(Actually, there would be another). 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.. Massimino doesnt deny it. Theyre adults. 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. Plansky and Jensen chat all the time. (The social director, says Massimino.) I thought, What is this? says Jackson. Marbach says, I did not set out with a master plan. Won Southeast Regional Final (56-44) versus #2 North Carolina International Student-Athletes: Instagram, Men's Basketball Game Day Program: Facebook, Men's Basketball Game Day Program: Twitter, Men's Basketball Game Day Program: Instagram, Men's Basketball Post-Season Radio Stream, Women's Basketball Game Day Program: Facebook, Women's Basketball Game Day Program: Twitter, Women's Basketball Game Day Program: Instagram. 1984-85 SMU Mustangs Men's Roster and Stats Previous Season Next Season Record: 23-10 (10-6, 2nd in SWC MBB ) Coach: Dave Bliss PS/G: 75.5 (41st of 282) More School Info SMU (Men's) School History Roster & Stats Polls, Schedule & Results On this page: Roster Per Game Team and Opponent Stats Per Game Totals Per 40 Minutes Additional Season Stats Jay Wright runs a summer golf-alumni basketball tournament that brings many former Wildcats together. 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. Print. Record: 6-5 (59th of 138) (Schedule & Results). 1986-87 Villanova Wildcats Men's Roster and Stats Previous Season Next Season Record: 15-16 (6-10, 6th in Big East MBB ) Coach: Rollie Massimino PS/G: 72.3 (150th of 289) PA/G: 72.2 (148th of 288) SRS: 7.36 (59th of 290) SOS: 7.33 (31st of 290) Villanova (Men's) School History Roster & Stats Polls, Schedule & Results On this page: Roster The youngest child of an immigrant shoemaker who had a sixth-grade education, Massimino would have five children of his own, and they would give him 16 (17 now) grandchildren. Others have tried unsuccessfully to bring him together with Massimino. (#10 seed in Southeast)Won Southeast First Round (71-62) versus #7 Virginia Tech The seniors reported to preseason conditioning in the fall of 1984 with 67 wins on their rsum, yet no trophies in the case. We laughed together, we cried together. (As always, McLain was the complex exception. The chemistrythat senior year, it just wasnt happening. A soft early schedule and some nice wins got the Wildcats to 13-3 heading into a January nonleague game at Marylands Cole Field House. Very bad.. And it was real. Jensen says, I was recruited by Providence, Syracuse, UCLA and South Carolina. After losing to St. Johns in the Big East semifinals, Villanova was made the No. Offensively, says Massimino, we just tweaked a few things to make sure we got the ball to Eddie. Several hours later Villanova players sprinted onto the floor of Rupp Arena, filled to its capacity of more than 23,000 fans, raucous in their support of Villanova. In 97 the family moved back to the Philadelphia area, where Marbach is a junior high school athletic director and coaches his youngest daughter, Elizabeth. In the summer of 2005, Everson brought them together, unbeknownst to both men, at the summer basketball camp that Everson runs on his native Long Island. The 85s remain an extraordinarily close group. Backers of Kentuckys Wildcats had made Villanovas their own for the weekend, and any other neutrals in attendance lined up behind the underdog. But he said I dont have to talk to anybody. He still yells, says Everson. I can see that now. That old wound is slowly healing. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Many people in the 85 family felt that Marbach had purposely thrown Massimino and Lappas together in an attempt to force them to mend fences. Plansky, seven months removed from his high school graduation, found himself subbed in for Pressley and guarding Maryland All-America forward Len Bias. In reality we were nine for nine.), And McLain? [1] Future NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long was a senior nose guard on the team. Not because of [how good] we were, says UMass coach Steve Lappas, a first-year college assistant on the 85 Villanova staff, but because we were Rollie Massiminos assistant coaches. The profession would not be kind to any of them. But Gary is a family member and hes had problems. Just go out and play. As Massimino left the locker room, the Reverend John Stack, a Catholic priest and Villanova dean of students, who was in the locker room, grabbed Massiminos arm. When Massiminos name was announced, he received a standing ovation. Villanova can accept only about 1,000 of several thousand freshman applicants annually. He lasted two years at UNLV and left amid controversy when it was disclosed that he had agreed to an under-the-table contract paying him $375,000 a year beyond his annual salary of $511,000. Read more about our data coverage. The demand was overwhelming., He added, after checking the record book: I think weve set a record. Patrick Ewings 30-2 Georgetown Hoyas were overwhelming favorites. 