RICHMOND, Va. — As Shaka Smart and the VCU Rams men’s basketball work to correct any issues that led to their ouster in the NCAA Tournament, the university will need to improve the profile of its alumni base in order to win in another tournament — the celebrity bracket. The Indianapolis Star created the celebrity bracket based on the teams involved in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Just as it played out on the hardwood, Ohio State University’s famous alumni defeated VCU’s famous alumni, at least the minds of Indy Star writers.
VCU’s starting five (and sixth man) consisted of:
- author David Baldacci
- actor Stephen Furst
- Dr. Patch Adams
- singer Iron and Wine
- television personality Debbie Matenopoulos
- GWAR
Here’s what the Star wrote about VCU’s celebrity team:
One of my favorite authors, Baldacci has written many bestsellers, including “Absolute Power” and “The Camel Club” series. He’s sold more than 110 million books worldwide… Flounder in “Animal House”, Furst graduated from VCU, not Faber College… Adams’ life was the subject of a Robin Williams movie bearing his name. He is known for dressing up as a clown to cheer up young patients and creating the Gesundheit! Institute… Samuel Beam, known as music act Iron and Wine, received a bachelor’s degree in art from VCU. He’s released five studio albums, with 2011’s “Kiss Each Other Clean” rising as high as 6th on the US charts… An original member of Barbara Walters’ talk show “The View”, Matenopoulos was seen as a bit of ditz and became the subject of “Saturday Night Live” parodies. She was replaced on “The View” by Lisa Ling, and the last time I saw her was on the old TV Guide channel. A Richmond, Va., native, Matenopoulos went to VCU for a year before transferring to NYU… From the “I just don’t get it” department, GWAR is the heavy metal band full of characters — literally. From Nippleus Erectus to Beefcake The Mighty, GWAR got its start in Richmond in 1984 and immediately began scaring the s**t out of parents. The band still tours and drops by The Vogue from time to time.
Do you think the Indianapolis Star chose the correct VCU alumni to represent the Rams? Email your suggestions here.
Ohio State’s celebrity team included Hall of Fame college basketball coach Bobby Knight, comedian Richard Lewis, Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens, Goosebumps author R. L. Stine, actress Patricia Heaton and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
In the real NCAA Tournament, Ohio State lost in the Round of 32, but in the celebrity bracket the Buckeye alumni advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Harvard. Harvard’s team featured U.S. Presidents, Mark Zuckerburg and Natalie Portman.
In the end, the Indy Star chose the University of Maryland as the winner of the celebrity bracket. Maryland’s starting five consisted of:
- Seinfeld creator and Curb Your Enthusiam star Larry David
- The Wire creator David Simon
- Google creator Sergey Brin
- The Muppets creator Jim Henson
- Howard Stern sidekick Robin Quivers
