This was probably one of the best experiences of my life. Two years ago my grandpa died and he was one of the biggest wahoo fans I knew and who got me to become a wahoo myself. After he passed away I wanted Virginia to do something big just for him. Last year my dad surprised me with tickets to the UMBC game and I was so excited until… we’ll we know what happened. I was so upset that we didn’t do anything big when that was one of our best teams we’ve ever had. But, my grandpa had something in store for us. After we won the Purdue game, after I had a “heart attack”, I had a feeling we were gonna win this one, and I was exactly right. After we won I could just imagine my grandpa jumping for joy up in heaven and I wouldn’t want anything more. Oh and by the way I promise this isn’t just a fake story to win the shirt.
This year has been the craziest of my life, so many emotions I thought I would never experience most being amazing while some have been extremely challenging. My earliest memories are of my dad on the edge of his seat watching Virginia football and basketball. As I got a little older I would join him and learn these sports and players names. I remember watching Chris Long run that football field from the d-line it was something special to watch.
I was so excited about Ty, D, and Kyle when they came to Virginia because all of us are from the 2016 class. I remember watching their high school highlights and telling my dad “Tony is making something special” but I had no idea how special.
I’m going into my senior year at VCU and one of my happiest memories as a wahoo was being at the Siegel center two years ago when Kyle dropped 29 and silenced the building. People I go to school with we’re talking shit to me and my family that entire game. I’ll never forget that game.
Fast forward a few months and we’re #1 seeds playing Gardner Webb. Me and my close friend (shoutout to Jesse) met up like we always do to watch the game at my apartment. Like everyone else after that game we were devastated sitting in silence together. I looked to my friend and said “The only way to come back from something as crazy as this is to win it all next year”.
Fast forward to the next season we have the greatest tournament run every. I watched every game this past season I possibly could. My favorite game of the regular season had to be the away win at UNC. When Kyle drained the and-one three at the end I lost my shit lol. The pic of Kyle walking off with Ty yelling in the background will forever be my google profile pic haha.
While watching each tournament game this year I was insanely nervous. That Perdue game will always be one of the greatest games in history. I’ll never forget running throughout my apartment screaming when Diakite nailed that shot. And it only got crazy from there.
The Auburn game I was at my parents watching with my Dad and friend (Jesse) whenever we all get real nervous we would have to go outside and watch from the garage. As Auburn made their run late in that game we all went to the garage. That play call with .6 left was pure gold by Tony! I know for a fact without contact on that shot Kyle would’ve hit nothing by net for the win. They made him earn that win the hardest way possible. When Kyle walked up to line my Dad, Jesse, and I had our arms locked. I thought to myself all the emotions from this past year as fans, players, and coaches is coming down to these 3 shots.
The Texas Tech game was the same story at the end of regulation all of us were in the garage. I told my family and friends all we need is 3 points. Seconds later Ty dishes it to DeAndre and I knew that shot was wet. For us to go into overtime and shoot 10/10 from the free throw line the championship was this teams destiny. That night we all cried tears of joy, laughed, and celebrated for hours(still celebrating).
Like everyone else here I know throughout that month of madness we all were juggling day-to-day life while also only thinking about Uva basketball. I’m so proud of this team, it’s hard to put it into words but I’m trying anyways haha if you read all of this I really appreciate you. I’m looking forward to watching Ty, Kyle, and DeAndre kill it in the pros! Go Hoos<3
I’ve been a UVA fan since the Ralph Sampson days. Growing up outside of Ch’ville in Nelson County, UVA is the first team I fell in love with. So,being a fan for that long has had its hardships.
The years losing to MSU and then having Syracuse come back that year, I started to think we were cursed! Then finally we drew a bracket without MSU and to who I thought would be our biggest obstacle that year in our bracket, Arizona, got knocked out earlier that day. At that point, I said, this is our year! Little did I know what would be on the horizon, UMBC! I turned off my phone, and didn’t leave the house for 2 days after that game. My brother-in-law, who is a pastor had to call and check on me when I finally decided to turn my phone on. It was the worst feeling I’ve ever experienced over a sporting event ever!
