team vs. uncg - socon tournament
Southern Conference

Men's Basketball

The 2024-25 VMI Basketball Season: A Year to Remember

Under third-year head coach Andrew Wilson, the VMI Basketball team completed the biggest turnaround in program history despite having one of the youngest rosters in the country (336th out of 364 D1 teams).   
 
"I'm very proud of the historic turnaround we had this season. This is a special group of players and coaches that were committed to each other all season long and were determined to change the narrative of VMI Basketball. Our program has a very bright future moving forward."
 
VMI was led by Rickey Bradley, Jr., TJ Johnson, Tan Yildizoglu, AJ Clark and Augustinas Kiudulas as the starting five group for much of the season.
 
This season, the Keydets achieved:
 
  • 11-win improvement is the biggest single season turnaround in VMI Basketball history.  Ten wins was the previous program-high improvement when the 2007-08 team went from 14 wins to 24 wins in 2008-09. Only 14 schools in the country improved by 10 or more wins in comparison to the prior (2023-24) season
  • 15 wins in a single season for only the12th time in the school's 117-year history as a basketball program. It was also just the seventh time occurring in the school's 89-year era in the Southern Conference
  • 9 SoCon Wins (regular season + tournament) for only the ninth time in program history
  • Advanced to SoCon Tournament Semifinals for the first time since 2021 and only the 14th time in program history by defeating the #2 seed UNCG in the quarterfinals
  • 2 SoCon Tournament Wins for the first time since 2002-03 season and just the second time in 37 years (1988)
  • 3 Straight SoCon Road Wins for the first time since 1998 (wins at The Citadel, Wofford and Western Carolina)
  • Defeated rival The Citadel three times  in a single season for the first time since the 2014-2015 campaign
  • Beat The Citadel and UNCG for the first times ever at the SoCon Tournament
  • 2 SoCon series sweeps (The Citadel, Western Carolina) for the first time since the 2017-18 season
  • VMI's win at Mercer on Feb. 15 snapped a five-game losing skid to the Bears and marked VMI's first win in Macon since 2008. It was also only VMI's fifth ever win against Mercer in 25 all-time contests
  • VMI's 91-82 win over Furman on January 22 snapped a five-game losing streak to the Paladins and was VMI's first win over Furman since the 2021-22 season
  • VMI also defeated the eventual SoCon tournament champion Wofford on their home court in Spartanburg on January 29 by a score of 74-67
 
 
Bradley was named to the All-SoCon Third Team at the end of the regular season and Clark was named to the SoCon All-Defensive Team.
 
Bradley finished the regular season averaging 16.0 points per game – sixth best in the league – and logged 10 games in which he scored 20+ points. He earned a career-high 30 against Mercer on January 4 and twice tallied 29 points in games versus The Citadel (Jan. 18) and the season finale against Chattanooga. One of the stealthiest guys in the conference, Bradley ranked third in minutes per game at 33.4 and showed his defensive prowess by finishing eighth in the league in steals at 1.4 per game.
 
One of the top defensive threats in the league, Clark ranked second in the SoCon in steals per game with nearly two (1.9) per contest at the end of the regular season. He put his leaping ability to use and averaged 0.9 blocks per game, which tied for fifth most per game in the league standings for the category.
 
After a stellar SoCon Tournament, Bradley and Kiudulas were named to the All-SoCon Tournament Second Team.
 
In the opening round vs. The Citadel last Friday night, Bradley scored 13 points to go with four assists and four steals in the win over the No. 10 Bulldogs.  In the upset win over UNCG, he logged a game-high 23 points and matched his career high of 11 rebounds to aid in the win.  Bradley closed the tournament with a game-high 21 points versus Wofford in the semifinals to go with three rebounds and two assists in the loss.
 
Kiudulas opened the tournament with eight points and three rebounds against The Citadel before going off for 21 points and seven rebounds in VMI's upset over UNCG last Saturday in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal round against No. 6 seed Wofford, the Vilnius, Lithuania, native contributed 20 points on the night in addition to four rebounds and three assists in what came to be VMI's final game at the tournament.
 
Off the bench, the Keydets were led by true freshmen Linus Holmstrom, Kaden Stuckey, Jaylen Pazon and Cal Liston, who put in meaningful time throughout the season to make the Keydets an all-around better program.
 
Team members Walker Andrews, Maurice Wright, Jr., Robert Peters and Cyprian Hyde also played significant roles in making the team better and contributing their talents to aid in VMI's improvement over the course of the season.
 
Losing just one senior to graduation, the future is bright for the VMI Basketball program.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

AJ Clark

#5 AJ Clark

G
6' 4"
Sophomore
Walker Andrews

#14 Walker Andrews

G
6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
Maurice Wright, Jr.

#23 Maurice Wright, Jr.

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Robert Peters

#32 Robert Peters

F
6' 8"
Sophomore
Rickey Bradley, Jr.

#1 Rickey Bradley, Jr.

G
6' 2"
Junior
Augustinas Kiudulas

#11 Augustinas Kiudulas

F
6' 8"
Sophomore
Cal Liston

#0 Cal Liston

F
6' 5"
Freshman
Cyprian Hyde

#22 Cyprian Hyde

F
6' 11"
Sophomore
Kaden Stuckey

#6 Kaden Stuckey

F
6' 8"
Freshman
Tan Yildizoglu

#30 Tan Yildizoglu

G
6' 4"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

AJ Clark

#5 AJ Clark

6' 4"
Sophomore
G
Walker Andrews

#14 Walker Andrews

6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
G
Maurice Wright, Jr.

#23 Maurice Wright, Jr.

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Robert Peters

#32 Robert Peters

6' 8"
Sophomore
F
Rickey Bradley, Jr.

#1 Rickey Bradley, Jr.

6' 2"
Junior
G
Augustinas Kiudulas

#11 Augustinas Kiudulas

6' 8"
Sophomore
F
Cal Liston

#0 Cal Liston

6' 5"
Freshman
F
Cyprian Hyde

#22 Cyprian Hyde

6' 11"
Sophomore
F
Kaden Stuckey

#6 Kaden Stuckey

6' 8"
Freshman
F
Tan Yildizoglu

#30 Tan Yildizoglu

6' 4"
Sophomore
G