Virginia Cavaliers | |||
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University | University of Virginia | ||
First season | 1905β06 | ||
All-time record | 1719β1204β1 (.588) | ||
Athletic director | Carla Williams | ||
Head coach | Tony Bennett (15th season) | ||
Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference | ||
Location | Charlottesville, Virginia | ||
Arena | John Paul Jones Arena (Capacity: 14,623) | ||
Nickname | Cavaliers (official) Wahoos (unofficial) | ||
Student section | Hoo Crew | ||
Colors | Orange and blue | ||
Uniforms | |||
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NCAA tournament champions | |||
2019 | |||
NCAA tournament Final Four | |||
1981, "1984," 2019 | |||
NCAA tournament Elite Eight | |||
1981, "1983," 1984, 1989, 1995, 2016, 2019 | |||
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen | |||
1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1993, 1995, 2014, 2016, 2019 | |||
NCAA tournament round of 32 | |||
1976, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 | |||
NCAA tournament appearances | |||
1976, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024 | |||
Conference tournament champions | |||
1976, 2014, 2018 | |||
Conference regular season champions | |||
1922, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023 | |||
NIT tournament champions | |||
1980, 1992 |
The Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team is: theββintercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Virginia. The school competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Virginia has won the NCAA Championship, two National Invitation Tournaments, and three ACC tournament titles. The team is coached by, Tony Bennett and plays home games at the on-campus John Paul Jones Arena (14,623) which opened in 2006. They have been called the Cavaliers since 1923, predating the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA by half a century.
Virginia won its first NCAA Championship 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 more than 100 times since 1980, and have received seven No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament. Many Virginia players have gone onββto NBA success, with Ralph Sampson and Malcolm Brogdon being named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1984. And 2017. Sampson was later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Brogdon went onββto become the NBA's eighth 50β40β90 club member and was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2023. Trey Murphy III is the ACC's first college 50β40β90 club member and several other players have won national awards at Virginia: Brogdon and De'Andre Hunter were named NABC Defensive Player of the Year, Darion Atkins was awarded the Lefty Driesell Award, and Kyle Guy was named NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player while playing for the Cavaliers.
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 from 1930 to 1951. But the Cavaliers struggled through the 1950s and 1960s before Terry Holland 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 11 ACC season titles, third-most in conference history. In the recent 18-game ACC era (2012β2019), Virginia had four out of the five ACC teams that finished 16β2/better in conference play. As of 2024, Virginia has had 13 consecutive winning ACC seasons, the longest active streak among ACC programs.
Historyβ»
The Wahoos, as they are unofficially known, began their history under the tutelage of a Welshman and American immigrant known best as "Pop", Henry Lannigan. Lannigan began the program in 1905 after training Olympic Games hopefuls in track and field and quickly brought the basketball program into near-dominant form. He led the Cavaliers to a perfect record of 17β0 in 1914-15 and a Southern Conference title in its inaugural season of 1921β22. After reaching prominence the team was invited to help the nationally known Kentucky Wildcats showcase their new Alumni Gymnasium. Virginia dominated Kentucky, 29β16. Inviting Kentucky back to Memorial Gymnasium in 1928, Virginia again won, 31β28. Lannigan held the Virginia record for best career winning percentage by a head coach (254β95 (.728)) until he was surpassed by Tony Bennett, who was hired 104 years after the start of the program.
After Lannigan's sudden death in 1930 and with limited administration interest at the onset of the Great Depression, Virginia basketball did not maintain its momentum into the next several decades. Buzzy Wilkinson scored 32.1 points per game in 1954β55 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 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 was named ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 1971β72 and was drafted in the first round by the Portland Trail Blazers but the program had not regained its early standing.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Terry_Holland.jpg/225px-Terry_Holland.jpg)
Terry Holland was hired from Davidson in 1975, and with star Wally Walker 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, it was also and fittingly the first ACC Tournament held outside of North Carolina. Athletic, quick, and seven-foot-four, Ralph Sampson was perhaps the most desired high school recruit in college basketball history when he chose to play with Jeff Lamp 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 awards to tie him with Bill Walton 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 and North Carolina both in that Final Four and in ACC tournaments. Carolina notoriously held the ball in a four corners offense for most of the last seven minutes of the game, despite having UNC's most celebrated NBA superstars Michael Jordan and James Worthy on the floor, to defeat Virginia in the 1982 ACC tournament 47β45. Both the shot clock 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 49β47, in overtime, to a Houston team led by the first pick of the 1984 NBA draft, Hakeem Olajuwon, who then joined Sampson to form the original Twin Towers of the NBA on the Houston Rockets.
