdue Emerald Coast Classic third round | L 56–59 | 6–1 | 19 – Santos-Silva | 6 – Jenkins | 2 – Williams | The Arena at NWFSC Niceville, FL |
| November 30, 2019* 4:00 pm | No. 20 | vs. No. 17 Tennessee Emerald Coast Classic final round | L 69–72 | 6–2 | 22 – Santos-Silva | 11 – Santos-Silva | 4 – Simms | The Arena at NWSFC (2,500) Niceville, FL |
| December 7, 2019* 8:00 pm, MASN | | Old Dominion Rivalry | W 69–57 | 7–2 | 13 – Santos-Silva | 6 – Jenkins | 3 – Tied | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| December 15, 2019* 7:00 pm, MASN | | Missouri State | W 61–51 | 8–2 | 11 – Simms | 6 – Tied | 3 – Evans | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| December 18, 2019* 7:00 pm, FloSports | | at Charleston A10–CAA Challenge | W 76–71 | 9–2 | 17 – Santos-Silva | 11 – Santos-Silva | 4 – Williams | TD Arena (3,938) Charleston, SC |
| December 21, 2019* 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Wichita State | L 63–73 | 9–3 | 15 – Evans | 7 – Jenkins | 2 – Vann | Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS |
| December 29, 2019* 5:00 pm, MASN | | Loyola (MD) | W 85–51 | 10–3 | 15 – Jenkins | 7 – Santos-Silva | 5 – Jenkins | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| Atlantic 10 regular season |||||||||
| January 2, 2020 7:00 pm, MASN | | Fordham | W 64–46 | 11–3 (1–0) | 14 – Simms | 8 – Simms | 6 – Evans | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| January 5, 2020 12:00 pm, NBCSN | | at George Mason Rivalry | W 72–59 | 12–3 (2–0) | 26 – Santos-Silva | 12 – Santos-Silva | 6 – Evans | EagleBank Arena (6,513) Fairfax, VA |
| January 11, 2020 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | Rhode Island | L 56–65 | 12–4 (2–1) | 14 – Jenkins | 14 – Santos-Silva | 4 – Evans | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| January 14, 2020 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at No. 13 Dayton | L 65–79 | 12–5 (2–2) | 16 – Tied | 9 – Santos-Silva | 4 – Evans | UD Arena (13,407) Dayton, OH |
| January 18, 2020 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | St. Bonaventure | W 91–63 | 13–5 (3–2) | 21 – Hyland | 11 – Santos-Silva | 5 – Jenkins | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| January 21, 2020 9:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Saint Joseph's | W 73–60 | 14–5 (4–2) | 13 – Curry | 12 – Santos-Silva | 2 – 4 tied | Hagan Arena (1,725) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 25, 2020 12:00 pm, NBCSN | | at La Salle | W 76–65 | 15–5 (5–2) | 16 – Santos-Silva | 9 – Santos-Silva | 5 – Hyland | Tom Gola Arena (2,841) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 28, 2020 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Richmond Capital City Classic | W 87–68 | 16–5 (6–2) | 15 – Hyland | 8 – Tied | 4 – Crowfield | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| January 31, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Rhode Island | L 75–87 | 16–6 (6–3) | 16 – Hyland | 4 – Vann | 6 – Evans | Ryan Center (7,896) Kingston, RI |
| February 7, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Davidson | W 73–62 | 17–6 (7–3) | 19 – Evans | 7 – Jenkins | 4 – Tied | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| February 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | George Mason | L 67–72 | 17–7 (7–4) | 16 – Jenkins | 7 – Santos-Silva | 4 – Tied | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| February 15, 2020 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Richmond | L 59–77 | 17–8 (7–5) | 14 – Santos-Silva | 12 – Santos-Silva | 3 – Vann | Robins Center (7,201) Richmond, VA |
| February 18, 2020 8:30 pm, CBSSN | | No. 5 Dayton | L 61–66 | 17–9 (7–6) | 18 – Hyland | 17 – Santos-Silva | 2 – 3 tied | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| February 21, 2020 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Saint Louis | L 62–80 | 17–10 (7–7) | 11 – Santos-Silva | 6 – Williams | 2 – 3 tied | Chaifetz Arena (9,234) St. Louis, MO |
| February 26, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UMass | L 52–60 | 17–11 (7–8) | 14 – Santos-Silva | 11 – Santos-Silva | 4 – Hyland | Mullins Center (2,462) Amherst, MA |
| February 29, 2020 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | George Washington | W 75–51 | 18–11 (8–8) | 14 – Simms | 10 – Santos-Silva | 4 – Vann, Hyland | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| March 3, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Duquesne | L 77–80 $^{OT}$ | 18–12 (8–9) | 24 – Santos-Silva | 8 – Santos-Silva | 3 – Clark III | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| March 6, 2020 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Davidson | L 65–75 | 18–13 (8–10) | 17 – Hyland | 5 – Tied | 3 – Hyland | John M. Belk Arena (3,763) Davidson, NC |
| Atlantic 10 tournament |||||||||
| Mar 12, 2020 12:00 pm, NBCSN | (8) | vs. (9) UMass | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 25 | RV | 21 | 20 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | Not released |
| Coaches | RV | RV | 19 | 19 | RV | RV | 25-T | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings