2015–16 VCU Rams men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 2015–16 VCU Rams VCU Rams logo.svg Atlantic 10 Conference A-10 25–11 14–4 Will Wade 1st Rasheen Davis (1st year) Wes Long (1st year) Jamil Jones (1st year) Stuart C. Siegel Center Atlantic 10 regular season co-champions NCAA tournament Second Round The 2015–16 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It was the 48th season of the University fielding a men's basketball program. The program was led by Will Wade, who was leading the program for his first season after previously coaching Chattanooga. Wade replaced former head coach, Shaka Smart, who resigned from VCU for the vacancy at Texas. Led by a core of rising juniors and seniors, including Mo Alie-Cox and Melvin Johnson, the Rams finished the season 25–11, 14–4 in A-10 play to finish tied for the A-10 conference championship. They defeated Massachusetts and Davidson to advance to the championship game of the A-10 tournament where they lost to Saint Joseph's. The Rams receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, making it their sixth-consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. The Rams were a #10 seed in the West Region. They defeated #7 seed Oregon State in the First Round before losing to Oklahoma in the Second Round. Previous season The Rams finished the 2014–15 season with a record of 26–10, 12–6 in A-10 play to finish tied for third-place. In the A-10 tournament, the Rams won their first conference tournament championship since 2012 (while members of the Colonial Athletic Association), and their first A-10 title, defeating Dayton in the championship game. The Rams received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the Second Round to Ohio State. Offseason Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Brianté Weber 2 G 6'2" 165 Senior Chesapeake, VA Graduated Treveon Graham 21 F/G 6'6" 220 Senior Washington, DC Graduated Terry Larrier 22 F 6'8" 175 Freshman Bronx, NY Transferred to Connecticut Jarred Guest 23 F 6'8" 225 Senior Columbia, SC Graduated Antravious Simmons 25 F 6'9" 250 RS Freshman Miami, FL Transferred to Florida Gulf Coast Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Ahmed Mohamed 23 F 6'9" 245 Junior Alexandria, Egypt Junior college transferred from Lee College Korey Billbury 24 G 6'3" 200 RS Senior Tulsa, OK Transferred from Oral Roberts. Will be eligible to play immediately since Billbury graduated from Oral Roberts. 2015 recruiting class no no 2015 Jonathan Nwankwo PF Mount Vernon, NY Victory Rock Prep 6 10 240 06/05/2015 3 3 80 Samir Doughty SG Philadelphia, PA Math, Civics and Sciences Charter School 6 3 180 06/04/2015 3 3 76 Gerron Scissum SF Huntsville, AL Lee High School 6 7 190 04/21/2015 3 0 0 2015 VCU 2015 Basketball Commitments 2015 VCU Basketball Commits VCU 2015 Player Commits August 12, 2015 yes Roster 2015 VCU Rams y JeQuan Lewis y 1 G 6 1 180 JR Dickson, TN Samir Doughty y 2 G 6 4 175 FR Philadelphia, PA Jordan Riullano 3 G 5 9 185 FR Bronx, NY W Justin Tillman y 4 F 6 7 215 SO Redford, MI Doug Brooks 5 G 6 4 195 JR Lake Wales, FL Jonathan Williams y basketball, born 1996 10 G 6 1 