Omari DeVeaux battles with opponent on defense at scrimmage on Oct. 31.
James Hill|Courtesy
The 2007 Men’s Basketball team was recently inducted into the Virginia Wesleyan University Athletic Hall of Fame. The team, coached by David Macedo, finished as NCAA National Runner-Up, capping off a return to the NCAA Tournament following the 2006 National Championship triumph.
Brandon Adair, 2012 Hall of Fame inductee and member of the 2007 Basketball team, described the feeling of the season. “We were the hunted,” Adair said. The 2007 team had to block out the expectations from the outside, according to Adair.
In the offseason after the championship success of 2006, the Marlins had to take extra care in ensuring a return to form. The 2007 team was preseason ranked No. 1 but the players remained humble, Macedo said. “They played for one another. They were great teammates,” Macedo said.
On the way to the Final Four run, the Marlins held an overall record of 28-5 and 17-1 in conference play. At home, they finished undefeated with 15 wins. “We always feel like we should have an advantage when we’re at home,” Macedo said, “There’s nothing like coming out of your own locker room and through the tunnel and playing in the arena.”
Following last season’s NCAA Tournament bid, the 2024-2025 Marlins are striving to model the 2007 team. According to Macedo, the brand of basketball both teams play is similar. “We hope that this team can follow in those footsteps,” he added.
Junior Omari DeVeaux, the 2022-23 team’s leading scorer, believes that this year is the right time to make a push. “If we can make it out the ODAC, we can definitely make the Elite Eight, Sweet Sixteen even the National Championship,” DeVeaux said. “Everybody has gotten stronger, more physical, skill level has gone up.”
This season, DeVeaux is taking a different mindset. “Every game counts,” DeVeaux said. “I want guys to treat every game like it’s a big-time game, because those games are going to be the games that’s going to determine whether we get to the tournament or not.”
Anderson shoots the ball over defender.
James Hill|Courtesy
As the season begins in under a month, there are only a few details left to fine-tune. “Our league is so physical that it hurt us at times,” Macedo said. “We all need to be much more disciplined with our rebounding, and we have to be more physical on the court.”
One of the details that DeVeaux mentioned working on was high-stress situations. “We have times where a coach will put around like two minutes up on the clock, and we’ll be down five or six,” DeVeaux said, “They challenge us…We have to figure out a way to come back and win.”
Last season, the Marlins saw dominant wins against William Peace University, North Carolina Wesleyan College and Regent University, among others. The Marlins are a tough matchup for some opponents, Macedo said. However, he emphasized that going into each game and trying to “play our brand” of basketball was most important.
The Marlins will face talent such as Christopher Newport University, Randolph-Macon College, Guilford College and Hampden-Sydney College this season, all preseason ranked Top 25 by d3hoops.com.
“I’m a raging optimist. I always believe in our guys. I feel like we’re a work in progress in the preseason, but I love the pieces and I love our potential,” Macedo said.
The Marlins kick off the season at home matchup against Ripon College on Friday, Nov. 8, at 5 p.m.
By: Eli Casey
emcasey@vwu.edu