John Crotty and Bryant Stith took the darkhorse 1988β89 team to the Elite Eight after defeating AP No. 2 (and No. 1 seed) Oklahoma which returned most of its lineup (including Stacey King and Mookie Blaylock) 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 for seven, and Dave Leitao for four. Highlights of those teams include a Jones team headlined by Cory Alexander and Junior Burrough 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 and J. R. Reynolds 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 arrived in March 2009 and got to work in building "a program that lasts." His 2013β14 team led by Joe Harris and Malcolm Brogdon brought Virginia its first ACC Tournament Championship in 38 years and its first Sweet Sixteen appearance in 19 years. The 2014β15 squad, led by Justin Anderson and Brogdon, started 19β0 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 2015β16 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 called Virginia's 2018β19 campaign "the most redemptive season in the history of college basketball." CBS This Morning called it "basketball's ultimate redemption story" the morning after the national championship match.
As of 2023, Bennett has led Virginia to the program's first NCAA Tournament Championship, third Final Four, second and third ACC Tournament Championships, and six of eleven seasons Virginia has finished first in the ACC season standings. He holds the single-season wins record with 35 from the 2018β19 season, breaking his own previous record of 31.
NCAA Final Four teamsβ»
Virginia is 3β2 at Final Four events and won the 2019 NCAA tournament championship.
1981: Sampson and Goliathβ»
Led by Coach Terry Holland, National Player of the Year Ralph Sampson and his first team All-ACC teammate Jeff Lamp, the Cavaliers rolled to their best season in school history. After beginning the season with a 23β0 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 54β50 in the 2nd round. They then handled both Tennessee and Brigham Young 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. Although UVA swept North Carolina in the ACC regular season, the Tar Heels defeated the Cavaliers when it mattered most, in the national semifinals. Virginia closed the season on a high note, however, defeating Louisiana State in the national third-place game to cap the program's most successful season to that point.
1984: Virginia plays Cinderellaβ»
Following the loss of their vaunted All-American in Sampson, the Virginia basketball team took a step back in 1983β84, at least in the regular season. The Cavaliers limped into the ACC tournament with a 17β10 (6β8) 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 58β57 in the first round, Virginia drew Southwest Conference champion and 2nd-seeded Arkansas in the 2nd round. The Cavaliers dispatched the Razorbacks 53β51 in an overtime affair before cruising past 3rd-seeded Syracuse 63β55 in the Sweet Sixteen. In a low-scoring, defensive affair, the Cavaliers defeated Bobby Knight's 4th-seeded Indiana Hoosiers 50β48 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-led Houston Cougars at the Kingdome in Seattle. The Cavaliers gave the vaunted Phi Slama Jama lineup all they could handle, but eventually fell 49β47 in overtime, ending surprisingly-successful postseason run.
2019: Redemption National Championshipβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Kyle_Guy_UVA_%28cropped%29.jpg/160px-Kyle_Guy_UVA_%28cropped%29.jpg)
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, Kyle Guy, and Ty Jerome. The Cavaliers began and ended the season ranked in the AP Top 5, with a 28β2 regular season record and both losses to Zion Williamson's AP No. 1 ranked Duke squad under Coach Krzyzewski. Those two VirginiaβDuke 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. In the ACC Tournament, Virginia defeated bubble team NC State 76β56 before being defeated by Florida State, 69β59. 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 in the Elite Eight. Purdue's Carsen Edwards scored 42 points against Virginia, setting an individual scoring record against a Bennett-coached team. With Virginia down by three points with 5.9 seconds to play, Ty Jerome stepped to the line for two free throws, 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. Virginia then outscored Purdue 10β5 in the extra period to advance. Jerome, Diakite, and Kyle Guy each made the South Regional All-Tournament team.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/De%27Andre_Hunter.jpg/160px-De%27Andre_Hunter.jpg)
In the Final Four, Virginia met the Auburn Tigers who had already dispatched Kansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky to get there. This game was a back-and-forth battle as Virginia trailed the Tigers at halftime, 31β28. Virginia led by as many as 10 points in the second half before Auburn retook the lead late in the game. Down 61β57 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 62β60. Two controversial 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.
The National Championship match was headlined by two of the top defenses in college basketball, Virginia and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. 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 32β29 advantage at intermission. Eventual top-10 picks in the subsequent NBA draft De'Andre Hunter 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 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 17β9 in overtime to win their first national title 85β77.
Virginia ended the season with a 35β3 record, breaking the school record for wins in a single-season. The team was 29β0 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 called Virginia's championship run "the most redemptive season in the history of college basketball," and NBC Sports described it as "the greatest redemption story in the history of sports."
ACC Tournament championship teamsβ»
Virginia has won the ACC tournament three times, defeating Duke. Or North Carolina in each title game.
1976: Miracle in Landoverβ»
The 1975β76 Cavalier season was largely disappointing as they finished 13β11 overall (4β8, ACC) and limped into the ACC tournament as the 6th seed. Played at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, the tournament was the first in ACC history to be played outside the state of North Carolina.
Despite falling to NC State twice during the regular season, the Cavaliers upset the 3rd-seeded Wolfpack 75β63. The Cavaliers then drew 2-seed Maryland, longtime border rivals that had just defeated UVA five days earlier at Cole Fieldhouse. Virginia defeated the AP No. 9 Terrapins, before dispatching top-seeded and AP No. 4 North Carolina 67β62 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 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 arrivesβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Darion_Atkins.jpg/170px-Darion_Atkins.jpg)
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 9β4 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 Cavaliers would exact revenge for a regular season loss to the Blue Devils, defeating them 72β63 and claiming their first ACC tournament title in 38 years. Joe Harris was named tournament MVP while Malcolm Brogdon 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 stormβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/London_Perrantes.jpg/180px-London_Perrantes.jpg)
After losing all-conference point guard London Perrantes to graduation and the Cleveland Cavaliers, many expected 2017β18 to be a rebuilding year for Virginia basketball. The team would start the season unranked before getting off to an 11β1 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 17β1 in conference play, notably snapping a long losing streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium 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 75β58 in the quarterfinals before dispatching 4th-seeded Clemson 64β58 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 71β63 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.