Fast forward to this season and I’m liking what I’m seeing, but I’m also telling myself, we’ve been beating teams in the regular season like this for years. Can we put it together come tourney time? We lose to FSU in the ACC tournament, no big deal, we have several of those, lets regroup and get ready for the big one. First round game against Gardner-Webb and I’m thinking,no, not again! I’m at work so nervous that I told my supervisor I might have to go home because my stomach isn’t right and I might poop my pants. Thankfully, the fellas pulled through and won the game and saved me from having an embarrassing moment at work! Was more calm about the Oklahoma game, they pretty much handled business for that one. Oregon game me some what of anxiety. This is where my nerves started to kick in leading up to the Purdue game. Purdue has always been a good scrapping team since the Gene Keady, so I knew they weren’t gonna be a small task. I remember me and my wife were at Applebee’s eating supper. I purposely sat with my back to the TV so I couldn’t watch the game. I was too nervous! But I couldn’t stop turning around looking. Eventually, I told her that I could not finish my food, because my nerves were tearing my stomach apart! We get home and I tell myself I’m not turning the TV to the game until its done, I can’t take this pressure! So, I wait more than enough time for the game to be over, OVERTIME! Needless to say, I was really feeling it during the Auburn game. Auburn was like a buzz saw the way they were handling teams and I knew this was going to be a fight! But me being the glutton for punishment, I had to take looks at the game. I paced and spread my viewing out. Just so happens, I tuned in when Guy was getting fouled! He makes all 3 and I can breath until Monday night. That Sunday and Monday leading up to the National Championship game was excruciating! I was drained and all I could think about was the game that night! Once again, I could only watch bits and pieces. Luckily, I’m raising a daughter right, that’s just as much a die hard UVA fan as me(She’s 11)! Before the game, she asks, “daddy are you watching the game?” I replied, “I’m to nervous.” She said, “I’m gonna watch downstairs then, I’ll let you know what’s happening?” So, every TO, she’ll come up and give me the recap. Halftime comes, and it’s a school night, and I tell her that she has to go to bed, she was so disappointed. I told her that if we win I’ll wake her up and if we didn’t I’ll let her sleep. Now I’m forced to watch more of it, but still flipping back and forth and seeing what my friends was saying in texts until I forced to put my phone downstairs because I couldn’t take them anymore. So, I calmed myself down and told myself to be just prepared for any outcome. I turned the TV and I saw the fellas on the podium. They’d did it!!! It hit me like a ton of bricks! It sat down on the floor and couldn’t move, instantly I started to cry! It was the best feeling I’ve ever had! I’ve had other teams that i cheer for win championships, but this one was THE ONE!!! I guess being so close to the campus and actually being able to see these guys play in person and be at the same places they have, makes it extra special! My wife wakes up and says, “are you crying?” I said YES!!! She said, “you didn’t cry at our wedding!” I said, “YOU’RE NOT A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!” After that, I went to my daughters room and said baby, she turned over and said, “we won?” I said yeah, she smiled, rolled over and went back to sleep. GREATEST NIGHT EVER!!!
I’m crying now as I read people posts and write mines! I LOVE UVA!! WAHOOWA!!!
SN: I have went back and watch the game in its entirety! Still get nervous! Haha
The 2019 Championship was like opening the biggest gift on Christmas Morning. Let’s go back to the UMBC game. I was on my way back from Charlottesville from winter break to go back to school at South Carolina. I go straight through Charlotte to get theee so it was a no brainer to see my #1 seed wahoos play in the first game of tournament. It was not what I expected. After the loss I was taunted and mocked by fans all over the spectrum center. I was in a state of absolute shock and disappointment. I didn’t watch a single game of the tournament after that and patiently waited for the next season to roll around. The Cavs had a great year, and I knew that South Carolina was set to host some first round games, and I prayed uva would be placed there. They were. As the day came I was filled with anxiety and jitters. I ubered from my house near my school to watch my hometown hoos at colonial life arena. As uva went down early, the building had the same vibe I had felt at the spectrum center against UMBC. I was shaking in my boots. It couldn’t happen again, and it certainly did not. After witnessing that comeback I had the utmost confidence in the wahoos all the way through the championship game. I watched the rest of the games in my living room, as only a broke college kid can. I remember screaming at the top of my lungs in celebration as I saw the wahoos come out and top with a sweet cherry on top of seeing my high school classmates Grant Kersey and Austin Katsra, and a good friend Jayden Nixon hoist that trophy and being on top of the world. Wahoowa. That one was one for the history books for every hoo in hooville
