VMI basketball turns to transfers to 'equal the playing field' (2024)

VMI basketball coach Andrew Wilson was tired of losing to more experienced Southern Conference foes who had boosted their teams with transfers.

So this spring, he decided to pursue transfers as well.

And he actually landed some.

Wilson and his staff got five transfers from other NCAA Division I programs to sign with the military school this month.

“As we know, VMI’s not for everybody,” Wilson said this week in a phone interview while vacationing in South Carolina. “To be able to identify kids who have already been in college who had legitimate interest in VMI, that was very challenging.

“Us adjusting our recruiting style, bringing in kids from the [transfer] portal to come to VMI — kids who need this [transfer] opportunity to work out — I’m hopeful this is going to play to our advantage in the long run.”

It is rare for VMI teams to add Division I transfers. During the 2023-24 school year, there was not a single athlete at the entire school who had begun his career at a different Division I college.

And yet Wilson is bringing in five such transfers.

“[On campus] everybody’s kind of asking me, ‘How did you get five transfers?’” Wilson said.

“VMI alumni, they’re shocked.”

The Keydets went 7-25 overall and 2-16 in the Southern Conference in the 2022-23 season, which was Wilson’s first year at VMI. They were 4-28, 1-17 last season.

“After the season when we sat down as a staff, … we kind of came to the conclusion that … everybody in the Southern Conference is old and experienced, can take transfers, has grad school and so we had to find a way to try to equal the playing field,” Wilson said. “This past year we were the youngest team in the country and nine of our 13 scholarship guys were freshmen. That’s just not a formula for success.”

So after not trying the portal at VMI the past two springs, Wilson decided to give it a shot this spring.

“You need to be willing to … pivot if you’re not achieving the success you’re looking for,” he said.

But Wilson could not add graduate transfers because VMI does not have a graduate school. He also could not add rising juniors or rising seniors because VMI requires all students to attend the school for at least three years in order to earn a VMI degree.

“We still won’t be as old as everybody else this year, but we need a group of kids that are willing to grow old together,” Wilson said. “That’s something that excites me about bringing in transfers to VMI, is that they’ve been on the other side of the fence. They realize the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”

Transfers must endure the rigors of VMI’s Rat Line, just as VMI freshmen must.

“The first conversation we have with all these kids is, ‘Look, are you willing to do the Rat Line?’” Wilson said.

“I’ve kind of adjusted our recruiting pitch. … My coaching staff has come up with a list of the 10 most challenging things at VMI. We present those to the kids in the first conversation.

“I’ve been pretty good my entire career at convincing kids to come to the particular school that I’ve been at. I’ve taken a different approach with this recruiting class because I know if these kids have a full understanding of the many challenges that are at VMI — and there’s a lot — and they still want to come here, … they’re going to be invested.”

Wilson had never attended nor coached at a military school when he left his job as a James Madison assistant to steer the Keydets in 2022.

“When I came to VMI, … I had very little idea of the makeup of a young person that was more likely to have success on and off the court at VMI,” he said. “I feel like after being here for two years, that I now have a much better understanding of that. As a result, my recruiting tactics have changed.

“I told my staff I wanted to get older, more experienced, more physical.”

After Wilson’s first season at VMI, all five starters left the Keydets to enter the portal. One exited as a graduate transfer, but the other four starters who transferred were coming off their freshman seasons.

After last season, all five starters and a key reserve exited VMI for the portal. Only two of them left as graduate transfers.

“I [previously] brought in really talented freshmen, … kids that have had success in our league, but kids that aren’t willing to stay,” Wilson said. “So my number one focus in this class has been fit, has been trying to find kids that are willing to grow old together.”

One of the transfers heading to VMI is Rickey Bradley Jr., who actually started for VMI as a freshman in the 2022-23 season. After averaging 2.4 points and 11.1 minutes in 13 games for Georgia State last season, he is now transferring back to VMI.

“I’m really proud of Rickey,” Wilson said. “He realized the impact that a VMI degree can have on his future and I think that’s why he chose to come back.”

Because Bradley has already gone through the Rat Line, he is the only one of the five transfers who won’t have to go through it this year.

TJ Johnson is transferring from Lipscomb. He averaged 3.8 points and 11.4 minutes as a redshirt freshman last season.

Johnson said his only Division I scholarship offers when he was in the portal were from VMI and New Hampshire.

“My dad actually graduated from West Point, so I’ve grown up around people who have been in the military, done the military training,” Johnson said. “That’s never really been something that scared me.

“The military aspect of school is going to be difficult, there’s no doubt about that. But I think the pros of the situation far outweigh a little bit of trial. I’m actually looking forward to a lot of that stuff. That’s a college experience that not a lot of people get to have. There are times when I’m not going to like it a whole lot and there are other times when I’m going to be really thankful for it.”

Cyprian Hyde is coming aboard from West Coast Conference member Portland. The 6-foot-11 Hyde was redshirted as a freshman last season.

Hyde said that when he was in the portal, VMI was his lone Division I offer.

“I wasn’t really too worried about [the military-school aspect],” Hyde said. “My uncle was in the military. My aunt, too.”

Tan Yildizoglu is transferring from West Coast Conference member Pacific. He averaged 2.4 points and 12.3 minutes as a freshman last season. He helped Turkey beat the U.S. in the bronze-medal game of the 2023 under-19 World Cup.

Augustinas Kiudulas is transferring from NIT runner-up Indiana State. He averaged 3.6 minutes in seven games as a freshman last season. He has also played for the Lithuania under-20 national team.

VMI also signed three players from the high school or prep school ranks this month.

Wilson used to work at JMU for his best friend Mark Byington, the Salem High School graduate who left JMU in March to steer Vanderbilt.

Wilson said the two had “casual conversations” about Wilson joining Byington at Vanderbilt. But Wilson decided to stay at VMI.

“It just wasn’t the right timing,” Wilson said. “My family’s very happy here and I think I can build a winning program at VMI.”