RICHMOND, Va. -- Fans cheered on Virginia Commonwealth University's men’s basketball team as they left Richmond on Tuesday for Portland, Oregon where they will play their first round tournament game against Ohio State.
Many of the students and alums that came out to the Siegel Center to see the team off said they would love to be able to see the team play out west, but were unable to afford the trip.
“I would be going, it’s just so much money for a flight ticket,” Travis Browder, a VCU freshman, said.
“We looked up how long it would take to drive, one day and 20 hours,” said William Slattum, a VCU junior.
For the third time in the past four years, the powers that be sent VCU out west to open tournament play, a decision that left some fans disappointed.
“It seems like us and Harvard just get the short end of the stick, for some reason," Slattum said.
Still, they are grateful the Rams are in the dance, unlike their rivals down the road, the Richmond Spiders.
“We’re lucky,” Slattum said.
Still, there are a few local VCU fans who are throwing caution to the wind and shelling out for what they consider a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“I’m not saying this is the last hurrah…but in case it was, I wouldn't want to miss it,” Chris Crowley, a VCU grad known at Pav, said.
