VCU vs. George Washington In-Person Scouting Notes
Max Shulga and Joe Bamisile, two potential 2025 NBA Draft prospects, shined bright in a road win for VCU.
VCU pulled out a tough road win in Washington, D.C over George Washington on Wednesday night, defeating the Revolutionaries 80-72. In a game that was expected to be a stingy defensive fare, this game turned into a surprising offensive shootout by both teams. Max Shulga and Joe Bamisile starred in this game for VCU—two shooting guards with unique traits that appeal to NBA teams trying to win deep in the weeds.
Max Shulga (6’4”, 197 pounds, unknown wingspan)
Nine points, five rebounds, four assists, one steal, zero blocks, two turnovers, five fouls in 32 minutes played on 3/6 shooting (2-5 from three), and 1-2 from the free throw line, -2 BPM
Strengths
Passing is consistently sharp. Sees the next pass well and uses eye deception to his advantage. Can see every spot on the floor both on the move and from a standstill
Strong ball-in-hand guard; can playmake (but doesn’t manage the game like a point guard), create his own shot, and score in two dribbles or less.
Shot is consistent and has extremely repeatable mechanics. No changes from shot to shot and away from results; the process is almost always excellent before every jumper
Areas for Improvement
Defensive balance is poor for NBA standards. Easily movable by strong crossovers and changes of speed + direction.
Late to recognize plays off the ball, both offensively and defensively. This is a key negative that decides who can produce and who can meaningfully contribute and stay afloat above the G League among older prospects like Shulga, who will be 23 on Draft Day
Not strong enough for coaches to afford switches against frontcourt players; this got him into foul trouble
Swing Areas
Underwhelming body language. Casually strolled into his spots, looked winded within six minutes into the game. Not sure if he was sick or if there is an underlying issue with his conditioning/motor. Beats himself up hard on mistakes and misses.
How will faster tempo change his game? VCU plays at an average pace, which is noticeably slower than the NBA.
Shot is a bit slow and may be easy to get contested hard in the NBA
Videos
Passing + creative shot creation
Joe Bamisile (6’4”, 195 pounds, ~7’0” wingspan)
14 points, five rebounds, zero assists, two steals, one block, three turnovers, and two fouls on 5-13 shooting (2-7 from three), 2-2 from the free throw line, -6.6 BPM
Strengths
Is a ball of energy and uses his aggression and want-to to his advantage on both ends
Made a lot of good passes on the move and quickly did the correct thing after getting rid of the ball
Areas for Improvement
Shot mechanics are funky; he angles his head and body, making his release a crooked release
Can be a little out of control too often for someone as experienced as him
Swing Areas
How quickly can his jump shot improve? Inconsistent three-point percentage each year, going from 25% to 35%, back to 25%, then 37% last year, and ~32% this season
Undersized for a wing, which puts extra pressure on him to hit at a high level to translate his game to the NBA system
Videos
Left-handed drive
Quick Hits
Dayan Nessah is a name I like long-term. I saw him in the preseason during a practice, and I watched his tape from FIBA last summer with Switzerland. His playmaking upside is high at a listed 6’7”, being able to see the floor well. Defensively, he was always a step behind, despite knowing what to do. The plan for Nessah always seemed to be a slow process to bring him along, potentially even redshirting him, but the coaching staff’s trust in him to play spot minutes this quickly into his collegiate career says a lot about his behind-the-scenes progression. Look for Nessah to potentially blow up in the coming years.
VCU will be a very tough out in March. Another team’s 50/50 ball is their 75/25 ball. They dominate the glass, and they are careful with the ball.
Jack Clark is older, but he will have a chance to be successful overseas. He made tons of winning plays through passing (by leveraging the shooting gravity he built with a strong shooting performance) and defense activity. His shot looks better than the percentages.
Rafael Castro is a good player to watch, even if only for him being a great barometer of how young bigs play against him. An experienced big, Castro has broken out this year as a low post threat and a difficult big to score on in the paint. When I attended practice in the Fall, he was extremely vocal and talkative on defense, and that has translated into successfully executing the defensive scheme.
Other hits from Wednesday’s action:
Staying in the A-10, Reed Bailey might just be the player of the year for the conference. He is tough as nails, he can score easily in the paint, and he is hard to stop when he turns his back to the defense. He also rebounds better than his stats suggest. He is a victim of two things holding him back on the glass: first is the Steven Adams effect, where he has incredible box outs but his teammates reap the benefits, and second is that his teammate Bobby Durkin is also tough on the glass, making it hard for either to have explosive rebounding numbers. Bailey is developing into one of the most productive players in college basketball as a junior, and with a career 78% free-throw mark along with a growing three-point shot on low volume, there is shooting upside to his game at nearly seven feet tall. Bailey is not your typical non-power five big that puts up insane production; he also can defend on the perimeter. He has great closeout speed and a strong defensive feel for the game. Look for Bailey to either be the biggest star at Davidson since Stephen Curry—or for him to transfer up into a starting power five role.
Payton Sandfort is someone I trust the process over the results in his senior year regression. I watched his game against Rutgers, and despite him going 7-17, his processes significantly outweighed the results. This has been a common theme this year, as the sharpshooter was down to 34% after Wednesday’s game, but there are still other indicators holding him up: three-point volume, free throw percentage (this is his second-lowest FT% of his career, and he is almost at 90%), and the fact that defenses have him as their top priority, which will not happen in the NBA. Once he gets moving behind a screen, teams blitz him harder than even Duncan Robinson gets on a nightly basis in the NBA. On top of this, he gets his feet set extremely quickly, he has repeatable form, and he can still shoot over defenders with a high release.