OKEREAFOR FINDING HIS VOICE

Sophomore point guard Teddy Okereafor is averaging 2.5 assists and 12.6 minutes per game this season.

RICHMOND, Va. – A few thousand miles, a whole lot of water and a common language separate London, England and Richmond. What sounds like English to native Londoner Teddy Okereafor and what sounds like English to Virginian Darius Theus can be two different things.

“I mean, it’s tough with his accent,” Theus a senior, joked of his understudy. “You can’t really understand him sometimes.”

But the good news is that Okereafor is talking. The translation will come later. Accent or not, Okereafor’s teammates are starting to hear a lot more out of VCU’s backup point guard this season, and that’s good for everybody.

“Teddy still has a long way to go, but he’s much better than last year,” says VCU Coach Shaka Smart. “He was a church mouse last year.”

There’s more to being a point guard than just making fancy passes. The good ones, and VCU has had many of them over the years, direct their teammates on the floor like chess pieces, arranging them properly before initiating an attack. If there’s nobody to direct traffic, the offense falls apart.

Smart hopes a more vocal Okereafor will finally provide the Rams with a consistent backup to Theus, who averaged 31.2 minutes last season. In Smart’s Havoc system, that’s a fair amount.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?: KEN JONES

Ken Jones with wife Otelia.

You could say that Ken Jones has served a critical role in building VCU, literally.

In recent years, Jones, founder and President of Prestige Construction Group Inc., has led a number of campus construction and renovation projects. Prestige recently completed a $4.5 million, 15,000-square foot addition, as well as a renovation of the recital hall, at VCU’s James W. Black Music Center.  The company also renovated the Hunton Hall Student Medical Center, the VCU Alumni House and the VCU Sim Lab. Prestige also built VCU’s Baird Vascular Medical Institute in the near West End.

In addition to those projects, Jones was integral in building the VCU Basketball program years ago. After three outstanding seasons at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee, an NAIA powerhouse, the 6-foot-11 Jones transferred to VCU for the 1979-80 season.

As the Rams’ starting center under Coach J.D. Barnett, Jones averaged 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds to help VCU to its first Sun Belt Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament bid. In the Sun Belt Championship Game at the Charlotte Coliseum that season, Jones scored 16 points and added 11 rebounds as the Rams topped UAB 105-88 for the title. He later contributed five points and seven rebounds in VCU’s first NCAA Tournament game, an 86-72 loss to Iowa in Greensboro, N.C.

Jones’ history as one of the heroes of VCU’s coming-of-age season is one reason why he takes his work on campus today to heart.

“We’re not going to fail on a VCU project,” said Jones, a 54-year-old Prince Edward County native. “We’re going to put our whole heart into it to be successful because I want to do the absolute best for the university.”

Jones had always dreamed of opening his own construction company, so much so that he can tell you the exact moment he received his contractor’s license: Feb. 21, 1991 at 11:30 a.m. He hasn’t looked back since.

Shortly after that landmark moment, he founded Prestige with just three employees. In 1997, after six years of specializing in residential renovations, the company successfully transitioned to commercial construction projects.

In the last 15 years, Prestige has made a name for itself in the commercial construction business, building and renovating churches, schools and medical facilities. In a given year, Jones says Prestige will participate in anywhere between 25-40 projects.

Prestige has been able to not only weather the economic downturn, but thrive in it, growing by 60 percent in the last four years, according to the company’s website. Those achievements haven’t gone unnoticed. Jones was recently named the 2012 Metropolitan Business League Entrepreneur of the Year.

Jones’ success has allowed him to give back to VCU, as well as Lincoln Memorial. A long-time contributor to the Ram Athletic Fund and men’s basketball season ticket holder, Jones traveled to the Final Four in Houston in 2011. Prestige is also a corporate sponsor of VCU Athletics.

“I just thought it was the right thing to do to stay close to my alma mater,” Jones said.

Jones currently resides in Chesterfield with his wife Otelia and their nine-year-old son Timothy.

The 1979-80 VCU Rams earned the school’s first NCAA Tournament bid. Front row (left to right): Mark Dowden, Edmund Sherod, Freddie Bates, Monty Knight, Tim Harris, Greg Shropshire. Back row (left to right): Greg McCray, Danny Kottak, Kenny Stancell, Ken Jones, Greg Ringo, Penny Elliott.

BACK TO BASICS: STETSON NOTEBOOK

Juvonte Reddic led all players with 20 points Wednesday.

RICHMOND, Va. – Juvonte Reddic said it was about getting back to basics. If he meant, basically running Stetson out of the gym, then Wednesday night was mission accomplished for VCU, which dismantled the Hatters 92-56 at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

In their first game back from the rugged Battle 4 Atlantis, the Rams looked like a baseball player who spent the weekend swinging a bat with a weighted donut, only to remove it in time for Wednesday’s game. VCU unloaded on the overmatched Hatters (2-3), dominating every facet of the game. If not for VCU’s dreadful 3-point shooting (5-of-22), the Hatters would be wearing their Stetsons much lower on their way back to Florida.

