Redemption after the biggest college basketball upset
In the 2019 March Marchness, the Virginia college basketball team was again in a familiar spot, being a number one seed in the tournament, their fourth time out of the last six seasons. However, the Virginia Cavaliers were coming off a considerable embarrassment the previous year when they became the first one-seed to lose to a 16th-seeded team. The team and fans were mocked and clowned everywhere.
The 2019 team had a core of 3 star players, Kyle Guy, De'Andre Hunter, and Ty Jerome. All three were on the team the year before, although Hunter came off the bench and didn't play in the big upset. Coach Tony Bennett wouldn't let that upset define the team, and the team would dominate in the regular season. Ultimately, they would prove all the doubters wrong when they beat Texas Tech in overtime to win the NCAA championship, their first ever and redeeming the loss from last year.
Social Media
"It goes from stunned in Charlotte to redeemed in Minneapolis."
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 9, 2019
Soak it in, @UVAMensHoops đź‘Ź#NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/l650WrgTQB
Quotes
That’s a dark place that I think a lot of us were in, There was humiliation, embarrassment for ourselves and our families and the program. To be able to redeem all that, and give this program something that’s never happened before is all that I could ever want.
Kyle Guy
When they come into my office, I got a poster of Rocky on the steps, And I told them, I just want a chance at a title fight one day.
Tony Bennett
References
-
2019 NCAA Tournament championship: Virginia beats Texas Tech, 85-77, wins school's first men's national basketball title
A 1 seed once again, they fell behind by 14 early to 16th-seeded Gardner-Webb in this year's opening round, and a nightmare seemed to be unfolding. But this time, they overcame it. Then, they beat Purdue in the Elite Eight when the game looked lost, and did the same against Auburn on Saturday — getting bailed out by a foul call and Kyle Guy's three free throws with 0.6 seconds left.
CBS News
-
Virginia’s redemption tour is complete, wins its first NCAA men’s basketball national title
It almost felt like it was a script for a movie. Winning a title was a fitting ending considering how 2018 ended for Virginia (35-3). After being shocked by No. 16 seed University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in the NCAA tournament last season – the Cavaliers lost that one by 20 points – Virginia was the lone No. 1 seed to reach the Final Four this year.
CNN
-
Virginia Won the National Championship Because It Learned to Stop Fearing Death
In 2018, Virginia lost by 20 points as a massive favorite; in 2019, it pulled off miracle after miracle as the outside world waited for it to crumble. The Cavaliers proved that college basketball’s greatest fluke might be when the sport’s best team wins six consecutive single-elimination games to become national champions.
The Ringer
-
It Took Virginia Coach Tony Bennett 1 Sentence to Explain His Team's Amazing Comeback (and Teach a Major Lesson in Emotional Intelligence)
That's what Bennett and his team did. Not one of them would have chosen to endure the historic loss from last year. But while they couldn't change the past, they grew to realize that they could use the painful emotions that resulted as a catalyst, as motivation. Bennett has described last year's loss as a "painful gift."
Inc
-
Virginia pulled off the most rewarding 1-16 win ever in March Madness
Virginia’s 71-56 victory over Gardner-Webb in the First Round of the NCAA tournament was the most important 16-1 game in the history of basketball (don’t look that up). This has been a long time coming. Well, that’s a lie. This has been 370 days in the making. In case you missed it, the No. 1 overall seed Virginia Cavaliers lost to the plucky 16-seeded UMBC Retrievers in the 2018 NCAA tournament, making the Hoos the first ever to achieve such a feat.
SB Nation