185 SO Newark, NJ Michael Gilmore 11 F 6 10 215 SO Tallahassee, FL Mo Alie-Cox y 12 F 6 7 250 JR y Middleburg, VA Torey Burston 14 G 5 8 180 JR y Richmond, VA W Jordan Burgess 20 G 6 5 225 JR y Midlothian, VA Gerron Scissum 22 F 6 7 210 FR Huntsville, AL Ahamad Hamdy Mohamed 23 F 6 9 230 JR Alexandria, Egypt Korey Billbury 24 G 6 4 210 SR y Tulsa, OK Melvin Johnson 32 G 6 4 190 SR Bronx, NY Johnathan Nwankwo 33 F 6 9 245 FR Bronx, NY Will Wade (Clemson) Rasheen Davis (St. Thomas Aquinas) Wes Long (Clemson) Jamil Jones (Arkansas Tech) http://www.vcuathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/roster Schedule http://vcuathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/schedule dead https://web.archive.org/web/20150725015655/http://vcuathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/schedule 2015-07-25 2015-16 VCU MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE - VCU yes yes |- !colspan=9 style="background:#VCU Rams 1; color:#VCU Rams 3;"| Exhibition November 6, 2015 7:00pm yes California (PA) Siegel Center Richmond, VA Johnson 21 Billbury 11 Lewis 7 96–60 7,637   |- !colspan=9 style="background:#VCU Rams 1; color:#VCU Rams 3;"| Non-conference regular season November 13, 2015 7:00pm yes Prairie View A&M Siegel Center Richmond, VA 2K Sports Classic WTVR 6.3 Tied 13 Tillman 11 Lewis 7 75–50 7,637 1–0 November 16, 2015 7:00pm yes Radford Siegel Center Richmond, VA 2K Sports Classic CSNMA Johnson 24 Alie-Cox 8 Lewis 8 92–74 7,637 2–0 November 20, 2015 7:30pm yes yes Duke 5 Madison Square Garden New York City, NY 2K Sports Classic semifinals ESPN2 Johnson 20 Tillman 8 Lewis 6 71–79 18,238 2–1 November 22, 2015 3:30pm yes yes Wisconsin Madison Square Garden New York City, NY 2K Sports Classic ESPN2 Johnson 21 Mohamed 8 Burgess 3 73–74 17,287 2–2 November 25, 2015 7:00pm yes American Siegel Center Richmond, VA Johnson 13 Tillman 14 Tied 3 72–44 7,637 3–2 November 28, 2015 4:00pm yes Old Dominion Siegel Center Richmond, VA Rivalry CSNMA Lewis 16 Hamdy-Mohamed 6 Tied 3 76–67 7,637 4–2 December 2, 2015 8:00pm yes yes Middle Tennessee Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN FSN Johnson 19 Tied 7 Johnson 5 62–56 8,882 5–2 December 6, 2015 2:00pm yes yes Florida State Philips Arena Atlanta, GA Philips Arena Showcase ESPNU Johnson 36 Gilmore 7 Lewis 4 71–76 1,789 5–3 December 15, 2015 9:00pm yes yes Georgia Tech McCamish Pavilion Atlanta, GA ESPN2 Tillman 18 Alie-Cox 7 Lewis 4 64–77 5,219 5–4 December 19, 2015 4:00pm yes Cincinnati 23 Siegel Center Richmond, VA CBSSN Billbury 22 Billbury 9 Lewis 4 63–69 7,637 5–5 December 22, 2015 7:00pm yes Buffalo Siegel Center Richmond, VA CSNMA Johnson 22 Billbury 6 Williams 4 90–69 7,637 6–5 December 27, 2015 5:00pm yes Liberty Siegel Center Richmond, VA WTVR Johnson 15 Tillman 11 3 tied 3 85–57   7–5 December 30, 2015 7:00pm yes North Florida Siegel Center Richmond, VA WTVR Johnson 23 Burgess 9 Lewis 10 80–68 7,637 8–5 |- !colspan=12 style="background:#VCU Rams 1;"| Atlantic 10 regular season January 3, 2016 5:00pm George Mason Siegel Center Richmond, VA Rivalry CBSSN Johnson 22 Tied 8 Lewis 6 71–47 7,637 9–5 1–0 January 5, 2016 7:00pm