# 2009–10 VCU Rams men's basketball team

The 2009–10 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University during the 2009–10 college basketball season. This was head coach Shaka Smart's first season at VCU. The Rams compete in the Colonial Athletic Association and played their home games at Stuart C. Siegel Center. They finished the season 27–9, 11–7 in CAA play and lost in the semifinals of the 2010 CAA men's basketball tournament. They were champions of the 2010 College Basketball Invitational.

## Preseason

In the CAA preseason polls, released October 20 in Washington, DC, VCU was predicted to finish third in the CAA. Jr. forward Larry Sanders was selected to the preseason all conference first team.

## Roster

Source
| # | Name | Height | Weight (lbs.) | Position | Class | Hometown | Previous Team(s) |
| 1 | Larry Sanders | 6'11" | 235 | F | Jr. | Fort Pierce, FL | Port St. Lucie HS |
| 2 | Issiah Grayson | 5'11" | 160 | G | Fr. | Atlanta, GA | Findlay Prep |
| 4 | Terrance Saintil | 6'8" | 240 | F | So. | North Miami, FL | Monsignor Edward Pace HS |
| 10 | Darius Theus | 6'3" | 195 | G | Fr. | Portsmouth, VA | I. C. Norcom HS |
| 11 | Kirill Pishchalnikov | 6'8" | 265 | F | Sr. | Maykop, Russia | MGGTK AGU |
| 12 | Joey Rodriguez | 5'10" | 175 | G | Jr. | Oviedo, FL | Lake Howell HS |
| 20 | Bradford Burgess | 6'5" | 215 | G | So. | Midlothian, VA | Benedictine HS |
| 21 | Jamie Skeen | 6'9" | 245 | F | Jr. | Charlotte, NC | North Mecklenburg HS Wake Forest |
| 30 | Troy Daniels | 6'4" | 195 | G | Fr. | Roanoke, VA | William Fleming HS |
| 32 | Brandon Rozzell | 6'2" | 185 | G | Jr. | Richmond, VA | Highland Springs HS |
| 34 | David Hinton | 6'8" | 230 | F | Fr. | Winston-Salem, NC | RJ Reynolds HS |
| 42 | T.J. Gwynn | 6'4" | 205 | F | Sr. | Burlington, NC | Cummings HS |
| 50 | Ed Nixon | 6'4" | 200 | G | Jr. | St. Petersburg, FL | Lakewood HS |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/5/2009* 7:30pm | | Virginia Union U.S Army Downtown Showdown | W 85–55 | — | Stuart C. Siegel Center Richmond, VA |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/13/2009* 7:30pm | | Bethune–Cookman | W 77–51 | 1–0 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (6,741) Richmond, VA |
| 11/18/2009* 7:00pm | | at Western Michigan | L 67–83 | 1–1 | University Arena (2,654) Kalamazoo, MI |
| 11/21/2009* 7:30pm | | No. 17 Oklahoma | W 82–69 | 2–1 | Stuart C. Siegel Center Richmond, VA |
| 11/23/2009* 7:00pm | | at Hampton | W 63–52 | 3–1 | Hampton Convocation Center (3,214) Hampton, VA |
| 11/27/2009* 7:30pm | | Nevada | W 85–76 | 4–1 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (5,769) Richmond, VA |
| 12/2/2009* 7:30pm | | Rhode Island | W 82–80 | 5–1 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (5,229) Richmond, VA |
| 12/5/2009 12:00pm, CSNW/CSS | | at William & Mary | L 74–75 | 5–2 (0–1) | Kaplan Arena (3,215) Williamsburg, VA |
| 12/12/2009* 7:30pm | | Richmond Black & Blue Classic | W 65–57 | 6–2 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,567) Richmond, VA |
| 12/19/2009* 2:00pm | | at Tulane | W 78–77 | 7–2 | Fogelman Arena (1,769) New Orleans, LA |
| 12/29/2009* 7:30pm | | East Carolina | W 82–74 | 8–2 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,124) Richmond, VA |
| 1/2/2010 2:00pm | | UNC Wilmington | W 91–57 | 9–2 (1–1) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (5,828) Richmond, VA |
