NC State Hosts the VCU Rams

When: Monday November 17 – 7:00 PM

Where: Lenovo Center

TV: ACC Network

Opponent: Virginia Commonwealth University Rams (Atlantic 10 Conference)

Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): NC State 84-74 / NC State 86-78

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Wolfpack Snapshot:

Wolfpack Player Notes:

• Terrance Arceneaux was held out of the UNCG game, he is still nursing an Achilles injury. He has only played 18 minutes so far this season.

• Ven Lubin has ligament damange in his right thumb suffered in practice (Sunday 9th), played limited minutes versus UNCG

Wolfpack Stat Leaders:

Opponent Overview:

VCU is a launch pad for D1 coaches. Their previous six head coaches (Ryan Odom -UVA, Mike Rhoades – PSU, our own Will Wade, Shaka Smart – Marq, Anthony Grant – Dayton, and Jeff Capel — Pitt). are current coaches, and 5 of 6 are P4. When Shaka Smart was hired at VCU, Will Wade was his first hire (2009-2013), Wade left there for his first head coaching job at Chattanooga (2013-2015), and then returned to follow Smart at VCU (2015-2017). He went 51-20 / 28-8 in two seasons, and took his team to the NCAA tournament both seasons, winning one game.

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VCU is under new management again this season. Outbound coach Ryan Odom finished last season as the A-10 champions at 28-7 / 15-3 and with an NCAAT first round loss to BYU, before moving to UVA. (more about him in future episodes)

Phil Martelli Jr. moved south from Bryant (Rhode Island – admit it, you didn’t know where it was either) after finishing last season as the American East champion at 23-12 / 14-2 and with an NCAAT first round loss to Michigan State. That was Bryant’s second ever NCAA tournament appearance. He was named the American East and NABC Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year. He loaded up those trophies and moved to Richmond.

Coach Phil Martelli Jr, son of – you guessed it, long time coach Phil Martelli – played for his dad at St Joseph’s. After graduating in 2003 he joined the assistant coaching ranks. He was an assistant coach at Bryant for five seasons before being promoted to his first head coaching job in 2023. This will be his third season as a head coach.

VCU is picked to repeat as A-10 conference champions in preseason polls. Like every other coach these days, he had to build a mostly new roster after the Rams lost last season’s top five scorers, including Max Shulga the A-10 POY.

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• 4 players return, only one (Fermin) started any games last season. Brandon Jennings is starting so far this season.

• Nyk Lewis is a 4-star, 247 #55 freshman who has already broken into the starting lineup

• Coach Martelli brought two players with him from Bryant, starting forward Barry Evans and forward Keyshawn Mitchell

• Other notable incoming transfers: Starters guard Jadrian Tracey – Oregon and big man Lazar Djokovic – Charleston, plus Tyrell Ward – LSU, Jordann Dumont – Villanova, and Ahmad Nowell – UConn

Team Stat Comparison

Their Season So Far:

Record: 2-1

Rankings: KP #64, BT #58

• Game 1 – Wagner 103-74 – (KP #339) Like every new head coach prefers, VCU clobbered Wagner on opening night. All the good stuff, first 100+ point game since 2014, career highs all over the stat sheet. Ram nation was happy.

• Game 2 – Utah State 77-80 – (KP #46) VCU played in the Texas Showcase tournament in Frisco Texas. Utah State’s Aggies were up by 9 at the half, and up by 18 with 11:28 to go. VCU then dialed it up and clawed their way back to a tie with 34 seconds left but left town with a 3-point loss. Stats were about even, except for shooting. Utah St 48.3% / 46.2% / 69.2%. VCU 41.7% / 36.7% / 57.1%.

• Game 3 – Saint Peter’s 78-61 – (KP 297) – VCU led for 35 minutes of the game, but never put them away. They led by 9 at the half and won by 17.

Player Notes

• Second team All-Conference

  • Barry Evans (Xfer Bryant), Jadrian Tracey (Xfer Oregon), Tyrell Ward (Xfer LSU)

• Third team All-Conference

  • Ahmad Nowell (Xfer UConn)

• Preseason All-Defensive team

  • Brandon Jennings (returning)

Probable Starters