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. In the spring, both the institution of college basketball and the NCAA Tournament were on the cusp of significant change. (In the fall of 2006, Massimino, then 72, took over as head coach at Northwood University, an NAIA program in West Palm Beach. ), Editor, Time Inc. Sports Group: Paul Fichtenbaum, Interactive Web Developer: Louis Gubitosi, Premedia: Geoffrey A. Michaud, Dan Larkin and Sandra Vallejos. His next four teams averaged 20 losses. In 1985, they were the games reigning champions, and seemingly ready to forge a dynasty. Others have tried unsuccessfully to bring him together with Massimino. The Hoyas were a target as broad as Thompsons torso, and the media took endless shots: Georgetowns image was summed up as Hoya Paranoiaa phrase popularized by The Washington Posts Mark Asher in 1980 and intended only to describe the insecurity of longtime fans who felt their team was slighted by the media in favor of Maryland. 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! Mitch is a great Xs-and-Os guy and a great recruiter, says Plansky, but a woeful manager. Even as the Georgetown game maintains an outsized place in history, Massimino lets it goLike yesterdays wrinkled-up newspaper, he saysand holds to the relationships built in those moments. Well over half of Villanovas budget of $500,000-plus for football goes to scholarship funding. Theyre adults. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Monday, May 1, 6:49AM. Everson pleaded for a foul, and Massimino ran onto the court. In 1985, when nobody dropped, Villanova was only one of six schools adding or resuming football.. Massimino says, I never had any big problems with Lap., Lappas, who was fired at UMass after the 2004-05 season and now works as a broadcaster for CBS, says, Were cordial. Do you have a sports website? 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. 1985 Chicago Bear Super Bowl Team Ring Fan Men Gift American Football Souvenir. Rollies still rolling: At 80, Massimino continues to coach. In the wake of Villanovas 1985 championship, Massiminos assistant coaches were hot properties. The Jake Nevin Field House is the main center of athletic activity on campus. 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. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. 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. Im about to go into a meeting, but Ill be free after 5 p.m. today. Not rah-rah, like were going to run over these guys. During the 85 Final Four newspapers were stuffed with stories detailing the Hoyas being sequestered in Louisville, while the other teams partied in Lexington. But in many ways it is April 1, 1985, forever. 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 Or a roar after a touchdown. Villanovas Division I-AA status is the highest for any college that has resumed football after once dropping it.. This list looks at players since that season, taking into consideration things including, but not. 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. This page is not available in other languages. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. [1] Schedule [ edit] [6] Roster [ edit] The others were small schools without much of a following among sports-page readers: St. Peters of New Jersey, Worcester State of Massachusetts, New York Maritime, MacMurray of Illinois, and Ferrum of Virginia. At Fratellos urging, Massimino took over at Cleveland State in 1996 and coached seven seasons. It was nothing complicated, says McClain. We all wanted the Big East, and we knew with a point guard, a small forward and a big man, maybe we could do something.. He told me not to take the Villanova job, says Lappas, 50. The game was a 13,400 sellout in the schools small stadium. Villanova's 10-3 record included four victories over Top 25 opponents, including No. 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. ), (This section of the original story caused problems 11 years ago. The 2009 Villanova Wildcats football team represented Villanova University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. 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. Today its no less costly than before, Aceto said. The relationship today between the coach and his former star remains tenuous. Villanova Univeristy Athletics #GONOVA Main Navigation Menu Main Content Section All-Time Roster More History 100 Moments Fan Memories Uniforms Shop Ad Blocker Detected Thanks for visiting villanova.com! 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. Villanova gave up football for four years (1981-84) before bringing it back by popular demand (in 1985), Coach Andy Talley said the other day. It absolutely gutted Rollie, says veteran NBA coach and TV analyst Mike Fratello, an early Massimino assistant and longtime confidante. # Name Class QB: 14: Tom Karczewski: OT: 75: Joe Miller: WR: 83: Bob Schaeffer: QB: 6: Mike Sunday: Defense. What Kentucky is today, Georgetown was in 1985, only with older players. 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. (Well, it briefly got a little better. I said things, and I paid the price for saying them. (In a 2014 interview with the Associated Press, McLain said of the SI story, It hurts me that I hurt people.) He has had numerous jobs in the last 17 years, with a few of what he calls employment gaps. He once lived on a horse farm in rural Florida and once was in a relationship with a woman who ran an escort service. Along the way he lost his marriage and his naivet, yet continues to live the life of a bench soldier. The 1980 Villanova Wildcats football team represented the Villanova University during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season.The head coach was Dick Bedesem, coaching his sixth season with the Wildcats.The team played their home games at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pennsylvania. But in an era of nationally televised major college games, whats in it for MacMurray and Buffalo State? Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. The 1970 Villanova Wildcats football team represented the Villanova University during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. Plansky, seven months removed from his high school graduation, found himself subbed in for Pressley and guarding Maryland All-America forward Len Bias. They sure have. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & resort (KS). They played their home games at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pennsylvania. In 1981, when Villanova dropped, there were three additions, he said, naming Buffalo State, West Georgia, and Western New England. We knew we intimidated people, and we milked that, and John was the leader, along with Patrick, who was about as intense an individual as I have ever met. Massimino had never delivered a postmeal speech, but on this day he did. (Years later, when Pinckney was playing for the Miami Heat, he found himself alone in an elevator with coach Pat Riley. We laughed together, we cried together. (As always, McLain was the complex exception. (It remains a tight group. He had joined the Villanova staff straight from coaching at Harry S Truman High in the Bronx. They were a family. For years after the article came out, there were a whole lot of times when I said, Damn, man, I wish I didnt write that article. [1] Future NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long was a senior nose guard on the team. And Mitch and I are good now.) Buonaguro spent five years as an assistant at Texas A&M, seven at Cleveland State under Massimino and now, at 50, is an assistant at North Carolina-Greensboro. The 1984-85 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University. He loved to play against Patrick. One other thing they would do: Put the ball in McLains hands and let him beat Georgetowns swarming, 94-foot defense with his skills, his head and his heart. The leaves are turning, a frost is in the air, the familiar sound is a punted ball. "It was painful," says Thompson, but I would be disappointed as hell if the sum total of any of our guys lives was that loss to Villanova. And yet the memory lingers for them, as well. What follows is an expanded and annotated version of my original story, with additional material from my 2004 reporting and updates on the lives of those who were playing and coaching on that evening in 1985. [1] It was the program's first season since 1980, as the team had been discontinued for four years due to perceived lack of financial resources to compete at the Major College (now Football Bowl Subdivision) level. 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 wondering if I could really make it at this level of basketball. The Wildcats unexpected presence in the championship game took their fans (and cheerleaders) to new heights in Rupp Arena. Unbelievable! he says, recounting the swift climb. 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. When the football team is playing at home, a lot of alums come back for an overnight, Capone said. Division I-AA football is respectable, and well be in the Yankee Conference starting next year. And it was real. Jensen says, I was recruited by Providence, Syracuse, UCLA and South Carolina. Villanova can accept only about 1,000 of several thousand freshman applicants annually. NCAA Tournament: 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. For financial reasons, an average of about one college a year drops football, Boda said. That could be schtick. And he played great. Maybe some of the major football programs are self-sustaining, said Villanovas President Driscoll, naming Ohio State, Penn State and Nebraska. Massimino pulled a chair into the center of the room. Free . Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. But not in a way that I could take action. Then Manhattan hired him, and Lappas righted a struggling program, winning 25 games in his fourthand finalyear. Hes still a part of the family. Georgetown was the better team, but anyone close to the programs, or the Big East, expected a fight. Then Massimino took a deep breath. 1 seed, yet lost to North Carolina State in their second tournament game.) As he walked toward his seat, he heard his name shouted. See terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. Shapland died at age 57 in April of 2013. I dont think he wanted to lose us. Massimino read the story in his office at The Pavilion, surrounded by his assistants. Where: Franklin Field in . His second went 15-16 but also made the tournament. 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. Here's the schedule and how you can watch all the college events. On April 14, 1981 the team was officially disbanded due to monetary . McLain vaguely implicated his teammates with broad generalizations and also implied that Massimino did little to stem his drug abuse. 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. Massimino left coaching only last March, when he resigned after seven years at Cleveland State. (In 2004, arranging an interview with Massimino was problematic. Everson called on my behalf and says, We had a great talk, for like 30 minutes. Won Southeast Regional Final (56-44) versus #2 North Carolina I dont need this, he shouted. All rights reserved. He wished he hadnt said those things about Buonaguro and he wished I hadnt written them. In his 13 years at Georgetown, Thompson had built the Hoyas into a powerhouse. 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. That doesnt sound so hard, but it was a lot better than they did the year before, or two years before, or three. He was hurt and angry at Plansky. His family atmosphere was absolutely key, says Harold Pressley, who in 1982 as a senior at St. Bernard High in Uncasville, Conn., was an All-America. The official Football news stories archives for the Villanova University Wildcats Students successfully persuade school president Eamon Kelly to reinstate the program in 1988. Time heals all wounds. Several of McLains teammates used that expression in describing their relationship with their point guard. . McLain has been clean since 2005 and has since become a Certified Addiction Professional spending his time traveling and talking to youngsters about addiction through his story. The most humbling was the regular-season finale. The peak, 685, was reached in 1948 with the deluge of GI bill federal funds. 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. Planksy called me, seeking relief. Looking back on them. (Eleven years later, Maker says, I was still very angry then. Among the other prospective recruits at the camp were McLain, a Long Island native living with his high school coach in southeastern Massachusetts; McClain, a willowy 6' 6" forward from Worcester, Mass. But as a one-time top-division participant in football, will Villanova indefinitely suit its supporters in I-AA competition? Ive had a real roller coaster since Villanova, he says. 21 Richmond and No. It worked. I wear the ring and the watch from 85, he says. Villanova defeated Pitt in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament but were knocked out by 2nd seed St. Johns in the semifinals. They called the scrimmage the Brothers versus the Joeys, and not for the first time. 