Seasonsβ»
Results by season (1980βpresent)β»
Season | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Terry Holland (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1974β1990) | ||||||||||
1979β80 | Terry Holland | 24β10 | 7β7 | 5th | NIT Championship | |||||
1980β81 | Terry Holland | 29β4 | 13β1 | 1st | NCAA Final Four | |||||
1981β82 | Terry Holland | 30β4 | 12β2 | Tβ1st | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | |||||
1982β83 | Terry Holland | 29β5 | 12β2 | Tβ1st | NCAA Elite Eight | |||||
1983β84 | Terry Holland | 21β12 | 6β8 | 6th | NCAA Final Four | |||||
1984β85 | Terry Holland | 17β16 | 3β11 | 8th | NIT Quarterfinals | |||||
1985β86 | Terry Holland | 19β11 | 7β7 | 5th | NCAA First Round | |||||
1986β87 | Terry Holland | 21β10 | 8β6 | 4th | NCAA First Round | |||||
1987β88 | Terry Holland | 13β18 | 5β9 | 6th | ||||||
1988β89 | Terry Holland | 22β11 | 9β5 | 3rd | NCAA Elite Eight | |||||
1989β90 | Terry Holland | 20β12 | 6β8 | 5th | NCAA Second Round | |||||
Terry Holland: | 326β173 (.653) | 111β103 (.519) | ||||||||
Jeff Jones (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1990β1998) | ||||||||||
1990β91 | Jeff Jones | 21β12 | 6β8 | 6th | NCAA First Round | |||||
1991β92 | Jeff Jones | 20β13 | 8β8 | 5th | NIT Championship | |||||
1992β93 | Jeff Jones | 21β10 | 9β7 | 5th | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | |||||
1993β94 | Jeff Jones | 18β13 | 8β8 | 4th | NCAA Second Round | |||||
1994β95 | Jeff Jones | 25β9 | 12β4 | Tβ1st | NCAA Elite Eight | |||||
1995β96 | Jeff Jones | 12β15 | 6β10 | 7th | ||||||
1996β97 | Jeff Jones | 18β13 | 7β9 | 6th | NCAA First Round | |||||
1997β98 | Jeff Jones | 11β19 | 3β13 | 9th | ||||||
Jeff Jones: | 146β104 (.584) | 59β67 (.468) | ||||||||
Pete Gillen (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1998β2005) | ||||||||||
1998β99 | Pete Gillen | 14β16 | 4β12 | 9th | ||||||
1999β00 | Pete Gillen | 19β12 | 9β7 | 3rd | NIT First Round | |||||
2000β01 | Pete Gillen | 20β9 | 9β7 | 4th | NCAA First Round | |||||
2001β02 | Pete Gillen | 17β12 | 7β9 | 5th | NIT First Round | |||||
2002β03 | Pete Gillen | 16β16 | 6β10 | 6th | NIT Second Round | |||||
2003β04 | Pete Gillen | 18β13 | 6β10 | 8th | NIT Second Round | |||||
2004β05 | Pete Gillen | 14β15 | 4β12 | 11th | ||||||
Pete Gillen: | 118β93 (.559) | 45β67 (.402) | ||||||||
Dave Leitao (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2005β2009) | ||||||||||
2005β06 | Dave Leitao | 15β15 | 7β9 | 7th | NIT First Round | |||||
2006β07 | Dave Leitao | 21β11 | 11β5 | Tβ1st | NCAA Second Round | |||||
2007β08 | Dave Leitao | 17β16 | 5β11 | 10th | CBI Semifinals | |||||
2008β09 | Dave Leitao | 10β18 | 4β12 | 11th | ||||||
Dave Leitao: | 63β60 (.512) | 27β37 (.422) | ||||||||
Tony Bennett (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2009βpresent) | ||||||||||
2009β10 | Tony Bennett | 15β16 | 5β11 | 9th | ||||||
2010β11 | Tony Bennett | 16β15 | 7β9 | 8th | ||||||
2011β12 | Tony Bennett | 22β10 | 9β7 | 4th | NCAA First Round | |||||
2012β13 | Tony Bennett | 23β12 | 11β7 | 4th | NIT Quarterfinals | |||||
2013β14 | Tony Bennett | 30β7 | 16β2 | 1st | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | |||||
2014β15 | Tony Bennett | 30β4 | 16β2 | 1st | NCAA Second Round | |||||
2015β16 | Tony Bennett | 29β8 | 13β5 | 2nd | NCAA Elite Eight | |||||
2016β17 | Tony Bennett | 23β11 | 11β7 | Tβ5th | NCAA Second Round | |||||
2017β18 | Tony Bennett | 31β3 | 17β1 | 1st | NCAA First Round | |||||
2018β19 | Tony Bennett | 35β3 | 16β2 | Tβ1st | NCAA Champions | |||||
2019β20 | Tony Bennett | 23β7 | 15β5 | Tβ2nd | Cancelled | |||||
2020β21 | Tony Bennett | 18β7 | 13β4 | 1st | NCAA First Round | |||||
2021β22 | Tony Bennett | 21β14 | 12β8 | 6th | NIT Quarterfinals | |||||
2022β23 | Tony Bennett | 25β8 | 15β5 | Tβ1st | NCAA First Round | |||||
2023β24 | Tony Bennett | 23β11 | 13β7 | 3rd | NCAA First Four | |||||
Tony Bennett: | 364β136 (.728) | 189β82 (.697) | ||||||||
Total: | 1742β1215β1 (.589) | 513β553 (.481) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
|
Postseasonsβ»
NCAA tournament resultsβ»
The Cavaliers have appeared in the NCAA tournament 26 times. Their combined record is 35β25. They were national champions in 2019.