I’m born and raised in the state of Virginia so that means that there is a high chance that I’m either a fan of Virginia or tech. Fortunately, both of my parents attended Virginia for college and I’ve been raised on Virginia athletics. I have season tickets to football and basketball games and I show my support any time I can. I’m 16 years old currently, and I’ve been a Virginia fan for every second of my life. Basketball was always my favorite sport to watch and I grew up playing basketball. I loved everything about the sport and I really enjoyed watching Sean Singletary, among other players like Mamadi Diane, JR Reynolds, etc. Of course, over the past 10+ years, Virginia basketball has been filled with post-season heartbreak. My earliest memory of experiencing a big heartbreak was the loss to Tennessee in the 2nd round of the tournament in 2007. Everyone knows about the continuous heartbreaks that followed from Michigan State twice, to Syracuse, and finally, to UMBC. Every loss seemed to hurt worse and worse until the UMBC loss, which cut me incredibly deep as a fan of Virginia. I was at the game where they lost since it was in Charlotte which isn’t that far from my home in Virginia. I remember crying almost the entire drive back to my house, as I know most Virginia fans did. I live and die by Virginia basketball and to witness that loss in person, crushed my spirits. Coming into the 2018-19 season, I knew that a new type of hunger was instilled in the team and I couldn’t wait for the season to begin. The thing about Virginia basketball that is so special, is that every starter, besides Kihei, witnessed that loss and grew from it together. I knew this season was going to be special because of how determined the team was to exorcise the demons of the previous year. Making it to the tournament this year as a 1 seed was incredible, but very nerve wracking as well. I was nervous once I saw that Virginia was going to hold that 1 seed yet again, but I knew that the team was hoping for it, to take the first step in quieting the critics. I watched the Gardner Webb game on my school computer in it’s entirety, and there have been very few Virginia games that have made me so nervous. But like Coach Bennett says, the most faithful win, and with Virginia advancing to the 2nd round, myself and every other Virginia fan let out a victorious sigh of relief. Fast forward a couple of games and the elite 8 comes around. That game might’ve been my favorite game of the tournament in the way that everything happened. Carson Edwards played an incredible game but with Kyle and Ty playing amazing as well, I felt as if there was no way Virginia could lose the game. When the miraculous shot by Mamadi was about to happen, I was afraid to look at my tv. I have missed out some incredible shots due to being too nervous to watch, such as Darius Thompson’s shot over Wake Forest or Dre’s shot over Louisville last year. With that in mind, I wasn’t going to miss whatever was going to happen next. When the game finally finished, it took me a few days to digest the fact that Virginia had made it to the Final Four for the first time in my lifetime. I’m unable to describe exactly how I felt during the next two games because of how many emotions I felt. I watched both games by myself because it’s tough for me to watch it around other people, including my family. My mom is a very large pessimist during the games. She herself is a huge Virginia fan, considering she went there, but I think she acts very pessimistic during games so that she will be somewhat prepared if by some chance the game ends in a loss for Virginia, but I’m not really sure if that’s true. While watching it by myself I was by no means silent, but I did feel a little less stressed out without being surrounded by other people. As much as I wanted to be at the National Championship game, I figured that watching the game on my tv alone was going to be the next best thing. I had cried in sorrow over several Virginia games in the past, but nothing had ever moved me to tears of joy like the National Championship game did. As soon as the final horn sounded and Virginia was officially National Champions, I hit the ground crying tears of joy. I had never felt so happy over Virginia basketball, and I’m not sure, no matter the circumstances, if I will ever be as moved by a win as I was then. The day after the championship, I arrived at JPJ to welcome the team back. Seeing the tired smiles on the team’s faces, as well as the smiles of the fans standing with me, was a sight I will never forget. I went to the main celebration at Scott Stadium that weekend and experienced the same feelings of joy and accomplishment. It’s crazy how many people are dedicated to Virginia basketball and how amazing every fan is. I love the University of Virginia and experiencing the first National Championship was one of the best things ever. I even got to see Coach Bennett about a month after winning the National Championship, at a Virginia tennis match. I shook his hand and congratulated him on winning the National Championship. I’m sure so many people did what I had done while shaking his hand, but he genuinely looked very appreciative of me congratulating him. Talking to him and shaking his hand reaffirmed my belief that Coach Bennett was as good of a person as he was a basketball coach, which is very rare and amazing to see. After reading this response over, I can’t believe how long it is, but I just couldn’t express how I felt about this championship in a few sentences. I’m not sure if anyone will get around to reading this or if they do, have the patience to read this incredibly long response but I just feel so happy writing this right now because I’m reliving some of the feelings I had while I was experiencing this win for the first time. I love this school and the basketball team it has and I have immense enthusiasm every time I scream the words GO HOOS!
i’ve been a fan since tony bennett became the coach. i was at every single game right behind the bench!! winning was one of the happiest moments for me and my family. being a coach’s daughter has been an amazing experience, and it’s been such a blessing to see my dad and the team earn their way to top through hard work and unity.
