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Virginia Lynchburg has the thinnest roster in college basketball.
The Virginia Lynchburg basketball team is in the midst of a brutal three-game stretch with no breaks. Making matters worse, the Dragons have no backups on the bench.
The starting five will get no rest during the non-conference slate. The roster deficiencies have been extremely evident amid a string of brutal blowouts.
Virginia Lynchburg’s athletics website lists eight players on the roster. They actually had nine contributors available in the season opener.
For one reason or another, that number continues to fall. On Wednesday, they played with just five players. The only person on the bench was the head coach. It didn’t go well.
Virginia Lynchburg’s basketball team has a thin roster.
The university is located smackdab in the middle of Virginia at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is a private Historically Black Christian school that competes in the National Christian College Athletic Association.
The college has an enrollment of less than 600 students.
Google Maps
A map showing the location of Virginia-Lynchburg.
The Dragons started the college basketball season against VMI. The result was a 115-83 loss. They then fell to Morgan State, 95-58, before losing to Morehead State, 114-60.
In each of those contests, Virginia Lynchburg had at least eight players available. There were no less than three reserves on the bench for those three losses.
On Tuesday, they made a trip to the Palmetto State to play the Citadel. It started a three-game stretch in the Carolinas to be played across three days.
The Dragons only had six players to use vs. the Bulldogs. Everyone played at least 29 minutes.
Citadel’s opponent, Virginia-Lynchburg features 6 total players. I’m no John Wooden, but I’d think- it would not behoove them to get into foul trouble early. https://t.co/dZBa4rYoN0
— Scott Eisberg (@SEisbergWCIV) November 11, 2026
The game ended in blowout fashion with The Citadel winning 131-50. On Wednesday, the player availability dipped even further.
The bench was completely empty for a matchup with Western Carolina. I don’t know if the absences relate to injuries or discipline, but only six players made the trip, and only five were available against the Catamounts.
Confirmed on ESPN+, amazing. https://t.co/HNSgFHSITb
— Scott Eisberg (@SEisbergWCIV) November 12, 2026
Every contributor was forced to play all 40 minutes. There were no breaks and no rest given the back-to-back competition days.
The Dragons were beaten soundly.
McKoy said move out the way! https://t.co/7cpQ1jFT5B
— Western Carolina Basketball (@CatamountMBB) November 12, 2026
Virginia Lynchburg lost by 68 points. The game was not competitive. It’s now been blown out a combined 267-118 across the two-game stretch.
I will give the Dragons credit for finishing the contest with all five players on the court. No one fouled out. The starting five went the distance.
Unfortunately, they may again be asked to play wire-to-wire on Thursday. The Dragons will complete a three-game in three-day stretch with a matchup vs. Coastal Carolina. The Chants may be the toughest test yet.
I would imagine there is some sort of financial incentive to schedule the games, all of which are played on the road. The Dragons might not have expected to be so short-handed this early into the year when making those scheduling decisions.
Virginia Lynchburg will get a short four-day break before suiting up against North Carolina Central next week. We’ll see if they have a few more players available for action after finishing up this brutal string, which likely ends with another blowout.