2015–16 VMI Keydets basketball team

The 2015–16 VMI Keydets basketball team represented Virginia Military Institute in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Keydets were led by first-year head coach Dan Earl and played their home games out of Cameron Hall, their home since 1981. Earl replaced Duggar Baucom, who departed for military rival The Citadel in March 2015. The Keydets played as a member of the Southern Conference for the second consecutive year, having been in the Big South Conference from 2003 to 2014. Prior to that, VMI was a member of the SoCon for nearly eighty years. They finished the season 9–21, 4–14 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the SoCon tournament to Samford.

2015–16 VMI Keydets basketball
ConferenceSouthern Conference
Record9–21 (4–14 SoCon)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Steve Lepore (1st season)
  • Chris Kreider (1st season)
  • Jason Slay (1st season)
Home arenaCameron Hall
2015–16 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
Chattanooga153 .833296  .829
East Tennessee State144 .7782412  .667
Furman117 .6111916  .543
Wofford117 .6111517  .469
Western Carolina108 .5561618  .471
UNC Greensboro108 .5561519  .441
Mercer810 .4441915  .559
Samford414 .2221419  .424
VMI414 .222921  .300
The Citadel315 .1671022  .313
2016 SoCon Tournament winner

Preseason

Departures

In addition to four seniors, VMI also lost sophomore forward Craig Hinton to transfer.

NamePositionClassReason
Niles TateSGFr.Left team
Craig HintonSFSo.Transfer
Tyrell MasonFSo.Left team
Brian BrownSGSr.Graduated
Christian BurtonPGSr.Graduated
Michael DonovanGSr.Graduated
Jarid WatsonCSr.Graduated

Coaching changes

In addition to the departure of Baucom, VMI assistant coaches Daniel Willis and Ryan Mattocks also left for The Citadel.[1] Willis came to VMI in 2005 along with Baucom, and Mattocks was hired prior to the 2012–13 season. Additionally, the contract of assistant coach Ben Thompson, who was in his first season with the program, was not renewed.

In May, Earl announced three hires to the coaching staff: Steve Lepore, Chris Kreider, and Jason Slay.[2] Lepore came from Hargrave Military Academy and played college basketball at Wake Forest where he graduated in 2003.[2] Kreider most recently served as an assistant coach at George Mason for four seasons, and also worked with former Southern Conference member Georgia Southern for two years. Slay had been an assistant at SoCon rival East Tennessee State the past two seasons, and played collegiately at West Virginia State.[2]

Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Austin Vereen
SG
Washington, D.C. Maret School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Nov 16, 2014 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
D'Andre Mahaffey
SF
Athens, GA Cedar Shoals High School 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sep 21, 2014 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Adrian Rich
PG
Fuquay-Varina, NC Fishburne Military School 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) N/A May 6, 2014 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "ESPN – VMI Basketball Recruiting 2015". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  • "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 7, 2014.

Roster

2015–16 VMI Keydets men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 0 Austin Vereen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)190 lb (86 kg) FrMaret School Washington, D.C.
G 3 Adrian Rich 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
FrFishburne Military Fuquay-Varina, NC
C 5 Fred Iruafemi 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)200 lb (91 kg) SoMiddle Creek Apex, NC
F 12 D'Andre Mahaffey 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)195 lb (88 kg) FrCedar Shoals Athens, GA
F 14 Will Weethee 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)190 lb (86 kg) FrEast Forsyth High School Greensboro, NC
F 15 Trey Chapman 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)205 lb (93 kg) JrWesleyan Christian Greensboro, NC
F 21 Armani Branch 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)172 lb (78 kg) SoGenesis Academy Hampton, VA
G 22 QJ Peterson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)170 lb (77 kg) JrHedgesville/Massanutten Hedgesville, WV
G 23 Tim Marshall 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)185 lb (84 kg) SrLandstown Virginia Beach, VA
F 32 Phillip Anglade 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)210 lb (95 kg) SrDavidson Day Long Island, NY
G 35 Julian Eleby 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)190 lb (86 kg) JrVillage Christian/Fork Union Fayetteville, NC
F 40 Jordan Weethee 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)220 lb (100 kg) RS SrHigh Point Christian Greensboro, NC
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
PF Phillip Anglade Fred Iruafemi Armani Branch
SF Trey Chapman Jordan Weethee D'Andre Mahaffey
SG Tim Marshall
SG QJ Peterson Austin Vereen
PG Julian Eleby Adrian Rich

