25th Anniversary of Villanova over Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament Championship Game - Lexington, Kentucky

To the Wildcat faithful-

Today is the anniversary of the most important day in the history of not just Villanova basketball, but arguably Villanova University as a whole.  A quarter of a century ago, today, the Wildcats stunned the nation by upsetting Georgetown, 66-64...  Villanova was a #8 seed, the lowest seed to ever win the title under the current format, adopted in 1985 - its inaugural year.

It was stunning to observers at the time, but even more so in the light of history.  No other seed that low has done it in the 25 subsequent tournaments, including this one, in which the two lowest seeds remaining are a pair of #5s, in Butler and Michigan State.


With us in the Final Four last season, I had written the following piece for last season's April Fool's Day.  I think that as we emerge from the wreckage of this year's so promising, and then profoundly disappointing ending, I think that it might be a good idea to revisit the greatest moment in the Villanova Wildcats program, before or since...  I've revised and updated it for this season...

Last season, to put myself in the proper perspective for April Fool's Day, 2009, I re-watched the outstanding HBO documentary, The Perfect Upset, to immerse myself in the atmosphere of the stunning Villanova

Simply put, The Perfect Upset is outstanding. I highly recommend it, for anyone who wants to dive deeply not only into the game itself, but Villanova's entire NCAA tournament run, as well as the social atmosphere and upheavals that were convulsing American life and society in the 1980s.

I had previously seen it, but of course, it has particular resonance in light of the highly unexpected Final Four run by the 2009 Wildcats... here are some observations, on the game that took place two dozen years ago...

Villanova - as a #8 seed - winning the NCAA tournament in 1985, is probably the second-greatest upset in the history of North American sports.

(The only one that I believe is clearly greater, was the U.S. hockey team capturing the gold medal against the Soviet Union in 1980.) Nor does that primarily stem from my being a Villanova alumnus and fan. For sports enthusiasts of any partisan stripe, Villanova/Georgetown is a magnificent story, enormously entertaining, filled with unique, memorable, flamboyant characters, richly textured, with a thrilling plot and spectacular ending. It's so great that no fiction writer could ever have contrived it.

No other team seeded that low has ever come close to repeating the feat. Granted, Villanova is not the lowest seed to advance to the Final Four - George Mason in 2006, and LSU two decades earlier - both made it as #11 seeds. But neither won a game in the Final Four. And even if they had, they would not have to face an opponent as formidable as the 1985 Georgetown Hoyas.

Perhaps the most astonishing element of the story of the 1985 Villanova Wildcats, is the fact that the entire story is true and genuine. One interviewee in The Perfect Upset notes that "you can't script the stuff," and he's absolutely right. (His line parallels the slogan Fox Sports used once for its October baseball coverage - "You Can't Script October".)

All of the following classic dramatic elements were present: victory over Georgetown, 24 years ago, today... It is but one of the greatest ironies that it took place on April Fool's Day....

• The metaphor of David vs. Goliath;
• Clear villains in John Thompson and the Hoyas;
• Clear heroes in Rollie Massimino and the Wildcats;
• Not one, but two ailing Villanova fixtures - the first being Jake Nevin (who features prominently in The Perfect Upset) and also Alexander Severance, the founding father of Villanova basketball, who died during the Final Four but before the championship game (surprisingly, his passing is not mentioned during The Perfect Upset)...
• A small, private, academically prominent school winning the national championship;
• The first time that school had ever won the national championship;
• An astoundingly high level of play in the game itself - shooting 78.6% from the floor (22/28 overall), including 9/10 in the second half;
• the end of an era - it was the last tournament without a shot clock;
• the beginning of an era - it was the first year of the 64-team field.

That's only a partial list... Had Hollywood come up with a script for a basketball film, that incorporated all of the above elements, it clearly would have been rejected, as too unrealistic and sentimental - the audience would be unable to suspend its disbelief for a story like Villanova's.

But truth is indeed stranger than fiction, and the story really did take place according to the legend. It's all true...