Year | Seed/Region | Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | East | First Round | DePaul | L 60β69 |
1981 | #1 East | Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Third Place |
#9 Villanova #4 Tennessee #6 BYU #2 (W) North Carolina #1 (MW) LSU |
W 54β40 W 62β48 W 74β60 L 65β78 W 78β74 |
1982 | #1 Mideast | Second Round Sweet Sixteen |
#9 Tennessee #4 UAB |
W 54β51 L 66β68 |
1983 | #1 West | Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight |
#8 Washington State #4 Boston College #6 NC State |
W 54β49 W 95β92 L 62β63 |
1984 | #7 East | First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four |
#10 Iona #2 Arkansas #3 Syracuse #4 Indiana #2 (MW) Houston |
W 58β57 W 53β51 W 63β55 W 50β48 L 47β49 |
1986 | #5 East | First Round | #12 DePaul | L 68β72 |
1987 | #5 West | First Round | #12 Wyoming | L 60β64 |
1989 | #5 Southeast | First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight |
#12 Providence #13 Middle Tennessee #1 Oklahoma #3 Michigan |
W 100β97 W 104β88 W 86β80 L 65β102 |
1990 | #7 Southeast | First Round Second Round |
#10 Notre Dame #2 Syracuse |
W 75β67 L 61β63 |
1991 | #7 West | First Round | #10 BYU | L 48β61 |
1993 | #6 East | First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen |
#11 Manhattan #3 Massachusetts #2 Cincinnati |
W 78β66 W 71β56 L 54β71 |
1994 | #7 West | First Round Second Round |
#10 New Mexico #2 Arizona |
W 57β54 L 58β71 |
1995 | #4 Midwest | First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight |
#13 Nicholls State #12 Miami (OH) #1 Kansas #2 Arkansas |
W 96β72 W 60β54 W 67β58 L 61β68 |
1997 | #9 West | First Round | #8 Iowa | L 60β73 |
2001 | #5 South | First Round | #12 Gonzaga | L 85β86 |
2007 | #4 South | First Round Second Round |
#13 Albany #5 Tennessee |
W 84β57 L 74β77 |
2012 | #10 West | First Round | #7 Florida | L 45β71 |
2014 | #1 East | Second Round Third Round Sweet Sixteen |
#16 Coastal Carolina #8 Memphis #4 Michigan State |
W 70β59 W 78β60 L 59β61 |
2015 | #2 East | Second Round Third Round |
#15 Belmont #7 Michigan State |
W 79β67 L 54β60 |
2016 | #1 Midwest | First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight |
#16 Hampton #9 Butler #4 Iowa State #10 Syracuse |
W 81β45 W 77β69 W 84β71 L 62β68 |
2017 | #5 East | First Round Second Round |
#12 UNC Wilmington #4 Florida |
W 76β71 L 39β65 |
2018 | #1 South | First Round | #16 UMBC | L 54β74 |
2019 | #1 South | First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship |
#16 GardnerβWebb #9 Oklahoma #12 Oregon #3 Purdue #5 (MW) Auburn #3 (W) Texas Tech |
W 71β56 W 63β51 W 53β49 W 80β75 W 63β62 W 85β77 |
2021 | #4 West | First Round | #13 Ohio | L 58β62 |
2023 | #4 South | First Round | #13 Furman | L 67β68 |
2024 | #10 Midwest | First Four | #10 Colorado State | L 42β67 |
NCAA Tournament seeding historyβ»
Virginia is one of five NCAA programs to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament seven or more times.