After a 1-2 showing at the “Battle”, where they played three top-25 teams in three days, the Rams looked loose against a team that is clearly not of the same ilk, no offense to Stetson. It makes the win difficult to assess, if the prism we’re viewing VCU through now is that of a team on par with the Dukes and the Missouris and the Memphises. But the Rams appeared to do everything they were supposed to do, and more.

“It’s always fun to play here. We had a tough little stretch in the Bahamas going 1-2, so we told ourselves to reset, come back to Siegel,” said junior Rob Brandenberg, who finished with 17 points.

SCOUTING REPORT: STETSON

All hat, no horse.

STETSON HATTERS (Nov. 28, 2012)
2012-13 Record: 2-2 (9-20, 6-12 Atlantic Sun in 2011-12)
2011-12 RPI: 263
Guy to Heckle: Adam Pegg, Sr., F (18.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg)

The Skinny: The Hatters in Year Two of Coach Casey Alexander’s rebuilding project and there are reasons for optimism. Stetson returns all five starters and nine players overall from last season’s 9-20 squad, including former Delaware big man Adam Pegg.

After two unremarkable seasons with the Blue Hens, Pegg enjoyed a breakout season with the Hatters last year. He nearly tripled his scoring average from the 2009-10 season and established himself as Stetson’s best player. At 6-foot-9, Pegg has the size to mix it up in the paint, but also knocked down 18 three-pointers last year and is 5-of-9 from that distance in 2012-13.

The Hatters can score the basketball. They’re averaging 76.0 points per game this season and have four players averaging double-digits. Guards Aaron Graham and Joel Naburgs have combined to shoot 21-of-55 from three.

However, defense (or lack thereof) and regard for the basketball (or lack thereof) have been major issues for Stetson. The Hatters allowed 78.4 points per game last season and turned the ball over 17.7 times per game – a recipe for disaster against VCU. Neither has been dramatically better so far this season. The Hatters are currently 272^nd in Ken Pomeroy’s Defensive Adjusted Efficiency (AdjD) and 279^th nationally in turnover rate. That’s like a Petri dish for Havoc.

Quick hitter: Stetson has performed admirably in two games against Miami (Fla.) and South Florida. Although the Hatters lost both, the final margin was less than 10 in each. In addition, Pegg did not play against South Florida. He was serving a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul earlier this season.

Actual Stetson recruiting video below:

VCU’S DEA WORKED ON ‘LINCOLN’

Autumn Dea (far left) with Spielberg (center) on the set of ‘Lincoln’.

This item previously ran on the blog in October of 2011, but was removed after about a day. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding about when it would run, and the production company’s desire not to disclose information about the film. “Lincoln” has since been released in theaters and has garnered significant Oscar buzz. Below is the original note on former VCU Field Hockey player Autumn Dea.

RICHMOND, Va. – Field Hockey junior and cinema major Autumn Dea is having a bit of a surreal week, her first as an intern with the Assistant Director’s Department for the movie Lincoln, which will be filmed mostly in Richmond. The film will be directed by Steven Spielberg and includes stars Daniel Day-Lewis (who will play Abraham Lincoln), Joseph Gordon Levitt, Sally Fields and Tommy Lee Jones. Shooting began today.

“It’s just nuts,” says Dea, a Honey Brook, Pa. native. “There are hundreds of crew members. It’s like a dream. Whenever I go in, I’ll look at the call sheet for the day and at the top it’ll say Director/Producer, Steven Spielberg. I’m just staring at it.”

Dea, the only current VCU student-athlete majoring in cinema, will be helping the second directors on set. According to skillset.org, “Second directors prepare and draw up the next day’s call sheet, (which involves confirming the details of who needs to be on set and at what time, the transport arrangements, extras required etc.).”

Field hockey season is in full swing, which makes this a less than ideal time for Dea to serve and internship. During the season, Dea will work on Lincoln roughly three days a week, which will require her to wake at 5:45 a.m. on those days. Although juggling field hockey, class and an internship is draining, Dea says it was a no brainer.

Dea played field hockey at VCU from 2009-11.

“It’s something you can’t pass up. You make it work,” she said.

Dea had previously worked as a freelance editor and a volunteer on some smaller productions, but nothing approaching this scale. According to IMDB, the production budget for Lincoln is rumored to be $100 million. Shooting is expected to continue through December.

Spielberg is one of the most influential directors and producers ever, churning out films like Schindler’s List, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., The Color Purple and Jurassic Park, to name a few. Rarely is there a Spielberg-directed vehicle that isn’t a blockbuster.

With that in mind, Dea said that pretty much every VCU cinema major (about 100) applied to work on the film in some capacity, but only a handful were selected.

When she graduates next year, Dea will weigh her options. She’s considering applying for the VCU Brandcenter to study advertising. From there, Dea expects to end up in New York or Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry. Ultimately, Dea says she’d love to be a director.

“I like being a storyteller. I like conveying a concept,” Dea said. “The chance to put your ideas out there in possibly the most influential art form…and then you can be so creative and you can do so much with film.”

THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT A MIXED BLESSING FOR VCU

Sophomore Treveon Graham averaged 18.0 points and 6.0 rebounds for VCU, which finished 1-2 at the Battle 4 Atlantis.

RICHMOND, Va. – VCU’s 1-2 performance at the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament over Thanksgiving Weekend is likely to be viewed as many different things to many different people.

On one hand, the Rams upset 19^th-ranked Memphis and battled then fifth-ranked Duke and 13^th-ranked Missouri to the final horn, only to lose close games. You could say that alone is proof the Rams are a top-25 caliber team and can compete with anybody in the country, that they can walk with their chests puffed out, their confidence soaring.

The flip side is that for whatever moral victories were won, the Rams still lost games to Duke and Missouri that were within their reach, that VCU missed an opportunity to make a splash nationally. Against Duke, VCU’s balky free throw shooting reared its ugly head, while Missouri was able to control the paint in its 68-65 win over the Rams.

Regardless of which side you fall on, or, if your opinions reside closer to the centerline, there were positives and negatives from the experience. VCU players, talking publicly for the first time since returning from the Paradise Island Resort in Nassau, the site of the star-studded tournament, sounded as if they were also trying to categorize their performance. Net positive or an exercise in frustration? Teachable moment? Confidence builder? All of the above?

“We learned a lot. It was a good trip, a learning experience,” said junior Rob Brandenberg, who averaged 11.3 points in three tournament games. “One thing I learned about us is we’ve got to continue to get better and we’ve got to attack everything we do. Every time we take the floor we’ve got to attack. That’s when we’re at our best.”

THE COMPANY YOU KEEP

Freshman Jessica Pellechio hit nine 3-pointers in VCU’s win over UMKC last week.

RICHMOND, Va. – Jessica Pellechio hit nine 3-pointers in a win over UMKC on Nov. 20, but she might be surprised to learn that she’s not even the record-holder in her own locker room. Rams’ Coach Marlene Stollings once drained 10 treys in a game at Ohio University.

Pellechio needn’t fret, she might be the Rams’ best shooter in years. Pellechio, who is averaging 14.0 points per game, has already hit 19 three-pointers in five games and has attempted 56. VCU’s single-season records of 94 made threes and 226 attempts are officially on alert. Last year, Robyn Hobson led the Rams with 25 made threes the entire season.

Pellechio’s emergence is no accident. Stollings says she has to practically throw her out of the gym most days. In addition, the 5-foot-8 guard from Annandale, N.J. has managed to surround herself with some outstanding coaching along the way.

In recent years, the sweet shooting guard has received instruction from the leading scorers in both Ohio and New Jersey high school history, women who rank among the top 25 all-time nationally in girls basketball history.

Since the eighth grade, Pellechio has worked with shooting coach Kristen Somogyi. Somogyi is the leading scorer in New Jersey high school basketball history, girls or boys. She poured in 3,899 points at St. Peter’s High School in New Brunswick from 1989-92, a mark which ranks 10^th nationally in girls high school basketball history, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. She later played collegiately at Virginia and Rutgers and currently works as a teacher and AAU coach in the Garden State.

BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS SPLITS

I thought this may be of interest. Here are VCU’s stats from the three Battle 4 Atlantis games – games against the No. 19, 13 and 5 teams in the country.  Click to enlarge.

Right out of the gate, one thing that jumps out is Treveon Graham’s stat line: 18.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg against terrific competition. That speaks volumes about the progress of the talented sophomore. Juvonte Reddic also continues to impress. He posted a double-double against Duke and averaged 12.0 ppg and 9.3 rpg.

ANYONE ELSE FEELING NOSTALGIC?

VCU JOURNEY TO ATLANTIS COULD BE A PATH TO MARCH SUCCESS

Five NCAA Tournament teams and three NIT squads from 2011-12 comprise a loaded Battle 4 Atlantis field.

RICHMOND, Va. – Duke, Louisville, Minnesota, Memphis, Missouri, Stanford, Northern Iowa. Coach K, Tubby, Frank Haith, Josh Pastner. That’s the lineup and the names of some of the marquee coaches in the Battle 4 Atlantis field, in which VCU will participate Nov. 22-24 in the Bahamas. This is big-boy basketball.

The Rams (2-1) will open with 19^th-ranked Memphis on Thursday. After that, it’s fifth-ranked Duke or Minnesota, which is lurking just outside the top 25. Then, take your pick of second-ranked Louisville, or perhaps, 13^th-ranked Missouri. Usually these tournaments have a punching bag, a Chaminade (too soon, Texas?), if you will. Not here. VCU will play three games, and there’s no such thing as a day off or an easy road.

It looks and feels a lot like the postseason, and more specifically, the NCAA Tournament, and the experience could pay dividends for the Rams down the road. VCU will play three NCAA-Tournament quality teams regardless of how the brackets shake out. You can’t simulate that elsewhere. It’s like a March Madness primer on steroids. It’s like Chuck Yeager’s Flight Simulator for championship basketball. A win, or two, or three would not only bolster VCU’s NCAA resume, it could also prepare the Rams to make another tournament run.