DANIELS AIMS TO OPEN NBA EYES

VCU senior Troy Daniels will work out for NBA scouts May 22-23 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

RICHMOND, Va. – Troy Daniels made a career out of connecting on long shots. So what’s one more?

Daniels has been invited to an NBA workout May 22-23 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Representatives from all 30 NBA teams are expected to attend.

“It’s time to get a job now. This is a lot different than college,” Daniels said Thursday. “It’s a great feeling. “It’s something that you dream about when you’re younger and it’s finally coming true now.”

Despite his sharpshooting credentials – Daniels ranks second in school history in 3-pointers (251) and owns the top two single season marks – the senior from Roanoke, Va. likely faces an uphill battle. He’s currently not expected to be drafted and is not listed among the top 100 NBA prospects by NBADraftExpress.com, NBADraft.net or CBS Sports’ Jeff Goodman.

But Daniels, who will graduate from VCU Saturday with a degree in criminal justice, says that won’t be a deterrent. He’s says he’s been working out twice a day, fine-tuning his skills and hopes to grab the attention of scouts and executives in Brooklyn. He’s also recently worked out with former Ram Eric Maynor of the Portland Trail Blazers, who typically spends much of his offseason in Richmond.

BASKETBALL ALREADY OFFERING HINTON POST-HOOPS CAREER PATH

David Hinton at the Jordan Brand Classic April 13.

It didn’t take long for David Hinton to find his way back to a basketball court.

Hinton, a fifth-year senior who recently completed his eligibility with the VCU Men’s Basketball team, is in Anaheim, Calif. this week in conjunction with the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL), a premier AAU basketball camp.

It’s the second major event in as many weeks for Hinton, who is serving as an event management intern for Position Sports, a sports marketing firm based out of Phoenix. Position Sports is closely tied to many of Nike’s major events, including Hinton’s first foray into event management, the Jordan Brand Classic at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on April 13.

The Jordan Brand Classic is known for its annual national high school all-star game, but there are actually three games, including an international and regional all-star contest, staged the same day.

Hinton spent a week in New York City helping organizers stage the event. Hinton’s title, event management intern, is in many ways a catch-all for, “pretty much anything we can think of”.

“It wasn’t anything,” Hinton said. “It was everything.”

He says he did everything from the physical set-up and breakdown of the event to assisting with will call and ticketing issues. It also helped, he says, that he played at Barclays Center just a month ago with the Rams in the Atlantic 10 Championship. Not only was he familiar with the layout of the building, but it allowed him to give feedback on things such as, which lockerrooms were preferred and other information.

Workdays were often 16-18 hours and, on the day of the actual event, Hinton says he pulled a 20-hour day. But he’s not complaining.

“It was fun though, doing something I love, working with basketball,” said Hinton, a 6-foot-8 forward who appeared in 75 games in four seasons for VCU.

Hinton earned his bachelor’s degree in Homeland Security last spring, but is currently enrolled in VCU’s Center for Sport Leadership master’s program. His work with Position Sports will earn him three credit hours for a required externship, but more importantly, it’s fleshing out his resume. At a time when openings for government jobs could be scarce, it doesn’t hurt to have other options.

“I’m glad I’m going to have degrees in two different areas, whereas some people have a narrower focus,” he said. “I’m glad I have another degree I can fall back on.”

Plus, Hinton is a self-professed “sneakerhead” who owns more than 100 pairs of Nikes. Working this closely with the shoe and apparel giant is somewhat of a dream for the Winston-Salem, N.C. native.

Hinton’s internship will continue through the summer, and he’ll zigzag the country for different events, including another EYBL session April 26-28 in Hampton, Va.

TROY DANIELS FORTIFIES LEGACY, SENDS RAMS TO A-10 TITLE GAME

Senior Troy Daniels knocked down 6-of-9 threes Saturday and finished with 20 points.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Shaka Smart tried to warn us. Troy Daniels is a stone-cold gunner from beyond the 3-point arc.

Those aren’t Smart’s actual words. He said something more like, “Troy Daniels is the best shooter I’ve ever coached,” many, many times during the senior’s career. But I like my version better. Because on Saturday, Daniels answered the call for the Rams in one of, if not the biggest spots in his career, so I used more interesting adjectives.

Behind the Roanoke senior’s 20 points – most importantly his 6-of-9 three-point shooting – VCU withstood UMass and secured a 71-62 win in the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals Saturday night at Barclays Center.

