Massimino describes Lappass move as a disruption in the line of succession. Villanova Wildcats Roster | ESPN He wouldnt return phone messages I left with him and intermediaries couldnt get him to budge. See terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. This list looks at players since that season, taking into consideration things including, but not. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Expressing a view held by many professors east or west of his campus, Villanovas Dr. Michael Burke said: The football players are taking up 50 to 100 (dormitory) beds and classroom seats that might better be filled by students chosen on an academic basis.. McLain had not just been a rock of consistency in the championship game but also was the emotional center of the team for four years, the guy who kept bus rides alive with his sharp wit and lacerating humor. These were heavy days in the Big East, and among Villanovas nine regular-season defeats were two each to Georgetown (both close, a fact that would be widely overlooked at the Final Four in Lexington) and St. Johns, teams that volleyed the No. The McLain story would scar him terribly. Lexington, KY was the host of the National Semifinals as the country saw matchups between the Wildcats and Memphis State in one game and Georgetown against St. Johns in the second. Of course people outside the program believed, with Hoya Paranoia and all that s---, that we were a bunch of thugs. 1985 VILLANOVA WILDCATS National Cnampionship Replica Ring, US SHIP! Photo Illustration by Erica Cotten; Nycretoucher/Getty Images (money). Massimino calls it one of the most memorable experiences my wife and I will ever have. Harold Pressley, a starting forward on the championship team, says, From the time I got off the plane until the time I got back on, it was nonstop laughs. The relationship today between the coach and his former star remains tenuous. Ive had a real roller coaster since Villanova, he says. (Well, it briefly got a little better. Massimino, a master motivator in games and practice, liked to say that the members of the Villanova basketball program formed a family. UCF football adds Villanova, completes 2023 non-conference slate It also is Dick Ebersols final episode as executive producer. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. 1985 NCAA tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, records 27. 1972 Villanova Wildcats football team - Wikipedia Find out more. It taught me to believe in myself, and Ive taken that through my whole life. (Jensen stands by that, 11 years later. A lot of fans dont know Division I from Division II. I miss practice, I miss being around players, he says. I do look back sometimes. There was one more stop. During the 85 Final Four newspapers were stuffed with stories detailing the Hoyas being sequestered in Louisville, while the other teams partied in Lexington. It was all on Gary. I was 22 years old, and I came hard at people. Villanova can accept only about 1,000 of several thousand freshman applicants annually. Nineteen (Thirty) years are gone since Villanova senior forward Dwayne McClain stumbled to his knees and elbows on the floor of Rupp Arena, then cradled the last precious inbounds pass in his right arm and shot his left fist skyward as time expired. We called him Norman Bates because he had this snappability; he could just go nuts. The Wildcats and Pirates are long-time rivals, with the series dating back to the 1985 season. Some of them did drugs with me. He wrote that Massimino knew about his drug use but didnt try to expose him because that might have led to the discovery of other users and damaged the team. 1985 Villanova Wildcats football team - Wikipedia By Tim Layden. 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. ), The toughest of those games was the first one. How long have I been clean? he says. While the glowering Thompson coached with a white towel draped over his shoulder, his Hoyas played hard, fouled hard and didnt talk much about it afterward. But he doesnt come around as much as he did after we first got back together.). Looking back on them. Go To Coaching Staff. (Years later, when Pinckney was playing for the Miami Heat, he found himself alone in an elevator with coach Pat Riley. He lives in a suburb between Albany and Saratoga Springs and has done some television work. Massiminos teams had gone this far three times previously but had never made it to the Final Four. The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. (And Buonaguro did get another chance. Eversons daughter, a freshman basketball player at Bryant College, calls him Uncle Gary. Massimino calls it one of the most memorable experiences my wife and I will ever have. Harold Pressley, a starting forward on the championship team, says, From the time I got off the plane until the time I got back on, it was nonstop laughs. Its a very tough business at times.. There was just so much trust., On the first Thursday in March the Wildcats beat Pittsburgh, 69-61, in the first round of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden, a win that ensured them an NCAA bid. Bill Martin, the power forward whose pass bounced off teammate Horace Broadnaxs shin while the Hoyas were holding the ball and a lead late in the second half, can sit in his office outside Chicago and describe the critical play as if it had just been on SportsCenter. Marty and Denise Marbach invited both Massimino and Lappas and seated them, with their wives, at the same table. He went to Albany, where Denise was a partner at Coopers & Lybrand. And it was real. Jensen says, I was recruited by Providence, Syracuse, UCLA and South Carolina. The emphasis on the sport isnt unanimously endorsed at Villanova, whose pastoral campus adjoining the village of Bryn Mawr is a showplace on Philadelphias suburban Main Line. I have been humbled in this life, says McLain. The perception in 1981 was that this is a sport that has become far too costly to maintain, said Athletic Director Ted