Virginia Cavaliers Men's Basketball
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The Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
. The school competes in the
Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...
in Division I of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association 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 an ...
. Virginia has won the
NCAA Championship 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 and ...
, two
National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
s, and three ACC tournament titles. The team is coached by
Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...
and plays home games at the on-campus
John Paul Jones Arena John Paul Jones Arena, or JPJ, is a multi-purpose arena owned by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Since November 2006, it serves as the home to the Virginia Cavaliers men's and women's basketball teams, as well as for co ...
(14,623) which opened in 2006. They have been called the ''Cavaliers'' since 1923, predating the
Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
of the
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
by half a century. Virginia won its first
NCAA Championship 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 and ...
in 2019, and won the last third-place game ever played at the Final Four in 1981. The Cavaliers have been ranked in the Top 5 of the
AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...
more than 100 times since 1980, and have received seven No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.NCAA Tournament All-Time No. 1 Seeds History
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 an ...
, accessed January 27, 2021.
Virginia is the only ACC program, and one of two NCAA programs, to have earned No. 1 seeds in all four regions of the NCAA Tournament. Virginia was a top program in the early years of college basketball under the tutelage of Pop Lannigan from 1905 to 1929 and a consistent winner under multi-sport coach
Gus Tebell Gustave Kenneth Tebell (September 6, 1897 – May 28, 1969) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. From 1925 to 1929, he coached football at North Carolina State University, where h ...
from 1930 to 1951, but the Cavaliers struggled through the 1950s and 1960s before
Terry Holland Michael Terrence Holland (born April 2, 1942) is an American college athletics administrator and former basketball player and coach. He is currently the emeritus director of athletics and special assistant to Chancellor Steve Ballard at East Carol ...
arrived in 1974 to win their first ACC Championship and earn their first NCAA tournament appearance in just his second year. The program has since won ten ACC season titles, third-most in conference history. In the recent 18-game ACC era (2012–2019), Virginia had four out of the five ACC teams that finished 16–2 or better in conference play.Cavs' in league of their own in ACC
accessed August 15, 2019
As of 2022, Virginia has had 11 consecutive winning ACC seasons, the longest active streak among ACC programs.David Teel.

. ''
Richmond Times-Dispatch The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia. Circulation The ''Times-Dispatc ...
'', February 13, 2021. Accessed August 26, 2021. ''Note that the article mentions it was the second-longest at the time, before Duke failed to achieve a winning record in that season.''


History

The ''
Wahoos Wahoos, often shortened to 'Hoos, is a nickname for sports teams of the University of Virginia (officially the Virginia Cavaliers, Cavaliers), and more generally, a nickname for University students and alumni. Origins The nickname is a back-for ...
'', as they are unofficially known, began their history under the tutelage of a Welshman and American immigrant known best as "Pop",
Henry Lannigan Henry Hayden Lannigan (December 17, 1863 – December 24, 1930), known as Pop Lannigan, was a Welshman and immigrant to the United States who was the first head coach in Virginia Cavaliers basketball history from 1905 to 1929 and one of the "most ...
. Lannigan began the program in 1905 after training
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
hopefuls in
track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
and quickly brought the basketball program into near-dominant form.''
The News Leader ''The News Leader'' is a daily newspaper owned by Gannett and serving Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 Uni ...
'', Henry Lannigan obituary,
Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...
. Published December 26, 1930.
He led the Cavaliers to a perfect record of 17–0 in 1914-15 and a
Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...
title in its inaugural season of 1921–22. After reaching prominence the team was invited to help the nationally known Kentucky Wildcats showcase their new Alumni Gymnasium. Virginia dominated Kentucky, 29–16. Inviting Kentucky back to Memorial Gymnasium in 1928, Virginia again won, 31–28. Lannigan's record of 254–95 (.728) held the Virginia record for best career
winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...
by a head coach until finally surpassed by
a man ''A Man'' (1979) ( it, Un Uomo) ( el, Ένας Άνδρας, transliteration: ''Enas Andras'') is a novel written by Oriana Fallaci chronicling her relationship with the attempted assassin of Greek dictator George Papadopoulos. The book is a ps ...
who was hired 104 years after he started the program. After Lannigan's sudden death in 1930 and with limited administration interest at the onset of the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, Virginia basketball did not maintain its momentum into the next several decades.
Buzzy Wilkinson Richard Warren "Buzzy" Wilkinson (November 18, 1932 – January 15, 2016) was an American basketball player who was selected by the Boston Celtics in the third round (30th pick overall) of the 1955 NBA draft but never played in the NBA. A 6'2" gu ...
scored 32.1 points per game in 1954–55 and is still the all-time ACC leader in scoring per game for both the single-season and career (28.1) categories. He was selected by the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
in the 1955 NBA draft. Unfortunately, Virginia teams of the era were not as great at defense and high scoring did not lead to many wins. Likewise,
Barry Parkhill Barry Parkhill (born May 11, 1951) is a retired American professional basketball player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1st round (15th overall) of the 1973 NBA draft but elected to play in the ...
was named ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 1971–72 and was drafted in the first round by the
Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...
but the program had not regained its early standing.
Terry Holland Michael Terrence Holland (born April 2, 1942) is an American college athletics administrator and former basketball player and coach. He is currently the emeritus director of athletics and special assistant to Chancellor Steve Ballard at East Carol ...
was hired from
Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...
in 1975, and with star
Wally Walker Wally may refer to: Music * Wally (band), British prog rock band ** ''Wally'' (album), a 1974 album by Wally * '' La Wally'', an opera by Alfredo Catalani Other uses *Wally (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *WALLY, a propos ...
surprised the ACC in just his second year as head coach when his sixth-seeded Virginia defeated AP No. 17 NC State, No. 9 Maryland and No. 4 North Carolina en route to winning the school's first ACC Championship. Played in
Landover, Maryland Landover is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 25,998. Landover is contained between Sheriff Road and Central Avenue to the so ...
, it was also and fittingly the first ACC Tournament held outside of North Carolina. Athletic, quick, and seven-foot-four,
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 ...
was perhaps the most desired high school recruit in college basketball history when he chose to play with
Jeff Lamp Jeffrey Alan Lamp (born March 9, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player who played six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lamp played college basketball for the University of Virginia, where he was an All-Am ...
at Virginia over Kentucky in 1979. He lived up to that hype would become one of the most dominant college players the game has ever known, winning three consecutive
Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men's and women's collegiate basketball players. It is named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. History an ...
awards to tie him with
Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national ...
as the most awarded individual player in NCAA history. Virginia would attain its first AP Top 5 rankings and go to its first Final Four in Sampson's era, but would be stonewalled by
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 Hi ...
and North Carolina both in that Final Four and in ACC tournaments. Carolina notoriously held the ball in a
four corners offense The four corners offense, technically four corner stall, is an offensive strategy for stalling in basketball. Four players stand in the corners of the offensive half-court while the fifth dribbles the ball in the middle. Most of the time the point ...
for most of the last seven minutes of the game, despite having UNC's most celebrated NBA superstars
Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...
and
James Worthy James Ager Worthy (born February 27, 1961) is an American sports commentator, television host, analyst, and former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Game James", he played his entire professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers ...
