Mike Litos relays a fond, albeit embarrassing memory from his freshman year at VCU. It was 1986, J.D. Barnett had already packed up and left for Tulsa. Although they did not know it at the time, the Rams were sliding into an extended period of mediocrity. Like Haley’s Comet, the program would emerge to win a conference title in 1996 before heading back into another orbit of so-so basketball around the sun, or something like that.
Litos grew up on Tobacco Road, where basketball is religion and your affiliation with Duke or North Carolina (no offense, N.C. State) is akin to being a Hatfield or a McCoy. Schools always packed the house and you had to get to the game at least an hour ahead of time to get a seat in the student section.
Those experiences are what caused Litos to convince his roommate and a couple of other guys to catch the first bus down to the Richmond Coliseum for the Rams’ home-opener that season. After much prodding, they relented.
“When we got there,” he says sheepishly. “We joined the other four students in the building in the student section.”
The atmosphere Litos witnessed during VCU’s 73-51 win over Richmond on Dec. 9 might as well be light years away from that first game. That night, the Rams played before their seventh consecutive sellout of more than 7,600. Some 2,000 students packed the end zones to form what he calls – and many agree – the best atmosphere in the CAA. He knows it wasn’t always this way. He also believes he knows the night when it all began to change, when the gods of basketball fanaticism began to favor VCU. It was when the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center (formerly the Alltel Pavilion) went from a nice, functional building to a “weapon”: It was Feb. 26, 2005. Some fans refer to it as “The Michael Doles Game”.
The Siegel Center opened in 1999 as a raucous, sellout crowd watched the Rams upset Louisville. But by 2003, the novelty had worn off. The Rams hadn’t really won anything since the mid-nineties, and even that was fleeting. During the 2002-03 season, Jeff Capel’s first as head coach, the Rams’ average home attendance was 4,108. VCU’s first three home games that season drew a paltry 2,111, 2,341 and 2,090 fans. Even home games with Richmond (5,695) and Old Dominion (5,077) didn’t fare demonstrably better.
However, in 2003-04, Capel led the Rams to their first CAA crown since 1996. Upstart VCU even put a scare into Chris Paul and Wake Forest before dropping a 79-78 decision in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. But the Rams’ newfound success didn’t necessarily translate at the box office. Attendance climbed slightly, to 4,640 in 2003-04 and 4,815 in 2004-05.
At the time, Litos said the building could get loud, but he referred to it as “standard loud”, almost as if it were a perfunctory gesture by the crowd.
On Feb. 26, 2005, UNC Wilmington, in the midst of its most successful string of seasons in program history, rolled into the Siegel Center. It was Senior Day at VCU, and while the Rams were a relatively young team, they were bidding farewell to elder statesmen Michael Doles and Derrick Reid.
A crowd of 7,283, the largest of the season, packed the house. Not only were the Seahawks one of the CAA’s main attractions at the time (you’ll have to trust me on this), but Doles was a beloved Ram.
The game couldn’t have gone worse for VCU for the first 34 minutes. UNC Wilmington was every bit as good as advertised, while the Rams were awful, shooting 29 percent (9-of-31) in the first half. With 5:25 remaining, the Seahawks led 58-39. Get out your keys. The crowd, Litos says, “was just about moribund”.
The comeback started slowly, almost unnoticeably. Doles missed a 3-pointer, but junior Nick George grabbed the rebound and laid the ball into the basket. Capel put on the full court press. With 4:44 left, B.A. Walker’s 3-pointer slammed off the front of the rim, bounced two feet in the air and fell into the hoop.
The press started to work. The normally sure-handed Seahawks began to get sloppy. Turnovers piled up and the Rams chipped away. With just over a minute remaining, Walker hit a three to make it 66-59.
Then things really got crazy.
The Seahawks just needed to hold onto the ball, bleed the clock and knock down free throws. They couldn’t do any of that. Halston Lane missed two free throws and VCU’s Jesse Pellot-Rosa drove and scored with 36.0 left, 66-61. Doles tipped the ensuing inbounds pass off of UNCW’s Ed Spencer and out of bounds. Now the crowd is really into it. Can this be happening? The odds are still long, but…
By now, Doles was fully in a zone. Think Michael J. Fox as “Teen Wolf” zone. Seconds later, Doles stopped two feet inside the 3-point line and buried a 17-footer. Wilmington, in full panic mode by now, turned the ball over near midcourt. Doles calmly dribbled to the top of the arc and buried an inconceivable game-tying 3-pointer with 25 seconds left. At that point, the crowd came completely unglued. Roof-rattling, foot-stomping, hands-on-head bananas unglued.
The Rams would eventually win the game in overtime 72-71. Doles finished with 22 points and four steals and Litos says the building never felt the same again.
“When Doles got that steal and hit that three, I never remembered a singular moment where that building exploded like that,” Litos says.
Over the next six years, the Rams built a consistent winner. In 2007, fan interest spiked when Eric Maynor’s “dagger” felled Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Another NCAA berth came in 2009, as well as 2011’s stunning Final Four run.
