VCU’s win versus USC means CAA wins by association

Adam Stern
Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times Sports’ Twitter

Be they the finest of friends or the ugliest of enemies, the Colonial Athletic Association has continually preached one message to its 12 teams all season long: stand united.

This past week proved why.

When VCU was chosen as an at-large team into the NCAA tournament Sunday, analysts tossed them out of the realm of respectability like yesterday’s trash. This seemingly sorry CAA team was, in a metaphorical sense, kicked when they were down. This apparently unworthy mid-major squad from Richmond felt, in a literal sense, just a tad disrespected.

That’s rightfully so. The CAA is in the midst of what’s been described as their finest season in the 26-year history of the league. And with three teams making it to the Big Dance for the first time ever, the conference can now say the tangible proof is in the pudding.

So when VCU player Jamie Skeen and head coach Shaka Smart were walking off the arena floor Wednesday night following their 59-46 victory over USC in the First Four round of the NCAA tournament, it was hardly surprising when the message of unity bore itself out for all to see again.

First and foremost, CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager— who patiently waited for Skeen and Smart while they conducted their TV interviews— bear hugged both player and coach alike as they passed by. Then, in a sign of simple yet supreme solidarity, VCU fans stopped chanting their own school’s name.

But they did not stop chanting. Instead, Rams fans began belting out the conference’s three letters.

“C-A-A”

“C-A-A”

“C-A-A”

Smart fist-pumped to the crowd.

Skeen threw his arms up in the air and waved the fans on, because surely this fifth-year senior who had just gotten his first taste of victory in the NCAA tournament couldn’t get enough of it.

And so it was for Virginia Commonwealth University in their first victory in the tournament since the victory in the tournament as far as VCU is concerned: a 2007 Goliath-slaying of fabled Duke that saw the Rams’ portrait and profile reach unprecedented levels.

The win over the Trojans means the conference is now 1-0 heading into ODU’s showdown against fellow mid-major monster Butler Thursday and George Mason’s match against Villanova Friday.

It also means the CAA continues to gain the respect it not only craves, but now feels it deserves.

“Our conference really deserves this,” Senior point guard Joey Rodriguez said. “We have a tough conference from top to bottom; we have teams that can play with anybody.”

That showed on Wednesday.

“They came out and played like they wanted it more,” USC junior guard Jio Fontan.

On the first day the two teams practiced, a media member who was in attendance tweeted his surprise at USC’s seeming lethargy if not all-out lackadaisicalness.
That was never going to be a problem for the Rams. Rodriguez noted earlier in the week that, after all the hoopla this week past week, the team could have enough bulletin board material for two years, let alone one game.

That doesn’t matter now, though. What matters is the team is moving on to play No. 6 seed Georgetown.

What matters is they’re still in the tournament, like it or not.

“I want to credit VCU,” USC head coach Kevin O’Neill said. “They more than proved they belong in the NCAA tournament.”

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply