1985 NCAA Champions - The Villanova Wildcats

1985 Tournament MVP, Ed Pinckney, with the CoalRegion Voice after a game at Bucknell in December 2005

A Student's Perspective

Landing myself on the campus of Villanova University in the fall of 1984, little did I imagine how the spring of my freshman year would turn out. I would be witness to the epicenter of March Madness and of one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament final history.

Among the many topics of our freshman year was how good our bad the team would be in the Big East and a possible NCAA run. Little did we know that the history of the previous three seasons would prepare the 1985 Wildcats with destiny. The 1985 Wildcat team were led by three seniors, Ed Pinckney, Gary "Gizmo" McLain, and Dwayne "D-Train" McClain. The team was rounded out by juniors, Harold Pressley, Dwight Wilbur, and Chuck Everson. Also sophomore Harold Jensen and freshman Mark Plansky would round out the major contributors. Others on the team included Wyatt Maker, Veltra Dawson, RC Massimino, Brian Harrington, and Connally Brown.

HISTORY THAT SHOULD BE MENTIONED

On the surface the game looks like the 8th seeded Wildcats came out of nowhere. The core of this Wildcat squad made it to regional finals against North Carolina in 1982, Houston in 1983, and played against Keith Lee and Memphis in the 1982 tourney. Ed Pinckney had a big game against Georgetown his sophomore year with a 27-point, 22-rebound game while holding Patrick Ewing under 10 points. That era produced big men like Ewing and Hakeem Olajouwan that could run the court. They were a precursor of today's big men.

1985 Tournament

The first four games produced wins over:

Dayton - at Dayton's home floor

Michigan - #1 seed in the region

Maryland - Len Bias led

North Carolina - thank god Jordan was in the NBA

Semi's

Memphis - held the Tiger 27 points under average and a season low 45.

Final's

Georgetown - one last time the Jake LaMotta-Sugar Ray Robinson battle took place with the wildcats coming out on top.

Interesting tidbits:

Villanova shot 22 of 28 from the floor. 28 attempts are still the lowest by a winning team

and the Cat's only pulled down 17 rebounds. Dwayne McClain made 24 of 25 free throws in the tourney. Pinckney had 48 rebounds in 6 games.

Also, on April 1 st, 1985 Al Severance, long time Villanova head coach passed away at a Lexington hotel. I would compare it to John Wooden suddenly passing the day of a UCLA championship.

April Fool

It was hard to imagine what winning would be like. I never seen so many police in my life. I got together with some and watched the game at Sullivan Hall with about 20 people crammed into a small dorm room. Once the final buzzer sounded, I was in the middle of our quad. Car horns honking for miles. Still a blur, I believe I got back to St. Mary's around 4:30. Not being able to sleep I made to the cafe and phone rang. With Easter coming in five days, they decided to let us go home early, the campus had more toilet paper on the ground than Charmin. It would take a week to get the campus up to condition on Easter Tuesday. Legend has it, unused rolls of toilet paper were going for $10 the following morning.

For the Rest of Us

Living in St. Mary's dorm along with with half of the players was a true college experience. You got to see what national television wasn't showing you. They were true students and gentlemen. Our dorm had it's own cafeteria and on crowded days no one ever denied a seat at their table (They sat at the same place out of habit and not reservation).

As the rest of my four years continued, you can see what Division I basketball is about. A small group of men with a common purpose. When signing on the join a special fraternity. They pretty much come to breath Villanova sports. In comparison, when my friends and I are going home to families on holidays or enjoying spring or summer break, the team is always preparing for the next game by taking summer courses to lighten up the load in the fall or spring or working out. Today, I dust off the tape one more time and 22 years later. Whenever I think of something that can't be done, I think about that incredible April Fool's Day in 1985 and imagine the possibilities.

Postscript

Most of the 1985 Wildcats met some great success and person triumph. Ed Pinckney returned to Villanova and remains an assistant coach. Gary McLain probably has the most interesting story and you could read by clicking the link above. Gizmo has the true rags to riches to rags and possibly back to riches story. See where Florida coach Billy Donovan played an important part. Mark Plansky and I became friends through his junior year roommate who was from Pottsville, PA. If you want to read more about the team check out Pinckney's book. I have a direct link to it on the blog. Just scroll down on the left.