on the floor, to defeat Virginia in the 1982 ACC tournament 47–45.With Four Coners, Dean Smith Changed Basketball
accessed April 15, 2019
Both the
shot clock A shot clock is a countdown timer used in a variety of games and sports, proving a set amount of time that a team may possess the object of play before attempting to score a goal. Shot clocks are used in several sports including basketball, wat ...
and three-point line were implemented into college basketball during the same decade in part to combat such shenanigans. In 1984, after Sampson was drafted first in the 1983 NBA draft, Virginia made a Cinderella run back to the Final Four. There they lost 49–47, in overtime, to a Houston team led by the first pick of the
1984 NBA draft The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season. The draft is generally c ...
,
Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian Americans, Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Ass ...
, who then joined Sampson to form the original Twin Towers of the NBA on the
Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...
.
John Crotty John Kevin Crotty (born July 15, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'1" point guard from the University of Virginia, Crotty was undrafted, but played in 11 National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons from 1992 to 2003 ...
and
Bryant Stith Bryant Lamonica Stith (born December 10, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently a men's assistant basketball coach at University of North Carolina Green ...
took the darkhorse 1988–89 team to the Elite Eight after defeating AP No. 2 (and No. 1 seed)
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
which returned most of its lineup (including
Stacey King Ronald Stacey King (born January 29, 1967) is an American sports announcer and retired National Basketball Association (NBA) center who won three consecutive championships with the Chicago Bulls from 1991 to 1993. King is currently the lead col ...
and
Mookie Blaylock Daron Oshay "Mookie" Blaylock (born March 20, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. He spent 13 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and the Golden State Warriors. Col ...
) from the team that reached the 1988 NCAA Tournament Championship Game. After Holland retired the next year, the Cavaliers were coached by Jeff Jones for eight years,
Pete Gillen Peter Joseph Gillen (born June 20, 1947) is an American former college basketball head coach of the Division I, Providence Friars and Virginia Cavaliers and is a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. Gillen is currently a college b ...
for seven, and
Dave Leitao David Antonio Leitao Jr. (born May 18, 1960) is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach for City Reapers of Overtime Elite (OTE). He has previously been the head coach of the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development Leagu ...
for four. Highlights of those teams include a Jones team headlined by
Cory Alexander Cory Lynn Alexander (born June 22, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who is now an announcer for college basketball and the NBA on ESPN Radio since 2022. After a career at the University of Virginia (having graduated with ...
and
Junior Burrough Thomas Harold "Junior" Burrough (born January 18, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'8" power forward, Burrough played collegiately at the University of Virginia, and was selected by the Boston Celtics 33rd overall ...
that also reached the Elite Eight after a first-place finish in the ACC standings of 1995. There were no championship teams under Gillen, but his recruits
Sean Singletary Sean Michael-Eli Singletary (born September 6, 1985) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other professional leagues. He played college basketball at the University of Vi ...
and
J. R. Reynolds James Richard "J. R." Reynolds (born May 9, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for Poitiers of the LNB Pro B. Standing at , he plays the point guard position. High school and college Reynolds was born in Roanoke, Virginia to pare ...
led the 2007 team to Virginia's next conference-topping finish in Leitao's second season. While there were flashes of brilliance under each of the three coaches, the program regained and expanded its national prominence under the coach who followed them.
Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...
arrived in March 2009 and got to work in building "a program that lasts." His 2013–14 team led by Joe Harris and
Malcolm Brogdon Malcolm Moses Adams Brogdon (born December 11, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers under Tony Bennett. A ...
brought Virginia its first ACC Tournament Championship in 38 years and its first Sweet Sixteen appearance in 19 years. The 2014–15 squad, led by Justin Anderson and Brogdon, started 19–0 and was even more dominant throughout the season as this team more than doubled up the scores of Georgia Tech and Wake Forest, only the second and third times in history that one ACC team scored twice as many points as another ACC team in official competition. However, Anderson broke his finger against Louisville and did not return until the NCAA Tournament where he was much diminished and the team bowed out to Michigan State in the second round. Brogdon led the 2015–16 team to the Elite Eight, but they fell just short of the elusive Final Four after a late rally by Syracuse. Shocking the basketball world twice in two years, Virginia lost to 16-seed UMBC in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament only to come back and win the 2019 NCAA tournament championship the very next year.
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
called Virginia's 2018–19 campaign "the most redemptive season in the history of college basketball." ''
CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987, to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012, to September 6, 2021. The program was aired from Monday through Saturday. ...
'' called it "basketball's ultimate redemption story" the morning after the national championship match. As of 2022, Bennett has led Virginia to the program's first NCAA Tournament Championship, third Final Four, second and third ACC Tournament Championships, and five of ten seasons Virginia has finished first in the ACC season standings. He holds the single-season wins record with 35 from the 2018–19 season, breaking his own previous record of 31.


