VCU Basketball Celebration

 

A spirited and appreciative crowd gathered one more time at the Siegel Center on Monday night to celebrate the unforgettable season of the VCU men’s basketball team.

The Rams captured the attention of the country last week with an upset of national power Duke in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. In the second round, VCU erased a 19-point second-half deficit against Pittsburgh, the No. 12 team in the country, before falling in overtime – narrowly missing out on the school’s first-ever Sweet 16 appearance.

VCU President Eugene Trani congratulated the team not only for its success on the court but for the sportsmanlike way the players handled themselves. Trani read excerpts from a laudatory CBS Sportsline column that called the Rams “simply a great sports story.”

“This is a great time for VCU,” Trani said.

Monday’s celebration featured the VCU pep band, cheerleaders, dance team members and Rodney the Ram. Fans spontaneously broke into chants of “V-C-U, V-C-U” and gave the team a number of standing ovations, cheering during a video presentation of the season’s more memorable moments as though the action was unfolding live before them.

Speakers on Monday included VCU Athletic Director Norwood Teague, Richmond Mayor Douglas Wilder, Monroe Park Campus Student Government Association President Ali Faruk, VCU Alumni Association President-Elect Dan Massey, VCU Rams Club President Yvonne Childers and the seniors on the basketball team – Matt Coward, Calvin Roland, B.A. Walker and Jesse Pellot-Rosa.

In addition, VCU Coach Anthony Grant, the CAA coach of the year who led the Rams to a school-record 28 victories, thanked the fans for their support and told them to expect more celebrations in the future.

“As sweet as that victory over Duke was, in the years to come we’re going to have a lot more things to remember,” Grant said.