yes Saint Joseph's Hagan Arena Philadelphia, PA ASN Johnson 25 Billbury 8 Lewis 6 85–82 3,752 10–5 2–0 January 10, 2016 4:00pm yes Saint Louis Chaifetz Arena St. Louis, MO NBCSN Alie-Cox 16 Johnson 5 Tied 4 72–56 8,719 11–5 3–0 January 13, 2016 7:00pm Fordham Siegel Center Richmond, VA ASN Tillman 27 Tillman 10 Lewis 7 88–54 7,637 12–5 4–0 January 16, 2016 2:00pm yes Richmond Robins Center Richmond, VA Capital City Classic CBSSN Lewis 29 Tillman 11 Johnson 6 94–89 OT 7,201 13–5 5–0 January 20, 2016 7:00pm Duquesne Siegel Center Richmond, VA MASN Tied 16 Lewis 8 Brooks 4 93–71 7,637 14–5 6–0 January 23, 2016 2:30pm St. Bonaventure Siegel Center Richmond, VA NBCSN Lewis 26 Tied 8 Lewis 7 84–76 7,637 15–5 7–0 January 29, 2016 6:00pm yes Davidson John M. Belk Arena Davidson, NC ESPN2 Lewis 22 Alie-Cox 11 Lewis 5 79–69 5,295 16–5 8–0 February 3, 2016 7:00pm yes La Salle Tom Gola Arena Philadelphia, PA Johnson 30 Billbury 7 Allie-Cox 3 88–70 1,711 17–5 9–0 February 6, 2016 12:00pm George Washington Siegel Center Richmond, VA CBSSN Lewis 16 Billbury 9 Lewis 5 69–71 7,637 17–6 9–1 February 11, 2016 7:00pm yes Massachusetts Mullins Center Amherst, MA ESPNU Tied 15 Tied 4 Lewis 5 63–69 2,698 17–7 9–2 February 13, 2016 6:00pm Saint Louis Siegel Center Richmond, VA CBSSN Billbury 20 Tillman 11 Williams 7 85–52 7,637 18–7 10–2 February 16, 2016 7:30pm Rhode Island Siegel Center Richmond, VA CBSSN Alie-Cox 21 Billbury 6 Lewis 6 83–67 7,637 19–7 11–2 February 19, 2016 7:00pm Richmond Siegel Center Richmond, VA Capital City Classic ESPN2 Johnson 22 Alie-Cox 12 Lewis 10 87–74 7,637 20–7 12–2 February 24, 2016 7:00pm yes George Mason EagleBank Arena Fairfax, VA Rivalry Johnson 24 Tillman 13 Johnson 4 69–76 5,138 20–8 12–3 February 27, 2016 12:30pm yes George Washington Charles E. Smith Center Washington, D.C. NBCSN Williams 17 Alie-Cox 7 Williams 5 69–65 4,385 21–8 13–3 March 2, 2016 7:00pm Davidson Siegel Center Richmond, VA CBSSN Alie-Cox 18 Alie-Cox 9 Lewis 8 70–60 7,637 22–8 14–3 March 5, 2016 8:00pm yes Dayton UD Arena Dayton, OH CBSSN Billbury 16 Tillman 21 Williams 3 67–68 OT 13,455 22–9 14–4 |- !colspan=12 style="background:#VCU Rams 1;"| Atlantic 10 Tournament March 11, 2016 6:30 pm yes 2 Massachusetts 10 Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY Quarterfinals NBCSN 85–70 Johnson 19 Tillman 9 Tied 3 8,223 23–9 March 12, 2016 4:00 pm yes 2 Davidson 6 Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY Semifinals CBSSN 76–54 Billbury 17 Billbury 7 Tied 3 10,439 24–9 March 13, 2016 12:00 pm yes 2 St. Joseph's 4 Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY Championship CBS 74–87 Tied 19 Tillman 8 Lewis 7 8,413 24–10 |- !colspan=12 style="background:#VCU Rams 1;"| NCAA tournament March 18, 2016 1:30 pm yes yes 10 W Oregon State 7 W Chesapeake Energy Arena Oklahoma City, OK First Round TNT 75–67 Lewis 21 Alie-Cox 8 Lewis 8 15,662 25–10 March 20, 2016 5:30 pm yes yes 10 W Oklahoma 2 W 7 Chesapeake Energy Arena Oklahoma City, OK Second Round CBS 81–85 Johnson 23 Burgess 9 Lewis 9 15,279 25–11 AP poll Eastern Time W West Region References Category:VCU Rams men's basketball seasons VCU VCU VCU VCU