Title | Division I Men's Basketball Championship First & Second Rounds |
Creator (LCNAF) |
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Publisher | National Collegiate Athletic Association |
Date | March 15, 1990 - March 17, 1990 |
Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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Subject.Name (LCNAF) |
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Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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Genre (AAT) |
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Language | English |
Type (DCMI) |
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Original Item Location | ID 2009-006, Box 7, Folder 7 |
Original Collection | Athletics Department Records |
Digital Collection | University of Houston Sports Championship Publications |
Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/champ |
Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
Repository URL | http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/campus-libraries-collections/special-collections |
Use and Reproduction | Educational use only, no other permissions given. Copyright to this resource is held by the content creator, author, artist or other entity, and is provided here for educational purposes only. It may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without written permission of the copyright owner. For more information please see UH Digital Library Fair Use policy on the UH Digital Library About page. |
File Name | index.cpd |
Title | Page 121 |
Format (IMT) |
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File Name | champ_201306_035_115.jpg |
Transcript | Most athletics departments were unprepared to deal with the phenomena*, or to otYer meaningful advice to the athletes. Villanova was no exception. Convinced that Porter had signed with an agent prematurely, the NCAA eventually stripped Villanova of its second-place finish and Porter of his most outstanding player trophy. Also recalled was Villanova's tournament check, which that year had reached a record $72,347 for Final Four participants (as compared to $1 million-plus in 1990). To this day, the 1971 Villanova team and its most outstanding player appear in NCAA championship records as, "vacated." Hard times were only beginning. The nucleus of the 1971 Wildcats had been recruited by George Raveling, who since had joined Lefty Driesell at Maryland and eventually would have tenures as head coach at Washington State, Iowa and Southern California. Georgetown, however, was pre-eminent. Having won convincingly at the 1984 Final Four in Seattle, the Hoyas — in the final year of the Patrick Ewing era — were clear favorites to repeat. There was talk of a developing dynasty. Porter and Smith departed after the 1971 season, Ford and Siemiontkowski a year later, and — when Ingelsby left in the spring of 1973 — so did Kraft for Rhode Island. Aboard came Roland Massimino, moving over from Pennsylvania where he had assisted Chuck Daly, now coach of the Detroit Pistons. Inheriting a bare cupboard, Rollie set about refilling it with a commitment that approached the fanatic. Exxon produced less energy than Rollie did in those days. Before coaching a game at Villanova, Massimino managed what was widely regarded as a breakthrough recruiting year (Tour of the freshmen would start), spread the Villanova gospel at some 60 summer camps and clinics (usually for no fee) and checked into a Vermont hospital suffering chest pains ("It felt like my heart was about to leap out of my skin"). Massimino's first team won seven times. "Winning is important," Rollie would say at one point, "but not THAT important." Cinderella Villanova celebrates its 66-64 upset championship win over Georgetown in 1985. His courtside demeanor suggested otherwise. Rollie was all-Italian along the sidelines, a squat, emotional, study in perpetual motion. Fashionably attired at tipoff, his appearance by game's end would tempt one to ask, "Were there, perhaps, injuries during the hurricane?" It was performance that was important to Massimino, with high standards not con- Sixth-man Harold Jensen sparkled off the bench for the Wildcats, scoring 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field. fined to the playing surface. "The first goal of any Villanova player is to graduate," he said, in establishing academic parameters for his program that — the record suggests — have been maintained. Before we departed Philadelphia for the West Coast in the early 1980s, Massimino had returned Villanova to its accustomed position among college basketball's elite. By 1985 he had assembled a varsity that, talent-wise, was the strongest Villanova edition since the national finalists of 1971. Georgetown, however, was pre-eminent. Having won convincingly at the 1984 Final Four in Seattle, the Hoyas — in the final year of the Patrick Ewing era — were clear favorites to repeat. There was talk of a developing dynasty. When Villanova defeated Memphis State to advance, 52-45, to the title game, Georgetown was waiting. "People were saying the game shouldn't even be played," Massimino later recalled. "Everyone had written us off, but I honestly thought we could win." As it turned out, optimism was not confined to the head coach. During the Ewing years, seniors Gary McLain, Ed Pinckney and Dwayne McClain would play Georgetown on 10 occasions, winning three times. Probably no team of that winter had a better understanding of what was required to deal with the Hoyas. Intimidation — which Georgetown used with studied success against most opponents — would not be a 118 |