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. Massimino shook hands with Thompson before the tap, walked back to his bench and said to his assistants, Weve got em. He has done few interviews in the last 19 years, but he has agreed to talk to SI because life is beautiful right now, and I want everyone to understand who I am today and that theres a bigger story to my life than one article. The article appeared in Sports Illustrated two years after that magical night in Lexington, under the byline Gary McLain, as told to Jeffrey Marx. At the time Marx was an investigative reporter with the Lexington Herald-Leader, in Kentucky, and he had shared a 1986 Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles exposing corruption in the Kentucky basketball program. How do you balance that out?, President Driscoll, commenting on faculty opposition, said: I think the restoration of football has the general support of our faculty and student body.. I was 22 years old, and I came hard at people. (Eleven years later, Maker says, I was still very angry then. And he carried the hurt with him for a long time. Villanova players from 85 publicly disputed the details of McLains account and claimed they knew nothing of McLains drug use. Finally I wrote a letter and sent it via FedEx overnight to his home in Florida. 24 Holy Cross. Planksy called me, seeking relief. And then Coach Mass and Gary came out, arm in arm and we went out and had a little pasta. Even this reconciliation has been tenuous, though not hostile. I was so consumed with climbing up the coaching ladder, that I lost sight with things, says Marbach. As the horn sounded Williams threw his arms into Eversons neck and face and then ran off. Villanova played a "light"[2] schedule against four NCAA Division III opponents and the United States Naval Academy JV team. The peak, 685, was reached in 1948 with the deluge of GI bill federal funds. The ups and downs. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. As the elevator hummed upward, Riley, a master motivator, turned to Pinckney and said, Someday youve got to tell me what Massimino said at halftime of that game.), (In 2013, Everson attended the NCAA Tournament games at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. All rights reserved. Georgetown stayed in a passive 1-3-1 zone, allowing Villanova to hold the ball. 6-ranked Nittany Lions, it will complete a 40-year journey. Massimino pulled a chair into the center of the room. Here he often plays 27 holes or more a day and lunches with roundball cronies like Chuck Daly and Billy Cunningham. They sure have. Massimino cant get out three sentences without dropping the names of half a dozen former players or assistant coaches, each of whom is referred tosincerely, it seemsas a dear friend. Some go back as far as days coaching high school in Hillside, N.J. During a two-hour interview he gets three calls on his cellphone, all from former players. But he doesnt come around as much as he did after we first got back together.). In 1981, when Villanova dropped, there were three additions, he said, naming Buffalo State, West Georgia, and Western New England. His teams have a 245-61 record in nine years. 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. Massimino was criticized in Philadelphia for not getting enough city recruits and for his ponderous style, which critics say was made obsolete by the shot clock. He came back again four years ago, when the team was inducted, en masse, into the Villanova sports hall of fame. The team played its home games at Villanova Field House in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and was a member of the Big East Conference. 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. In the wake of Villanovas 1985 championship, Massiminos assistant coaches were hot properties. This page is not available in other languages. This year, in anticipation of the games 30th anniversary, I returned again to the subject and conducted fresh interviews with many of the principals. If you dont know what that means, look it up, and then well talk about it. Well, it means to purify, which I took to mean make whiter. Watch this complete national championship game from 1985, when one of the original Cinderella stories, Villanova, marched its way to the championship game ag. The Vikings improved from nine wins in Massiminos first season to 19 in his fifth but tailed off and went 8-22 in 2002-03. The party raged until dawn, when the sun rose and a chartered jet ferried them back to Philadelphia for a parade. The 1970 Villanova Wildcats football team represented the Villanova University during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. (The banner was hoisted in 2005. I really enjoy it, says Massimino. 28. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Maybe people thought I was a rat or I did something bad just for money, he says. Do you have a sports website? Well eat pasta dinners together and talk about life and then well win because youll love each other like brothers. The Wildcats are 4-20 vs. FBS foes, with the last win coming at Temple to open the 2018. I threw a bad pass that Horace Broadnax was too lazy to bend over and catch, says Martin. Students successfully persuade school president Eamon Kelly to reinstate the program in 1988. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Find out more. The 85 team came together in one huge chunk and then in small pieces that followed. State of the Nova Nation: Bamba, Dunleavy and Moore. NCAA championship game, 1985: Villanova beats Georgetown 66-64. Every possession, wed take the ball out and give it to Gary, says Pinckney. Although a recent poll suggested that some 98% of Villanovas students were in favor of restoring football, another poll showed that two-thirds of the faculty were against it. I wear the ring and the watch from 85, he says. McClain drove the lane and dunked thunderously on the next Villanova possession. All but two players and every coach and manager were present. Top AV: Howie Long (95) Colleges Index. Villanova has traditionally played an FBS opponent once each year since becoming an FCS program in 1985. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Pos. Massimino had his wish. That is not happening. 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. Marys and Santa Clara are playing in Division II now, Boda said. It was real. Day 1 | Thursday, Apr. The most humbling was the regular-season finale. Villanovas football deficits reportedly exceeded $500,000 a year in the 1970s. Jimmy Valvano warned me that would happen, says Massimino. His teams have a 245-61 record in nine years. Massiminos image shone even brighter when, in the summer following the title, he turned down a lucrative offer to coach the New Jersey Nets, endearing him even more to the Villanova community and college basketball purists.) Play it to win. He told me not to take the Villanova job, says Lappas, 50. There was talk that Siena could become a mid-major power like Butler or Gonzaga. Others hold more than just memories. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. It is the universitys view of football that has changed. The title game, stolen from Georgetown, deprived coach John Thompson's hard-ass Hoyas of their second consecutive national championship and status as a mini-dynasty. It was nothing complicated, says McClain. [2] They were led by first-year head coach Andy Talley. 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. Who the f--- do they think they are? (#8 seed in Southeast)Won Southeast First Round (51-49) versus #9 Dayton The 1985 Villanova Wildcats football team represented Villanova University in the 1985 NCAA Division III football season. Because of their pressure, you couldnt break to a certain spot and be open. So Horace didnt have to pass to Billy and Billy didnt have to pass back to Horace. 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. Starters are marked with an asterisk (*). Join our linker program. Won National Final (66-64) versus #1 Georgetown, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Monday, May 1, 12:49AM. Marbach sold real estate and did radio commentary on Siena games for five years. Would I have bet my golf clubs that Gary McLain was using cocaine? Dont play this game not to lose. All rights reserved. The relationship today between the coach and his former star remains tenuous. 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. In the summer of 1979 Howard Garfinkels Five-Star Basketball Camp in the Pocono Mountains was attended by a stunning roster of future Hall of Fame players, including Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Ewing, Chris Mullin and Karl Malone, all of whom would enter college in the fall of 81. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. During the 85 Final Four newspapers were stuffed with stories detailing the Hoyas being sequestered in Louisville, while the other teams partied in Lexington. If its that important to them, its that important to the university., At the alumni office, Capone, the former coach who recruited Raider end Howie Long for Villanova, said: Compared to the total budget at any college, the football budget isnt that bad.. Roster Layout: Choose A Season: Sort By: ), Editor, Time Inc. Sports Group: Paul Fichtenbaum, Interactive Web Developer: Louis Gubitosi, Premedia: Geoffrey A. Michaud, Dan Larkin and Sandra Vallejos. Call (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelpline.ma.org (MA), Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Tim, I got your text, McLain said, exuberantly, as if he remembered me and was anxious to talk. Villanova vs. Georgetown: 1985 National Championship | FULL GAME Watch on Following their Villanova playing days, six players from the team were selected in subsequent NBA Drafts. Eleven years later, Plansky says, Those things happened. When Fran left and I got the job, it was a difficult thing, says Buonaguro. horror novel thinner, by Richard Bachman (the pseudonym of Stephen King), reaches No. It was reported that Villanova took a day trip to Calumet Farm to watch stallions gambol in their paddocks. 