Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Wildcats score special place in school's hoops history

HOUSTON - To win the national title, all Villanova had to do was beat Miami, which was ranked 10th heading into the NCAA Tournament. And Kansas, which was No. 1. Then Oklahoma, which was seventh. And finally North Carolina, which was third. Miami was the only one that hadn't made it to No. 1 at some point. And Iowa, the Wildcats' second-round opponent, reached No. 3 in late January.

Sophomore guard Phil Booth lifts championship trophy as assistant coach Kyle Neptune looks on at rally at Villanova stadium on Tuesday.
.
Sophomore guard Phil Booth lifts championship trophy as assistant coach Kyle Neptune looks on at rally at Villanova stadium on Tuesday. .Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer

HOUSTON

- To win the national title, all Villanova had to do was beat Miami, which was ranked 10th heading into the NCAA Tournament. And Kansas, which was No. 1. Then Oklahoma, which was seventh. And finally North Carolina, which was third. Miami was the only one that hadn't made it to No. 1 at some point. And Iowa, the Wildcats' second-round opponent, reached No. 3 in late January.

When Villanova won it all in 1985 as an eight seed, the Wildcats had to beat two No. 1 seeds (Michigan and Georgetown) and two No. 2s (North Carolina and Memphis). Those teams were all ranked in the top seven at the end of the regular season.

Rollie Massimino's team finished 25-10. This group went 35-5, which set a program record for wins. The record had been set last year (33-3). But that team lost in the second round as a top-two seed for the second straight year. This team - which got to No. 1 for the first time, for three weeks - won its last six games by 30, 19, 23, 5, 44 and 3. The 44 was in the national semifinals over an Oklahoma team that had beaten them by 23 nearly four months earlier. The 1985 Wildcats won by 2, 4, 3, 12, 7 and 2. But that was another era and they played a much different style.

Still, the comparisons are now inevitable.

"I think the '85 team is always going to be magical," Wright said late Monday night outside the locker room at NRG Stadium, a good 90 minutes after his guys had authored a legacy of their own with a 77-74 win over North Carolina on a three-pointer by Kris Jenkins at the horn. "They set the example. They stay in touch with each other, they stay in touch with the school and the program. I think that's going to be the next challenge for these guys, to handle it like those guys did and still do. Then they'll have their own unique place in Villanova history.

"I don't think you can say this one is the greatest. There's been some great ones. The '71 team (that lost to UCLA in the finals) was a great team. This team. Our '09 team (that made the Final Four). The '85 team, obviously. The '39 team (that made the first Final Four) must have been great. I didn't see them. But we're definitely up there.

"I'm not concerned about (where we stand). I'm more proud that we've continued to uphold this tradition. I really am. I kind of like it when the '85 team's (considered) the best, you know. I hope everyone thinks they're the best, and we're just national champions and we keep it going. We really take pride in keeping this tradition alive. I'm more pleased with that, keeping the standard high. That's what I really feel great about."

At the very least, Jenkins' 22-footer from just right of straightaway - a play that started with him inbounding the ball from underneath his basket to Ryan Arcidiacono with 4.7 seconds left after UNC had tied things on an improbable, double-clutch three by Marcus Paige to erase what had been a 10-point deficit with 5 1/2 minutes to go - has supplanted Scottie Raynolds' end-to-end dash in 5.5 seconds that beat Pitt in the 2009 East Regional final as the greatest ever on the Main Line.

Reynolds got them to the final weekend. Jenkins got them a ring.

And it came on a play that epitomizes everything Wright wants the program to represent. Arch, their senior captain, could have taken the shot. Instead he found Jenkins, who was trailing him up the court and yelling for the ball.

"Anybody wants to go out hitting that shot," said freshman Jalen Brunson, who will assume much, if not most, of Arcidiacono's responsibilities next season. "It just shows how committed he was to us. It wasn't about him. He was going out there to make the right play. In that situation, that shows his character."

He's been doing it for four years. Why should the biggest moment of his career be any different?

"We run it every single day in practice," Arch said. "Most of the time, I end up taking the shot. I was going to shoot it. But I heard Kris screaming at me, and I had confidence in my teammate. I think they were trying to take me away from taking the last shot."

The tie worn by television play-by-play voice Jim Nantz was draped around his neck. Nice souvenir. Almost as good as pieces of twine.

"I was walking off the floor and he stopped me and said he wanted to give this to a senior on the winning team who's inspired him throughout the tournament," Arch recounted. "I was in awe. He said, 'I enjoyed covering you. You're an amazing young man.'

"Knowing we went out like this . . . I was just thinking about don't mess up cutting down the nets."

So how does he feel about being in the same league as the program's first champ? The Wildcats, who always talk almost reverently about all that came before, only had to pass the Davis Center trophy case on a daily basis. So it's been right there in front of them ever since they arrived. As a reminder, and maybe even a target.

"It's an honor to be in the same class with them," Arch said. "They had an unbelievable run. I think we had a great one. That'll be something everyone else can talk about. Just know that we'll both be national champions."

It's the kind of dilemma any program wants to have. And now Wright faces one that he's not prepared for.

"I've never done this before," he said. "I don't know how this works. I watch this on TV all the time. But when you're walking around and the confetti's coming down on you, it doesn't seem real.

"I'm telling you, you dream that this happens, but you don't know what it's going to feel like or how you're going to handle it. I don't have a plan. I was (ready) if we lost, how to keep these guys heads up.

"Because we always say, 'Hey, whatever happens we'll deal with it. But let's concentrate on this game.' I think that's the best thing we did in the tournament, for three weeks, these guys really stayed focused on basketball," Wright said "We even felt guilty as a staff keeping them sequestered from their families. My wife apologized to their families (Sunday) night. They actually told my wife. 'Tell coach, we're all in. We support it.' Patty came and told me that, which made me feel better . . . .

"I look forward to having to handle all those things (that come with this). That's a good challenge. I have to go back and sit down with (director of media relations) Mike Sheridan and we're going to have to (figure it out). Tell me what to do. The '85 team handled this really well."

Like maybe going to the White House to meet with the outgoing commander in chief?

"He picked us (to be) in the Final Eight," Wright said smiling. "I appreciate that."

So probably did many of the office pools. The Wildcats had gone 3-5 in the Madness since '09. They doubled that win total in less than a month. And everything changes. As the '85 group found out, it's a part of you for the rest of your life. It was Villanova's time once again.

Seven years ago the Wildcas beat UCLA, Duke and Pitt before losing to eventual champ UNC in the semis.

"I really thought about that this year," Wright acknowledged. "When everyone was saying, 'Oh my god, you didn't get to Philly (for the East Regional), look at who you have to play,' I was thinking, 'You know, it's probably going to work out for us, because that's what happened last time.' And that's the way this tournament goes. It never goes the way you think.

"The year we lost to (eventual champ) Connecticut (in 2014), it looked really good for us. At that time, we're going to Madison Square Garden (for the regional). It looked like, 'Oh, this is set up perfectly.' It didn't work out. I would have loved to be in Philly. But being in Louisville, I said, 'This is fine. There's some good things to this.' But I'm not going to lie and say I don't want to be in Philly."

They ended up in space city. And left with the ultimate prize, having won 97 of their last 110. And finally, some that everyone agrees really counted.

"What's really cool is when you go through a year and look at your team, and you don't know if your team is really that good. You think we can win the national championship. Once you do it, you realize how good you have to be. We had some other years where you might have been good enough but caught a bad break."

This time, they were the ones who had that elusive right stuff.