The victory sends VCU, playing in its inaugural season in the A-10, to a Championship Game match-up with 16th-ranked Saint Louis on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Daniels’ lights-out shooting was the kind of performance that showed everybody why Smart was comfortable placing such a strong label on his senior during his career.

“He’s just a great shooter,” Smart said of Daniels, who has hit 240 career 3-pointers. “He’s the best shooter I’ve ever coached. He’s always been terrific in practice, but his first couple of years he had a hard time playing with the confidence to go out and shoot the ball in. Today he did, and all year he has and that’s why he’s one of the top single-season 3-point shooter in Atlantic 10 history.

“We need him to make threes because that’s a big part of what we do. I think it fits in well with our style of play and our guys do a nice job of finding him.”

VCU-UMASS PREGAME NOTES

Brooklyn native Chaz Williams is averaging 22.0 points and 6.5 assists in two A-10 Tournament games.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Nearly a month ago today, to the day, VCU and UMass played a basketball game that nearly set the Siegel Center floor on fire.

The game, won by VCU 86-68 (box score), matched the two highest scoring teams in the Atlantic 10 and practically begged them to play at terminal velocity. They were all but too happy to comply. For a half, UMass matched VCU’s energy and stood tall against the Rams’ Havoc defense.

Then VCU blew UMass’ doors off.

The Minutemen led 42-37 at halftime, but within minutes of the second period, the outcome was clear. VCU scored the first eight points of the second half and eventually ripped off a 21-1 blitz behind a swarming full court press. By the 13:49 mark, the Rams had taken a five-point deficit and turned it into a 58-43 lead. Game over.

Saturday, they’ll meet again in the Atlantic 10 semifinals at Barclays Center. The sixth-seeded Minutemen topped George Washington Thursday before upsetting third-seeded Temple Friday night 79-74 to reach the league’s final four.

UMass (21-10) will be playing its third game in three days. Minutemen star and Brooklyn native Chaz Williams has played 38 and 40 minutes the last two games. Meanwhile, the Rams are coming off an 82-79 win over Saint Joseph’s in which no player exceeded 29 minutes. Given the pace at which both teams play, it’ll be interesting to see if UMass will have the legs for another track meet.

Williams, generously listed at 5-foot-9, has been simply brilliant in the tournament so far. He’s averaging 22.0 points and 6.5 assists in two games at Barclays. But on Feb. 14 in Richmond, the Rams forced Williams into a 1-of-7 shooting night and held him to six points. He also turned the ball over six times. In all, VCU forced 24 turnovers that night and scored 28 points of those errors.

The Rams will push the pace once again Saturday, and there’s no reason to think the Minutemen won’t want to do the same. A tiger isn’t going to change its stripes this late in the season. Williams wore down in the last meeting under VCU’s constant pressure and had difficulty with the Rams’ long, athletic guards.

Treveon Graham led the Rams on Feb. 14 with 19 points, while Melvin Johnson added 18.

OF NOTE

• UMass 6-8 senior forward Terrell Vinson is averaging 14.5 points in two tournament games.
• The Minutemen are long at every position, other than point guard, where the diminutive Williams is entrenched. That length did give VCU trouble in the first game, as UMass blocked 10 shots, including five by 6-10 center Cady Lalanne and four by 6-9 Raphiael Putney.
• UMass turned the ball over 19 times Friday night against Temple.
• The Minutemen average 13.8 turnovers per game, which ranks 11^th in the A-10. UMass is 166^th nationally in offensive turnover percentage.
• UMass ranks 19^th in the country in adjusted tempo. VCU is 64^th. Buckle your seat belt.

QUOTABLE
“I heard the fans. I think it’s going to be a battle, who can have the most fans here tomorrow.” – UMass Coach Derek Kellogg.

A QUICK BARCLAYS PHOTO ESSAY

BARCLAYS GIVES A-10 CURB APPEAL

The new Barclays Center in Brooklyn will serve as host to the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time. The building has given the tournament a previously unseen buzz.

RICHMOND, Va. – It’s about a mile-and-a-half from the door of Shaka Smart’s office to the floor of the Richmond Coliseum. An absurdly fit man, it’s not silly to think he can run there in about 10 minutes (probably less). But Barclays Center in Brooklyn? It would take a Forrest Gump-like effort and a couple pairs of Nikes to make that jog.