NCAA Final Four teams

Virginia is 3–2 at Final Four events and won the 2019 NCAA tournament championship.


1981: Sampson and Goliath

Led by Coach
Terry Holland Michael Terrence Holland (born April 2, 1942) is an American college athletics administrator and former basketball player and coach. He is currently the emeritus director of athletics and special assistant to Chancellor Steve Ballard at East Carol ...
, National Player of the Year
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 ...
and his first team All-ACC teammate
Jeff Lamp Jeffrey Alan Lamp (born March 9, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player who played six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lamp played college basketball for the University of Virginia, where he was an All-Am ...
, the Cavaliers rolled to their best season in school history. After beginning the season with a 23–0 record, the Cavaliers would claim the ACC Regular Season title before falling in the ACC Tournament Semifinals. Despite the loss, UVA still entered the NCAA tournament as the 1 seed in the East Regional of the 1981 NCAA tournament. UVA received a first-round bye and squeaked by Villanova 54–50 in the 2nd round. They would then handle both
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
and
Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
by 14 points each in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 respectively to clinch a berth in the program's first ever Final Four 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. Sinc ...
. Despite sweeping North Carolina in the ACC regular season, the rival Tar Heels would defeat the Cavaliers in the National Semifinals. Virginia would close the season on a high note, however, defeating
Louisiana State Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisian ...
in the National Third Place game to cap the program's most successful season to that point.


1984: Virginia plays Cinderella

Following the loss of their vaunted All-American in
Sampson Sampson may refer to: Military * , several Royal Navy ships * , several US Navy ships * Sampson-class destroyer, a World War I US Navy class * Sampson Air Force Base, near Seneca Lake, New York, closed in 1956 * SAMPSON, a multi-function radar ...
, the Virginia basketball team took a step back in 1983–84, at least in the regular season. The Cavaliers limped into the ACC tournament with a 17–10 (6–8) record, promptly falling to Wake Forest in the first round. Their record was good enough to ensure them an NCAA tournament invite and they were awarded the 7-seed in the East Regional. After escaping 10th-seeded
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 there ...
58–57 in the first round, Virginia drew
Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...
champion and 2nd-seeded
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
in the 2nd round. The Cavaliers dispatched the Razorbacks 53–51 in an overtime affair before cruising past 3rd-seeded
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, Miss ...
63–55 in the Sweet Sixteen. In a low-scoring, defensive affair, the Cavaliers defeated Bobby Knight's 4th-seeded
Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nationa ...
50–48 in the Elite Eight to clinch the school's second Final Four appearance in 4 seasons. In the National Semifinals, Virginia drew the
Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian Americans, Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Ass ...
-led Houston Cougars at the
Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...
in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. The Cavaliers gave the vaunted
Phi Slama Jama Phi Slama Jama was a name given to the men's college basketball teams of the Houston Cougars from 1982 to 1984. Coined by former ''Houston Post'' sportswriter Thomas Bonk, the nickname was quickly adopted by the players and even appeared on team ...
lineup all they could handle, but eventually fell 49–47 in overtime, ending a surprisingly-successful postseason run.


