After a decade of playing professional basketball overseas, Brandon Rozzell has come home.

The former Highland Springs High School and Virginia Commonwealth Uni- versity standout guard has been named director of student-athlete development for the Rams.

It is not a coaching position. He will handle off-the-court developments under Coach Mike Rhoades.

In 2007, Rozzell led Coach George Lancaster’s Highland Springs Springers to the State AAA title at the Siegel Center.

From 2007 to 2011, Rozzell mostly came off the bench for Coach Shaka Smart. The highlight was helping the Rams to the 2011 Final Four.

For his career, Rozzell scored 972 points while hitting 193 of 510 shots — 38 percent — from behind the arc. He made four of six 3-pointers in VCU’s memorable win over Kansas in the Region final.

Rozzell has played professionally in numerous nations, including Denmark, Sweden, Cyprus and Costa Rica. He was MVP of the Danish League in 2016.

On a negative note, returning VCU point guard Ace Baldwin has undergone surgery for an Achilles heel injury and will be sidelined indefinitely.

From Baltimore, Baldwin averaged 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds as a freshman while leading the Rams with 114 assists. He played 28.4 minutes per game for the 19-7 team that qualified for the NCAAs. He made the Atlantic-10 All-Freshman team.

Coach Rhoades still has options if Baldwin is unable to return for the sea- son’s start in November. Transfer student Marcus Tsohonis from the University of Washington and incoming freshman Jayden Nunn will be asked to help.

Also, rising senior KeShawn Curry is capable of filling in at multiple positions.

Brendan Medley-Bacon, the 7-foot-1 transfer from Coppin State University, has since transferred to McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La. Medley- Bacon played sparingly for VCU during 2020-21.