The 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 28, 1980, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1981 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship game on March 30, 1981, at The Spectrum in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. The Indiana Hoosiers won their fourth NCAA national championship with a 63–50 victory over the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the stat ...

Rule Changes

* On free throw attempts, players can now enter the free-throw lane after the foul shooter releases the ball. Previously, players had to wait until the ball touched either the rim or backboard before entering the lane. * The time allotted to replace a disqualified (fouled out) player was reduced from 60 to 30 seconds. * Starting in the 1981–82 season, the national third-place game was abolished. * Conferences were allowed to experiment with the three-point shot in conference games only. The Southern Conference was the first to use the shot in their conference games, adopting a distance of 22 feet.

Season headlines

* After a nearly even first half, the Indiana Hoosiers pulled away from the

to clinch the school's fourth National championship, 63–50 in Philadelphia. The win marked Hoosiers coach

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...

's second championship and marked UNC coach

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel H ...

's sixth trip to the Final Four without a championship. Indiana was led by a dominant second half by sophomore

Isiah Thomas Isiah Lord Thomas III (born April 30, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is an analyst for '' NBA TV''. The 12-time NBA All-Star was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History as well as the 75 Gr ...

. * There was some question as to if the March 30th championship game would be postponed or cancelled as President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

was shot in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr. Once it was confirmed that President Reagan would survive, the game was played as scheduled. * Oregon State senior Steve Johnson set an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

record for season

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the genera ...

with a .746 mark. Johnson would also graduate with the NCAA career field goal percentage record (.678) *

Nolan Richardson Nolan Richardson Jr. (born December 27, 1941) is a former American basketball head coach best known for his tenure at the University of Arkansas, where he won the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and led the Razorbacks to three F ...

led

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

to a 15-game improvement over the previous year in his first year at the helm. The Golden Hurricane went 26–7 and won the NIT. Richardson came to Tulsa fresh off of a 1980 NJCAA Championship and brought four of his former Western Texas College starters to Tulsa, including

Paul Pressey Paul Matthew Pressey (born December 24, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player who was also an assistant coach for seven different National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. Pressey is widely credited as being one of the initi ...

. * The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference played its first season as a member of NCAA's Division I.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 20 from the AP and UPI polls during the pre-season.*

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Note: From

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of Northeastern colleges and universities, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1981 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conf ...

s did. The ECAC North was a separate, conventional conference.Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
/ref>

Informal championships

NOTE: All five teams finished with a 2–2 record in head-to-head competition, resulting in a five-way tie.

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

won its fourth NCAA title with a 63–50 win over

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

and coach

. Precocious sophomore

was named

Final Four Most Outstanding Player At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships (the "Final Four" tournaments), a media panel selects a Most Outstanding Player (MOP). It is usually awarded to a member of the championship team. There have bee ...

in a title game delayed due to the shooting of President

Final Four

Played at The Spectrum in

* Third Place – Virginia 78, LSU 74

National Invitation tournament

Coach

led

to the NIT Championship in his first year as a division I head coach – an 86–84 win over

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

. The Golden Hurricane's Greg Stewart was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

in New York City * Third Place – Purdue 75, West Virginia 72

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

: Danny Ainge, BYU * Naismith Award:

Ralph Sampson Ralph Lee Sampson Jr. (born July 7, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A phenom, three-time college national player of the year, and first overall selec ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

* Helms Player of the Year: Mark Aguirre, DePaul * Associated Press Player of the Year: Ralph Sampson, Virginia * UPI Player of the Year: Ralph Sampson, Virginia *

NABC Player of the Year The NABC Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top player in men's college basketball. The award has been given since the 1974–75 season to National Collegiate Athl ...

: Danny Ainge, BYU * Oscar Robertson Trophy ( USBWA): Ralph Sampson, Virginia *

Adolph Rupp Trophy The Adolph F. Rupp Trophy was an award given annually to the top player in men's Division I NCAA basketball until 2015. The recipient of the award was selected by an independent panel consisting of national sportswriters, coaches, and sports admi ...

: Ralph Sampson, Virginia * ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year: Mark Aguirre, DePaul

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year:

Ralph Miller Ralph H. Miller (March 9, 1919 – May 15, 2001) was an American college basketball coach, a head coach for 38 years at three universities: Wichita (now known as Wichita State), Iowa, and Oregon State. With an overall record of , his teams had ...

, Oregon State *

Henry Iba Award The Henry Iba Award was established in 1959 to recognize the best college basketball coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Five nominees are presented and the individual with the most votes receives the aw ...

( USBWA): Ralph Miller, Oregon State *

NABC Coach of the Year The NABC Coach of the Year Award has been presented by the National Association of Basketball Coaches since . A longtime sponsor of the award was Kodak; it is currently sponsored by the UPS Store The UPS Store (formerly Mail Boxes Etc.) is a s ...

Jack Hartman Jack Hartman (October 7, 1925 – November 6, 1998) was an American gridiron football player and basketball coach. Hartman played basketball and football collegiately at Oklahoma State University with his basketball tutelage under famed coach He ...

, Kansas State & Ralph Miller, Oregon State * UPI Coach of the Year: Ralph Miller, Oregon State * CBS/

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ou ...

Coach of the Year:

Dale Brown Dale Brown (born 2 November 1956) is an American writer and aviator known for aviation techno-thriller novels. At least thirteen of his novels have been ''New York Times'' Best Sellers. Early life Brown was born in Buffalo, New York, and was ...

, LSU * ''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year: Dale Brown, LSU

Other major awards

* Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Terry Adolph, West Texas State *

Robert V. Geasey Trophy The Robert V. Geasey Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding men's basketball player in the Philadelphia Big 5, an informal association of college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The trophy does not represent the e ...

(Top player in

Philadelphia Big 5 The Big 5 is an informal association of college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is not a conference, but rather a group of NCAA Division I basketball schools who compete for the city’s collegiate championship. The Big 5 ...

John Pinone John Gabriel Pinone Jr. (born February 19, 1961) is a retired American professional basketball player. High school Pinone played competitively at South Catholic High School in Hartford, leading the team to the Class L state championship in 1977 ...

, Villanova * NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

metro area):

Gary Springer Gary Springer Sr. (born February 18, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who is best known for his collegiate career at Iona between 1980–81 and 1983–84. High school career Springer grew up in Harlem, New York and att ...

Iona Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: �iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though ther ...

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1979-80 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Season