The perception in 1981 was that this is a sport that has become far too costly to maintain, said Athletic Director Ted Aceto. Were the largest university with the longest (football) tradition to drop football and bring it back since the University of Chicago.. There was no doubt which team was considered No. (The publicist usually charged with policing the locker room was Bill Shapland, a loyal lieutenant to Thompson who suppressed his own good nature beneath an enforcers exterior in service of the program. Martin said this was not the first time they had spoken. All those years I worked from early morning until late at night while my wife raised our family. The meal was customarily a time for family fun. The Villanova University Wildcats built a 5-0 record last fall, finishing the college football season as the nations only undefeated and untied team in either of the top two divisions, I-A and I-AA. 1. Students like to go to a school with a college football program. Not a day passes when somebody doesnt ask him about 1985, and just last month a security guard gave him a yellowed copy of the Philadelphia Daily News from April 2, 1985. And I slept fine that night.), Ewing says, One turnover cost us the game, but I dont blame anybody. Point guard Gary McLain was part of Villanovas stellar 1981 recruiting class. Georgetown stayed in a passive 1-3-1 zone, allowing Villanova to hold the ball. # Name Class LB: 46: Hes just guarding a superstar. Bias, who would be dead of a cocaine overdose 17 months later, finished with 30 points, and that defeat sent Villanova into a regular-season-ending tailspin that included six losses in its last 11 games. Some of his former players have made a tradition of visiting Massimino on Super Bowl weekend and attending a Northwood game. 8 seed in the Southeast region. Georgetown was the better team, but anyone close to the programs, or the Big East, expected a fight. When we won the title, the players handled themselves with class in interviews, and Rollie went on television and talked about the family atmosphere, and everybody wanted a piece of that, says Lappas. They were a family. Terms under which this service is provided to you. In the spring of 1992 Massimino stunned the basketball world by accepting an offer to succeed Jerry Tarkanian at UNLV, which at the time was an outlaw state, the opposite of cuddly, Catholic, graduate-em-all Villanova. But Gary is a family member and hes had problems. It was an ignominious finish to his career, and 85 seemed ever more distant. He told me not to take the Villanova job, says Lappas, 50. Though Massimino would remain at the school for another seven years before moving unexpectedly to UNLV, the win over Georgetown would be the highpoint of his career at Villanova. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. They beat the best team in the country.. 1 ranking afterward) and Syracuse by a total of three points. A rhythm shot, says Jensen. Or write about sports? The victory set up the all BIG EAST National Championship game between the Wildcats and the Hoyas; their third matchup of the season. We had a Mass before every game, he says, and nobody ever complained about going. Villanova advanced to the Elite Eight with wins over Dayton (51-49), No. The Villanova Programs mantra of We play for those who came before us is passed down from class to class. I wear the ring and the watch from 85, he says. We played fine, says Ewing now. It was all on Gary. Villanova NFL/AFL Players. Go back to your rooms, he said. Here he often plays 27 holes or more a day and lunches with roundball cronies like Chuck Daly and Billy Cunningham. Many of them are still without punts and passes on the intercollegiate level, but many have brought football back--and they have typically come back with Division II or III teams. As he walked toward his seat, he heard his name shouted. We even have pregame pasta meals. Massimino had a pacemaker installed a few years ago, but remains the last member of the 85 team still actively involved in college basketball. As a result, few state-supported colleges anywhere exist without football. ), (The publicist usually charged with policing the locker room was Bill Shapland, a loyal lieutenant to Thompson who suppressed his own good nature beneath an enforcers exterior in service of the program. The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. Eleven years ago I wrote a retrospective of that game that was published in the March 29, 2004 issue of Sports Illustrated. Along the way he lost his marriage and his naivet, yet continues to live the life of a bench soldier. Watch this complete national championship game from 1985, when one of the original Cinderella stories, Villanova, marched its way to the championship game ag. (It remains a tight group. 1984-85 Villanova Wildcats Men's Schedule and Results Previous Season Next Season Record: 25-10 (9-7, 4th in Big East MBB ) Coach: Rollie Massimino PS/G: 68.7 (161st of 282) More School Info NCAA Champion Villanova (Men's) School History Roster & Stats Polls, Schedule & Results On this page: AP Poll Summary Schedule and Results Pressley talks to Pinckney on the phone at least three times a week. The NCAA Tournament saw a tough road for the Cats in the Southeast Region. In the National Championship, Villanova played what many consider The Perfect Game as the Wildcats shot 78.6% (22 of 29) from the field in the 66-64 victory over the reigning National Champion Hoyas, including 90% in the second half. Im about to go into a meeting, but Ill be free after 5 p.m. today. All rights reserved. So Horace didnt have to pass to Billy and Billy didnt have to pass back to Horace. Youre a lifer, Daly says. Call (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelpline.ma.org (MA), Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). But he said I dont have to talk to anybody. 