VCU basketball is hosting a marquee quartet of Richmond-area recruits currently in the transfer portal this weekend, signaling a potentially era-defining recruiting splash at the outset of Ryan Odom’s head coaching tenure.
Junior guard and Monacan High alum Joe Bamisile (Virginia Tech, George Washington, Oklahoma) announced his commitment to VCU on Friday night on his Instagram.
Sophomore forward and Steward School alum Efton Reid (LSU, Gonzaga) visited VCU on Saturday along with former John Marshall stars Jason Nelson Jr. (Richmond) and Roosevelt Wheeler (Louisville).
Bamisile, Reid, Nelson and Wheeler all played together for Team Loaded AAU. In 2018, their Team Loaded outfit went undefeated and won a national championship.
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All four were first-team All-Metro honorees while in high school, and Nelson, Reid and Wheeler were all on the same first team in 2020. VCU freshman wing Fats Billups (Varina High) knows the group well.
“It’s been some chattering back and forth when people became available, put their names in the portal as far as the ‘What if?’” said Nelson’s father, Jason Nelson Sr., on Friday night.
“That’s how things started to come into play as far as the ‘What if?’ factor, ‘I would love to play with you,’ and ‘I would love to play with you.’”
Nelson Jr. goes the furthest back with Bamisile, Nelson Sr. said. They first played together in third grade or fourth grade with Team Loaded. Nelson Jr. played with Reid and Wheeler in middle school, with connections spanning from Team Loaded to Team Richmond and Boo Williams.
Going back to their AAU days, Nelson Sr. said the families forged a close, lasting bond.
“It was a very special group, everybody got along, it was a real big family atmosphere, and it became lifelong bonds with the kids and families,” Nelson Sr. said, adding that he’s been in touch with Reid and Wheeler’s mothers constantly over the past week or so.
“The connection never has been lost, even though our kids went to play for (different) colleges. But the connections stayed, we always talk to each other, inspire each other’s kids. The kids talk all the time.
“It’s been a lot of games won with this group here together. I think that’s another intriguing aspect of it. They win, the chemistry is there.”
Nelson Sr. has told the other parents about the benefits of playing close to home, where one’s support system is easily accessible.
He added that Billups has been in communication with Nelson Jr. since the coaching transition at VCU from Mike Rhoades to Odom. Billups and Nelson Jr. won a state title together at Varina High, and Nelson Jr. won another state title with Wheeler at John Marshall.
Wheeler and his mother, Deborah Bryant Davis, flew into Richmond on Friday night and were greeted by a welcome party that included VCU coaches and Reid’s mother, Maria. The Wheeler family has relatives in Hampton, and Bryant Davis works walking distance from the Siegel Center.
Bryant Davis said the bonds between the families originated during that Team Loaded season in which the boys’ squad went 40-0. She’s accustomed to calling up Nelson Sr. or Maria Reid if she just needs someone to talk to.
Reid and Bryant Davis’s favorite spot to commune is Cheesecake Factory. They meet there often, and Reid called Bryant Davis one of her best friends.
“For years, we’ve always kind of thought about, they call Rose (Wheeler) and Efton the Twin Towers,” she said of the 7-footers, adding that when the boys were younger she and Reid would help one another shop for clothes because it was difficult to find attire that fit their sons.
When Wheeler and Reid first met, they immediately bonded over the lifestyle crossover inherent in being a 7-foot basketball prospect, and their mothers followed suit.
“So we’ve posited the idea of them being together again,” Bryant Davis said. “Now we have an opportunity to come and check out VCU together, which is home.”
Wheeler said he’s enthused about the prospect of having his support system close at hand, like family and former coaches. He missed that a bit while at Louisville. VCU was Wheeler’s second choice when he committed to the Cardinals.
Wheeler said he, Bamisile, Nelson Jr. and Reid have long toyed with the idea of reuniting.
“Our senior year we were supposed to play AAU together, but that got canceled (because of the pandemic),” he said, adding that all the prospective transfers have talked to Billups about the vibes around VCU.
“So now we get a chance to reunite and do it all over again on a higher level.”
Wheeler’s major is graphic design, and Bryant Davis added that she’s heard great things about VCU’s Department of Graphic Design.
“We’re excited to be here in the city all together, bringing us all back here together to visit the school, it’s exciting for all of us and I can’t wait to see what the future holds,” Bryant Davis said.
Added Wheeler with a laugh: “We’re trying to get to the Final Four.”
Bryant Davis said the whole group has cherished the support and guidance of John Marshall coach Ty White, who’s helped facilitate communication among the players and families. She said she can call White at any time and ask him to reach out to Wheeler to offer mentorship.