2019: Redemption National Championship

Coming off a loss to 16-seed UMBC a year prior, the Virginia team returned with a vaunted Bennett defense along with the three-pronged offensive attack of
De'Andre Hunter De'Andre James Hunter (born December 2, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers and was named NABC Defensive ...
,
Kyle Guy Kyle Joseph Guy (born August 11, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Joventut Badalona of the Liga ACB. He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers as a shooting guard for three years and was named the NCAA To ...
, and
Ty Jerome Ty Jeremy Jerome (born July 8, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League. He played coll ...
. The Cavaliers began and ended the season ranked in the AP Top 5, with a 28–2 regular season record and both losses to
Zion Williamson Zion Lateef Williamson (born July 6, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward position. Following a freshman-year stint with the ...
's AP No. 1 ranked Duke squad under Coach Krzyzewski. Those two Virginia–Duke matchups during the ACC regular season were the most watched college basketball games of the regular season with 3.8 million and 3.3 million viewers for their games in Durham and Charlottesville respectively. n the ACC Tournament, Virginia defeated bubble team NC State 76–56 before being defeated by Florida State, 69–59. Entering the NCAA Tournament, Virginia was a No. 1 seed in the South region, Duke was the No. 1 overall seed and placed in the East region, while North Carolina also received a No. 1 seed but in the Midwest region. The only No. 1 seed from another conference was Gonzaga in the West, later to be defeated by Texas Tech in the Elite Eight. Virginia was the sole No. 1 seed of the tournament to advance to the Final Four after defeating Purdue. After first defeating Gardner-Webb, Oklahoma, and Oregon, they met the
Boilermakers A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dep ...
in the Elite Eight. Purdue's
Carsen Edwards Carsen Cade Edwards (born March 12, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers, where he was twice name ...
scored 42 points against Virginia, setting an individual scoring record against a Bennett-coached team.Purdue's Carsen Edwards Had 42 Points Yet Virginia Somehow Advanced
accessed April 13, 2019
With Virginia down by three points with 5.9 seconds to play,
Ty Jerome Ty Jeremy Jerome (born July 8, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League. He played coll ...
stepped to the line for two
free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...
s, converting the first but missing the second. Mamadi Diakite back tapped the ball into the backcourt where Kihei Clark recovered it and passed back to Diakite with one second remaining in the game. Diakite immediately scored, and the game went into
overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...
. Virginia then outscored Purdue 10–5 in the extra period to advance. Jerome, Diakite, and
Kyle Guy Kyle Joseph Guy (born August 11, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Joventut Badalona of the Liga ACB. He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers as a shooting guard for three years and was named the NCAA To ...
each made the South Regional All-Tournament team. In the Final Four, Virginia met the Auburn Tigers who had already dispatched Kansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky to get there.
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
national broadcast of Virginia vs. Auburn. April 6, 2019
This game was a back-and-forth battle as Virginia trailed the Tigers at halftime, 31–28. Virginia led by as many as 10 points in the second half before Auburn retook the lead late in the game. Down 61–57 with 7.7 seconds remaining, Guy scored a three-point shot from the right corner. Harper then converted one of two free throws to lead 62–60. Two controversialNational championship predictions: Will UVa or Texas Tech win first title?
accessed April 13, 2019. Quote from Jeff Borzello of ESPN Insider: "As for Saturday night, it was a clear foul by Samir Doughty on Kyle Guy. End of discussion. Fouled him on the way up, and didn't let him land. The missed-double-dribble debate is a different story, but then we have to get into a debate about the missed foul when Bryce Brown grabbed Ty Jerome a split second before the double dribble. Missed calls happen. It is what it is."
non-calls (one against Auburn, one against Virginia) by officials preceded Auburn being called for a foul with 1.5 seconds remaining. On the in-bounds play Jerome found Guy, again for the corner three, but Guy missed as an Auburn player fouled him by undercutting his lower body. Guy converted all three free throws to put Virginia into the 2019 NCAA Tournament Championship Game. Auburn Fans Celebrate Prematurely, accessed April 3, 2020 The National Championship match was headlined by two of the top defenses in college basketball, Virginia and the
Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raide ...
.
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
national broadcast of Virginia vs. Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament Championship Game. April 8, 2019
Texas Tech did not score a field goal for the first 7 minutes and 11 seconds of the game, but eventually tied the game at 19 with 7 minutes and 33 seconds remaining in the first half. The teams traded leads until halftime, with Virginia holding a 32–29 advantage at intermission. Eventual top-10 picks in the subsequent NBA draft
De'Andre Hunter De'Andre James Hunter (born December 2, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers and was named NABC Defensive ...
and Jarrett Culver shot 1-for-8 and 0-for-6 from the field respectively in the first half, but Hunter shot 7-for-8 in the second half to end with a career-high 27 points while the
NABC Defensive Player of the Year The NABC Defensive Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to recognize the top defensive player in United States college basketball. The award has been given since 1987 and was previously kn ...
sophomore limited Culver to 5-for-22 shooting and a 15-point total. Texas Tech rallied from a deficit to take a late lead before Virginia scored in the closing seconds to take the game into overtime. Virginia outscored Texas Tech 17–9 in overtime to win their first national title 85–77. Virginia ended the season with a 35–3 record, breaking the school record for wins in a single-season. The team was 29–0 after leading at halftime. The Cavaliers were the first first-time champions of the NCAA Tournament since the University of Florida thirteen years earlier. In light of the previous year's loss to UMBC,
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
called Virginia's championship run "the most redemptive season in the history of college basketball," and
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
described it as "the greatest redemption story in the history of sports."Who will be the next head coach to win their first national title?
accessed August 8, 2019


ACC Tournament championship teams

Virginia has won the ACC tournament three times, defeating Duke or North Carolina in each title game.