If you haven't seen the outstanding1986 film Hoosiers (or if you haven't seen it recently), you really should go see it. Although its story stems from the true tale of a high school team in 1950s Indiana, the parallels between its plot and the saga of the Villanova Wildcats of 1985 are unmistakable. (I speculate that the script had probably already been written before the 1985 tournament, but it's possible that elements of it might have slipped in.) When telling the story of the 1985 Wildcats to those who are not familiar with it, it's often illustrative to liken it to Hoosiers..   (spoiler alert: don't keep reading, if you haven't seen it...)

Worth noting: The climax of Hoosiers, when the Hickory team coached by Gene Hackman upsets the powerhouse in the Indiana state title game, and in which he dramtically illustrates that the court's dimensions are the same size as back in Hickory, was filmed at the home venue of Butler University - which, as we all know, is located in Indianapolis, the site of this year's Final Four.  25 years after Villanova's upset, and 24 years after the release of Hoosiers.  Amazing...

Another aspect to keep in mind, is the distortion of retrospection. We all know the happy ending, about the eventual Villanova victory. In order to truly appreciate the stunning nature, though, we have to put ourselves in the frame of mind of those players, coaches, reporters, broadcasters, fans, etc., who were watching the events as they unfolded. It has to be remembered how improbable it was that Villanova had even reached the Final Four, let alone winning the entire tournament. Moreover, it had been highly improbable, that the Wildcats even reached the Sweet 16, having to play #9 Dayton on its home floor, and then top seed Michigan in the second round.

And as great as this year's team has been - and even if it does capture Villanova's second national crown - it can never match 1985. This year's team is a #3 seed, that had the further advantage of playing two rounds at home. And while North Carolina and either UConn/Michigan State are fine teams, they are not the juggernauts that the 1985 Hoyas were.

Villanova's 1985 championship is too difficult of an act to follow.

In the 24 tournaments since then (including this one), no lower seed has won the championship, or reached the title game. In 2006, as I (along with virtually all of America) rooted for George Mason to further shock the world by winning the national championship, I recognized that there would be one downside to the miracle - it would partially eclipse Villanova's feat. George Mason was an even bigger underdog, from a far less prominent conference, with a lower seed.

But of course, I was pulling for them, because it would have been a great feat on behalf of all the little schools in America, those who don't have the good fortune to play in power conferences or in great facilities or frequently on television. It would have underscored Villanova's triumph, not replaced it.

Although the 1985 team's accomplishment was certainly fully recognized at the time, the legend has only grown in the last two dozen years. As the big public schools, concentrated in the power conferences, continue to gobble up national titles, Final Four appearances, (and most alarmingly) an even greater share of NCAA tournament invitations, the achievement of the 1985 Wildcats has only glimmered that much brighter. Every year that goes by, without the miraculous event being repeated, simply adds to its luster.

So those are my thoughts on this April Fool's Day...

In the meantime...
You can also take a look at the other Villanova blogs included in Various Viewpoints on the right sidebar, for their takes...

There are two ways you can contact Villanova Viewpoint. One is by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged. Also, you can e-mail villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com

Go Wildcats!

E-mail: villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com

July 20, 1969 - On 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing, Where Was Villanova Basketball?

To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-

Forty years ago today, the U.S. space program's Eagle landed on the moon and U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon - an incredible accomplishment, that will be remembered forever.

This anniversary dominates today's news coverage. As it certainly should.

Which led me to this idea:

Since we're looking back to July 20, 1969 - what was the state of Villanova basketball, 40 years ago today? (I do not remember it, firsthand, and so all of the following was learned from research.)

In the summer of 1969, a Villanova student who watched the moon landing, had every right to feel excited and optimistic, about the state of the Villanova Wildcats basketball program. Of course, he would have had no way to know that two seasons later, Villanova would reach the NCAA championship game, and give the UCLA dynasty of John Wooden a considerable challenge.

The college basketball landscape differed considerably from today.