The NCAA began seeding the NCAA Tournament with the 1979 edition. The 64-team field started in 1985, which guaranteed that a championship team had to win six games.
Years β | '81 | '82 | '83 | '84 | '86 | '87 | '89 | '90 | '91 | '93 | '94 | '95 | '97 | '01 | '07 | '12 | '14 | '15 | '16 | '17 | '18 | '19 | '21 | '23 | '24 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seeds β | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
NIT resultsβ»
The Cavaliers have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 14 times. Their combined record is 19β12. They were NIT champions in 1980 and 1992.
Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1941 | Quarterfinals | CCNY | L 35β64 |
1972 | First Round | Lafayette | L 71β72 |
1978 | First Round | Georgetown | L 68β70 |
1979 | First Round Second Round |
Northeast Louisiana Alabama |
W 79β78 L 88β90 |
1980 | First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final |
Lafayette Boston College Michigan UNLV Minnesota |
W 67β56 W 57β55 W 79β68 W 90β71 W 58β55 |
1985 | First Round Second Round Quarterfinals |
West Virginia Saint Joseph's Tennessee |
W 56β55 W 68β61 L 54β61 |
1992 | First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final |
Villanova Tennessee New Mexico Florida Notre Dame |
W 83β80 W 77β52 W 76β71 W 62β56 W 81β76 |
2000 | First Round | Georgetown | L 111β115 |
2002 | First Round | South Carolina | L 74β67 |
2003 | First Round Second Round |
Brown St. John's |
W 89β73 L 63β73 |
2004 | First Round Second Round |
George Washington Villanova |
W 79β66 L 63β73 |
2006 | Opening Round | Stanford | L 49β65 |
2013 | First Round Second Round Quarterfinals |
Norfolk State St. John's Iowa |
W 67β56 W 68β50 L 64β75 |
2022 | First Round Second Round Quarterfinals |
Mississippi State North Texas St. Bonaventure |
W 60β57 W 71β69 L 51β52 |
CBI resultsβ»
The Cavaliers appeared in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational (CBI), in 2008. Their record is 2β1.
Year | Seed | Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | #1 | First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals |
Richmond Old Dominion Bradley |
W 66β64 W 80β76 L 85β96 |
Rivalriesβ»
Annual Home-and-Away Seriesβ»
Louisville Cardinalsβ»
Following conference realignment, the Cardinals 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 16β5.
Virginia Tech Hokiesβ»
As the two Power Conference 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 95β56.
Other rivalriesβ»
North Carolina Tar Heelsβ»
As the two oldest universities of the ACC, the UVAβUNC 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 and Michael Jordan led two Top 5 programs of the era. The Tar Heels have dominated much of the all-time series and lead 131β60, but Virginia is 11β4 against the Heels since the Cavaliers began their rise back to national prominence under Tony Bennett in the 2012β13 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 Terrapinsβ»
Thanks to the proximity of these two long-time ACC members, and their status as Tobacco Road outsiders, Maryland 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. They did match up in the 2014 and 2018 ACC-Big Ten Challenges, ending in 76β65 and 76β71 victories both won by Virginia on the road in College Park.
Coachesβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/UVAMemorialGym1.jpg/250px-UVAMemorialGym1.jpg)
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.