VCU made winning 20 games or more, as well as the postseason, the norm. Fans began flocking to the Siegel Center. Students, whose presence could be considered enigmatic at best previously, took a real interest in the program. The Rowdy Rams, VCU’s student fan organization, has grown from 220 members to 1,110 in the last year alone.
The Rams averaged a Verizon Wireless Arena record 6,645 fans per game last season. That record is in already in serious jeopardy this year. VCU sold out its first three games of the 2011-12 season and is hoping for another when UNC Wilmington visits again on Dec. 17.
After years of so-so crowds, the Siegel Center is legitimately a scary place for the opposition.
“It would get loud and get frenzied before, but it was the standard loud and standard frenzied that you’d expect from a college basketball crowd. But that was the first night it exploded,” Litos says. “Now they’ve just taken it from that step. Now that level is the norm. It’s only gotten better from that moment.”
If you’re coming to see the Rams this weekend, just make sure you catch that first bus down to the arena. We mean it this time.
VCU 72, UNCW 71 ot (Box Score)
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Pavarotti
Dec 16, 2011 @ 06:56:35
God that game was fun.
Jim
Dec 16, 2011 @ 17:25:30
Au contraire, there were games at the Richmond Coliseum where the atmosphere was insane. I personally remember games against Va. Tech, Louisville, Marquette and Long Beach State where the VCU fans could truly be called rabid. The makings were always there, it just took something for the VCU fans to get excited about.
aroundthehorns
Dec 16, 2011 @ 17:30:52
Correct, but the problem was maintaining that level of enthusiasm. Any building in the country can be crazy if Kentucky’s in town. But can you rock the house when it’s South Florida?
Those days were few and far between after J.D. Barnett left the program until recently. As late as 2003, the atmosphere at most games was quite pedestrian.
Jim
Dec 16, 2011 @ 18:56:11
Point taken. I always felt the nucleus was always there with fans, alumni and students. Michael Doles was a catalyst to get the whole chemical reaction going. Mike may have been the most visible, but there are many that can share the credit for making the Stu the hotbed of basketball it has become.
Martin Stucky
Dec 20, 2011 @ 01:11:16
Yes…a smaller arena that’s easier to get to.
Michael Doles
Dec 16, 2011 @ 17:46:00
Great article, with out u guys being there at every game with your unbelivable support year in and year out. The success of the VCU Rams basketball program wouldnt be as it is today. So I want to thank u all!
Go RAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael Doles #2
aroundthehorns
Dec 16, 2011 @ 17:47:32
I hope that’s Michael Doles for real. I also hope he finds that Teen Wolf Zone again from time to time.
Martin Stucky
Dec 20, 2011 @ 01:14:14
Dude, you rocked! That was a great team!
aroundthehorns
Dec 20, 2011 @ 02:51:14
Martin Stucky absolutely blowing up the comments section. Love the effort.
Mat Shelton
Dec 16, 2011 @ 18:23:29
Motion to change the name of senior day to “Michael Doles Senior Day at the Stuart C. Siegel Center at the Verizon Wireless Arena”.
Also…love how that highlight stars…with a Renardo Dixon rebound…
I actually missed the majority of this game because I was working, but listening to the game on the radio said, “I’m gonna go if we can get within 14″…sure enough, I believe BA hit a basket (a three?) to pull it to 14, then I drove to the game to see the greatest non-tournament ending I’ve ever seen.
Thursday Work Session: Are We There Yet?
Dec 16, 2011 @ 18:27:41
Jeff
Dec 16, 2011 @ 23:26:45
Man, watching this brings back every memory of that game… the second time watching it I caught myself picking everyone out in the crowd… our section had some face time… just made me realize I stopped making those signs and shirts for each game…getting lazy
aroundthehorns
Dec 17, 2011 @ 19:32:39
Jeff, sounds like it’s time to step up your game.
Michael Doles sr.
Dec 17, 2011 @ 03:26:03
Great article. Thanks for not forgetting that game. For me it was the greatest game I ever saw him play (and I have seen a lot of them). And yes, that is the real #2.
Martin Stuclky
Dec 20, 2011 @ 00:29:43
We’d better win 24 games this season to get an at-large unless we win the tourney, because every game we play is going to drop us in the RPI. We have a real weak schedule and it should have been tougher.
Martin Stucky
Dec 20, 2011 @ 00:36:45
How about the ’84 games vs WKU and ODU 40 pointers. That was when the Sun Belt had 5 teams in the top 20. I was in the crowd for both and couldn’t believe we were up by over 20 before ODU put a point up. Until last year’s tourney, biggest VCU games in history!
Martin Stucky
Dec 20, 2011 @ 01:05:39
I’m showing my age…few VCU fans were even born that year. Turning point was the Duke win in NCAA’s. That put VCU on the map and we’ve gotten great recruits ever since. This team this year should roll the CAA badly. Next year they will be a top 20 team preseason.
marcus
Dec 20, 2011 @ 16:14:56
LONGLIVEMICHAELDOLES!
This is the game I found out who my hero was … #2!! Nicest guy in the world and just a baller on the court!
(Also, I’m gonna second Mat Shelton’s motion to name senior day, ” “Michael Doles Senior Day at the Stuart C. Siegel Center at the Verizon Wireless Arena”.)
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