Home games were not played at the Pavilion, as there would be no Pavilion, until nearly two decades later. The Wildcats split their time between what we now know as Jake Nevin Fieldhouse, and the Palestra at the University of Pennsylvania. It was a situation roughly parallel with the Pavilion and the Wachovia Center nowadays. A majority of the games were on-campus, with unique games - and of course, all four of Villanova's Big Five games - at the Palestra. (All ten of the City Series games were played there.)

In South Philadelphia, the "old Spectrum", which is now defunct, was at the time state-of-the-art, having just opened in the fall of 1967. It was simply "the Spectrum", and not named after any banks. But Villanova did not play games there. The first game at the Spectrum was years in the future.

(Correction: Please see the comment below by Seamus, who provides more accurate information, as to when the first Villanova game took place at the old Spectrum.)

Of course, there was no cable television, and no ESPN (Dick Vitale was still coaching then, in fact.) Although the rise of cable TV would alter the fortunes of college athletics significantly, the concept of an entire network based entirely on sports, would have been foreseen by very few people at the time. There were only three broadcast networks and a slew of UHF stations.

Villanova's coaching position has always been a long-term situation, and since July 20, 1969, there have only been four coaches. Jack Kraft was the coach when the Eagle landed, and he would be succeeded by Rollie Massimino, Steve Lappas, and Jay Wright. (Wright was seven, at the time of the moon landing.)

There was no Big East Conference - that wasn't created until 1979. And Villanova was an independent, slating its own schedule.

The NCAA tournament was a much smaller event then, in terms of size, revenue, and popular interest. Although declining, the NIT was still a competitor for March attention. Only 25 teams were invited to the NCAA tournament, and no conference was permitted more than one bid.

The Wildcats were one of the 25 teams invited to the tournament, yet to be nicknamed March Madness. The starters for the 1968-69 Wildcats were Frank Gillon, Johnny Johns, Fran O'Hanlon, Sammy Sims, and Howard Porter.

Rounding out the roster were John Fox, Frank McCall, Jim McIntosh, Bob Melchionni, John Schroeder, Clarence Smith, Joe Walter, Harold Watson, and Leon Wojnowski. Porter is honored with a Pavilion banner today. Future NBA player and coach Chris Ford was a freshman, but freshmen were ineligible back then.

Officially, the Wildcats opened the 1968-69 season at the Palestra, defeating DePaul, but since they also have a mid-season victory over DePaul at the Palestra, it would appear that somehow the game was double-listed.

At the Fieldhouse, they bested Princeton and Philadelphia Textile (now Philadelphia University). They returned to the Palestra to defeat Catholic University easily. (As you can see, some opponents have changed, others have not.)

The Wildcats then headed north to Manhattan for the "Holiday Festival" tournament, where they fell to #2 North Carolina, but defeated Holy Cross and Michigan. Making a road trip to upstate New York, they edged St. Bonaventure by a point, and Niagara (where Bilal Benn would transfer, four decades later) by five.

Villanova opened City Series play by walloping St. Joseph's, 87-62, one of the most lopsided margins in the history of the series. Then one of the most bizarre games in Big Five history took place, between Villanova and Penn, on January 15, 1969.

The Wildcats were 8-1 and ranked 10th nationally, with their only loss to #2 North Carolina. Penn coach Dick Harter, a resourceful strategist, instructed the underdog Quakers to play stallball. And Penn eked out a 32-30 victory over the Wildcats. Of course, there was no shot clock then, and no three-point shot. The UPI article about the game, headlined Stall Pays Off As Penn. Tops Villanova, 32-30, states that:

Dick Harter... devised a simple game plan in setting up the stall Wednesday night against 10th-ranked Villanova.

"We told the players to shoot only when they were sure it was going in." That's just what his five players, who went all the way, did as they stunned Villanova...

"Regardless of whether it works, Harter defends the use of the stall. Although some coaches claim the stall should be abolished, Harter says their howls do not bother him.

'We're playing to win and we'd do it in the NCAA finals if we thought it was the way to win.'