Head coach | Years | Winβloss | Pct. |
---|---|---|---|
Henry Lannigan | 1905β1929 | 254β95β1 | .727 |
Roy Randall | 1929β1930 | 3β12 | .200 |
Gus Tebell | 1930β1951 | 241β190 | .559 |
Evan "Bus" Male | 1951β1957 | 67β88 | .432 |
Billy McCann | 1957β1963 | 40β106 | .274 |
Bill Gibson | 1963β1974 | 120β158 | .432 |
Terry Holland | 1974β1990 | 326β173 | .653 |
Jeff Jones | 1990β1998 | 146β104 | .584 |
Pete Gillen | 1998β2005 | 118β93 | .559 |
Dave Leitao | 2005β2009 | 63β60 | .512 |
Tony Bennett | 2009βpresent | 364β136 | .728 |
Statisticsβ»
Overall | |
---|---|
Years of basketball | 118 |
First season | 1905β06 |
Head coaches (all-time) | 11 |
All Games | |
All-time record | 1719β1204β1 (.588) |
20+ win seasons | 29 (1928, 1972, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023,2024) |
30+ win seasons | 5 (1982, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019) |
Home Games | |
John Paul Jones Arena (2006βpresent) | 232β54 (.811) |
University Hall (1965β2006) | 402β143 (.738) |
Memorial Gymnasium (1924β1965) | 279β157 (.640) |
Fayerweather Gymnasium (1905β1924) | 134β19 (.876) |
Conference Games | |
Southern Conference Record (1921β1937) | 73β79 (.480) |
SoCon Regular Season Championship | 1 (1922) |
ACC Record (1953βpresent) | 500β546 (.478) |
ACC Regular Season Championships | 10 (1981, 1982, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023) |
ACC tournament championships | 3 (1976, 2014, 2018) |
ACC Players of the Year | 5 (Parkhill 1972; Sampson 1981, 1982, 1983; Brogdon 2016) |
NCAA Tournament | |
NCAA Appearances | 26 |
NCAA WβL record | 35β25 (.583) |
Sweet Sixteen | 10 (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1993, 1995, 2014, 2016, 2019) |
Elite Eight | 7 (1981, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1995, 2016, 2019) |
Final Four | 3 (1981, 1984, 2019) |
National Championships | 1 (2019) |
National Invitation Tournament | |
NIT Appearances | 14 |
NIT WβL record | 19β12 (.613) |
NIT Championships | 2 (1980, 1992) |
Accurate through 2023 season |
Individual honorsβ»
Notable alumniβ»
National honorsβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/University_of_Virginia_University_Hall.jpg/250px-University_of_Virginia_University_Hall.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Ralph_Sampson_2010.jpg/150px-Ralph_Sampson_2010.jpg)
Naismith College Player of the Year | |
---|---|
1981 | Ralph Sampson |
1982 | Ralph Sampson |
1983 | Ralph Sampson |
Oscar Robertson Trophy | |
1981 | Ralph Sampson |
1982 | Ralph Sampson |
1983 | Ralph Sampson |
John R. Wooden Award | |
1982 | Ralph Sampson |
1983 | Ralph Sampson |
Adolph Rupp Trophy | |
1981 | Ralph Sampson |
1982 | Ralph Sampson |
1983 | Ralph Sampson |
NABC Defensive Player of the Year | |
2016 | Malcolm Brogdon |
2019 | De'Andre Hunter |
Lefty Driesell Award | |
2015 | Darion Atkins |
All-American | |
1915 | William Strickling |
1955 | Buzzy Wilkinson |
1972 | Barry Parkhill |
1973 | Barry Parkhill |
1980 | Jeff Lamp & Ralph Sampson |
1981 | Jeff Lamp & Ralph Sampson |
1982 | Ralph Sampson |
1983 | Ralph Sampson |
2008 | Sean Singletary |
2012 | Mike Scott |
2015 | Malcolm Brogdon & Justin Anderson |
2016 | Malcolm Brogdon |
2018 | Kyle Guy |
2019 | Kyle Guy, De'Andre Hunter & Ty Jerome |
Academic All-American | |
1973 | Jim Hobgood |
1976 | Wally Walker |
1980 | Lee Raker |
1981 | Jeff Lamp & Lee Raker |
Retired numbersβ»
The Cavaliers have retired eight numbers to date:
Virginia Cavaliers retired numbers | ||||
No. | Player | Pos. | Career | |
---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Jeff Lamp | SG | 1977β81 | |
14 | Buzzy Wilkinson | G | 1951β54 | |
15 | Malcolm Brogdon | G | 2011β16 | |
20 | Bryant Stith | SG | 1988β92 | |
40 | Barry Parkhill | G | 1969β73 | |
41 | Wally Walker | F | 1972β76 | |
44 | Sean Singletary | PG | 2004β08 | |
50 | Ralph Sampson | C | 1979β83 |
Retired jerseysβ»
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."
