A federal court in West Virginia may have saved VCU’s season.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia issued a temporary restraining order against the NCAA on Dec. 13, allowing athletes whose transfer waivers had been denied to suit up for their teams.
The court later extended the temporary restraining order through the winter and spring sports seasons to allow athletes to play through the season without fear of damage to their eligibility.
Four players in the Atlantic 10 conference were made eligible due to Bailey’s order. Perhaps none garnered more attention than VCU senior Joe Bamisile.
The Chesterfield native, who is attending his fourth university, saw his appeal of the denial of his waiver for immediate eligibility denied on Nov. 29. After that, I wrote on this site that “[d]uring [the Black and Gold Game], VCU fans got what turned out to be their one and only look at senior Joe Bamisile this season.”
Two and a half weeks later, VCU fans awarded a smiling Bamisile with a standing ovation after he checked in at the 16:27 mark of the first half against Temple.
The energy in the building surrounding Bamisile’s debut was palpable. He entered the season as one of the most highly anticipated transfers new head coach Ryan Odom brought in, with more than 60 games of college experience under his belt – including a stint with A-10 member school George Washington.
At the aforementioned Black and Gold Game scrimmage, Bamisile visibly looked like the best player on the floor, scoring a game-high 17 points.
Bamisile quickly made up for lost time, connecting quickly on back-to-back 3-pointers, scoring eight quick points before the under-12 first half media timeout.
For the game, Bamisile scored 11 points and grabbed two rebounds in 19 minutes of game time while giving fans and teammates a glimpse of what is to come this season.
As for the game itself, VCU put on a complete performance, leading wire-to-wire to dispatch the Temple Owls and improve to 6-5 on the season.
The Rams were led by guards Max Shulga and Zeb Jackson, who scored 19 points apiece. Both achieved “triple nickels” in the contest, with Shulga recording six rebounds and five assists and Jackson ending the afternoon with six rebounds and seven assists.
Among the positive developments from Saturday is the emergence of grad transfer Kuany Kuany. The Australian recorded 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including a pair of made 3-pointers.
The game continued a 3-point renaissance for the former Cal player. Kuany opened the season 0-of-17 from deep, but is 6-of-9 from beyond the arc in the last two games while scoring double figures.
Continuing to lead the team in rebounding is sophomore Tobi Lawal, who grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in the win. Lawal paired his efforts on the glass with seven points off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor.
The Owls were led by forward Sam Hofman, who despite his build more so resembling a linebacker showed off a wide-ranging offensive attack. He ended the afternoon with a team-high 17 points, including five makes from beyond the arc.
Hysier Miller played all but one minute for the Owls, scoring 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting and falling one assist shy of a double-double.
The Owls fell to 6-4 following the loss.
Bairstow to make debut
For the first time all season, the Rams will have all their preseason projected starters active on Friday night against University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
Grad transfer Sean Bairstow, who followed Odom from Utah State along with Shulga, is set to return from a right foot fracture sustained in practice in October, according to Odom.
Bairstow was expected to miss 6-8 weeks following surgery on Oct. 20, with the game against Temple being exactly eight weeks after the surgery.
At Utah State, Bairstow started all 35 games last season, averaging 10.3 points per game and 5. 2 rebounds per game. At the Black and Gold Game, Bairstow led all players with five assists, to pair with 13 points.
Bairstow was selected to the Preseason All-Conference Third Team by the A-10 in October, joining Shulga, who was named to the All-Conference Second Team.
It remains to be seen if Odom will shake up the starting lineup, which has remained constant throughout the season, or continue to ease Bairstow and Bamisile into live game action.
Stat leaders
Through 11 games, here are your statistical leaders so far in 2023-24:
- Points: Max Shulga (15.8 points per game), followed by Zeb Jackson (15.2 ppg)
- Rebounds: Tobi Lawal (6.2 rebounds per game), followed by Jackson (5.4 ppg)
- Assists: Jackson (4.5 assists per game), followed by Shulga (4 apg)
- Steals: Jackson (1.7 steals per game), followed by Jason Nelson (1.2 steals per game)
- Blocks: Christian Fermin (1.9 blocks per game), followed by Lawal (0.8 bpg). Fermin ranks in the top 50 in the country in blocks per game.
Game preview: UMES
It has been tough sledding this season for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks.
UMES arrives to the Stuart C. Siegel Center in downtown Richmond with a 2-7 record and a five-game losing streak, with all five losses coming by double digits.
At No. 340 in the NET rankings, the Hawks are the lowest-ranked opponent on VCU’s 2023-24 schedule. Per ESPNBet, VCU is a 24.5-point favorite – by far the largest the spread has been in VCU’s favor this season.
As such, Friday night’s game – the final one before the Rams head home for the Christmas holiday, represents a perfect opportunity for Bairstow and Bamisile to get in the flow of live game action while serving as a crucial tune-up before VCU enters conference play in a couple weeks.
The Hawks’ leading scorer and rebounder is junior forward Troy Hupstead. On the season, he is averaging 11.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Two other players, Chace Davis and Devon Ellis, are averaging double figures, but beyond that trio no player is averaging more than six points per game.
That includes the Hawks’ leading assist man, Damani Claxton, who is averaging three assists per game.
All told, while nothing is guaranteed in college basketball, VCU is as close as it could possibly be to one entering tonight’s game. The biggest intrigue left is how Bairstow will look coming off of foot surgery.
The Rams and Hawks tip off at 7 p.m. from the Stuart C. Siegel Center. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and is available in the Maryland and Virginia area on MASN.