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. I was so consumed with climbing up the coaching ladder, that I lost sight with things, says Marbach. And Georgetown? Marbach sold real estate and did radio commentary on Siena games for five years. The players themselves found this coverage hilarious. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. As soon as I came into the game Lenny drops to the low block and starts screaming, Mismatch! But still. And then I took it. Dont hesitate to shoot the ball. I was a difficult kid, and he was incredible., On the decisive play in the Dayton game, Jensen had the ball in the middle of the floor, far from the basket. He was hurt and angry at Plansky. You simply have to look to the overall benefits (of playing the game) instead of the financial benefits (of not playing), he said. Ill bet [Tigers point guard] Andre Turner is still confused, says McClain. After Lenny gets about his fifth basket over me, Al McGuire says, on TV, Mr. A very, very intense guy, says Plansky. 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. Neither interaction fully bridged the divide between them. There was one more stop. Nineteen (Thirty) years later, a viewing of the game yields two nuggets. Following the turnover Villanova held the ball for 62 seconds until Jensen drilled the wide-open jump shot from the right side with 2:37 left on the clock. The Flyers held for the last shot, but Pressley stole a pass, and Villanova spread the floor in a variation of North Carolina coach Dean Smiths notorious four corners offense, a setup that could be used to control a game for minutes on end if executed properly. The 85s remain an extraordinarily close group. We have 54 (alumni) clubs throughout the country--including three in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, said Bob Capone, alumni director. But he is hoping for the best. 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. He still yells, says Everson. The head coach was Lou Ferry, coaching his first season with the Wildcats. Marty and Denise Marbach invited both Massimino and Lappas and seated them, with their wives, at the same table. College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. BIG EAST Conference/Collegiate Images/Getty Images. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. 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. There was no doubt which team was considered No. 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. Before the night was finished Villanova would make 22 of 29 field goal attempts, a mind-boggling 78.6%, including nine of 10 in the second half. I dont think there was a living ass in the country who didnt think we were the better team.. Of his last seven Villanova teams, however, only four made the NCAA tournament and just one advanced past the second round. 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. The game is widely regarded as a shot-clock victory, for Villanova, but thats not entirely true. On Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday Thompson turned practice into an open discussion of Kings and Malcolm Xs influence. When: April 27-30. Marys and Santa Clara are playing in Division II now, Boda said. 29. Photo Illustration by Erica Cotten; Nycretoucher/Getty Images (money). On 41 of those 55 possessions, Villanova shot, was fouled or committed a turnover in less than 30 seconds. The 1985 Villanova Wildcats football team represented Villanova University in the 1985 NCAA Division III football season. Every coach has a gimmick. It was a daunting assignment and would require the game of his life. 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. (#8 seed in Southeast)Won Southeast First Round (51-49) versus #9 Dayton Fordham, Chicago, Georgetown, Buffalo, Washington & Lee and most of the others are in Division III. He was telling me that I was playing soft, and I took serious offense at that. Last November Villanovas basketball team hosted Northwood University, where 85 head coach Rollie Massimino is the 80-year-old head coach, and turned the weekend into a celebration of the 85 teams 30-year anniversary. Planksy called me, seeking relief. 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. He will always be Giz. 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. He came in, lounged around with my mother, seemed real comfortable. 1984-85 Villanova Wildcats Men's Roster and Stats 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: Roster Per Game Team and Opponent Stats Per Game Totals Both games had been tense, grinding battles, which history has lost when establishing the magnitude of the championship game upset. 6-ranked Nittany Lions, it will complete a 40-year journey. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. With his team trailing Pittsburgh 40-23 at the half in Pitts Fitzgerald Field House, Massimino told his starters at halftime, Youve got two minutes to show me something, or youre coming out. He gave them three before yanking them for good. 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. Dont play this game not to lose. $17.09. 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. A year earlier I would have been happy if youd told me I could get a ticket to the Final Four. After four years at Villanova he became Massiminos top assistant at age 34. It was like we were in 1985 all over again.), (This still holds; no champion since 85 has come close to Nova's average. State of the Nova Nation: Bamba, Dunleavy and Moore. I said it then, and Ill say it now.. Close your eyes and picture yourself playing this game to win. The Villanova Wildcats football program represents Villanova University in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA). Do you have a sports website? Do they think were going to lie down for them? Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. I felt badly, too, but I also felt that Plansky had been honest in his original assessment, and he never pulled back from that. It taught me to believe in myself, and Ive taken that through my whole life. (Jensen stands by that, 11 years later. When he got his own reins, it was mass chaos. Buonaguro resigned under pressure after the 1990-91 season. On Sunday mornings he plays pickup basketball on a West Palm Beach playground. Massimino had his wish. saturday night lives 1985 season finale, hosted by Howard Cosell, marks the final appearances for cast members Billy Crystal, Jim Belushi, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Martin Short. ), Sherman Oaks Notre Dame receives No. That is not happening. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Some of his former players have made a tradition of visiting Massimino on Super Bowl weekend and attending a Northwood game. 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.