Yes Virginia (Basketball) ‘You’ Are Most Fortunate

I do not remember much if anything, from last year’s first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

However, two years ago, in a most memorable Friday night such game, something happened for the first and only time, a 16th seed, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, took out highly rated and regional top seed, Virginia.

They did so convincingly. Much criticism, a bit too much was heaped upon Virginia basketball, which had a long history of big game failure.

Now two years later, they have a title, riding clutch play, big shots made and some unbelievable fortune to the ’19 crown.

They will not lose that crown in ’20, as there is no tournament.

Yes Virginia basketball, there is great fortune for you.

In a 40 season span (1980-2019), Virginia University founded by the “complex” Thomas Jefferson centuries earlier, managed to win one NIT (1980) and the aforementioned 2019 NCAA crown. 

In the still decent, but clearly minor ’80 NIT, Ralph Sampson and Virginia won the final vs Kevin McHale (pictured above) and Minnesota University.

The next season McHale won the first of his three titles with the Boston Celtics, the last gained vs Sampson and the Houston Rockets in 1986.

In the next 3 seasons with Sampson, Virginia made it far as the national semis in ’81 losing to Al Wood and North Carolina and no further.