1976: Miracle in Landover

The 1975–76 Cavalier season was largely disappointing as they finished 13–11 overall (4–8, ACC) and limped into the ACC tournament as the 6th seed. Played at the Capital Centre in
Landover, Maryland Landover is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 25,998. Landover is contained between Sheriff Road and Central Avenue to the so ...
, the tournament was the first in ACC history to be played outside the state of
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. Despite falling to NC State twice during the regular season, the Cavaliers upset the 3rd-seeded Wolfpack 75–63. The Cavaliers then drew 2-seed Maryland, longtime border rivals that had just defeated UVA five days earlier at
Cole Fieldhouse The Jones-Hill House is an indoor collegiate sports training complex located on of land on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park, a suburb north of Washington, D.C. Jones-Hill House is situated in the center of the campus, ...
. Virginia defeated the AP No. 9 Terrapins, before dispatching top-seeded and AP No. 4 North Carolina 67–62 in the championship game. It marked the first conference tournament title and NCAA appearance for Virginia, as well as only the 3rd time a non-North Carolina-based team won the conference title (following Maryland in 1958 and South Carolina in 1971).
Wally Walker Wally may refer to: Music * Wally (band), British prog rock band ** ''Wally'' (album), a 1974 album by Wally * '' La Wally'', an opera by Alfredo Catalani Other uses *Wally (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *WALLY, a propos ...
scored 21 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the title game, being named tournament MVP in the process. Virginia was awarded the East Region's 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they fell to 2nd-seeded DePaul in the first round.


2014: Bennett Ball arrives

After a few years of steady improvement, Tony Bennett finally had a team he had fully recruited and coached. The Cavaliers got off to a forgettable 9–4 start, punctuated by a 35-point road loss at Tennessee. Following a pivotal conversation between star G/F Joe Harris and Bennett, UVA got on track and rolled through the ACC. On March 1, the 12th ranked Cavaliers would defeat #4 Syracuse at John Paul Jones Arena to clinch the ACC regular season title outright for the first time since 1981, allowing them to enter the 2014 ACC men's basketball tournament as the 1-seed. After cruising against 8th seeded Florida State, Virginia held off 4th-seeded Pittsburgh in the final seconds of the semifinal, setting up a championship game against 3rd seeded Duke at
Greensboro Coliseum The Greensboro Coliseum Complex, commonly referred to as Greensboro Coliseum (the first and biggest building on the site), is an entertainment and sports complex located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opened in 1959, the complex holds eight venu ...
. The Cavaliers would exact revenge for a regular season loss to the Blue Devils, defeating them 72–63 and claiming their first ACC tournament title in 38 years. Joe Harris was named tournament MVP while
Malcolm Brogdon Malcolm Moses Adams Brogdon (born December 11, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers under Tony Bennett. A ...
joined him as a 1st team selection. In the process, UVA defeated every ACC opponent at least once in a season for the first time since 1982.


2018: Calm before the storm

After losing all-conference point guard
London Perrantes London Tyus Perrantes Jr. (born October 3, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Gilboa Galil of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers. High school career Perrant ...
to graduation and the
Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
, many expected 2017-18 to be a rebuilding year for Virginia basketball. The team would start the season unranked before getting off to an 11–1 non-conference start and climbing up to No. 13 in the country at the start of conference play. Virginia would then become the first team to go 17–1 in conference play, notably snapping a long losing streak at
Cameron Indoor Stadium Cameron Indoor Stadium is an indoor arena located on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The 9,314-seat facility is the primary indoor athletic venue for the Duke Blue Devils and serves as the home court for Duke men's ...
against Duke, scoring 5 points in 0.9 seconds to stun Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center, and only losing one conference game by a single point in overtime. They would open the ACC tournament by routing 9th-seeded Louisville 75–58 in the quarterfinals before dispatching 4th-seeded Clemson 64–58 in the semis. They would then rematch with a North Carolina team they had defeated earlier in Charlottesville and claim the ACC championship with a 71–63 win. Kyle Guy was named tournament MVP and was joined on the First team by Devon Hall as the Cavaliers gave Tony Bennett his second ACC tournament title in 5 seasons.


Seasons


Results by season (1980–present)


Postseasons


NCAA tournament results

The Cavaliers have appeared in the NCAA tournament 24 times. Their combined record is 35–22. They were national champions in 2019.