Interestingly enough, the final NCAA game without a shot clock took place just over 16 years later, on April 1, 1985. Massimino's Wildcats shocked Georgetown, 66-64, in Lexington, Kentucky, to capture the program's first national championship.

The Wildcats shook off the stunning loss to Penn well enough, winning their next six games:

@ Virginia Tech, Detroit at the Palestra, DePaul at the Palestra, @ Toledo, @ Fairfield, and a thrilling overtime victory over St. John's.

The Wildcats dropped their third game of the season to La Salle at the Palestra, but they rebounded to blow out Canisius there. Their fourth loss was @ Duquesne. They returned to campus to defeat Providence, and completed City Series play at 2-2 after topping Temple at the Palestra.

Villanova then ended its regular season, with victories over Xavier and @ Seton Hall. (There was no conference tournament then, of course, being an independent.) Villanova was 21-4, and although they were not automatically invited to the NCAA tournament, they likely felt reasonably optimistic about their chances.

It had been a while since Villanova had gone to the NCAA tournament. Kraft had become head coach in 1961-62, succeeding the founding father of Villanova basketball, Alexander Severance.

This was Kraft's ninth season at the helm, and his Wildcats had gone to the postseason every year. In 1962 and 1964, Villanova had been to the NCAA tournament. The previous four seasons had been NIT years, but it must be remembered that at the time, going to the NIT was considerably more prestigious than it is today. After all, the entire NCAA field was only 25 teams.

And so the Wildcats were one of the seven teams assigned to the East region. This was sufficiently far in the past, that teams were actually assigned to their genuine geographical region. All seven East teams were actually from the East. And there was no official seeding.

The Wildcats were slotted to take on Davidson in the first round, in Raleigh, NC. It would be Wildcats against Wildcats.

This was not a good break, as Davidson - located in North Carolina - had a significant home-court advantage. They also had a fine coach, in Lefty Driesell (pre-Maryland). And the Villanova Wildcats could not overcome it.

Jack Kraft's Villanova squad fell to the Davidson Wildcats, 75-61. Davidson had a good run, defeating St. John's as well, before falling to cross-state rival North Carolina in the Regional Final - the Elite Eight.

UCLA - as usual - ended up winning the tournament, with Lew Alcindor being named Most Outstanding Player. As previously mentioned, two years later, Villanova would take them on in the title game. It would be Villanova's second appearance in the Final Four, and its first since appearing in the inaugural Final Four in 1939.

So, after this look at the past, there will be more on Dante Cunningham, in subsequent posts.

Go Wildcats!

I'll be completing the Senior Farewell series, in which I'll be looking back at the Villanova tenure of Cunningham, this final departing Wildcat. The Dwayne Anderson, Frank Tchuisi, and Shane Clark series are now completed...

There are two ways you can contact Villanova Viewpoint. One is by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged, and will always be answered. Also, you can e-mail villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com (Important note: This is a different e-mail address than before. Please use this new one.)

1988-1992 - Looking Back at Villanova While Once and Future Assistant Chris Walker Was a Wildcat - Part 1 - Freshman and Sophomore Years

To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-

With the now-confirmed return of once and future assistant coach Chris Walker to Villanova, as reported by VUHoops, I thought that it would be worthwhile, to look back at the era when Walker was a Wildcat-

from his arrival in the fall of 1988, to his graduation in the spring of 1992...

Note: This doesn't focus on Walker as an individual player, but instead, on the overall seasons and state of the program during his four years. That four-year span saw major changes for Villanova, in terms of the coaching staff, its relationship with the Big Five, and the fundamental nature of the Big East.

Villanova When Chris Walker Was a Wildcat - Overview

Walker's career bridged eras at Villanova. He was recruited by the legendary Roland V. Massimino, known universally as Rollie or "Daddy Mass", the winner of the magical national championship in 1985.