1 activity in drawing the community together, he said, meaning faculty, administration, students and former students. That seems to be the majority view today among the higher-education administrators of the 50 states. Pos. ), The toughest of those games was the first one. Everson called on my behalf and says, We had a great talk, for like 30 minutes. Father John Driscoll, the Villanova president who made the two decisions to eliminate and restore football, remains concerned by the price of the most expensive of campus sports. Pressley doesnt make that steal, Jensen doesnt get to the goal, theres no history, says Lappas. Im sure his story was largely accurate.. To most schools and their alumni, the principal attraction of football, as compared with other sports, is indeed that long weekend. But the sophomore swingman would come up big in the tournament. But not in a way that I could take action. Planksy called me, seeking relief. VILLANOVA'S HISTORIC UPSET OF GEORGETOWN in the 1985 NCAA championship game remains one of college basketballs most memorable and compelling moments. So we stuck with what we did, and added a couple of little wrinkles. The Wildcats would play their array of zone defenses and, on Georgetowns first pass, would often switch to a matchup or man-to-man. Print. Pinckney has loaned McLain money on several occasions. Massimino had his wish. It was a low pass, Martin says. ), Unlike all of his players from the miracle team, Massimino has never watched the entire championship game tape. They had a great team: Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson, guys who had long NBA careers. What Kentucky is today, Georgetown was in 1985, only with older players. He wouldnt return phone messages I left with him and intermediaries couldnt get him to budge. Rollie always had a big ego. We laughed together, we cried together. (As always, McLain was the complex exception. But its gotten better as the season has gone along. That he had changed. Looking back on them. Ultimately the Wildcats would average 55.2 points in the tournament, the lowest for a champion since Oklahoma A&Ms 46.3 in 1946. (The banner was hoisted in 2005. We spent a lot of time crying together, says Jensen. But like we know them, and we can play with them.. Maybe going through so many wars over the years, three seniors getting so comfortable with each other. The 1985 Villanova Wildcats football team represented Villanova University in the 1985 NCAA Division III football season. The Wildcats had 17 turnovers (to Georgetowns 11). Neither interaction fully bridged the divide between them. That isnt a bad goal for a football coach who didnt even have a team 12 months ago. McLain documented his cocaine addiction two years late in a 10,000 word Sports Illustrated article, A Bad Trip. Not long ago they sat around a table and pecked away at each others golf handicaps and careers. Villanovas game was not flawless. Next year, says Stack, a banner will be raised to the rafters in his honor, long overdue. The 85 team came together in one huge chunk and then in small pieces that followed. If I saw him right now Id put a fist through the back of his head, says Maker. Old students miss all that when you dont have football. I should never have gone. His teams went 49-94 in five seasons, and he was fired after the 91-92 season. Was: $17.99. At Fratellos urging, Massimino took over at Cleveland State in 1996 and coached seven seasons. Im sure they were expecting us to hold for the last shot, says Jensen. Roster Layout: Choose A Season: Sort By: The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Or a roar after a touchdown. Villanova can accept only about 1,000 of several thousand freshman applicants annually. All but two players and every coach and manager were present. At halftime Villanova trailed 22-17. Thats 57 more colleges than in the 1960s. John Thompson, a 6'10", 300-pound former backup center to Bill Russell, took over the Hoyas program in 1972 and transformed a midsized Catholic university with a respected, albeit ancient, basketball tradition into a national powerhouse. Keep reading.). I do look back sometimes. (Actually, there would be another). The text began on the cover with the chilling line, I was standing in the Rose Garden, wired on cocaine. McLain went on to describe his drug habit in vivid detail, including his account of being high while playing against Memphis State in the national semifinals and while visiting the White House. He still yells, says Everson. I had been shooting the ball well the whole tournament. The Wildcats did not trail again. --In 1984, when the school was gearing up for football again with 85 walk-ons, 20,000 were on campus, and, for the first intra-squad game of Talleys regime, the stadium was sold out at $10 a head. On the Saturday of Final Four weekend Villanovas befuddling array of defenses humbled Memphis State, and the Wildcats advanced to the title game with a 52-45 win. In his ninth season with the Wildcats, Rollie Massimino finally took them all the way. We were physical, and we were aggressive. The party raged until dawn, when the sun rose and a chartered jet ferried them back to Philadelphia for a parade. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Marbach says, I did not set out with a master plan. 1 seed, yet lost to North Carolina State in their second tournament game.) Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Villanova fans turned out en masse to greet the new champions upon their return to Philadelphia. Its a nice icebreaker around Philadelphia.), Lappas was the last to leave Villanova. Georgetown didnt have players like that, except Patrick. Massimino had never delivered a postmeal speech, but on this day he did. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & resort (KS). Fans hoped it was an April Fools joke, but Roth was serious, embarking on a lengthy, occasionally successful solo career. He was hurt and angry at Plansky. Saturday, when Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante and his 3-0 Wildcats trek up to State College to take on the undefeated and No. Won Southeast Regional Final (56-44) versus #2 North Carolina We made a mistake, turned the ball over, and the better team did not win the game, says Patrick Ewing, whose four-year era at Georgetown ended that night. When they returned to their hotel, so many fans awaited that the players couldnt get off the bus. How long did it take me to get over it? Massimino says. Though their lives, and the game of basketball, would take them all in very different directions, every member of that 1985 championship program remains connected through the power of their improbable, unforgetable, victory. It was built in 1932 and renamed in 1985 after longtime Villanova athletic trainer Jake Nevin. After all these years? He wanted to be a member of the family again, and of course I accepted that, Massimino said in mid-March. Everson pleaded for a foul, and Massimino ran onto the court. [2] The Wildcats finished the year 50.[1]. Massimino describes Lappass move as a disruption in the line of succession. ), (The banner was hoisted in 2005. As a matter of policy, Sports Reference only reports the results of games as played on the field. All the guys are tired of it. I wear the ring and the watch from 85, he says. 28. Best [expletive] halftime speech Ive ever heard, Stack said. Free . And it was real. Jensen says, I was recruited by Providence, Syracuse, UCLA and South Carolina. We had a terrible time with [St. Johns forward] Walter Berry. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. (Chuck Daly died five years later at age 79). Large or small, such institutions usually are pinched financially. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. . Reporters seeking postgame comment from Hoya players were subjected to a narrow window, with a publicists countdown from 10 minutes: Seven minutes! His second went 15-16 but also made the tournament. We were very confident they would have trouble. The Villanova players then sat in the stands to watch what many observers viewed as the de facto national championship game; the Wildcats silently rooted like hell for Georgetown to defeat St. Johns, which had beaten Villanova in two competitive regular season games, but had bounced the Wildcats from the Big East Tournament in an 89-74 blowout. He has been divorced for six years, but his 11-year-old daughter, Jade Alexis McLain, lives nearby in Florida and stays with McLain every other weekend. It was incredibly moving, says Jensen. ), (It remains a tight group. Hes still a part of the family. The Wildcats entered the 1984 NCAA tournament with an 18-11 record, then they entered the 1985 NCAA tournament with a 19 . The Hoyas had beaten Villanova 52-50 in overtime at the Spectrum in Philadelphia and 57-50 in Landover, Md. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. The three of them became friends, and when Buonaguro induced McLain to commit to Villanova, McLain put the heat on McClain to join him, and McClain in turn applied pressure on Pinckney. A big bowl of spags, with clam sauce. He was laughing madly as he said it, spreading his hands as if to illustrate a massive vat of pasta. Hell be up on the basket swatting Georgetown shots away, Massimino said. On Monday afternoon Villanova gathered in a meeting room at the Lexington Ramada Inn for its pregame Catholic mass and meal. Massiminos teams had gone this far three times previously but had never made it to the Final Four. 1 ranking all season. Because of their pressure, you couldnt break to a certain spot and be open. But he doesnt come around as much as he did after we first got back together.), (In the fall of 2006, Massimino, then 72, took over as head coach at Northwood University, an NAIA program in West Palm Beach. Maybe people thought I was a rat or I did something bad just for money, he says. After Lenny gets about his fifth basket over me, Al McGuire says, on TV, Mr. He lives in a suburb between Albany and Saratoga Springs and has done some television work. Classic.. Villanova blitzed North Carolina in the second half and won 56-44. 