VCU losses Briante Weber for Remainder of the Season
Heartbreak was worse that a tough loss for Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday. VCU were coming apart against Richmond one of their biggest rivals and that is when the bad day for VCU got even worse.
Briante Weber came down awkward on his knee and grimaced before having to be carried from the court. He returned to his team’s bench on crutches late in the game.
It appeared the Rams received a bit of an energy boost upon his reappearance but they still lost to Richmond 64-55.
The win was Richmond’s first top 25 victory on the road and the first loss overall for VCU since December 6.
The loss preceded the sad news that Weber’s collegiate career was over. Weber suffered a torn MCL, ACL and meniscus to his right knee.
Weber was only 12 steals short of matching the career record in the NCAA. He has been H in the HAVOC scheme on defense for VCU. He has spent over three seasons giving opposing ball handlers headaches.
He was suspended early in the season, which embarrassed both him and the team, but matured and was able to regain his role as leader up through his injury.
The Rams, on Saturday, lost the country’s best on the ball defender and their starting point guard. He will be hard to replace even on a team with a great deal of talent and promise.
VCU was riding a 12-game winning streak until Richmond end it on Saturday.
However, going forward JeQuan Lewis a point guard who is a sophomore will be the likely successor to Weber at point, but has averaged just 18 minutes a game this season.
VCU could turn to Jordan Burgess and Treveon Graham, Jonathan Williams a freshman at point guard could take on a much more prominent roles moving forward as well.
For the Rams the good news is the team is loaded with talented athletes but replacing Weber with any of them will be a difficult task.
Tod Kowalcyzk the head coach at Toledo called Weber a game changer. He said he has not seen any better defensive player in the country.
VCU will not be the same team sans Weber, as they will be lacking in effectiveness on both ends of the court especially on the defense where Weber just never stopped.
The season will go on and Weber will heal but the team will not be the same without him there pulling them along. VCU season just got a bit dimmer and Weber’s future uncertain.
VCU is currently in first place in the Atlantic 10 at 7-1 in conference play and 17-4 overall. The big question going forward is if they can hold that top spot with a number of tough conference games ahead of them.