| 1/4/2010 7:00pm, CSNW/CSS | | Northeastern | L 57–62 | 9–3 (1–2) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (5,741) Richmond, VA |
| 1/6/2010 7:00pm | | at Drexel | L 72–75 | 9–4 (1–3) | Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,417) Philadelphia, PA |
| 1/9/2010 2:00pm | | Delaware | W 77–64 | 10–4 (2–3) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,152) Richmond, VA |
| 1/12/2010 7:00pm, ESPNU | | at Hofstra | W 81–68 | 11–4 (3–3) | Hofstra Arena (2,224) Hempstead, NY |
| 1/16/2010 6:00pm | | at Georgia State | W 82–69 | 12–4 (4–3) | GSU Sports Arena (1,697) Atlanta, GA |
| 1/20/2010 7:00pm | | William & Mary | W 81–59 | 13–4 (5–3) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,524) Richmond, VA |
| 1/23/2010 1:00pm, TCN/CSNW/CSS | | at Northeastern | L 62–74 | 13–5 (5–4) | Matthews Arena (2,858) Boston, MA |
| 1/27/2010 7:30pm | | Towson | W 112–53 | 14–5 (6–4) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (5,384) Richmond, VA |
| 1/30/2010 2:00pm, CSN+ | | Georgia State | W 78–62 | 15–5 (7–4) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (4,548) Richmond, VA |
| 2/3/2010 7:00pm | | at UNC Wilmington | W 73–68 | 16–5 (8–4) | Trask Coliseum (2,375) Wilmington, NC |
| 2/6/2010 4:00pm, TCN/CSNW/CSS | | Old Dominion Rivalry | W 70–58 | 17–5 (9–4) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,556) Richmond, VA |
| 2/9/2010 7:00pm, ESPNU | | at George Mason | L 77–82 | 17–6 (9–5) | Patriot Center (5,486) Fairfax, VA |
| 2/13/2010 6:00pm, TCN/CSNW | | at James Madison | L 71–76 | 17–7 (9–6) | JMU Convocation Center (5,398) Harrisonburg, VA |
| 2/16/2010 7:00pm, TCN/CSNW | | Drexel | W 73–54 | 18–7 (10–6) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (5,127) Richmond, VA |
| 2/20/2010* 7:00pm, ESPNU | | at Akron ESPN BracketBusters | W 70–53 | 19–7 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (3,882) Richmond, VA |
| 2/24/2010 7:30pm | | at James Madison | W 76–62 | 20–7 (11–6) | Stuart C. Siegel Center (6,873) Richmond, VA |
| 2/27/2010 4:00pm, CSNW | | at Old Dominion Rivalry | L 70–73 | 20–8 (11–7) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (8,424) Norfolk, VA |
| CAA Tournament ||||||
| 3/5/2010 6:00pm | (5) | vs. (12) Delaware CAA First Round | W 66–49 | 21–8 | Richmond Coliseum (4,854) Richmond, VA |
| 3/6/2010 2:30pm, CSN | (5) | vs. (4) George Mason CAA Quarterfinals | W 75–60 | 22–8 | Richmond Coliseum (8,908) Richmond, VA |
| 3/7/2010 3:00pm, CSN | (5) | vs. (1) Old Dominion CAA Semifinals | L 69–73 $^{OT}$ | 22–9 | Richmond Coliseum Richmond, VA |
| CBI ||||||
| 3/16/2010 7:00pm, HDNet | | at George Washington CBI First Round | W 79–73 | 23–9 | Charles E. Smith Athletic Center (793) Washington, DC |
| 3/22/2010 7:00pm, HDNet | | College of Charleston CBI Quarterfinals | W 93–86 | 24–9 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (3,297) Richmond, VA |
| 3/24/2010 7:00pm, HDNet | | Boston University CBI Semifinals | W 88–75 | 25–9 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (3,352) Richmond, VA |
| 3/29/2010 7:00pm, HDNet | | Saint Louis CBI Finals – Game 1 | W 68–56 | 26–9 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (4,386) Richmond, VA |
| 3/31/2010 8:00pm, HDNet | | at Saint Louis CBI Finals – Game 2 | W 71–65 | 27–9 | Chaifetz Arena (5,612) Saint Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. Source ||||||