36 years ago today pic.twitter.com/3TcFhAN8CE. Coach Mass helped me through it. After getting no satisfaction from the officials, Massimino sprinted off the floor with his team, pumping his right fist as he disappeared from the television image. Sure, I knew that. Is he kidding? It was like we were in 1985 all over again.) On the day before his team beat Memphis State in the Final Four semifinals, Villanova coach Rollie Massimino allowed the players to choose sides for a public workout at a nearly packed Rupp Arena. But Gary is a family member and hes had problems. Harold Jensen who added 34 minutes and 14 points was named to the All-Tournament alongside McClain and McLain. The perception in 1981 was that this is a sport that has become far too costly to maintain, said Athletic Director Ted Aceto. The team played their home games at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pennsylvania. Do you have a blog? But they had experience, says Steve Pinone, a sophomore reserve on the 85 team who later became an assistant coach under Massimino and Lappas. All but two players and every coach and manager were present. 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. Villanova NFL/AFL Players. Most arent.. Three starters, Dwayne McClain, Harold Pressley, and Gary McLain played all 40 minutes in the Championship. See our list of forfeits and vacated games for more details. The game is widely regarded as a shot-clock victory, for Villanova, but thats not entirely true. One minute! (Well, it briefly got a little better. Guys just suddenly knew what other guys were going to do before they did it. I called him to gauge his interest in my son playing for him at Savannah State. Broadnax has been head coach at Division I Savannah State since 2005. 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. There were tears and hugs all around, and kisses on the bare noggin of 74-year-old trainer Jake Nevin, who, suffering from Lou Gehrigs disease, was confined to a wheelchair and had become the teams emotional touchstone.Ive never felt closer to a bunch of people in my life, recalls Jensen. They beat the best team in the country.. Massimino was also angry, as if Plansky had violated the groups collective omerta. (In the fall of 2006, Massimino, then 72, took over as head coach at Northwood University, an NAIA program in West Palm Beach. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. (This still holds; no champion since 85 has come close to Nova's average. Many others arrive by 10:30 Saturday morning and spend up to seven or eight hours on campus, talking with old friends, meeting key alumni, visiting the bookstore, tailgating, cheering the home team. We dont talk every day or anything like that, but were fine.). That he had changed. Join our linker program. McLain did not return to Villanova until 1995; he received a warm ovation at a reunion of the 85 team. They all want to talk about the bad stuff. Everson pleaded for a foul, and Massimino ran onto the court. You have to forgive. ), (Showtime was subsequently acquired by Sparks Marketing Group, for which Jensen is an Executive Vice President. 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. 1985 Chicago Bear Super Bowl Team Ring Fan Men Gift American Football Souvenir. Of course, you never know. The Jake Nevin Field House is the main center of athletic activity on campus. Its a nice icebreaker around Philadelphia.), Lappas was the last to leave Villanova. Even so, football is expensive there, or anywhere. BIG EAST Conference/Collegiate Images/Getty Images. As a result, few state-supported colleges anywhere exist without football. Youre a lifer, Daly says. I should have stayed at Villanova, Massimino says. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. His battles with the church arent over, How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! (And Buonaguro did get another chance. Grabbing the moment: As time ran out, senior Dwayne McClain needed one hand for the ball and the other to tell the world that his Wildcats were NCAA champions. Nineteen years. I miss practice, I miss being around players, he says. Well over half of Villanovas budget of $500,000-plus for football goes to scholarship funding. I called him to gauge his interest in my son playing for him at Savannah State. Broadnax has been head coach at Division I Savannah State since 2005. At the end of the day, its me and coach with the kids and I say to coach, Okay, Gary is over there in a room and he wants to talk to you. Coach says, I will kill you for this. And I said, Look, this ends here. Sports fans generally understand why football seems important to such schools as Michigan, USC and Texas. Youre good enough. Coach Thompson wasnt going to change much for us, we knew that, says Buonaguro, who was responsible for preparing the championship game scouting report. Eleven years ago I wrote a retrospective of that game that was published in the March 29, 2004 issue of Sports Illustrated. I said it then, and Ill say it now.. Players/Alumni. The Wildcats entered the 1984 NCAA tournament with an 18-11 record, then they entered the 1985 NCAA tournament with a 19 . ), The Wildcats built a 53-48 advantage with six minutes to play, but Georgetown ran off six straight points to take the lead, forced a Villanova turnover and went into a four corners in an attempt to coax Villanova into a man-to-man defense. At 5 a.m. on Sunday the Villanova coaching staff met in Massiminos hotel room and plotted a strategy.