VCU men’s basketball junior guard Ace Baldwin led his team to the NCAA Tournament after the Rams claimed the Atlantic 10’s automatic berth by winning the conference tournament for the first time since 2015.
Baldwin grew up in Baltimore and played his high school basketball at St. Frances before continuing his career with the Rams down in Richmond.
VCU, the No. 12 seed in the West region, will face No. 5 seed Saint Mary’s in Albany, N.Y., at 2:00 p.m. EST on March 17.
VCU tore through the regular season, compiling a 27-7 record and a 15-3 record in conference play to earn the top seed in the A-10 tournament. This year marks the program’s 19th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance.
“It’s a dream come true,” Baldwin said on Glenn Clark Radio March 15. “I’ve always dreamed of this. It’s just real fun getting invited to the NCAA Tournament. A lot of people don’t get invited there, so I’ve just got to take this moment in.”
Saint Mary’s is a tough opponent for VCU. The Gaels won the West Coast Conference regular-season title, beating Gonzaga and San Diego State along the way. Saint Mary’s ultimately lost to Gonzaga in the WCC tournament final.
Baldwin had a fantastic season for the Rams, leading his team in scoring (12.7 points per game) and winning the A-10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards. The 6-foot, 190-pound guard led his team in assists (170) and steals (65).
The junior started his basketball career playing recreational basketball with his dad, Adrian Baldwin Sr., and other men way older than him. That experience has helped him succeed at all levels despite being one of the smallest players on the court in high school and college.
“My mom [Nina] was there through it all, even when my dad passed in 2019, because I was really [considering] not playing basketball anymore,” Baldwin said, “because my dad is really the reason why I’m in this position now.”
Another reason Baldwin has thrived is that he has played against lots of talented players. At St. Frances, Baldwin had a chance to play against some of the best high school players in the country, including Immanuel Quickley (John Carroll), Jalen Smith (Mount Saint Joseph) and James Bishop (Mount Saint Joseph). Quickley and Smith are now in the NBA, while Bishop is at George Washington.
The A-10 Defensive Player of the Year always wants to guard the opposing team’s top scorer.
“I take pride on defense,” Baldwin said. “I want to guard the best. I want to let them know you aren’t scoring on me, and I want to let them know I’m going to be here for 40 minutes.”
The 12-5 games always make for popular upset picks, and VCU has a chance to go far. The Rams enter the tournament on a nine-game winning streak.
“I want to say the conference tournament gave us a boost of who we are and what we are going to do in the tournament,” Baldwin said. “I know a lot of teams don’t want to see us in the tournament because we’re that type of team [that is] playing aggressive and confident for 40 minutes and we’re pressing the ball at 94 feet for 40 minutes.”
For more from Baldwin, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of VCU Athletics