Walker's four years also represented the final four years under Rollie, who departed under acrimonious circumstance after the 1992 season. Rollie left for Nevada-Las Vegas, where he succeeded Jerry "Tark the Shark" Tarkanian. The program moved forward under Steve Lappas, who had been Rollie's assistant for several years, including the national title year in 1985, seven years earlier.

Walker's tenure also bridged eras for the Big East and Big Five. When Walker arrived, the Big East had just nine teams. The Big Five was still intact, although most of the games were no longer played at the Palestra.

However, by the time Walker graduated, the Big East had expanded to include Miami (Fla.), setting off the complicated saga which led to the considerable 21st-century turmoil and convulsions we've experienced recently. And equally importantly, Walker's senior class was the first Villanova class since 1955, not to face all four City Series rivals, as seniors.

Fortunately, after facing fully justified criticism for doing so, during the entire 1990s, Villanova finally repented and returned to the full round-robin in 1999-2000!!!

It was the Golden Age of the Big East, and Villanova was a middle-of-the-pack squad during those four years. Nonetheless, the strength of the conference was such that Walker's Wildcats received two NCAA bids and a NIT bid, while he was there.

Chris Walker's Freshman Season - 1988-89

The Wildcats had just come off one of the most successful years in school history, as 1987-88 had been a great season. Villanova ultimately finished with a 24-13 record, had been nationally ranked, and reached the Elite Eight for the second time in four years.

It was also a banner year for Philadelphia basketball, as Temple had been ranked #1 nationally, for most of the season, before also falling in the Elite Eight. In addition, La Salle was still a power at that point, with Lionel Simmons leading the way.

Not surprisingly, then, Walker's freshman year was a rebuilding year at Villanova. The team ended the regular season with a mediocre 16-15 record. They needed to win the Big East tournament to go to the NCAAs, but lost in the quarterfinals to Pittsburgh (it was only a nine-team tournament), and so headed to the NIT. The Wildcats defeated St. Peter's and Penn State, before falling to Michigan State, ending their season.

Chris Walker As a Villanova Wildcat - Sophomore Season - 1989-90

Walker did not start as a freshman, but he moved permanently into the starting lineup as a sophomore. Although the Wildcats finished the regular season with just a 17-13 record, the top-to-bottom power of the Big East was so formidable, that Villanova was a bubble team- even with that record.

Villanova was able to secure a NCAA bid, by beating St. John's in the quarterfinals and losing to Syracuse in the semifinals of the Big East tournament. Unfortunately, they fell to a LSU squad featuring Shaquille O'Neal and Chris Jackson, in the first round of the NCAA tournament, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Part 2 of Villanova When Chris Walker As A Wildcat will be coming up soon, so please check back... it will cover his junior and senior years, which neatly coincides with the two final years of Massimino's coaching tenure at Villanova...

Go Wildcats!

Of course, also check back for the latest posts in the Senior Farewell series, in which I'll be looking back at the Villanova tenures of the other two departing Wildcats, Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham. The Frank Tchuisi and Shane Clark series are already completed, as well as the first half of Anderson's tenure.

Cunningham will be coming up last, as speculation about his draft position in the June 25 NBA draft will be reaching fever pitch as the month goes on...

There are two ways you can contact Villanova Viewpoint. One is by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged, and will always be answered. Also, you can e-mail villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com (Important note: This is a different e-mail address than before. Please use this new one.)

A Shot To Be Remembered Forever - Reynolds Takes His Place Among Villanova Legends

To the Villanova Wildcats faithful!!!-

On Saturday, March 29, 2009, Scottie Reynolds - had his Villanova career ended the instant the buzzer sounded, of a loss to Pittsburgh (as it very well could have) what would we have said, about his time as a Wildcat?

Certainly, Reynolds would have been remembered as a Wildcat of great distinction. He would have been acknowledged as a standout player in the nucleus of Jay Wright's second great Villanova team of the early 21st century.

The first nucleus had been the "Four Freshmen" of Allan Ray, Randy Foye, Curtis Sumpter and Jason Fraser that went to the Elite Eight in 2006 and the Sweet 16 in 2005.

