VCU is playing surprisingly well after looking like a very young team with growing pains to start the season. UR was a good test, but Georgia State on Jan 2nd and ODU shortly after should reveal how good VCU is going to be this year.
A couple notes:
Bradford Burgess is looking damn good, he will probably be given a shot at the NBA and could become a late first or early second round pick depending on this year. Hes still recovering from a broken bone and torn ligaments in his foot from an accident in July. Regardless he still has the longest active starting streak in the NCAA and now the longest streak in VCU’s history. If he continues to start and VCU wins the CAA tournament and somehow gets to the sweet 16 he will end up tying the record longest consecutive starts in NCAA history. Either way I would think he will be in the top 3-5 for most wins as a starter when his college career is over.
Burgess: 'The Cal Ripken of VCU basketball' | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Briante Weber is my new favorite player. Hes a freshman who wasn’t all that highly recruited but has ended up seeing a lot of playing time. The dude is from the tidewater area and is the most athletic on the team. Hes a 6’3” guard that has a 44.5in vertical. I
didn’t realize how good of a vertical leap that was initially, especially considering his age. The kid is definitely a little raw but has the best motor ive seen, hes extremely quick and gets a lot of steals and rebounds. His dribbling is good and his shooting is decent. From the little ive seen I think he has a good chance of making the pros and could even be something extremely special, all depending on how hard he works.
Also I had the opportunity to “scout” 2 of our bigger recruiting selections for 2012 when Benedictine played Middleburg Academy last night.
Jordan Burgess (Bradford’s little brother) was a highly touted recruit that ended up picking VCU. Hes a 6’5” forward who will probably end up being a shooting guard for us next year. The guy could definitely be as good as his brother, which says a lot, but he needs some work. Whats crazy to me is how stacked we are going to be at guard next year.
Mo Alie-Cox is a 6’6” C/F that’s a freak of nature. Hes kind of like a poor man’s Charles Barkley. As an 18 year old he looks like a NFL TE and weighs 240-250ish of solid muscle and has a 7’ wingspan. He seems to be able to jump pretty good too, and has some of the most fluid dunks of a high schooler ive seen since Neon was slamming in that Louisiana recruiting scene in the movie Blue Chips. But the kid looks like he has a serious lack of poise. Ive never seen a player complain and cry as much as he was throughout the game. It was bizarre at points. He seems selfish, undisciplined and lazy at times. I definitely don’t see him doing anything his freshman year but if the coaches can turn him into a focused player he could become something special.