11am EST Tomorrow Friday 7-12-19
How on earth do I get that shirt?
I grew up in a house with a UNC mom and UVA dad but always loved the defense of the Hoos so I could never cheer for Chapel Hill. I was out of the country for the UMBC game and woke up to text messages and notifications because I didn’t have any service. When the tournament started and I watched the Garner-Webb game I did not know what to do with myself so I got in my car and live streamed the rest in complete silence. After the game one could say that I became the most superstitious person on the planet wearing the same clothes and sitting the same way for the Oklahoma and Oregon games. I spent hours each day at school reading every matchup article about a million times to figure out every weakness and strength. We don’t have cable at my house so when we played Purdue in the Elite Eight I had to go to my grandparents to watch it on the edge of my seat the entire time. All week prior to the game I saw Jay Williams saying that if Carsen Williams scored more than 35 Purdue would win the game. Once he hit that mark I almost exploded. As soon as Mamadi hit that game tying shot I heard the loudest scream and saw my dad outside the window because he had been too nervous to watch the game with volume. It turned out that I was on spring break during our game with Auburn and happened to be on vacation with Auburn alumni who decided that it would be a good idea to scream every time anything happened while I sat in complete silence. Once again my dad began texting me a mile a minute about how Ty shouldn’t have gotten that many fouls because he was winning the game for us. It wasn’t until I heard the whistle on the foul that I jumped for joy. At first I thought it was a 1 and 1 shot but once I found out Kyle had 3 I knew the game was over. I returned to my house in Atlanta to my dad holding a shirt depicting the famous Purdue play that I will never get out of my head. The game started pretty late for us on the east coast but I was running on adrenaline the whole time so it couldn’t have mattered. Every commercial I would have to get up and walk around my house just to make sure I wasn’t insane. During that same time I was doing calculations on how many points tech would have to score in what time if we kept up our scoring tempo. Dre’s shot went off and I probably held my breath until regulation ended. I saw that final regulation shot by tech and knew that Key had blocked it because there is no way it moves like that without it. Once the game went into overtime I couldn’t help but let a sigh of relief go because I knew that we weren’t backing down. That night I stayed up until 2 in the morning watching the press conference and old highlights. When the draft finally came around I was mad because I wanted everyone to come back but I soon realized that it was not in vain because my hometown hawks had traded up to get Dre. I focused on the screen the rest of the night as my friends yelled about Tacko Falls but I was waiting until Kyle got picked much later than he should have making UVA 3 for 3 in the NBA. I just want to great Dre at Hawks game with that shirt so he knows there are Hoos fans in the A.
For me, it all comes back to my hometown — Stevens Point, Wisconsin. I was lucky enough to attend the Final Four and National Championship in person because my best friend from growing up in Steven Point had just moved to Minneapolis and offered me a place to stay. I knew I was scheduled to fly from Kansas City to Chicago for a work trip at 6AM on Tuesday, April 9, but I put that out of my mind for the time being and made the drive up to Minneapolis from Kansas City on Thursday. My dad, a 1980 UVA grad, had been allotted two tickets from the VAF so he drove over from Stevens Point to attend the games with me as well which was incredibly special.
In the week leading up to the Final Four, I was filled with so much excited energy that I had to channel it into piecing together UVA basketball pictures, videos, and soundbites to create a very amateur level iMovie piece as a sort of expression of how meaningful it was to make it to the Final Four:
But that anticipation was nothing compared to the emotional roller coaster of the National Championship weekend and what followed. I cheered louder than I ever have in my life. I experienced a noise-level that was so loud and overwhelming, it physically and emotionally drained me. I bawled my eyes out, thinking about what the championship means in the context of how UVA basketball has impacted my life beyond basketball. I let out spontaneous whoops of joy from a heart brimming with gratitude and exhilaration while dancing through the streets of Minneapolis to music from the “Miracle” soundtrack — the movie about the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team that the gold medal.
After the confetti fell and the celebrations began, I knew I was going to miss my window to drive back to Kansas City to catch my 6AM flight to Chicago for my work trip. But I couldn’t let me co-workers down so I hopped in my car at 1:30AM and drove through the night (don’t worry I hadn’t been drinking at all beforehand) and made it to Chicago by 9:30AM that morning. When we finished up our work in Chicago on Friday, I decided to drive to Stevens Point to relax with my parents instead of driving back to Kansas City right away. I was also excited to go back to where it all began — where Dick Bennett started his college coaching career that played a huge role in propelling Tony Bennett towards leading the UVA basketball program to their first ever national championship in such a way. While everyone in Charlottesville was celebrating at Scott’s Stadium on Saturday, my dad and I made a pilgrimage to our local University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s “Bennett Court” that’s named in honor of Dick and his brother Jack. To top it all off, the local pizza place we stopped at afterwards had a picture of Rocky above the booth we ate in.