21+ (18+ NH/WY). At that time in my life I was putting incredible pressure on myself. After McLains screed was published in 87, Massimino vowed never to speak with SI again. College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. I dont think there was a living ass in the country who didnt think we were the better team.. That is not happening. Just talking about it, right now, the hair is standing up on the back of my neck, says Wyatt Maker, a reserve sophomore center on the championship team, who sat on the bench during the title game, clutching the hand of junior teammate Chuck Everson, twin seven-footers willing balls into the basket like schoolgirl cheerleaders. On the telecast CBSs Brent Musburger observed the momentary stall and, referring to the impending introduction of the shot clock, intoned, What you are seeing is a relic. Pressley scored over Ewing with four seconds left in the half to give Villanova a 29-28 lead, and the Hoyas raced upcourt for one last shot. They had come into the title game with a 35-2 record, having lost only back-to-back January games to St. John's (which ascended to the No. It was reported that Villanova took a day trip to Calumet Farm to watch stallions gambol in their paddocks. Did what they needed to do.. We could not beat St. Johns, says Pinckney. Some of his former players have made a tradition of visiting Massimino on Super Bowl weekend and attending a Northwood game. It never got better than April 1, 1985, for the man called Daddy Mass. We have a great administration, great assistant coaches. When he got his own reins, it was mass chaos. Buonaguro resigned under pressure after the 1990-91 season. However, he won just two NCAA tournament games and left under fire after the 2000-01 season. Ferrante led the Wildcats to a 7-1 record against a challenging CAA Football schedule to mark the fifth season since 1988 in which the team had no more than one loss in conference play. 2000 Villanova Wildcats football team From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The 2000 Villanova Wildcats football team represented the Villanova University during the 2000 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Believe you can win. And then he sat back down. Rollie Massiminos preferred mode of transportation is the golf cart he drives to meet a visitor at the front gate of the Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, Fla. As Villanova traveled to Birmingham, AL for the Regional Semifinals, the Cats defeated 5th seed Maryland by three and then the Southeasts #2 seed North Carolina by six to reach the Final Four. The game was a 13,400 sellout in the schools small stadium. For years, havent the Wildcats been a national power in both track and basketball? You lose two of those, youre in trouble and you might not make the tournament. His last Villanova team, in 91-92, was 14-15. In three seasons from 2007-10, Siena went 77-26, won three Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles and twice earned first-round victories in the NCAA Tournament. The 1972 Villanova Wildcats football team represented the Villanova University during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. I dont need this, he shouted. He wished he hadnt said those things about Buonaguro and he wished I hadnt written them. No, said Martin. In 2005, his boss at North Carolina-Greensboro, Fran McCaffrey, was hired as the head coach at Siena, outside Albany, N.Y. McCaffrey brought Buonaguro with him and Siena took off on the most successful period in the programs Division I history. Even on the road Rollie never wanted to be alone in hotel suite, says Mitch Buonaguro, his top assistant in 85. [1] Schedule [ edit] [6] Roster [ edit] He says he has lapsed into drug or alcohol use a couple of times but is currently sticking with a 12-step program and attending meetings. Georgetown was so tough and nasty and we worried about getting the ball over halfcourt. Villanova experienced very little roster turnover after the 1983-84 season. During the November reunion, Massimino called the entire group together for a photograph and when Lappas hung back, Massimino shouted, Steve Lappas, get in here. The extent of the healing depends on who is describing it. Of course, you never know. He just finished a 10-19 season in his third year at Massachusetts. I had to take it., Massimino says, That story is not true. He says that Gillen should have taken the job, and since he didnt, John Olive, another former Villanova assistant, should have gotten it. On the first day of April in 1985, it wasnt April Fools; the 8th seeded Villanova Wildcats upset the top-ranked Georgetown Hoyas to win the 1985 National Championship. The 14 Villanova players who dressed in blue that night in Lexington, Ky., are immortalized in a 150-foot-long mural just inside the main entrance to The Pavilion, where present-day Wildcats play their home games and are measured against the images in tight shorts on the wall, usually falling short (including this year's edition of the Wildcats, who were awarded a No. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. On Sunday mornings he plays pickup basketball on a West Palm Beach playground. It was a daunting assignment and would require the game of his life. 9 seed, beat Ohio State in the first round and narrowly lost to Louisville in the second round. For financial reasons, an average of about one college a year drops football, Boda said. Massiminos was family. He occasionally goes on phoning binges with old teammates and then seems to disappear. The leaves are turning, a frost is in the air, the familiar sound is a punted ball. I felt badly, too, but I also felt that Plansky had been honest in his original assessment, and he never pulled back from that.