VCU adds point guard Korey Billbury
VCU and Coach Wade pick up their second commit in a single day!
Officially a ram!!!! — Korey Billbury (@THREEpoint5) April 23, 2015
Moments after the commitment of Gerron Scissum on Thursday afternoon, Korey Billbury announced he was transferring from Oral Roberts University to VCU. The senior point guard, who averaged 14.4 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 2.9 APG, and 1.4 SPG, is eligible to play immediately because of the graduate transfer rule.
Billbury was suspended from Oral Roberts in February for a violation of team rules. He never rejoined the squad and elected to transfer.
At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, he is a physical guard. He led the Golden Eagles in rebounding and will bring a physical presence at the point guard position not felt since Coach Smart’s first recruit: Darius Theus. In his best games, Billbury gets to the free-throw line at will as defenders struggle to contain his size and mobility.
Billbury was the go-to player in Tulsa, Oklahoma and it affected his efficiency. He shot 104-of-258 (.403) from 2-point range and 25-of-74 (.338) from 3-point range last season while averaging 2.5 turnovers per game. While he likely won’t post stats as gaudy as last season while surrounded by Melvin Johnsons and Terry Larriers, his efficiency should improve.
The addition of Gerron Scissum is redundant for the upcoming couple of seasons, but he is a valuable addition for the future. Korey Billbury, on the other hand, is adding a skill-set entirely different from anyone else on the roster.
In Billbury, VCU is getting a second senior to play alongside Melvin Johnson, a capable point guard to complement JeQuan Lewis and Jonathan Williams, a physical guard who can defend the perimeter, and a player who can hit open 3-pointers or beat his defender to the rack. That’s a lot of upside for a player added in April. Welcome, Korey Billbury.
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Aaron Williams
Aaron Williams loves music, basketball (follow @rvaramnews!), family, learning, and barbecue sauce.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
I appreciate the optimism, Aaron. I just don’t know about this. It’s good that Wade is getting some bodies to be on the team, but this is a pretty big downgrade as far as the program goes. I wonder if we’ll be able to ever get a class like we were going to have this year. Bummed, to be honest.
Billbury has the tools to be a bigger contributor this season than Mack, Murphy, or Williams would have been. Losing the premier recruits could diminish VCU’s longterm potential, but we still don’t have an idea of what that potential is. I see VCU continuing to improve over the next few seasons because the nine returning players are more talented than anything VCU has ever seen.
Who’s the best recruit we’ve seen actually play 4 years? Theus, Daniels, and Reddic were 3-star guys. Graham and Weber were 2-star recruits. Melvin Johnson will be the first top-100 recruit to play for four years at VCU since Kendrick Warren. It’s tough to imagine VCU not being better than the past few seasons with Gilmore, Larrier, and Tillman as seniors – even if some of the younger guys aren’t top-100 recruits.