Speaking Saturday morning while the players ate breakfast, Maria Reid said she’s always found strength in the idea that loyalty lies in chemistry.
“Chemistry creates loyalty, the boys have always been in sync, they’ve always played well together,” she said, reminiscing about the 40-0 Team Loaded squad, which she called “the experience of a lifetime.”
“We said ‘If they could play in college together, that would be astronomical.’ We’d always joked about it. But we never imagined they would have been in the portal at the same time.”
When their Team Loaded squad won the 40th and final game of their season, Bryant Davis and Reid looked at one another and cried. They were so happy for the boys, but didn’t want the ride together to end.
“It would be great to have them play together, especially in their hometown,” she said. “We all love each other unconditionally.”
Reid called White a “natural-born helper and leader” who’s “always there and willing to be emotional support in any way he can help us.”
“Ty is family,” she said. “He’s always wanted the best for our boys, and we love that. He talks a lot about ‘It’s beyond basketball.’ And it is. We’re a family.”
Nelson Jr., a 5-foot-10 point guard, started 26 of Richmond’s 33 games as a redshirt freshman and averaged 8 points and 2 assists while flashing standout handles and court vision.
Reid, a 7-foot, 240-pound forward, averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 34 starts for LSU in 2021-22. He then transferred to Gonzaga, and averaged 2.1 points and 1 rebound while playing 4.6 minutes per game and appearing in 25 games this past season.
Wheeler, a 6-foot-11, 240-pound sophomore forward, averaged 1.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in 21 games his freshman year (2021-22), then 1.2 points and 2 rebounds in 25 games this past season.
Out of high school, Reid was considered a top-20 recruit nationally. Wheeler was a top-50 recruit.
Bamisile (6-foot-4, 194 pounds) was a top-100 recruit. He had his best college season at GW in 2021-22, when he earned third-team all-Atlantic 10 honors after averaging 16.3 points and 5 rebounds. Last season at OU, he averaged 4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists while playing in 21 games.
Nelson Sr. said in Ryan Odom’s offensive system, he sees a very different approach compared to the Princeton offense at Richmond, one in which Nelson Jr., a “true point guard” could flourish.
“Ryan Odom’s system has a little bit more freedom to allow a playmaker to be a playmaker,” Nelson Sr. said.
Reid said she’s heard great things about Odom, and looked forward to discussing his vision with him. She added that she’s excited about the fact that Odom’s father, Dave Odom, coached Tim Duncan at Wake Forest.
She said her son has been called the next Tim Duncan, and hopes some of that same big man basketball knowledge has been passed down a generation in the Odom family.
Nelson Jr. has not committed and is keeping his options open, Nelson Sr. said Friday, adding that other schools have reached out and Nelson Jr. may take other visits. Reid and Wheeler had not committed as of Saturday and are sure to have ample options.
“Hopefully this will be a successful visit and we’ll see what the future brings,” Maria Reid said.
Bryant Davis and Wheeler said learning more about Odom and his vision at VCU is their primary objective this weekend.
“He’s a new coach and he’s going to bring new things to the Rams. We’re here to learn all about that today,” Bryant Davis said on Saturday morning prior to the visit, adding that they planned to visit the Basketball Development Center and living space for the student-athletes, and meet with an academic advisor in addition to Rams director of athletics Ed McLaughlin.
Nelson Jr. and Wheeler are first-time transfers and would be immediately eligible. It’s unclear whether Reid, on his second transfer, and Bamisile, on his third, would have to sit out a year. Both have transferred amid coaching changes at their previous programs.
The NCAA has granted waivers for multiple-transfer players in recent years to be immediately eligible. But with COVID-impacted seasons further in the past, the NCAA has said it will not be as lenient on granting waivers going forward, though there are various reasons why a player could apply for and be granted immediate eligibility.
Former VCU players Ace Baldwin Jr. and Nick Kern committed to play for Rhoades at Penn State earlier this week.
Sophomore wing Jamir Watkins, sophomore guard Jayden Nunn, sophomore forward Jalen DeLoach and Jarren McAllister are still in the transfer portal and undecided. The portal closes on May 11.
VCU junior guard Josh Banks, who entered the portal before Rhoades’ departure, committed to UNC Asheville on Friday night.
Two of Odom’s former standouts at Utah State, guard Max Shulga and wing Sean Bairstow, visited VCU last weekend but have not as of Friday night made commitment announcements.
Billups and VCU junior guard Zeb Jackson have said they will stay put under Odom. Freshmen forwards Obinnaya Okafor, Christian Fermin and Tobi Lawal appear locked into the roster as well.