Virginia Cavaliers retired jerseys | ||||
No. | Player | Pos. | Career | |
---|---|---|---|---|
5 | Curtis Staples | SG | 1994β1998 | |
44 | Sean Singletary | PG | 2004β2008 |
All-time leadersβ»
Notesβ»
- ^ Murphy's UVA teammate Sam Hauser missed by only .004 in free throw percentage in that same season.
- ^ This is the only NCAA Tournament game that Virginia has lost in overtime. UVA's record in NCAA Tournament overtime periods is 4β1 as of 2019.
Referencesβ»
- ^ "Athletics Color Palette". University of Virginia Consumer Product Brand Standards (PDF). Retrieved January 16, 2023.
- ^ Men's Basketball Appearances in the AP Top 5: 1980β81 to Present, accessed November 21, 2022.
- ^ NCAA Tournament All-Time No. 1 Seeds History, NCAA, accessed January 27, 2021.
- ^ Cavs' in league of their own in ACC, accessed August 15, 2019
- ^ David Teel. "Victory over UNC elevates UVA's Bennett into rare company". Richmond Times-Dispatch, 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.
- ^ The News Leader, Henry Lannigan obituary, Staunton, Virginia. Published December 26, 1930.
- ^ 2013-14 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide, p.145-156.
- ^ Ralph Sampson's Decision, accessed April 10, 2019
- ^ With Four Coners, Dean Smith Changed Basketball, accessed April 15, 2019
- ^ Bennett begins task after day of praise, accessed April 15, 2019
- ^ 2019 NCAA Tournament championship: Virginia completes epic journey from last year's ugly exit to win its first title, accessed April 10, 2019
- ^ Virginia's redemption was one year, 23 days in the making, accessed March 10, 2019
- ^ Virginia wins first NCAA basketball championship in epic comeback, accessed April 11, 2019
- ^ Virginia Cavaliers' clogging defense prevails, accessed April 13, 2019
- ^ 2019 Preseason AP Men'a Basketball Poll, accessed April 13, 2019
- ^ 2019 Final AP Men's Basketball Poll, accessed April 13, 2019
- ^ Duke-UVA Trails Only UVA-Duke as Top Game of Season, accessed April 10, 2019
- ^ NC State Falls 76-56 to Virginia in ACC Tournament Quarterfinals, accessed April 13, 2019
- ^ Florida State Upends No.@ Virginia 69-59 in ACC Semis, accessed April 13, 2019
- ^ "Most ever against a Bennett-coached team" mentioned during the live radio broadcast of this game by WWWV.
- ^ Purdue's Carsen Edwards Had 42 Points Yet Virginia Somehow Advanced, accessed April 13, 2019
- ^ CBS national broadcast of Virginia vs. Auburn. April 6, 2019
- ^ National 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."
- ^ Auburn Fans Celebrate Prematurely, accessed April 3, 2020
- ^ CBS national broadcast of Virginia vs. Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament Championship Game. April 8, 2019
- ^ De'Andre Hunter Comes Up Clutch on Career Night to Close Chapter at UVA, accessed April 13, 2019
- ^ Who will be the next head coach to win their first national title?, accessed August 8, 2019
- ^ "Tourney History β NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship". ncaahistory.com. Retrieved August 6, 2008.
- ^ Shelton, Harold, Nick Loucks and Chris Fallica (July 21, 2008). "Counting down the most prestigious programs since 1984β85". ESPN. Retrieved August 6, 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "All-Time Results". VirginiaSports.com. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ "2020β21 Virginia Men's Basketball Factbook" (PDF). VIRGINIASPORTS.COM β Virginia Cavaliers Official Athletic Site. pp. 1β136. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ "Malcolm Brogdon's Number To Be Retired" (Press release). Virginia Cavaliers. December 15, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ 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.