The second nucleus is the current team, that took Villanova to the NCAA tournament in 2007, the surprise Sweet 16 of 2008 (after the ordeal on the bubble), and the 2009 run...

But that is not how Scottie Reynolds will be remembered. Instead, he now stands with the immortals of the Villanova pantheon... and best of all - he can still add to the legend in Detroit at the Final Four...

Such is the nature of college basketball, where one shot can transform the fortunes of a player, a team, a school, a city, a state, a nation...

I would like to recommend a particularly well-written piece from Fanhouse.com's Jay Mariotti, for a detailed look at the circumstances of that shot... included with the article, there's a great photograph of the shot from Reynolds' perspective, taken from the opposite basket. The picture perfectly captures an outstanding view of the play:

Reynolds going up for the shot while Reggie Redding - who had inbounded the ball - and Dante Cunningham - who had accepted Redding's pass and flipped it to Reynolds - trail the play...

Reynolds walked onto the court at the new Boston Garden - the TDBanknorth Garden - as one of many great Villanova Wildcats in the course of the 89 years of the program's existence. Three hours, two halves, and one victory in the Elite Eight later, he left the court not just with a gray "Regional Champions" hat with a Block "V'", with a snippet of the net in the brim.

Reynolds left the court as a legend, who will never be forgotten... not as long as there is a Main Line, a Villanova University, as long as blue and white remain the colors, as long as the Wildcats ever take the court...

You can also take a look at the other Villanova blogs included in Various Viewpoints on the right sidebar, for their takes...

Go Wildcats!

There are two ways you can contact Villanova Viewpoint. One is by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged. Also, you can e-mail villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com (Important note: This is a different e-mail address than before. Please use this new one.)

Selection Sunday: Villanova To Receive 30th NCAA Bid - And 5th Consecutive Under Jay Wright

To the Wildcat faithful-

On the high holy day of the college basketball calendar, it seems only fitting that we acknowledge that the 2008-09 Wildcats will - in a few short hours - have attained the distinctive honor of being the 30th Main Line squad to be invited to the NCAA tournament. In their 29 previous appearances, they have posted an outstanding record of 44-29.

They also will be the fifth consecutive team to do so, a tribute to the fine coaching of Jay Wright. Wright has reached postseason play in all eight of his seasons on the Main Line, heading to the NIT in 2002, 2003, and 2004, and to the NCAA tournament in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Wright, while at Villanova, is now 7-4 in the NCAA tournament, with two Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight appearance to his credit.

In fact, today marks four years to the day - March 15, the Ides of March - that Jay Wright and Villanova received their first bid of the 21st century, ending a six-year drought - you can read my recap from March 15, 2005, at Villanova in NCAAs, Faces New Mexico on Friday!!!

Unlike last season, however, there will be no unpleasant suspense. The Wildcats were rewarded with a NCAA bid last season, to the surprise of some observers. For the team, coaching and support staff, and fans, it was nerve-wracking agony to see if a bid would be forthcoming. Fortunately, they vindicated the wisdom of the Selection Committee and made it all the way to the Sweet 16.

This year's bid will further bolster Villanova's standing among the elite, traditional powers nationally. Villanova will no longer be a tie for ninth place with Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish will not receive a bid today...

According to the Villanova media guide, here are the schools with the highest number of NCAA bids, entering this season... (whether the team will receive a bid today is in parentheses)

1. Kentucky - 50 (probably not)
2. UCLA - 41 (yes)
3. North Carolina - 40 (yes)
4. Kansas - 37 (yes)
5. Indiana - 35 (certainly not)
6. Louisville - 34 (yes)
7. Duke - 32 (yes)
8. Syracuse - 31 (yes)
9. (tie) Villanova - 29 (yes), Notre Dame - 29 (no)
   

I speculate - and this speculation is of no value - that we end up with a #4 seed. But as soon as the brackets come up, I'll have a post on the subject....

Go Wildcats!