But that’s what Smart would be facing if he wanted to leg it to the conference tournament this year, VCU’s first in the Atlantic 10. While the Rams traded the Colonial Athletic Association for the more highly regarded A-10 this year, they also traded the familiar confines of the nearby Richmond Coliseum for Barclays Center, some six hours away, depending on traffic, of course.

Although the Rams have parted company with the convenience, VCU-friendly crowds and homespun appeal of the Coliseum in March, Smart isn’t losing any sleep over it.

“A lot has been made of the fact that we’re not playing here in home at Richmond,” he said Tuesday. “But I’ve coached at a lot of schools. This is the only school I’ve coached where we’ve played a conference tournament in our home city. That’s more the exception than the norm. We’re like everyone else. We have to travel to New York to play.”

For the first time since it joined the CAA in 1995-96, VCU will play in a conference tournament outside the city of Richmond. The Rams joined the A-10 this summer, in part because the league will host its championship at Barclays. The arena, located in America’s hoops haven, New York, provides the A-10 Tournament with a curb appeal the CAA just couldn’t match.

BRONX’S JOHNSON READY FOR NEW YORK HOMECOMING

Freshman Melvin Johnson, a native of the Bronx, is averaging 7.1 points per game this season.

RICHMOND, Va. – Brooklyn isn’t the Bronx, but it’s still New York City, and that’s good enough for Melvin Johnson.

The VCU freshman guard, a Bronx native, is set to return to his hometown this week as the Rams descend on Brooklyn and Barclays Center for the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The second-seeded Rams have a first round bye and will take on the winner of No. 7 Xavier and No. 10 Saint Joseph’s on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

For Johnson, it’s a chance to come home to play before friends and family in the city’s new, chic hoops destination. Johnson says he expects about 50 relatives, neighborhood buddies, AAU teammates and others to make the trip to the arena. But please, if you know Johnson, don’t call him. Call the Barclays ticket office.

“I couldn’t get 50 tickets, so I’ve got friends that are purchasing tickets,” he said Tuesday.

But it’s not all bad. Johnson says he’s been flattered by the outpouring of support he’s receiving from New York.

“Just for them to come out for me and do things like that for the entire weekend is going to mean a lot for me and is going to go a long way,” he said.

YOUR OFFICIAL NERDY SPORTS INFO ATLANTIC 10 NAME GAME PRIMER

So, you think you can work in sports info? Well, listen up here, sonny.

Yesterday we were unofficially officially welcomed to the Atlantic 10 by league staffers with a riveting Power Point presentation and wooed with pewter coasters. Yes, my loyalty can be bought, and the price is pretty low. For many of us, it was our first administrative act as totally almost official but not official until July 1 members of the league.

This allowed for a chance for all us sports information/media relations types to get together and discuss incredibly sports info things.

A little background info. I’m a sports nerd. It’s a condition that affects thousands of adolescents a year. If left untreated, your children could grow up to work in sports information like me.

By the time I was 14, I was pouring over the USA Today sports section on a daily basis because they had the best stats. I can still tell you that Cleveland Indians third baseman Brook Jacoby hit 32 homers in 1987, but somehow only managed to drive in 69 runs. I know that Scottie Pippen was actually drafted by the Seattle Supersonics and that Johnny Unitas retired a Charger. I know that Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn and that the Washington Senators are now the Minnesota Twins (1961) and Texas Rangers (1972). I’m one of six people on the East Coast under the age of 50 that can score a baseball game by hand.

In high school, I managed to mask my sports nerdness to participating in undeniably cool sports like bowling and cross country.

Anyway, yesterday we sports info folks had an opportunity to do some of the most sports info stuff ever. Things like: In StatCrew, does the A-10 enter player names last name first, use the full first name or just the initial? Do you type the name in all caps or in upper and lower case letters (for the record, the A-10 is last names first – in all caps – followed by the first name in upper and lower case letters). Exciting, right?

Here’s my favorite part of the meeting, which is equal parts inane and helpful, especially to VCU fans. Here at Ram HQ, we’ve been fighting the VCU brand fight for years. For the record, there are two acceptable ways to reference your school. It’s either Virginia Commonwealth University (first reference) or VCU. It’s been an uphill battle within our own league to get people to stop using Va. Commonwealth as an abbreviation. We do this because, frankly, Va. Commonwealth looks terrible and is difficult to market and understand. VCU is sleek and looks great on a t-shirt. Plus, chicks dig it.

NO SLEEP ‘TIL…

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The Barclays Center, home of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. If you build it…