NCAA Tournament seeding history

Virginia is one of five
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 an ...
programs to earn a No. 1 seed in the
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...
seven or more times. The NCAA began seeding the NCAA Tournament with the 1979 edition. The 64-team field started in
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
, which guaranteed that a championship team had to win six games.


NIT results

The Cavaliers have appeared in the
National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
(NIT) 14 times. Their combined record is 19–12. They were NIT champions in 1980 and 1992.


CBI results

The Cavaliers appeared in the inaugural
College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI s ...
(CBI), in
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
. Their record is 2–1.


Rivalries


Annual Home-and-Away Series


Louisville Cardinals

Following conference realignment, the
Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
moved from the Big East to the ACC and were designated UVA's home-and-away rivals. The two teams had previously met for four straight years outside of their conferences in the 1980s during an era both programs were highly ranked. The Cavaliers won each of those games in 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985. In the ACC, the two teams have acted as spoilers to the other with a Cardinal win in 2015 and a 2017 Cavalier win delaying or preventing an ACC regular season title, while an injury to star player Justin Anderson during the 2015 matchup derailed UVA's national championship aspirations. The March 2018 matchup between the two teams ended with Virginia scoring five points in the final 0.9 seconds and dealing what proved to be a mortal blow to Louisville's NCAA tournament hopes. Both teams won recent NCAA Championships — Louisville in 2013 and Virginia in 2019. UVA leads the all-time series 16–5.


Virginia Tech Hokies

As the two
Power Conference The Power Five conferences are the five most prominent and highest-earning athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA D ...
teams in the Commonwealth, the Cavaliers and Hokies have a long-standing rivalry. While the intensity has picked up since Virginia Tech joined the ACC in 2004, the all-time series record is well in favor of UVA, with the Cavaliers leading the series 95–56.


Other rivalries


North Carolina Tar Heels

As the two oldest universities of the ACC, the UVA–UNC rivalry spans many sports and has persisted to varying degrees since the late 1800s. The early 1980s were a particular highlight for the basketball series as all-time greats
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 ...
and
Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...
led two Top 5 programs of the era. The Tar Heels have dominated much of the all-time series and lead 131–60, but Virginia is 11–4 against the Heels since the Cavaliers began their rise back to national prominence under
Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...
in the 2012–13 season. The two teams defeated each other for ACC Tournament Championships in 2016 and 2018, and the winner of those conference title matches went on to win NCAA Championships the following year (UNC in 2017 and UVA in 2019).


Maryland Terrapins

Thanks to the proximity of these two long-time ACC members, and their status as
Tobacco Road Tobacco Road may refer to: Prose * ''Tobacco Road'' (novel) (1932), by Erskine Caldwell ** ''Tobacco Road'' (play) (1933), by Jack Kirkland ** ''Tobacco Road'' (film) (1941), directed by John Ford Music * "Tobacco Road" (song) (1960s), by John D. ...
outsiders,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
and Virginia have a long-standing rivalry that spans many decades. Traditionally, these two schools would meet in the last game of the season, and acted as spoilers to each other as they sought ACC season championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. This rivalry has been diminished in recent years, thanks to Maryland's move to the
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
. They did match up in the 2014 and 2018 ACC-Big Ten Challenges, ending in 76–65 and 76–71 victories both won by Virginia on the road in College Park.


Coaches

Virginia has had 11 head coaches lead the Cavaliers. The longest tenure was Pop Lannigan, who coached the team for 24 years starting in 1905.


Statistics


Individual honors


Notable alumni


National honors

:Consensus First-Team All-American. :AP Honorable-Mention All-American.


Retired numbers

The Cavaliers have retired eight numbers to date:


Retired jerseys

The University of Virginia's athletic department has issued the following statement distinguishing "retired jerseys" from "retired numbers": "Jersey retirement honors Virginia players who have significantly impacted the program. Individuals recognized in this way will have their jerseys retired, but their number will remain active."2008 Virginia Football Media Guide, page 175.
The University of Virginia has not released a similar policy statement regarding basketball jerseys, but the same "retired jerseys" terminology is being used as to both the football and basketball programs.


All-time leaders


Notes


References


External links

* {{Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball navbox Basketball teams established in 1905 1905 establishments in Virginia it:Virginia Cavaliers (pallacanestro)