Being able to witness this team bring UVA’s program history to such an epic peak was meaningful to me in a very personal way as well. I would not be the person I am today without the University of Virginia men’s basketball program — and I don’t say that lightly. During my time as a student at UVA from 2011-2015, I found inspiration and so much meaning in the Five Pillars and in the community of people who watched the games with me at a time when I was really struggling mentally, emotionally, and socially. The joy and connection I experienced from engaging with others around UVA basketball was exactly what I needed at that time.
From there, my engagement with UVA basketball only grew. I graduated in 2015 and began serving with City Year as an AmeriCorps tutor/mentor in an underresourced elementary school in Southside Chicago — a decision that I directly attribute to how I had reflected on and integrated the Five Pillars of UVA basketball into my life:
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Knowing myself by embracing every part of who I am AND having the self-awareness to hold myself accountable to work on my blind spots.
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Figuring out how to keep love as the spark at the core of what drives me in whatever I’m doing.
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Building community with others around something that’s bigger than ourselves.
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Pouring myself into meaningful relationships with people so that we can bring out the best parts of each other.
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Maintaining a level of thankfulness during the good times and during the not so good times, trusting that the dots will eventually connect down the road in a way that will allow me to learn and grow.
Even though I knew serving with City Year would be intense and unlike anything I had ever experienced, I felt secure in the foundation that my understanding of values gave me. The fact that City Year also has a set of strong core values (which have threads that are very similar to the Five Pillars!) also gave me the confidence that City Year would support me and challenge me to grow in multiple dimensions. And wow did it ever. I met the most incredible people and shared experiences with them that bonded us for life. UVA basketball and the Five Pillars were never far from my mind. One of the most meaningful moments I had with a student actually came from the Youtube video that Justin Anderson shared on Twitter in the previous year after having to undergo an appendectomy just before he was scheduled to return from being out with a broken finger:
This student just couldn’t seem to catch a break that year and was really struggling internally, so we watched the video together and talked about it afterwards (she did most of the talking; I listened). Just before the final bell rang, she asked for a piece of paper and began writing furiously about what some of the quotes from that video meant to her so that she could always come back to it. It was a real breakthrough in our relationship and in how she felt about herself, what was happening in her life, and what she was doing.
Now I’m thinking back to what Tony shared in a press conference about what his dad said when he was asked about whether making it to the Final Four in 2000 was one of the greatest feelings in the world: “From a feeling state, euphoria, yes, it is. But it doesn’t compare with faith, with kids, family, grandkids because I know what truly matters, it enables me to enjoy what seems to matter, like this.” Witnessing this team win a national championship, especially in the wake of the UMBC loss last year, was an incredible experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. But there are things that hold even more substance for me. It’s really awe-inspiring to trace back all the ways in which threads of UVA basketball and the Five Pillars have influenced so many parts of my life — all of the people I’ve met and how they have impacted me, where I ended up after college, how I have grown, what I have learned, who I have become… It’s a little overwhelming to think about, let alone to try to articulate. Anyways, I may have been encouraged to write this reflection because of something outside of myself, but that was just the impetus to get me to engage in doing something that’s internally meaningful to me. Thank you Locker Room Access and everyone who’s becoming a part of building this community! (and if you made it this far, wow, you’re honestly a legend lol I’m signing off now)
Live now…order fast as they are very limited quantities and once its gone…its gone.
I’ll tell a story with pictures
2018 Me @ Beer Park in Vegas image|375x500
2019 Me @ US Bank Stadium
Live in Spokane, WA. My 8 and 10 year olds endured awful crap at school after UMBC. This is Zags country and kids can be cruel. My daughter came home in tears one day. One of her better friends is the daughter of a Zags coach. She consoled her but some of the others, especially some boys were terrible. Also, I entered my kids’ brackets in a pool with about 50 other people. She won over $500 and was in like the top .3% of brackets nationwide. Did it all herself.
by far, the most fun I’ve had as a parent was watching every second of the tourney run with my kiddos. There were lots of tears before Dre hit the 3 and I was at my best as a dad as I tried to put things in perspective. But then we won! We had one of those hoops you put on your door on our staircase and cut down the nets at the end. I’ll cherish the quality time with my kids on that run forever.
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