Schedule

Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
November 14*
1:00 pm
at Penn State L 50–62  0–1
Bryce Jordan Center (5,959)
University Park, PA
November 17*
7:30 pm
Tusculum W 88–76  1–1
Cameron Hall (914)
Lexington, VA
November 21*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Virginia Tech L 52–76  1–2
Cassell Coliseum (5,644)
Blacksburg, VA
November 24*
7:00 pm
Presbyterian W 76–61  2–2
Cameron Hall (1,010)
Lexington, VA
November 30*
7:00 pm
at Campbell L 65–66  2–3
Gore Arena (1,440)
Buies Creek, NC
December 2*
7:00 pm
Central Penn W 107–72  3–3
Cameron Hall (1,043)
Lexington, VA
December 5*
4:30 pm, BTN
at Ohio State L 62–80  3–4
Value City Arena (12,132)
Columbus, OH
December 7*
7:00 pm, FSN
at No. 18 Butler L 66–93  3–5
Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,202)
Indianapolis, IN
December 12*
1:00 pm
Navy L 62–68  3–6
Cameron Hall (3,124)
Lexington, VA
December 21*
7:00 pm
at Gardner–Webb W 76–75  4–6
Paul Porter Arena (781)
Boiling Springs, NC
December 30*
7:00 pm
Bridgewater W 72–37  5–6
Cameron Hall (1,171)
Lexington, VA
January 2
4:00 pm, ESPN3
at Furman L 57–85  5–7
(0–1)
Timmons Arena (1,421)
Greenville, SC
January 5
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Wofford L 61–65  5–8
(0–2)
Cameron Hall (985)
Lexington, VA
January 9
4:30 pm
at Western Carolina L 52–73  5–9
(0–3)
Ramsey Center (1,844)
Cullowhee, NC
January 11
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at East Tennessee State L 51–88  5–10
(0–4)
Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,416)
Johnson City, TN
January 17
1:00 pm, ESPN3
at UNC Greensboro L 68–85  5–11
(0–5)
Greensboro Coliseum (1,381)
Greensboro, NC
January 21
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Samford W 83–76  6–11
(1–5)
Cameron Hall (1,189)
Lexington, VA
January 25
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Furman L 56–68  6–12
(1–6)
Cameron Hall (1,185)
Lexington, VA
January 28
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Mercer L 58–73  6–13
(1–7)
Hawkins Arena (2,693)
Macon, GA
January 30
1:00 pm, ESPN3
at The Citadel L 75–78  6–14
(1–8)
McAlister Field House (3,535)
Charleston, SC
February 4
7:00 pm, ESPN3
East Tennessee State L 60–71  6–15
(1–9)
Cameron Hall (1,178)
Lexington, VA
February 6
1:00 pm, ESPN3
Western Carolina L 60–69  6–16
(1–10)
Cameron Hall (2,379)
Lexington, VA
February 8
7:00 pm
at Wofford L 60–92  6–17
(1–11)
Benjamin Johnson Arena (1,129)
Spartanburg, SC
February 11
7:00 pm, ESPN3
UNC Greensboro W 86–72  7–17
(2–11)
Cameron Hall (1,134)
Lexington, VA
February 18
7:00 pm
at Chattanooga L 59–85  7–18
(2–12)
McKenzie Arena (3,589)
Chattanooga, TN
February 20
3:00 pm, ESPN3
at Samford L 67–73  7–19
(2–13)
Pete Hanna Center (1,332)
Homewood, AL
February 25
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Mercer W 91–82  8–19
(3–13)
Cameron Hall (1,194)
Lexington, VA
February 27
1:00 pm, ESPN3
The Citadel W 111–95  9–19
(4–13)
Cameron Hall (3,327)
Lexington, VA
February 29
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Chattanooga
Postponed from 1/23/16
L 65–67  9–20
(4–14)
Cameron Hall (1,211)
Lexington, VA
SoCon tournament
March 5
5:00 pm, ESPN3
vs. Samford
First round
L 85–92 OT 9–21
U.S. Cellular Center (2,411)
Asheville, NC
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

[3]

References

  1. "Baucom Announces Assistant Coaches on Citadel Staff". CitadelSports.com. April 22, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  2. "Earl Adds Three to Basketball Coaching Staff". VMIKeydets.com. June 5, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  3. 2015–16 VMI Basketball Schedule
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