VCU will get one point guard back tonight. The status of another is less certain.
Senior starter Briante Weber will make his debut after being suspended for Friday?s season opener against Tennessee. His backup, sophomore JeQuan Lewis, is making ?a lot of progress? from a concussion and may or may not be available to play against Toledo at the Siegel Center, Rams coach Shaka Smart said.
Lewis fell hard while wrestling for a rebound and hit his head on the floor in a frightening scene during the first half of the 85-69 win over Tennessee at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
?He was asymptomatic as of Saturday, the day after the game, which is terrific progress,? Smart said. ?There?s a set of steps that the doctors and our athletic trainer go through with him. He?s in the middle of that process. He has not been ruled out, but it certainly has not been determined that he?s going to play, either.?
Smart said a team physician from the Naval Academy saw Lewis after the game on Friday and ?felt like JeQuan checked out neurologically.?
?There are multiple doctors here at VCU who are working with (associate athletic director for sports medicine Eddie Benion) and JeQuan, going through the process,? Smart said. ?There?s baseline testing they do with all of our athletes in the offseason, so everything is compared to that.?
The Rams had Saturday off, but Smart said medical staff and coaches spent a lot of time with Lewis. He was at practice on Sunday but did not participate.
?He shot some free throws,? Smart said. ?He shot 90 percent on his free throws, shot some jump shots after practice. He did some stuff on the treadmill with Eddie. It?s all part of the protocol you go through. He does those things and then Eddie tests him, does some balance exercises and recall exercises.?
Lewis was not available for comment, but he posted on Facebook on Saturday that he was ?feeling good so no more worries, great first win for my team, 1-0, on to the next game, lookin forward to a long fun season!?
He added, ?Thanks for all the concern, no need to worry, life good over here, let?s take focus off of me now and put the focus back on the Rams and our next victim, love y?all.?
Weber?s return will restore what started as a deep position for the Rams. They also have freshman Jonathan Williams, versatile senior guard/forward Treveon Graham and sophomore walk-on Torey Burston.
Williams fouled out of the Tennessee game in 13 minutes. Graham, just named to watch list for the Wooden Award (top college basketball player), moved to point guard for significant stretches against Tennessee.
?It?s good to have Briante back either way,? Smart said. ?Briante?s the second-best player on our team. ? Defensively, he makes such an impact on everything that we do. We?re just a different team when he?s in the game on defense versus when he?s not in the game.
?It?s great to have him back. It was really just a strange dynamic on our team really for the last couple of weeks with him. He was in practice, he was with the team, really everything other than our Florida scrimmage, but he wasn?t playing so it was kind of weird. But I?m glad that?s over.?
The No. 15 Rams will need Weber because they expect a test from Toledo. The Rockets return six of their top seven players from a 27-7 team. Smart called 5-10 senior guard Julius ?Juice? Brown, who averaged 14.9 points last season, ?one of the best guards I?ve seen on tape.?
?Really good personnel, well-coached and an experienced team that knows how to win,? Smart said. ?This is going to be a challenging game.?
Senior starter Briante Weber will make his debut after being suspended for Friday?s season opener against Tennessee. His backup, sophomore JeQuan Lewis, is making ?a lot of progress? from a concussion and may or may not be available to play against Toledo at the Siegel Center, Rams coach Shaka Smart said.
Lewis fell hard while wrestling for a rebound and hit his head on the floor in a frightening scene during the first half of the 85-69 win over Tennessee at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
?He was asymptomatic as of Saturday, the day after the game, which is terrific progress,? Smart said. ?There?s a set of steps that the doctors and our athletic trainer go through with him. He?s in the middle of that process. He has not been ruled out, but it certainly has not been determined that he?s going to play, either.?
Smart said a team physician from the Naval Academy saw Lewis after the game on Friday and ?felt like JeQuan checked out neurologically.?
?There are multiple doctors here at VCU who are working with (associate athletic director for sports medicine Eddie Benion) and JeQuan, going through the process,? Smart said. ?There?s baseline testing they do with all of our athletes in the offseason, so everything is compared to that.?
The Rams had Saturday off, but Smart said medical staff and coaches spent a lot of time with Lewis. He was at practice on Sunday but did not participate.
?He shot some free throws,? Smart said. ?He shot 90 percent on his free throws, shot some jump shots after practice. He did some stuff on the treadmill with Eddie. It?s all part of the protocol you go through. He does those things and then Eddie tests him, does some balance exercises and recall exercises.?
Lewis was not available for comment, but he posted on Facebook on Saturday that he was ?feeling good so no more worries, great first win for my team, 1-0, on to the next game, lookin forward to a long fun season!?
He added, ?Thanks for all the concern, no need to worry, life good over here, let?s take focus off of me now and put the focus back on the Rams and our next victim, love y?all.?
Weber?s return will restore what started as a deep position for the Rams. They also have freshman Jonathan Williams, versatile senior guard/forward Treveon Graham and sophomore walk-on Torey Burston.
Williams fouled out of the Tennessee game in 13 minutes. Graham, just named to watch list for the Wooden Award (top college basketball player), moved to point guard for significant stretches against Tennessee.
?It?s good to have Briante back either way,? Smart said. ?Briante?s the second-best player on our team. ? Defensively, he makes such an impact on everything that we do. We?re just a different team when he?s in the game on defense versus when he?s not in the game.
?It?s great to have him back. It was really just a strange dynamic on our team really for the last couple of weeks with him. He was in practice, he was with the team, really everything other than our Florida scrimmage, but he wasn?t playing so it was kind of weird. But I?m glad that?s over.?
The No. 15 Rams will need Weber because they expect a test from Toledo. The Rockets return six of their top seven players from a 27-7 team. Smart called 5-10 senior guard Julius ?Juice? Brown, who averaged 14.9 points last season, ?one of the best guards I?ve seen on tape.?
?Really good personnel, well-coached and an experienced team that knows how to win,? Smart said. ?This is going to be a challenging game.?