Aceto. VILLANOVA'S HISTORIC UPSET OF GEORGETOWN in the 1985 NCAA championship game remains one of college basketball's most memorable and compelling moments. Free shipping on many items . The lack of a clock played to Massiminos strength, and he used slow tempo like a billy club, mixing up the 55 defensive sets in the Villanova scheme (Massimino still has them at home in a playbookmultiples, he called them) and working each offensive possession as if a missed shot would lead to incarceration. Shapland died at age 57 in April of 2013.). He has worked since October for a company that places doctors in temporary positions. Every possession, wed take the ball out and give it to Gary, says Pinckney. Eleven years later, Plansky says, Those things happened. The meal was customarily a time for family fun. Villanova defeated Pitt in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament but were knocked out by 2nd seed St. Johns in the semifinals. I dont think he wanted to lose us. Massimino read the story in his office at The Pavilion, surrounded by his assistants. Personally, I would have caught it. Broadnax says, A lot of people said it was a tough pass. At Fratellos urging, Massimino took over at Cleveland State in 1996 and coached seven seasons. 1984-85 Villanova Wildcats Men's Roster and Stats Bad matchups, bad history, everything. And Villanova got its wish: The Hoyas won easily, 75-59. Hes still a part of the family. All Drafted Players. All rights reserved. It never got better than April 1, 1985, for the man called Daddy Mass. On Monday afternoon Villanova gathered in a meeting room at the Lexington Ramada Inn for its pregame Catholic mass and meal. At halftime Villanova trailed 22-17. 1980 Villanova Wildcats Roster Previous Year Record: 6-5 (59th of 138) ( Schedule & Results ) Conference: Ind Coach: Dick Bedesem (6-5) Points For: 206 Points/G: 18.7 (87th of 138) Points Against: 137 Opp Pts/G: 12.5 (15th of 138) SRS: -3.00 (84th of 138) SOS: -7.64 (111th of 138) Villanova School History 1980 Villanova Statistics Get the best deals on Villanova Wildcats NCAA Rings when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. But everyone assumed we were locked in our rooms., As for being unpopular, in truth the Georgetown program of the mid-1980s was the precursor to UNLVs Runnin Rebels of 1990-91 and Michigans Fab Five of 1992 and 93, teams comprised primarily of African-American athletes who played with toughness and style (though Georgetown preceded the baggy shorts era that lives today) and made White America just a little uncomfortable. That he had changed. I took two dribbles and laid it up. 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. Nineteen (Thirty) years, yet this game hasnt loosened its grip. (Actually, there would be another). [2] The Wildcats finished the year 50.[1]. No, said Martin. The Hoyas had beaten Villanova 52-50 in overtime at the Spectrum in Philadelphia and 57-50 in Landover, Md. 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. The team played their home games at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pennsylvania. As he walked toward his seat, he heard his name shouted. Rollies still rolling: At 80, Massimino continues to coach. Al Freni/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images. The 85 Wildcats remain the lowest seed to win the National Championship. Who the f--- do they think they are? (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. True to Massiminos pregame speech, Nova played to win. In Divisions I-A and I-AA, scholarships eat up much of the football budget. But he said I dont have to talk to anybody. The Jake Nevin Field House - Villanova University It absolutely gutted Rollie, says veteran NBA coach and TV analyst Mike Fratello, an early Massimino assistant and longtime confidante. Worse yet, he was accused of pulling Villanova out of the annual Big Five round robin with LaSalle, Penn, Saint Josephs and Temple. Citing the evils of overemphasis, Chicago quit in 1939, then resumed as a Division III team 30 years later. 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. Even on the road Rollie never wanted to be alone in hotel suite, says Mitch Buonaguro, his top assistant in 85. That was no joke. He always liked to have people around him., In the early 1980s, many prospective recruits and their families were eager to buy a piece of Massiminos schtick. We had a Mass before every game, he says, and nobody ever complained about going. Everson pleaded for a foul, and Massimino ran onto the court. ). It came to mean something quite different, says Asher. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Everson called on my behalf and says, We had a great talk, for like 30 minutes. Day 3 | Saturday, Apr. His teams have a 245-61 record in nine years. The 1980 Villanova Wildcats football team represented the Villanova University during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. As a result, few state-supported colleges anywhere exist without football. Contradicting a notion that multitudes of financially pressed colleges are abolishing football, there has been a steady rise for 20 years in the number of football-playing institutions. So Chuck Daly was right. What Kentucky is today, Georgetown was in 1985, only with older players. Gary was unbelievable. ), (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. ), (Showtime was subsequently acquired by Sparks Marketing Group, for which Jensen is an Executive Vice President. 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. Jay Wright runs a summer golf-alumni basketball tournament that brings many former Wildcats together. Read our privacy guidelines, your California privacy rights, and ad choices. We sold more product [Nike T-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, etc.] At the time, Buonaguro was desperately hoping to get one last chance to run his own program and he felt that being described by a member of the fabled 85 Villanova team as a woeful manager, would damage his chances.